FIJI.—ADDRESS FOR PAPERS. (Hansard, 21 July 1876)

§ VISCOUNT CANTERBURY
asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Why the "Correspondence respecting the colony of Fiji," presented by command on the 6th August, 1875, and the "Further Correspondence respecting the colony of Fiji" (in continuation of the above-mentioned correspondence), presented by command on the 17th February, 1876, had not been distributed, and complained that the Rules and Orders of Parliament had not been pursued, inasmuch as certain Returns had been made to Parliament in blank, and that consequently Parliament was ignorant of what had taken place in regard to the colony of Fiji. In fact, since the 20th October, 1874, the date of Sir Hercules 1689 Robinson's despatch, they had not had a scrap of information respecting that important colony. Three papers, and three alone, had been laid on the Table of the House. The first was the letter of instructions sent out by the Earl of Kimberley to certain Commissioners to report to him as to the best mode of dealing with Fiji, and that was dated 1873. The next was the Report of those Commissioners, and that was dated in April, 1874;and the last Paper was the Correspondence which had been transmitted by Sir Hercules Robinson to the Secretary of State in regard to the provisional arrangements which had been made for the administration of the government of the colony. When the Islands were first annexed it was asserted that the new colony would be self-supporting. His noble Friend below him (the Earl of Kimberley), when he held the Seals of the Colonial Office, distinctly refused, on behalf of the Imperial Government, to sanction any arrangement which would entail any liability on the Imperial Exchequer. But by the last information from Sir Hercules Robinson the revenue was barely sufficient to meet his own expenses. The noble Lord opposite had informed the House that the Governments of New Zealand and other Australasian colonies were willing to contribute a portion of the expenditure. But upon that question, as well as on all others connected with the financial and social condition and prospects of the Fiji Islands, their Lordships had no information whatever.

THE EARL OF CARNARVON
regretted the delay which had occurred in the furnishing of the Papers referred to by the noble Viscount. It had arisen from unusual pressure on the Colonial Department all through the Session. The document would, however, be in the hands of their Lordships in the course of a few days. The noble Viscount had gone on to raise several questions of great importance, but of which he had given him (the Earl of Carnarvon) no Notice—had he done so he should have been able to give him fuller explanations than he had it at the moment in his 1690 power to furnish. On one point, however, he might remark that, without some assistance from the Imperial Treasury, it would have been impossible to form an effective administration in the newly-annexed colony, and he was therefore of opinion that the loan of £100,000 was one of the most economical transactions that could have been entered into. As to the disturbances which had recently occurred in the colony, he was happy to say that in a communication he had received a few days ago, Sir Arthur Gordon, the new Governor, stated that the disturbances were enterely at an end, that they had never assumed the appearance of a war, that perfect tranquillity prevailed throughout the Islands and that life and property were secure. Their Lordships would agree, he thought, that that was a great result to secure in the course of a few months. The great difficulty of the colony was, of course, finance. The original method of raising revenue in the islands was by means of a poll-tax. This was a very objection able tax, and had given rise to much discontent. It was now abolished, and Sir Arthur Gordon was having recourse to other less objectionable means, and the Government was proceeding in a most tranquil and satisfactory manner. He would, in conclusion, simply observe that all that had occurred in the colony during the last 12 months went, on the whole, to confirm the impression which he had originally formed. There were great difficulties to be encountered, but these difficulties were, he was happy to think, in a fair way of being surmounted, owing very much to the energy and judicious management of Sir Arthur Gordon, in whose administration, if there was one thing which more than another gave him confidence, it was the belief that he was determined, to the best of his ability, to hold the balance fairly between the White and the native population. Good government had, he might add, been established in the Colony, a satisfactory station had been secured there for our ships, and it was, he hoped, in fair process of gradual development. He thanked the noble Earl for giving him the opportunity of stating these facts, though he still thought they had a right to complain of unnecessary delay.

THE EARL OF KIMBERLEY
agreed with his noble Friend that the pressure 1691 on the Colonial Office had been so great as to cause delay in the production of these Papers. But one reason why they should be produced, with the least possible delay, was that it was impossible to give notice of the line of observation which any noble Lord might deem it his duty to adopt in their absence. As to the outbreak which had occurred, no adequate information had, up to the present moment, been furnished; and very frequently, as in the case of New Zealand, war had resulted from quarrels arising out of the land question. But there was another reason, and a serious one, why they ought to have complete information upon this matter. Owing to his want of information he might fall into errors, but it appeared that a loan of £100,000 had been guaranteed upon the credit of the Imperial Government. He did not remember any Bill passing Parliament guaranteeing such a loan.

THE EARL OF CARNARVON
said, this only showed the inconvenience of being obliged to speak on a subject without having all the information necessary to render their statements quite accurate. The "loan" to which the noble Earl referred was a Vote taken in the House of Commons last year for £100,000, of which £40,000 was spent last year, and it was intended to spread the £100,000 over three years. By the rules respecting grants of money this Vote did not come specially before their Lordships—but this was an Imperial, not a colonial matter.

THE EARL OF KIMBERLEY
said, he was obliged for the information. The noble Earl was much better informed than he could be; but a Vote having been granted last year it was necessary to have information this year as to the manner in which the money had been expended, and whether a further Vote would have to be taken. One of the matters which he had at the time felt most anxious about was whether the Imperial Government would be committed to increased expenditure in the colonies by annexing these Islands. There was, he knew, such an intense desire to spend money anywhere and anyhow that it might be considered by the public as rather a handsome thing that they were establishing a colony in spending this money; but that did not exempt them from holding that the expenditure should be carefully scrutinized. 1692 One of the advantages, it was represented, that they were to gain from annexing these Islands was that they would stop a traffic which would become little better than a slave trade. On that point they were entitled to have information. They must not only consider Fiji, but the whole of the archipelago; and when they took Fiji they not merely undertook to deal with those Islands, but the islands surrounding Fiji; and he thought they had a right to complain that Parliament had not full and complete information on the whole subject.

§ THE EARL OF DERBY
said, it was quite natural that the noble Earl should ask for information respecting Fiji, and he conveyed the idea that there was a strong wish for that information; but if that was so, neither in that nor in the other House of Parliament had there been any indications of a particular anxiety on the subject. He did not recollect a single Question there or "elsewhere" about it, and that did not look as if there was such a lively interest felt in the matter as the noble Earl seemed to imagine. At any rate, the reply of his noble Friend the Secretary for the Colonies, showed that he was quite as ready to give information as the noble Earl was desirous of obtaining it. With regard to the publication of the Papers, the delay had arisen partly from the pressure of other business, and partly, no doubt, from oversight, which never would have occurred if so much interest was felt in the topic as the noble Earl had thought fit to assume. As to the Vote of £100,000, that was discussed in the proper place, the other House of Parliament, and the Vote received the sanction of Parliament in the regular manner; there was, therefore, no wonder that the noble Earl did not recollect any Bill, since none had been required. The noble Earl had not, he was glad to see, laid any stress upon the alleged duty of the Government to make this colony of Fiji self-supporting. Everybody knew the circumstances under which they took over Fiji; they did not particularly desire to take it, but there was a large White population there, chiefly British, which they had to consider, and there was every reason to fear that great disorder might occur, and probably civil war, between the different races. These were some of the reasons which led to the step taken. It was fully dis- 1693 cussed; it came before the public in every possible form, and, notwithstanding the reluctance to take any step increasing the public expenditure, the course adopted was generally approved. As to the expenses, those who took an interest in colonial affairs, and who remembered the history of New Zealand and of South Africa would agree readily with him that no colony, of the value and extent of what he hoped Fiji would prove to be, had ever been acquired at so small an outlay of capital in the first instance. He believed that the Papers which were about to be presented would give a fair and accurate history of the progress of the colony during the last 12 months. It was fair for Parliament to ask for information, and he did not suppose there existed any reason for opposing the granting of information: but no proposal had been made here or "elsewhere," and it was rather unreasonable to complain of the Government not having complied with a wish which, so far as they knew, had never been expressed. If it was intended to raise a discussion upon the administration of the colonies in general it would be more convenient that the Notice should be put in such a form as to convey some idea that it was intended to take such a discussion. When Correspondence was moved for with the intention of raising a debate, it was usual to give an intimation to that effect; and under the circumstances he did not think the noble Lord could fairly expect the subject to be fully discussed.

§ VISCOUNT CARDWELL
said, that it was only natural, in the absence of other information, that his noble Friend should have referred to the speech of the noble Earl the Secretary of State for the Colonies. There were many and great reasons why the annexation of Fiji should take place, and the question should not be left as it were floating about in uncertainty. Among other questions there were those of slavery and the Coolie traffic, which it was desirable to settle. He assured the noble Earl that neither he nor his noble Friend formerly at the head of the Colonial Office had any objection to make to the policy of annexing these Islands, but what they wanted to know was the actual state of the case. They were not desirous of acting with parsi- 1694 mony, or to complain that a few thousand pounds voted by the House of Commons had been spent on the colony for the purpose of doing what was necessary.

THE EARL OF CARNARVON
suggested to the noble Viscount, whether, as the Papers would be shortly produced, he would not withdraw his Motion.

§ VISCOUNT CANTERBURY
said, he would accede to the noble Earl's suggestion.