From the Fiji Times, October 31, 1900.

On Tuesday, the 23rd, his Excellency the Governor, accompanied by the Hon. Mr. and Mrs. Allardyce, the Hon. Mr. and Mrs. Sutherland, and Dr. and Mrs. Prior, proceeded by launch to Rewa for the purpose of opening the first of the new Provincial Hospitals which the Government is establishing in several of the outlying districts for the reception and treatment of native patients.

The Governor and party reached the hospital wharf at Wainibokasi a little after noon, where they were met by Dr. Withington and several other officials and escorted to a large native-built marquee, which had been erected in the hospital grounds, and where a number of Europeans, and all the leading chiefs and people of the three provinces of Tailevu, Rewa, and Naitaisiri, including the Roko Tui Tailevu, Roko Tui Rewa, with their Bulis numbering close on a thousand people, had assembled to witness the opening ceremony. Noticeable amongst the spectators were the Rev. Dr. Brown, the Rev. Lane, and all the members of the Wesleyan Mission, and several of the priests from the Roman Catholic Mission Station at Rewa.

The weather was exceptionally fine, and everything bore quite a gala appearance, the hospital buildings being decorated for the occasion with flags and festoons of flowers, and the ponds, which only very recently had been a wilderness of grass, had been cleared and laid out in food and flower page 2 gardens. The opening proceedings, viz., the making of the "yaqona," and the presentation of the bowl of which his Excellency partook, with the usual accompaniment of native song having been got through, the Governor addressed the assemblage in the following terms:—

Roko Tui Tailevu, Roko Tui Rewa, and you other chiefs and men of the Rewa and neighbouring provinces, I am very glad to see you all assembled here to-day to witness the opening of the Wainibokasi Hospital.

2. The building of the hospital and doctor's quarters has cost some £1,400. and the Government has spared no expense in fitting it up and equipping it with everything necessary, so that the sick in these provinces may here receive gratis the best possible medical treatment.

3. It is only lately that the Government has had sufficient money at its disposal to try and improve the material condition of the Fijian people. Since it has had the money it has lost no time in spending it for the benefit of the Fijians. Other hospitals are being erected in other provinces; creeks are being bridged: and where the water supply is bad a good supply is being laid on at the expense of the Government. You, in Rewa, have benefitted by the Rewa water supply; and in Tailevu also, and in other provinces works are being undertaken to supply the people with wholesome water for drinking and cooking.

4. Talking of the Rewa water supply I may tell you what happened the other night in Suva, at a meeting which was held in favor of Federation with New Zealand, that is to say, in favor of giving over to New Zealand this country of Fiji, which the Fijians gave to Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria. Well, at this Federation meeting, mention was made of the Rewa water supply. And what do you think was said of it? Why, it was said that it was absurd to supply you with water, and it was wrong to have spent the money that has been spent in doing so. It was said that all the villages that had been supplied lie on the banks of the Rewa, and that the Rewa water, which was good enough for your forefathers, was good enough for you. The Rewa water, by the way, as is usual in tidal waters, is uncommonly brackish—but never mind about that. And the speaker also said that he was sure that everyone at the meeting agreed with him page 3 that what he called the absurd Rewa water scheme, was one on which it was very wrong to have spent money, and which never would have been carried out by any kind of Government except the Government which you now have. The people at the meeting did not contradict him, and I suppose that they all thought that he was quite right, for they were of the party that wish to give your country to New Zealand. Now, why do I mention this to you? It is in order that you may see how little those people know or care about the Fijians. As, of course, you all know, the villages that have been supplied with water do not lie on the banks of the Rewa, but are, many of them, many miles distant from the Rewa. But what should people who wish to give your country away care about that, or care about you? In those distant villages Fijian men, or women, or children might be lying sick, or might be even dying, and what about them? Well, the New Zealand party has said that the Rewa water is good enough for them—so I suppose that if they are parched with thirst they ought to get up, if they can, and walk miles to the Rewa to find brackish water to quench it.

5. That, I think, will show you pretty clearly how much the New Zealand party care about you and your welfare. They pretend to be your friends, I know, and they have their own purpose to serve by doing so. But I will tell you one thin", and that is this: When persons, who have never during all their lives done a single thing to benefit you, all of a sudden appear to become very fond of you, and say to you that they will do you all manner of good if you will only listen to their advice, you will do very well to ask yourself the question: "What is it that we have got that these persons want to get from us?"

6. If the chiefs and the more intelligent amongst you ask yourselves the question, what has this New Zealand party to gain from us, you will not have to wait very long before you see the answer. You have the land, my friends, and that is what they want to get, and hope that they will get if you are foolish enough to listen to them. It has always been the same in every country under the kind of Government that there is in New Zealand; the white men have always taken the land from the colored owners. Who owns that land now? The white people have got nearly the whole of it; the colored people are cooped up in a fragment of land that has tan left to them, and many of them have no land at all.

7. What has happened in New Zealand to the colored peoples' land will happen here, too, if New Zealand gets this country. But you have been told that if New Zealand gets this country the native will not have to pay native taxes. Of course the persons who have told you this have done so to tempt you to listen to them in order that, if you are foolish enough, you may think it a good thing that New Zealand should get this country. Therefore, they tell you that if you were under the New Zealand Government you would not have to pay native taxes. But they do not tell you that if you paid no native taxes you would, like the colored people of New Zealand, lose nearly all your land.

8. For what, after all, are those so-called native taxes that you have to pay? I will tell you. They amount to less than a pound a head a year for each adult male, and they are the rents which the Fijian people pay for the lands that they are not actually cultivating. Under the Act of Cession, by which the father of Roko Tui Tailevu, and the other great chiefs of Fiji on behalf of themselves, and their several tribes, made over the country to Her Most Gracious Majesty-Queen Victoria, it was agreed that the Fijians should keep the lands they were cultivating, and that all the rest should belong to Government. But when it was found that this did not please the chiefs and people, the Government allowed them to have all the unoccupied lands, and in return got from them the small rent which is known by the name of native taxes. So you can see if you were to cease to pay that rent you would also cease to own those lands, and they would be taken from you, as the lands have been taken from the owners in New Zealand and other countries that are under the same kind of Government. And what you have to think of is this: Would you rather go on paying your rent to this Government under the Queen, or have your rent remitted by the New-Zealand Government, and lose your lands?

9. I know what your answer is—you would rather pay your rent and keep your lands. But when I tell you this, I tell you also, at the same time, that you are to keep very quiet and to give no sort of trouble. If any of you were to give trouble that would only make it easy for New Zealand to get your country, and for you to lose your lands. What there is to be said on your behalf I have already said to the Queen, and shall, if necessary, say it again. But, in the meantime, I page 5 repeat to you, and I charge you all to remain quiet and peaceable, and to give no trouble either to white men or to any others, but to go about your own business and attend to your own affairs, just as if you had never heard any question of New Zealand wanting to get this country. That is what you have got to do; and I, as your principal and head chief, order you to do it.

10. And now my friends a word or two more about this hospital. Hospitals have, I know not why, been sometimes called "the houses of death." This is very wrong. People may die in any kind of house, and they may sometimes die even in a hospital. But in a hospital such as this, many, who would die in their own houses, will be saved from death, and many who are sick will be made well. So this hospital, and the other hospitals which are being built for the Fijians, will in future be known as "the houses of life." And I hope that all who may be sick in these provinces will freely come to this hospital. They will find here a very clever and very kind gentlemen, Dr. Withington, who will do all he can to cure them, and they will always meet here with every possible kindness and good treatment. I have now great pleasure in declaring this hospital open, and in expressing my assured conviction that it will be the means under Almighty God of much blessing to the people for whom it has been built.

The address, which was delivered in English and interpreted by the Hon. W. L. Allardyce, losing none of its force or effect in the translation, was received with much applause, and a short epistle was presented and read, thanking the Governor for water supply, hospital, etc.

A vote of thanks, in the usual native form, was passed, and his Excellency rose and invited those present to adjourn to the hospital and partake of light refreshments, where, in a few words, the health of Dr. Withington, in whose charge the hospital had been placed, was proposed by the Governor and drunk by those present. The hospital buildings, which comprise three wards, dispensary, operating room, and quarters for resident doctor and native attendants, were then inspected and the general opinion was that the site was well and centrally situated, and the buildings admirably suited for the treatment of the native sick, being large, well lighted and ventilated, and bear more the appearance of a cheerful home than that of a hospital, the three wards opening out on to a page 6 broad verandah, which runs round half the main building.

Before leaving again for Suva three ringing cheers were given for his Excellency.

Three ringing cheers for his Excellency terminated the proceedings, and the launch with the Governor and party on board pushed off from the wharf at Wainibokasi about 3 o'clock, arriving in Suva two hours later.

The band from the Roman Catholic Mission Station, at Nailili was in attendance and played several selections during the afternoon.

From the Fiji Times, November 7, 1900.

Sir.—The unjustifiable attack upon the New Zealand Government made by his Excellency the Governor of Fiji in his speech at the opening of the Wainibokasi Hospital will, I have no doubt, be dealt with officially, but as of necessity many days must elapse before the utterly untrue statements can be contradicted from Wellington, I trust you will allow me to state a few facts in order to place the position fairly before the people of Suva. There are at present in the North Island of New Zealand (the Maoris are practically confined to the North Island) according to the census of 1897 some 40,000 Maoris. In the Hawke's Bay district the Maoris draw over £50,000 per annum in rents alone, besides holding and working several large tracts of land for themselves. In the King Country there are over two million of acres of land held entirely by the natives. In the Tauranga district they hold thousands of acres of land and draw besides large suras in rent. In my own district of Wellington the Maoris, who are very few in number, say some 1000 souls, and this is an out side estimate, hold several thousands of acres of land and besides draw over £20,000 per annum in rents. In the, Wairarapa district the Maoris, who are again few in number hold thousands of acres and draw thousands in rent. As a matter of fact, the 40,000 Maoris in the North Island are, as a tribal community, the biggest landowners in the world, and draw enormous rents for tracts of country that they themselves never saw. It would encroach too much on your space were! to give you the whole history of the Maoris and the way they have been treated by the white people. His Excellency, page 7 however, mast have official handbooks and other sources of information that prove without a shadow of a doubt that the boast of England that its treatment of the natives in New Zealand is an object lesson to the world is a justifiable one. In my own immediate district—the Hutt—there are some 150 Maoris all told, and I know from observation that they are all well off, have plenty of food, good homes and luxuries that very many of the white settlers cannot attain to. The treaty of Waitangi is responsible for all the misery and suffering in the early days, but, mark you, this misery and suffering was not on the part of the natives but was endured by the white people.

The natives have been far too well cared for under the above treaty; thousands of acres of land having been handed over to them by secure titles that they never set foot in. If any injustice was ever done the native race it was done when New Zealand was a Crown Colony. This is an absolute fact, and must be known to his Excellency, and it seems to me it places him in rather an unenviable position. The Governments, from Sir Harry Atkinson's down to the present administration under the Right Hon. Mr. Seddon, have rectified many abuses that crept in under the old Crown Colony days, and at present the large tracts of land held by the Maoris are not allowed under any consideration to be sold to white settlers. To sum up 40,000 Maoris (all told, men, women, and children) hold some five millions of acres of land, and over and above draw rents to an extent of at least £400,000. Let your readers compare the above statements with paragraph 6 m his Excellency's speech, and then they will wonder as I do what his motive was in insulting the colony of New Zealand. I am, etc.,

From the Fiji Times, November 23, 1900.

Sir,—The Governor took advantage of the large gathering of natives and others recently collected by him, ostensibly page 8 to celebrate the opening of the Wainibokasi Hospital, to address to the assembled chiefs and people a speech of a highly inflammatory character; in which his Excellency accused the Government of New Zealand of intending, should it obtain control of Fiji, to deprive the Fijians of their laud and give it to white men.

That, the Governor of Fiji told the Fijian chiefs, was how the Government of New Zealand had treated the Maoris—the aboriginal inhabitants of that country—and that is how it would treat the Fijians, if Fiji should federate with New Zealand, or in any way come under her control. One must unhesitatingly condemn this speech as being mischievous in intention, and as deplorable in the results likely to flow from it.

A protest must be entered against such statements from the lips of the Governor of this colony because they are unsustainable in point of fact; are an unjust accusation against the Government of a neighbouring British colony: and are calculated to cause embarrassment to that Government in its dealings with the natives of those islands which, with the sanction of the imperial Government, are on the point of being placed under the administration of New Zealand. The Government of New Zealand has—so says the Governor of Fiji—deprived the Maoris of their lands so that they are now cooped up within a small area, and, so that many of them now have no land at all. That statement has been demonstrated by Dr. Purdy of New Zealand to be "utterly untrue," and an "insult" to that colony.

The words of the Governor of Fiji, spoken as a warning to the natives of Fiji, lest they should consent to come under the dominion of New Zealand, will sink into the ears of the natives of the Cook Islands, and fill them with dread and fear, and distrust of the Government of New Zealand; for has not the Governor of Fiji told the chiefs of that country that the Government of New Zealand wants to federate with Fiji, in order that it may get the opportunity to deprive the Fijians of their lands and give them to white men. That is "what happened in New Zealand" says the Governor of Fiji. "and that is what will happen here also if New Zealand gets Fiji."

Anything more calculated to inflame the native mind against the white people of this colony, and of New Zealand, and to lead to a disturbance of those relations which have page 9 hitherto so happily existed between whites and natives of Fiji, cannot be conceived. The Fijian hits an extraordinary attachment to his land. To impress upon him that the white people who support Federation, do so in the hope that thereby they may be able to deprive him of that land, is to create a feeling in his mind which constitutes a distinct and grave danger to the white community, and throws a most serious responsibility upon the Governor, whose first duty is to keep the peace and foster good feeling between all Her Majesty's subjects in Fiji. His Excellency apparently realized the dangerous nature of the demon he was summoning to oppose the closer union of two British colonies in the Pacific, for, at the conclusion of his speech, he, having addressed them in a manner calculated to arouse their passions, advised the chiefs, indeed ordered them, to remain quiet, and leave their protection from the nefarious white men in Fiji and their aider and abettor, the New Zealand Government, in his hands.

Now, all this alleged unjust treatment of the Maoris by by the Government of New Zealand, and all this alleged desire of the white people in Fiji to deprive the Fijians of their land, is, of course, great nonsense. But, it is nonsense of a most dangerous sort when addressed by a person in the high position of Governor to persons like the Fijians, who naturally accept as real all that is told them by the Governor.

No doubt the Government of New Zealand will take a very serious view of the libellous accusations brought against it by the Governor of Fiji, and, for the sake of the honor and good fame of that Government, it is necessary that it should do so, and that it should take effectual steps to refute these accusations. The Government of New Zealand has been publicly and officially accused of exploiting the Maoris for the benefit of the white man. Before New Zealand can hope to successfully govern in the islands of the South Seas she must eradicate from the native mind the damaging prejudice created against her by the speech of the Governor of Fiji to the chiefs assembled at Wainibokasi. "What has happened to the Maoris is what happens to all colored people under such a Government as New Zealand possesses"—so says the Governor of the Crown Colony of Fiji!

That is to say that the Government of a country, which has free and enlightened institutions, and responsible ministers, always treat the natives unjustly, and exploits them for the page 10 benefit of the 'wicked white man'; and it is only under the iron rule of irresponsible autocracy, that justice is found, and the 'wicked white man' kept from the fulfilment of his nefarious designs upon the native. Such is the gospel according to the Crown Colony Governor of Fiji. But New Zealand is not singular in her form of Government. The Governor of Fiji, therefore, includes the Commonwealth among the Governments unfit, from inherent injustice, to be entrusted with the care and control of native races.

But, it is absolutely certain that New Guinea will shortly be handed over to the Government of the Commonwealth. In view of that certainty, and of the fact that New Zealand is on the point of annexing the Cook Islands, it would seem that Mr. Chamberlain does not altogether agree with the Governor of Fiji in his estimate of the character of the Government of New Zealand, and others of like nature.

The Governor should apologise for his accusations against the honor of the white people of Fiji, and for his accusations against the honour of the Government of New Zealand. The accusations having been publicly, and officially made, should, in like manner be publicly and officially retraced, and this his Excellency should in fairness do in the next issue of Na Mata. That the speech was a blunder is clear; the publication, far and wide among the natives, of unfounded aspersions on the honor of the Government of New Zealand is of course something of a more serious nature, but if amends in the shape of a retractation and apology be at once made, it is to be hoped that the regrettable incident may be passed over without further notice, and be relegated to oblivion.

From the Fiji Times, November 28, 1900.

Sir,—The Governor's speech to the Fijians at Wainibokasi was certainly a lamentable piece of ineptitude. It reads like a speech made for party purposes by an irresponsible politician, careless of the accuracy of his facts, satisfied so long as he can make a point for the time being against his page 11 opponents. No doubt the Governor succeeded at Wainibokasi in sending his Fijian hearers away filled, for the time being, with detestation of the New Zealand Government and of the white men in Fiji who support federation with that colony, and no doubt the colony of New Zealand will, for some time to come, be regarded by the natives of Fiji and elsewhere in the Pacific, in a light very unfair and very injurious to its Government. But, after all, what has been gained by this speech?

The charges contained in it are unfounded in fact, and are easily disproved, and it is only a matter of a short time when they must be withdrawn as publicly as they have been made; for it is impossible for New Zealand, with her mission in the South Seas, to allow herself to lie under the stigma which has been placed upon her by the Governor of Fiji, who, be it remembered, is also the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific. The holder of these high offices is expected to possess the qualities which distinguish a statesman and a diplomatist from the ordinary official.

The great French Foreign Minister, Tallyrand, is credited with having declared that in a diplomatist a blunder was worse than a crime. Certainly Her Majesty's High Commissioner for the Western Pacific has committed an egregious blunder in making accusations which will be bitterly resented by New Zealand, and which are without warrant or excuse. Happily, the Government will have no difficulty in refuting the charges made against it, for it has spent in purchasing lands from the Maoris over two millions of money, as any one interested in the subject may learn from Blue Books and other official publications, and the Maoris in addition draw from rented lands more than four hundred thousand pounds sterling a year. To impute, therefore to the New Zealand Government unjust dealings in the lands of the Maoris would be laughable where it not so cruel and unjust to the people of New Zealand, who, with every right to do so, pride themselves on the benevolent and enlightened manner in which they have always treated the Maoris. To the Maoris themselves it will come as strange news that they are a down-trodden people, unjustly deprived of their hereditary lands. But the Fijians will, of course, believe the allegation until it is contradicted in the same authoritative manner as that in which it has been made.

Until that is done, Tongatabu and the Cook Islands, and page 12 all the natives in the Pacific will believe the fable, and look askance at what they have been told to regard as the land grabbing policy of the New Zealand Government. How that Government, must love Sir George O'Brien for having opened the eyes of the natives in the Pacific to the danger they will incur if they permit New Zealand to have any hold in the management of their affairs. New Zealand used to aspire to be the predominant power, under the Crown, in this part of the Pacific, but perhaps she will abandon those aspirations now that Sir George O'Brien has stated it to be his opinion that she is not fit to be entrusted with the care of natives. Of course, on the other hand, Mr. Seddon, the Premier of New Zealand, may disregard this very remarkable expression of opinion on the part of Her Majesty's High Commissioner as to the character of the Government of which he is the distinguished leader, and may still pursue the traditional policy of New Zealand of gradually including all the Western Pacific Islands in a political union with her. In the latter case, the Premier must hasten to remove from the native mind the damaging impression which has been created against New Zealand by the speech to the natives at Wainibokasi.

That speech has been published by his Excellency in the Na Mata, the native official newspaper, and has, by his Excellency's order, been read by the chief of each village in Fiji to the villagers assembled for the purpose. "On receipt of this Na Mata, you will appoint a day for a public meeting at which you or your nominee will read the Governor's speech in order to make its contents known to all." Such is the direction which has been issued to the chief of each village in Fiji, and it is signed "By order of the Governor. Wm. Sutherland, Native Commissioner."

There is no mistake about the official character of the accusations against the Government of New Zealand, and the supporters of Federation. What was his Excellency's Executive Council about when it allowed such pernicious stuff to be officially spread broadcast among excitable natives? Can it be that they were not consulted on the subject? What was Mr. Allardyce, the Assistant Colonial Secretary, about when he took part in the propogation of unfounded slanders against the Government of New Zealand and the people of this colony? Is it the case that he knew little or nothing of the matter until called upon to interpret the speech? What was the Native Commissioner about? He must have known the (lunger of page 13 inflaming the mind of the native against the white, or is it that he, too, was not consulted beforehand but simply treated as a conduit pipe for the conveyance of the Governor's directions to the chiefs of the villages?

The rumour is (and probably in this case rumour is correct) that his Excellency consulted no one on the subject If so, what a crushing commentary is afforded on the mischief attendant on "one-man Government," and what a strong argument it provides for the abolition of that discredited system, and the bestowal on the colony of Representative Government. After all the sacrifices in blood and treasure by the loyal New Zealanders in the hour of the Empire's need, it is nothing short of an outrage that they should be officially held up to public opprobrium by a high and responsible Imperial official.