Such a proceeding has been deemed possible here for some time past, and no
longer ago than the 30th of last March Mr. William McArthur, member of
Parliament for Lambeth, gave notice in the House of Commons that he would
call attention on an early day to the present state of affairs with
reference to those islands. This was in continuation of his course on the
subject last year, when his motion that Great Britain
[Page 503]
should assume either the protectorate or the
sovereignty of the islands received 50 votes in a house of 136members. I was
present on the 30th ultimo when he gave notice of his new motion, and it was
favorably received.
Her Majesty’s government have no advices from Melbourne or elsewhere
confirming the news of the alleged cession.
A commission of inquiry was sent to the islands some time ago, and Mr. Layard
is a member of it. The cession may have been offered, but the question of
acceptance is yet to be decided. I think, however, from the tone of public
opinion here that the transfer will be agreed to by this government. The
question of the cession of these islands to England as involving the rights
of certain American citizens to lands there was brought to Mr. Dallas’s
notice by General Cass in his No. 178 of the 16th of May, 1859; and Mr.
Dallas, in his numbers 199 and 200 of the 15th and 21st of July of that
year, reported his conversations with various members of Her Majesty’s
government on the subject.
I send herewith copies of editorial articles touching this probable cession,
taken from the leading London newspapers of this morning; and as the
transfer of sovereignty may in some way affect private American interests, I
have thought it proper promptly to report the present aspect of the affair
to you.
[Inclosure.][From the Times, Thursday, April 9,
1874.]
The telegraph informs us that the sovereignty of the Fiji Islands has
been formally ceded by the King to England, and that Mr. Layard, the
British consul, has accepted the cession, subject to the ratification of
the home government.
This announcement is not altogether intelligible in its present form, but
it indicates, no doubt, that a considerable step has been taken in a
matter which is of more importance than we are willing to recognize. To
appreciate the news it must be remembered that last year, not for the
first time, a resolution was moved in the House of Commons by Mr.
McArthur, to the effect that it is desirable for Great Britain to assume
either the protectorate or the sovereignty of the Fiji Islands. The
motion was rejected by a majority of 86 to 50. But in the course of it
Mr. Gladstone made a speech, in which he announced, on the part of the
government, measures with which the present intelligence is probably
connected. He dwelt on the many objections which might be raised to Mr.
McArthur’s proposal, but he did not peremptorily reject it. The point on
which he principally insisted was that we possessed no information
sufficient for our guidance. “As yet,” he said, “we know next to nothing
about the interior of the Fiji Islands, the character of the islanders,
or to what extent the authority of the King and of the two chiefs who
have joined him extends in comparison with the entire population. Above
all, we know nothing of that vital question, the tenure and occupation
of the land;” consequently, he added that, for the purpose of inquiry on
these points, the government had secured the services of two competent
and trustworthy men. One was Captain Goodenough, of the royal navy; the
other was Mr. Consul Layard, brother to our minister at Madrid, who has
been appointed consul at Fiji. The latter gentleman was in fact only
awaiting his instructions, and it was expected that in the autumn of
last year he and his coadjutor “would apply themselves to their task,
and would prosecute it with all the dispatch which was compatible with
thoroughness of execution.” Under these circumstances a statement that
Consul Layard has “accepted the cession, subject to the ratification of
the home government,” possesses more importance than would usually
attach to such an announcement.
A consul would ordinarily refer such a proposal to his government, as a
matter of course, and his provisional action would indicate in no way
the ultimate decision of the English government. But in this instance
the intelligence would seem to imply that the person specially
commissioned by our government to inquire into the circumstances of the
islands approves a cession offered by the King. If this be the
case—though our ministers are certainly not pledged to follow the course
recommended by
[Page 504]
our
representative—they will he hound to give it a careful if not a
favorable consideration; and, at all events, the proposal to annex the
Fiji Islands will demand, in the course of a year, a decisive
answer.
The question, as our readers will generally be aware, is by no means a
new one. As long ago as 1859 the principal chiefs, in some sense or
other, offered the country to the Queen. An inclination to accept
British authority has since been more than once expressed; and Mr.
McArthur stated last year that a fresh petition in favor of annexation
was on its way to England. It is indeed easy to understand the need
which is felt for the establishment in the islands of some strong
government. According to Mr. Gladstone’s statement of last year they
contain a population of about 140,000 natives, and 2,000 whites. These
whites include some exceedingly turbulent and unprincipled characters;
and though the chief members of the government are of white extraction,
the King is a native, and he is probably unable to enforce law and keep
the peace with any sufficient success. We are utterly ignorant, as Mr.
Gladstone said, of the condition of the native population; but it is
again highly probable that they are keenly sensible of the encroachments
of the white settlers, and that they would be glad of any government
which would give them protection.
The difficulty is annually augmented by the increase of the white element
in the South Seas, and it must be recognized as one of the complications
of the problem that the islands are in any case not likely long to
remain independent. If not annexed by England, they may be by the United
States; and thus the people of Fiji, and we ourselves, have to consider
that the choice may be not between independence and annexation to
England, but between annexation to England and to some other power.
There seems little doubt of the alternative the Fijians would prefer,
but it is for us to take into account, not merely their preference, but
the probable advantage or disadvantage of accepting such an addition to
our territory. The advocates of annexation are in many respects able to
make out a favorable case for their proposal. It is said that the
islands occupy one of the most important positions in the Pacific; that,
in the opinion of high naval authorities, no better station for our
ships of war is to be found in the great highway between America and
Australia; that they are exceedingly fertile, producing all kinds of
tropical fruits, and particularly favorable to the growth of the
cotton-plant. It is urged, moreover, that in view of the growth of other
powers in the Pacific we need such a station for the convenience of our
navy, and there is a very strong party in Australia in favor of
annexation. On one point, indeed, the present telegram seems to be at
variance with the assurance of Mr. McArthur and his supporters. He spoke
last year of the probable expenses of the government being six or seven
thousand a year, while the treasurer anticipated a revenue of £30,000,
and believed that in two years it would reach £100,000. These estimates
it would seem are matters of pure anticipation. The telegram probably
expresses the results of Mr. Layard’s inquiries, and according to it the
Fiji exchequer is insolvent, the expenditure having amounted during the
last two years to £124,000, while the revenue during the same period was
only £40,000. Still, it is not probable that the existing government of
the islands have had either the ability or the disposition to make the
best use of their resources; and if the climate, the soil, and the
situation of the group deserve the praise bestowed on them, there ought
to be no difficulty in rendering the annexation inexpensive. There is,
moreover, one still more urgent reason in favor of such a step.
The islands are said, under their present government, to afford most
mischievous facilities for the slave-traffic, which is the curse of the
Southern Pacific. Mr. Gladstone was obliged to admit last year “the
importance of this country taking all proper and reasonable steps in
order to put an end to a state of things in which British subjects,
removing themselves from the territorial jurisdiction of the home or
colonial government, plant themselves in a region of the earth having
little or no political relation with us, and defile that region by what
is either avowedly or virtually a traffic in human flesh, with its usual
accompaniments of moral degradation and physical cruelty.”
We have ourselves experienced the difficulty of putting a stop to this
crime, and it is probable that such a government as that of Fiji will
never be able to exert any effectual control over the white adventurers
who are guilty of it.
We are assured the only way to put down the slave-trade, against which we
have declared war, is to take the islands into our own hands, and thus
deprive the offenders of the shelter they can now obtain.
These arguments, it must be owned, constitute a fair case for
consideration, and the latter argument in particular will have great
weight with Parliament and the country. At the same time we may be
confident the present government, like the last, will be fully alive to
the risks and responsibilities of annexation.
The first question to be asked is whether we are sure the “cession” of
which the telegram speaks, and the petition of which we heard last year,
really represent the dominant feeling among the inhabitants, both white
and native.
It was not considered clear last year that the King had the power to
transfer his
[Page 505]
authority in the
manner he proposed, and this is the part of the telegram to which we
referred at the outset as not sufficiently explicit. Mr. Gladstone
justly laid great stress on the necessity of our assuring ourselves on
this point; but it is to be presumed the two commissioners whom he sent
out have obtained sufficient information. A letter from our
correspondent at Sydney, which we publish this morning, states that
these gentlemen had issued a proclamation which was in Australia
regarded as an overture from the British government. It announced that
the desire of Great Britain was for the peace and prosperity of the
country, if the King undertakes to govern well; but he must rule well
and with a righteous hand, and he was requested to consider how
difficult this will be when the elements of his dominions are so various
as they presently will be. His Majesty was asked to think well over the
position, conferring with his people, and it remained to be seen whether
they would prefer annexation or native rule.
We have yet to learn whether this cession by the King was the result of
such a conference with his people. If we were sure of the good-will of
the mass of the population, one great anxiety would, no doubt, be
removed; but unknown difficulties might await us in the internal
administration of the islands, and we learned in New Zealand what can be
the cost of misunderstandings with a native population. On principle,
moreover, we are most averse from any addition to our already unwieldy
territories, and there can be no doubt this country would rather avoid
the annexation if it could do so with a due regard to our duty and our
interests. The latter, perhaps, will be not unfairly balanced, so far as
we are in a position to estimate them. But the relation of the islands
to the slave-traffic raises the gravest questions respecting the
obligation entailed by our position in the Australian Seas, and it may
prove that we can only fulfill this obligation by accepting the offer
which has been so persistently thrust upon us.
