Mass Protest

B.S.I. Natives Complain About Tax Exactions and Harsh Treatment in Gizo Gaol.

From a Special Correspondent.

Gizo, Jan. 9.

THE natives of the Gizo district, B.S.I., combined recently in a manner, and to an extent that surprised European residents, in what appears to be an organised effort at passive resistance to the tax demands of the Government.

Over 40 natives having been sent to prison for failure to pay, sympathisers numbering between 600 and 700 congre gated at Gizo, and lodged heated pro tests against the tax exactions, which they claimed constitute a severe hardship at a time when the price they receive for their produce is so small. They also complained that the treatment meted out to their fellow-natives undergoing sen tences of imprisonment was unduly harsh.

The Gizo District Officer assured them that cases where individual natives found difficulty in paying their tax would be closely and sympathetically investigated, but he was satisfied that most of them could pay, and these would be compelled to comply with the law. An investigation would also be made into the manner in which prisoners in gaol were treated. He knew of no case of harsh or ill-treatment.

It is understood that the Methodist Mission, which operates in the district, has made certain representations on behalf of the natives to the High Com missioner for the Western Pacific (Sir Murchison Fletcher) and there, for the present, the matter stands.