French Colony
pp. 56-57 · Read in the full issue
New Hebrides Now May Become
Important Effect of New Anglo-French Relationship
Written for “Pacific Islands Monthly” by M.F.
THE unanimity with which the pro posal for closer collaboration be tween the Allies has been accepted as a desirable principle must be grati fying to those who have long urged federation as the only way to more vigorous prosecution of the war.
Even though, since the outbreak of war, the Allies have been conducting hostilities in closer co-operation than ever was contemplated during the last war, they had gone only half-way to wards the attainment of federalism.
British and French soldiers had been fighting side by side under a common French command; British and French ships had been together, patrolling the seven seas; but only now, after six months of war, have the two Allied Governments gone the whole way and created a real political and economic entity.
A fitting corollary to the proclamation of Allied solidarity is the recent announcement of Mr. Malcolm MacDon ald, Colonial Secretary, that henceforth there is to be permanent liaison between
the British and French Colonial Offices.
The task of Colonial Government is no longer to be one of exclusive national concern and national interests, but one of international collaboration for the benefit of Colonial peoples. Instead of exploitation, native well-being in future has to be the primary consideration: and Colonial Governments are directed to give redoubled attention to “health, education and housing”. In order to ensure unity of purpose and action, con ferences are to be held, at stated inter vals, to facilitate co-operation betweeh the overseas Administrations of the two Powers.
THE first reaction of many people acquainted with the complex situa tion in the New Hebrides was to ask, What effect will such a federa tion have on the Condominium?
It would be a strange denouement if the adoption of federation, between Britain and France, should foreshadow the doom of federation in the New Hebrides, and bring about the dissolu tion of dual control. A “new deal”, of the kind contemplated, besides contri buting to the resolute prosecution of the war in other Colonies, will produce, in the case of the New Hebrides, startling repercussions in the elimination of need less expenditure of money and effort.
From the standpoint of economy and efficiency, it long has been recognised that the Condominium would be super ceded by a Unidominium. On every hand, it is acknowledged that a system of government, which legalised an Ad ministration in duplicate and the Judges of the Joint Court in triplicate, could not remain a permanent institution.
For the advancement of the native race, and the prosperity of the Islands, it was imperative that such an ungainly make shift should be superceded by a pro gressive form of government.
Some degree of extenuation might be made were it shown that Dual Control operated amid a dense population with divergent customs, but the real situa tion is quite different. The Condomi nium exercises jurisdiction over a popu lation of less than 1,000 Europeans, a dwindling population of about 40,000 native aboriginals, and a fluctuating group of Asiatics, composed mostly of indentured labourers from French Indo- China.
The new provisions announced by the Colonial Secretary include health and educational reforms which will prove a tremendous boon in promoting the con servation and development of the native races. But, so far, nothing has been done by the British side of the Adminis tration to foster medical and educa tional progress in the New Hebrides.
These services have been sponsored entirely by the Missions.
The French authorities, on the other hand, with their instinctive realism, have recognised their responsibilities and provided medical and educational facili ties. They, too, in sharp contrast to the apathy displayed by the British Gov ernment, promoted the economic devel opment of the Islands, and were re
warded with the inevitable result that the colonisation and exports of the Group passed almost entirely into their hands.
Should the co-ordination of Allied Colonial efforts result in the breakdown of the Condominium the assumption of undivided sovereignty by the French Administration would be unavoidable.
AT one time, it was believed that, if Britain decided to sever her con nection with the New Hebrides, Australia might assume the partnership with France. But the Commonwealth has never shown the slightest inclina tion to assume the responsibility, and now is definitely opposed to it. It now is generally recognised that the task con fronting Australia in Papua and the Mandated Territories is sufficient to tax all her available resources.
Even those who favoured the reten tion of the New Hebrides by Australia, as a link in the chain of its outer de fences, now realise that the unity of the relationship between France and Britain has changed the situation, and that the Group is safe in the keeping of France.
Due weight also must be attached to the incidence of geography. The New Hebrides forms, with New Caledonia, an integral part of the archipelago—the New Cyclades of Bougainville—and gives France a paramount claim to the islands.
So friendly has been the relationship in the New Hebrides between the French Administration and British resi dents, traders and missionaries, that it is freely acknowledged that the acti vities of Britishers, under French rule, would continue unimpeded. Indeed, in the difficult times through which the islands recently have passed the British trader only succeeded in making ends meet by sharing in the inflated price for copra which the subsidy granted to French colonists made possible.
The only restrictions that are likely to arise would be in the curriculum of the training colleges, connected with the British Missions. Hitherto, English has been the lingua franca. The likeli hood is that, in a French Colony, the condition would be imposed of substitut ing the French language for English.
In the mission schools and churches throughout the Group no such difficulty would arise, because instruction is im parted in the vernacular, and this prac tice would undoubtedly be encouraged by a progressive French Administration.