Bitter Argument
p. 59 · Read in the full issue
About Cook Is. Politics
WRITING from Srinigar , Kashmir, India, Mr. H. Marshall sends a cut ting of a long article in “The States man” about “Unrest in the Cook Islands ” and makes some acid comment : ONE year ago, in Sigatoka, Fiji, the editor of PIM heard some comments on the administration of Cook Islands.
He was much amused! From the en closed cutting (Calcutta Statesman ) it appears that conditions in those Islands have become news.
The New Zealand Administration of the Cook Islands has just one policy—to do exactly nothing that would raise the status of the Islanders.
The Commissioner, whether competent or not, could do little under present con ditions. Antagonism to Europeans is growing all the time, and will continue to grow unless the exploitation of the Islanders is stopped.
It is indeed unfortunate that an orig inally pleasant people should have de veloped into the existing sulky commun ity. They could even follow the example of Samoa, where the effects of New Zea land rule were made evident some years ago. Nor is it entirely impossible for Cook Islands unrest to affect the Maoris in New Zealand.
One can only hope that publicity will force the New Zealand Government to institute reforms—or better, to hand the islands over to the Western Pacific High Commmission.
EDITORIAL NOTE: The article in The Statesman of July 17 is a Reuter message from Wellington, and, unhap pily, it appears to be based on the pro paganda and allegations of the Cook Islands Progressive Association, which has its headquarters in Auckland. The latter is an off-shoot of the Auckland General Labourers Union which is re garded as a Communist set-up.