Angry Delegate
p. 34 · Read in the full issue
And
Fiji Liquor Law
ANOTE from a friend in Tahiti in dicates that an unfortunate incident of the South Pacific Conference (heldl in Fiji last April) is far from forgotten., As it happens, I saw the thing break., I was sitting in the Government Build ings in Suva, chatting to a high executive officer, when the telephone rang. He answered it in the flat, unemotional voice characteristic of the British Colonial!
Office.
But his boredom left him in an instant.
He sat up straight, as if he had been stung.
“My God—my God!” he wailed. I could hear, from the telephone vibrations, a voice at the other end rising octave by octave.
My news-hound training sensed an in ternational crisis. It was —but I got nc details then. My friend edged me out, anc ignored me, while he went frantically into action.
In Fiji there is a law very strictly policed, that no native, and no half-caste without European status, shall have alco holic liquor. Certain individuals have liquor permits.
The Conference organisers did a fine job and seemed to have provided foi everything. But no one thought of the liquor laws in relation to the overseas delegates, many of whom were native: or part-native. Delegates from Nev Caledonia and French Oceania live a.
Frenchmen —which means that they par take of light wine regularly at luncheon and dinner.
The Fiji police knew nothing of this and had no instructions. Naturally, then were incidents.
For example, a delegate from Tahiti was M. Paul Berniere, an educated am highly-esteemed man of part-Martiniqui blood. M. Berniere was eating lunch ii a Suva hotel, when a large person ii uniform stood by his table, seized hii bottle of light wine, and glared at him ‘•Don’t you know that natives are no allowed to drink alcoholic liquor?” hi demanded.
M. Berniere —who knows little Englisl; —was at first dumbfounded. Then his ini dignation and anger brought forth torrent of French which caused a stir and a hurried reference to Hig; Authority.
Officialdom, of course, quickly brough the situation to rights. But some face were red before all the explaining am apologising were over.
My Tahiti correspondent says M Berniere still entertains his friends witj the story of how he fought with th police in order to retain his luncheoc
wine in Suva.-