Sir Brian Freeston and the Indian Bogey

BECAUSE of the rapid growth of the politically-aggressive Indian population in Fiji, the Gov ernorship of that Colony, in the past couple of decades, has not been a “cushy” job. Any Governor with almost autocratic powers must, like a judge, subvert all personal feeling to the obligation which is upon him to hold the balance of justice very firmly as between races and classes, prejudices and privileges.

On what is called the “Indian problem” the Governors of Fiji have been singularly silent. It was evident that they felt that only in that way lay the safety of their careers.

The only Governor, in 20 years, who had the courage to be out spoken and forthright on the thorny subject of the future of the Indians in Fiji was Sir Brian Free ston. He caused a stir, a couple of years ago, when he said officially— what everyone was thinking—that if the Indians really wanted to con tribute something to the peace and

security of Fiji, they must exercise birth control.

Privately and publicly, he told the Indians what was going to happen, if events followed the course of the last two or three decades.

Maybe the Indians were in fluenced by what he said. Maybe they were not. But it is a fact that, in the last two or three years, there is a better feeling in Fiji in relation to the Indian problem. Some people seriously believe that the Indians may yet co-operate with the other two races there in seeking a way out of a most difficult situation.

Sir Brian Freeston is retired, and gone to another sphere. Like all Governors, he had his friends and his critics. But he always will be remembered in Fiji as the Governor who had the courage and the honesty to drag the Indian bogey man right out into the open, where it could be frankly examined and discussed by all the three large communities concerned.