“Marching Rule” Nationalism is Not Dead in BSIP

The Government Only Hopes it is, But-

SOME private residents of the British Solomon Islands Pro tectorate describe as only wishful thinking the official conten tion that Marching Rule—the local nationalist movement —is a spent force.

Marching Rule manifested itself strongly after the war and there have been numerous theories as to its cause—the most popular that it is the result of native contact with large numbers of American troops during the war. Marching Rule was and is a militant movement and was strongest on the island of Malaita which contains about half the population of BSIP, and where the natives have always been dif ficult to handle.

As a result of this nationalism, the rehabilitation of the Solomons was made more difficult. To the neglect of the war years, total de struction of all buildings and in some cases destruction of planta tions, and to total lack of assist ance from the Government in start ing anew, was added total lack of labour, Malaitamen, who traditionally supply most of the BSIP labour market, decided that Malaita should be for the Malaitamen, and the Solomon Islands, generally, for the Solomon Islanders, and refused to go out to work. They would run their own affairs, they said, in their own way. Levy their own taxes; get rid of the white men and thereby succeed to the European’s wealth and power.

This attitude to going out to work had been tempered in the ensuing years by economic necessity and the labour situation now is not as bad as it was in the early post-war years. But Marching Rule still is affecting the labour situation and labour of all kinds is desperately hard to get in the BSIP. It has been reported to us that MR—quite apart from its influence on the labour market—is still very much alive in Malaita, has had a re surgence on San Christoval, and is spreading on Guadalcanal.

AS a counter to MR, the Gov ernment has set up native Councils in Malaita and else where, which are designed to give the natives the local authority they seek, while still keeping them under Government control. Many the leaders of these Councils are adherents of MR, either openly or covertly, and many Europeans see in the Councils a real danger.

We have several letters, written by native councillors to European em ployers of labour, which make it quite clear that these Councils still attempt to control the engagement of labour. The letters are written

in extraordinary English, but the K en . of is: “Send back the JS 10 have gone to work for y you know th<it you must £tsk °ei Whether they think clearly along the lines that by controlling labour they control the economy of the country, or whether it is just blind instinct for throwing a spanner in esulTs 0r a S re IS th°e f sTme C< ” : the results are cne same.

THE Colonial Office, through the BSIP Government, since the war, has made no apologies for actively discouraging European enterprise—firstly by making it as difficult as possible for private Europeans to go back, and then, for those who persisted, levying crippling taxation upon them.

Many people say that the only reason for continued British govern ment in BSIP is in order to lead the natives gently up the virtuous path to self-government and a self supporting native economy.

If the results of eight or nine years since the end of the war are a £y indication, it has been a wasted effort. While the shrewder natives

have availed themselves of some of the benefits provided by the gov ernment, in general, they continue to “hate the Government’s guts.’’

If there was any way of being rid of European government to-morrow, they would obviously welcome it.

One of the letters here before us is from an unfortunate native tax collector who bewails the unwilling ness of the natives to pay taxes to the Government.

THE group of islands that com prise the Solomons make up a fair and fertile country. And, as a country, it is as capable as Fiji or Papua-New Guinea of big development. In actual fact, not one penny of new money has been in vested there since the war. Re habilitation has been made possible only from UK grants, royalties on scrap-iron and ex-war materials, and a buoyant copra market. No investor in his right senses would think twice about the Solomons when there still are much more promising fields for his £’s and $.

And, elsewhere, in spite of high talk and mountains of paper-work in Government offices, only a token scratching has been made at giving the Protectorate a soundly-based native economy. Even under the happiest auspices, at the present BSIP rate of jog-tro + , we should have to wait another 50 years to see any results from that: the natives are too busy being their arrogant selves; or, alternately, too apathetic, to care two hoots for the Colonial Office’s high resolve in this matter.

Perhaps we can afford to wait 50 years. But will the rest of the world? The whole BSIP set-up is, of course, on a high theoretical plane; but realistic, unromantic European residents who hope to make a living out of the country can scarcely be expected to regard it in th i s altruistic light. Small wonder if they see these government-sponsored native councils, not as the begin ning of better things, but as natural forcing beds of native nationalism which, in the very nature of things, must make life even more difficult for the Europeans.

H A RNZAF Sunderland aircraft made a flight from Lauthala Bay, Fiji, to Funafuti and Tarawa, G & E. Islands Colony in late January.

Passengers included Mr. J. A.

Hunter and Mr. Holly, of Metem*ological Office, Nadi; Mr. G. David son, radio engineer of Civil Avia tion Department, Wellington, NZ, and Squadron Leader and Mrs.

Laird currently engaged on mos quito research in the South West Pacific.

U The Rev. Percy Chatterton and Mrs. Chatterton called at Auckland in February en route to England on furlough from Delana mission station, Papua, where they have been stationed since 1939.