THE Report: Fiji

Thinks It Over

On outside appearances there is nothing of consuming interes in “Fiji Legislative Council Paper No. 1 of 1960”, which is a blu covered book of 154 pages, but it caused plenty of excitement whe it appeared for the first time in Fiji on March 14.

THE Burns Report—the result of many months work last year by a commission of three —Sir Alan Burns, Mr. T. Y.

Watson and Professor A. T.

Peacock—had been long awaited as a blueprint that might solve Fiji’s growing ills.

Even the Suva riots of last December brought little in the way of remedial action by the Government, for it was waiting first to see what the Burns Re port had to say.

Can Solve Ills The Burns Report can, with care, solve the growing ills (see opposite) but because of the physical size of the Report itself, and the fact that first transla tions into the Fijian language were only sketchy, that fact was not immediately obvious in Fiji.

While undoubtedly the Report, in the words of the Fiji Times, “sent a blast of fresh air into stuffy corners,” it was almost impossible the first week to assess the public reaction. But soon it began to grow clear that the Report had administered a sharp shock to a good many people, who for the first time had to admit to themselves that they had been pretending that things really hadn’t been as serious as the Burns Report now said they were.

By early April it seemed that the real reactions were only now beginning and that there were plenty of opinions to be heard before the document would cease to be the most vital topic of discussion for years.

Digging in Heels

It was becoming obvious that some Fijian leaders were going to dig in their heels at the re commendation that the Fijian Administration be gradually abolished and absorbed by the central Government. There would be moves, it seemed, to retain the status quo in Fijian affairs, although Burns intends that the Fijian administration will be re

placed with Local Governmen Fijian leaders organised ; public meeting in Suva on Mard 31, but nothing of consequenc came out of it and it ended b making no decisions or recom mendations.

There were critics, too, wh said there had been “too mud telling and not enough per suasion”; that the commissio: should have tried to sell its idea first, although how this shoul have been done the critics did nc say.

First response by the Govern ment was to place an advertise ment asking people to submi written views on the Report’s re commendations.

Discussions First

Governor Sir Kennet Maddocks said on March 28 tha recommendations in the which particularly affected th Fijian people “would be fully dis cussed with them before decisior were made.”

But despite these appearance of being anxious to tread ward; the central Government at to levels was in fact imbued wit a “now or never” feeling badly wanted the big UK grar that would help to start the bai rolling, and it knew it couldni get the money on good o! kerekere terms.

The month of April, accordin' to the observers, would no douU bring some important new de velopments on Fiji Legislativ Council Paper No. 1, but most ♦ all it would bring the realisatic that the Burns’ way was til only way.