Deaths Of Islands People

The Governor's Troubles re all appreciate the fact that ’s new Governor was handed an ailing job. irst, knowing nothing of Fiji’s jliar difficulties, he had to pre -3 for the Burns Commission. ,t group of difficult critics was sooner out of his hair than there e the December riots, efore the shock of that outburst past, the CSR Co. had locked is with the Indian cane-farmers, the Colony’s major industry was ilysed for months. Meanwhile, e the Burns Report, followed by now-useless Amery Mission i the Colonial Office, metheless, with all possible iwill towards and sympathy for Governor, Fiji residents of races are bound to sum it up i period of stultifying compro * and delay, at a time when the ming circumstances of the my called (and still call) for t strength and purposefulness. )h, for a Templar!” I heard an ;rienced Fijian officer exclaim ’iji, not long ago. How right he ! He remembered Malaya, lere comes a time in the affairs all countries of mixed com ities when the sweet smile, the teous approach and the com nise must be replaced by a firm sion, based on the boss’s con ion of justice and right—and :ed uncompromisingly with the Boot. is not a time for “the rights lemocracy”, especially when, in discussions, democracy gets :ed down in argument and tour. jpressing Picture of Future ider present policies and pro res, I cannot see the Burns being put into operation, pt as an affair of shreds and hes. ie implementation of the 108 emendations so far “accepted” have no perceptible effect upon 3 major problems—in fact, all unintegrated tinkering with the could worsen the problems, solution for Fiji’s economic lems —which really are politico omic problems—simply must be d, soon. hen the Burns Report came I was one who hoped that this d provide the answer—but I at the time that the next step the responsibility of the Gov r and, having been a close rver of Colonial Office pro res for 30 years, I was not >y about the prospect, now believe that, unless some l like a miracle happens in the few months, Fiji can forget t the British Colonial Office as istrument for the implementa of the Burns plan, and a real t should be made by the leaders iji’s communities to arrange a a. Convention, to consider the : of the Colony.

Mr. D. M. McCaig Mr. Devon Francis McCaig, ISO, ED, former soldier, P and T Depart ment official, prison superintendent and publican, died at the CWM Hospital, Suva, on November 29, at the age of 65.

He was born in Suva, and his first position was as a clerk with the General Post Office. He served in the First War. His career with the P and T Department lasted till 1937, when he became an officer in the regular forces.

He rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in command of the Fiji Labour Corps in 1945.

He joined the Prisons Department on demobilisation and became Superintendent of Prisons in 1946.

He retired from the civil service in 1956 and joined the staff of Northern Hotels Ltd.

Mr. McCaig was assistant man ager and subsequently manager of the Beachcomber Hotel, Deuba, and then relieved as manager at Tavua for six months.

Northern Hotels management had intended to place him at Rakiraki as manager, but after a holiday at Deuba he suffered a seizure, from which he died 11 weeks later.

He is survived by his widow, a son, Squadron-Leader Dennis McCaig (of the RAF), and a daughter, Pat (Mrs. A. S. R. Macalister, Suva).

Mrs. Ella Stinson Mrs. Ella Stinson, wife of Mr.

J. B. Stinson and mother of Mr.

Charles Stinson, the Mayor of Suva, died at her home at Tamavua, on November 27. after a long illness.

She was 75. (Photo page 24).

She was born in Glasgow but left there at an early age to settle in Fiji. She married Mr. J. B. Stinson in Fiji, and she and her husband left soon after for Canada.

On their return to Fiji they settled on a plantation on the island of Gau in Lomaiviti and remained there till the depression. They moved to Levuka for a short time, and then moved to Suva, where Mr.

Stinson set up a photographic busi ness which still bears the family name.

Her husband and seven of her nine children survive her. The children are Islay (NZ), Eric (Suva), Billie (Mrs. A. E. Kennard, Suva), Olive (Mrs. H. G. Lee, Mt. Biggs, NZ), Charles (Suva), Rowland (Perth) and Joy (Mrs. Thompson, Feilding, NZ). Two daughters, Inez and Dorothy (Mrs. R. H. Lester), predeceased her.

Mr. H. 0. Fletcher Mr. Harry Ockendon Fletcher, an early New Guinea resident, died at his home at Yungaburra, near

Cairns, on November 11, at the age of 66. He left the territory in 1956.

In 1925, as a patrol officer in the New Guinea Administration he was sent to open up an uncontrolled area on the Rai Coast, where Euro peans had previously been killed.

During this tour of duty he dis covered a lake on Long Island. An Englishman had led the Adminis tration to believe that a fine grassy plateau extended across Long Island, but Mr. Fletcher found that it was in fact a 12-14 miles wide lake, with several thermal springs.

Mr. Fletcher named the lake Lake Wisdom after the then Admin istrator.

His patrol area covered 150 miles of coastline, stretching from Gupol to Morobe. Today the many coconut palms in that area are a tribute to Mr. Fletcher who, on his travels through the villages, stipulated that for every child born, 10 coconuts should be planted.

He left the Administration after two years to take up expropriated property, and bought Salami Planta tion at Manus. During the Second World War the property was burned before the Japanese invasion.

In 1949, Mr. Fletcher sailed in his own ship, the Los Negros, from Sydney to Salami to start afresh. In 1954 he sold Salami and settled in Wau for a brief period and estab lished a citrus orchard. From mid -1958 his health deteriorated and this precipitated his decision to move to Yungaburra. Mr. Fletcher, a Gallipoli veteran, is survived by his widow.