Centenary Of
pp. 31-33 · Read in the full issue
Tonga Celebrates Centenary Of Emancipation
From a Nukualofa Correspondent
The centenary of Tongan
emancipation will be celebrated on a lavish scale with festivities lasting over three days from June 4, and VlP’s attending as honoured guests from surround
ing territories.
fpHE guests will include the Gover nor of Fiji, Sir Kenneth Mad docks, and Lady Maddocks, and the Prime Minister of Western Samoa, Fiame Mataafa.
The festivities will begin in Nuku alofa with a combined Church service, followed by a march past of school children, the laying of wreaths on the Royal Tombs, a ceremony at the saluting base outside the Royal palace and the firing of a 21 gun salute.
A two-day brass bands competition will start in the afternoon and there will be a demonstration of police dogs recently trained in Australia.
At 6.30 p.m. Queen Salote will open the new Tongan High School building.
The next day, June 5, there will be a sports meeting and a grand feast on the mala’e attended by the Queen,
owed by singing and dancing. That ding there will be a ball, hi June 6 there will be more rts, another feast on the mala’e, in attended by the Queen and e singing and dancing, here will be a cocktail party in evening, followed by probably highlight of the festivities—the akapakanava. In this the whole ;t line around Nukualofa will be with burning torches held aloft he edge of the beach, onga’s first Emancipation Day June 4, 1862, and the date has i held as an annual holiday ever e. On the first Emancipation Day festivities lasted for two months, ng which Tongans as well as ors from Samoa and Fiji, got ugh 150,000 yams and 9,000 pigs, mancipation Day celebrates the blishment of a constitutional larchy. he first king of all Tonga, King rge I, was elected Tui Kanokupolu eorge Tupou I, in 1845, at a ; when the Tongan chiefs were not united and there was civil in Tonga. It was not until 1852 the last war ended and George I id himself king of a united state, 'ode applying to all Tonga was ared on June 4, 1862, after the representative parliament met, he new Code laid down that ials were to be paid and other anal expenses were to be met out government revenue. The first ’s poll tax was fixed at three u*s, and chiefs were to allot :ient portions of land to all males 16 who would hold it as long ley paid taxes and rent, ae Code said that all Tongans ! to be subject to the law of the , the people were to be set free i forced labour and from being ;d to give contributions to the h and they were to be given com : control over their own property, ag was designed. acre was, however, no settled amentary government at that . After the first parliamentary on in 1862, others followed in r , 1870 and 1874. n November 4, 1875, Tonga at :d its Constitution proper, which created after the example of the sh constitutional monarchy.