Shape Colony's Future

Fiji's Governor Acts To Shape Colony's Future

By Staff Writers in Sydney and Suva

Fiji’s Governor, Sir Derek Jakeway, has been trying hard lately to find a workable formula for Fiji’s political future and to get Australia to invest more money in the Colony.

SIR DEREK has been showing a drive and capacity for doing things and making decisions that the people of Fiji have not been ac customed to.

He has held a series of conferences with Fiji’s communal leaders on the important questions of wider and more effective use of land and the various voting systems that could be adopted in the Colony—common roll, communal roll, or unrestricted franchise.

He visited Australia in February for frank talks with the heads of the big Australian corporations with interests in Fiji, and also with Aus tralian political leaders and heads of Commonwealth Government departments.

Sir Derek’s main theme in these talks was that Australia, in its own interests, should put more money into Fiji—and that it was better to do this now in a comparatively small way as a matter of policy than to “have to come and dig us out later on” with larger amounts.

Self-Generating

“As Fiji is so near to Australia,” he told a Press conference in Syd ney, “it is in Australia’s interests to see that it is prosperous and stable.

“We want Australian money, skill and experience to increase the momentum of development in Fiji.

With this help, we could become self-generating.”

Specifically, according to a Can berra Press report, Sir Derek asked Commonwealth officials for: • Help with the £5 million Nadi- Suya road, including assistance with design and engineering staff and road building equipment. • The extension of Australian credits on favourable terms to con vert the Fiji Agricultural and Industrial Loans Board into a development bank to feed low interest credit directly to develop mental projects. • Assistance by grants in the maintenance and construction of school buildings, • A form of percentage grants to assist in hospital and medical services development.

Sir Derek Jake way returned to Fiji on February 26, and on the same day the Colonial Office an nounced that a conference would begin in London on July 28 “to discuss changes in the constitution of Fiji, with the aim of making further progress in the direction of self-government.”

The announcement said that all 18 unofficial members of Fiji’s Legislative Council had been invited to the conference—these being six Fijians, six Indians and six Euro peans, representing the three major races in Fiji.

"Common Ground"

According to the Governor, at his Sydney Press conference, it is “com mon ground” among these 18 MLCs that, for the time being, complete self-government is not the goal of Fiji, “We have discussed the form that a continuing link with Britain might take and it was agreed that it should include the appointment of a Governor and the Judges of the Supreme Court; that Britain should continue to be responsible for defence and external affairs; and that the Queen should continue to give assent to legislation,” he said.

“The Indians do not want self government because they know that this would immediately create racial strife.”

Asked about the future possibility of the numerically superior Indians outvoting the Fijians, he said: “It is inconceivable that Britain would permit the Fijians to be placed politically under the heel of an immigrant community.”

Sir Derek Jakeway said it might not be possible to evolve “anything like an existing form of democracy” for Fiji, and that it might be neces sary “to tailor things” to suit Fiji’s conditions.

He said he expected continued pressure from the United Nations to give complete self-government to Fiji, but added that it was often forgotten that the United Nations had prescribed three different ways by which a country could be

“emancipated from colonialism.” The three ways were; • By integration with an existing independent country. • By free association with an existing independent country. • By complete independence.

He added: “I think Britain will take the view that its responsibility is not to the United Nations but to the people of Fiji, and that it will endeavour to implement the solution which is in the best interests of the people of Fiji, and which will get the widest degree of agreement from the people of Fiji.”

At the same Press conference, Sir Derek Jakeway said that the two chief barriers to continued racial harmony in Fiji were the problems of land and politics.

He described these problems as “points of acute friction” among the Fijians and Indians, although he did not think anyone could “detect any form of racial disharmony in Fiji” at present.

On the land question, Sir Derek

made it clear that he sees eye to eye with such authorities as Sir Alan Burns in that the Fijians, who own 87 per cent, of the Colony’s land, must be prepared to allow the Indians to make greater use of it and to lease it on more secure terms than in the past.

“My aim and policy is that there should be reasonable security of tenure for the farmer who is farming his land properly,” he said.

When some of Sir Derek’s state ments were reported in The Fiji Times, Mr. C. A. Patel, the secre tary of the Indian Federation Party, issued a statement which caused the Governor some embarrassment. The statement was: “Our party has always advocated and still advocates that Fiji should be given full internal self-govern ment.

“It is incorrect to say that Indians do not desire self-government in Fiji.

"Grave Concern"

“We note with grave concern that his Excellency has thought fit to describe the Indians by implication that they are an immigrant race and that common roll system of voting is not acceptable or desirable.

“Generally, it is considered that his Excellency’s statements have gravely prejudiced the constitutional talks now being held by the unofficial members of the Legislative Council.

“Our party seeks an official state ment whether the views expressed by his Excellency as reported in The Fiji Times are his personal views or that they are the official views held by the Secretary of State for the Colonies.”

Later, at a Press conference in Suva, Sir Derek said he had been sorry to find that some of his replies to the Press in Australia had been taken amiss, particularly by the Federation Party.

He said he had no idea that the term “immigrant race” was offensive, and he would not use it again. But he meant what he said in that the Fijian people had a special position in Fiji, and this was, in fact, guaranteed by the Deed of Cession.

The Governor said he did not say that the Indians did not want self government (as published), but that complete self-government was not an issue. He claimed that the mis report was probably due to Australian reporters not appreciating the dif ference between the terms self government and independence (see panel).

He added that he had never dis

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cussed a common roll as the Federa tion Party had suggested in a tele gram to the Colonial Secretary, but that Fiji’s special problems would probably merit special treatment.

The Governor’s disclaimers clearly indicate how delicate the political situation is in Fiji, and that great patience, tact, diplomacy and cir cumspection in the use of words will be necessary to make a success of the London conference.

Meanwhile, many people in Fiji take a poor view of the plan to transport the non-official Legco en masse to London for the con ference.

They say: Why transport such a large party to London, at huge expense, when exactly the same purpose could be achieved by allow ing the same people to function as a conference in Suva?

If the idea is that the nomofficial members should talk under the calming influence of high Colonial Office personnel, why not bring these personnel to Fiji—a flight of only

a few hours from London, at a time when Suva’s climate is perfect?

Why the non-official Legco members, anyway? Matters con cerned with constitutional changes were not at issue when they were elected. It is possible—in fact, very likely—that these members will not represent the opinions of their con stituents on constitutional changes.

If a series of broadly-based and, to a degree, alternative proposals on constitutional changes had been an nounced, and the unofficial members had been asked to find out what the people in their districts thought about them, there might have been at least one argument in favor of the Colonial Office procedure.

As it is, its chief merit is that it provides 18 people with the where withal for a picnic in Europe in mid-summer.

The best plan would have been to hold a constitutional convention in Fiji to shape plans and appoint delegates to present these plans at a London conference.