A HISTORY OF FIJI 37 



witnessed the cruelties of the disastrous native war in New Zealand, 

 and knew full well how difficult it is to graft a European civilization 

 upon a Polynesian stock. Fortunately there were high-principled men 

 to whom he could turn for advice, and he did well in seeking the coun- 

 cils of Mr. John Thurston, long a resident in Fiji. 



The annual poll tax of £1 per man and 4s. per woman which 

 Thakombau's government had imposed was working ruin and death in 

 Fiji. It was impossible for the natives to earn so large a sum, but the 

 white planters eagerly paid the taxes and then "indentured" the 

 wretched creatures, who were forced to work upon the plantations of 

 their white masters at a wage so low that they toiled for 280 days in 

 the year simply to repay the tax which the planter had paid to the 

 government. Thus were the Fijians being entrapped into a bitter and 

 unnatural bondage more merciless than the orgies of the worst period 

 of cannibal days. 



But Sir Arthur Gordon and Mr. Thurston soon tore loose the 

 shackles of the slaves, despite the angry protests and threats of the 

 whites in Fiji. Their plan was that each district be obliged to main- 

 tain a garden of copra, cotton, candle-nuts, tobacco, coffee or other 

 produce, or to supplement this by the manufacture of mats or other 

 articles of trade, and at the end of each year the products were 

 to be sold under government supervision to the highest bidder and 

 any money received over and above that of the district tax was to be 

 returned to the district itself and divided among the taxpayers. This 

 simple plan, which closely accords with their ancient manner of rais- 

 ing tribute, has encouraged industry among the natives, shielded them 

 from the avarice of traders, secured to them their lands, and each year 

 produced a sum considerably in excess of the taxes. 5 



Excellent as this plan was, it remained deficient in one important 

 respect, for the government made no effort to establish manual-training 

 schools wherein old crafts might be improved and new ones developed. 

 Education in Fiji has been confined to religion and the "three K's," 

 and inspiring as it is to witness the son of a cannibal extracting cube 

 roots and solving quadratic equations, one inclines to the opinion that 

 the prodigy's future life would be better assured of a career of useful 

 service to the world and of happiness to himself had he been taught to 

 be a good carpenter, mason, farmer or decorator. It is certainly un- 

 fortunate that, having ingeniously created a market for the products 

 of Fijian labor, the English failed to improve the earning capacity 

 of the natives, thus losing an unique opportunity to stimulate an in- 

 terest in the useful arts that might soon have obliterated the apathy 

 of the downcast race. 



5 Becently some of the districts have been permitted, subject to consent of 

 the Governor, to pay their tax in money. 



