Will Australia Ever be Jin Empire ? 



for the protection of the very principles that make 

 national Ijfe possible, ne must immediately and pro- 

 foundly analysi' tlie clcnu'iits that play on surli a 

 heterogeneous mass of luunanity as wi' hold heneatli 

 the ensigns of Britain. 



The paternal care of our Government in rolatinn to 

 some of the more numerous of our alien peoples is 

 lessening the native death rate, and greatly increas- 

 ing the birth rate. This is strikingly true of India. 

 There the cessation of tribal wars, the prevention of 

 famine (through irrigation), and the application of 

 sanitary laws an<! medical science, have given facili- 

 ties for the enormous increase of the people. Elemen- 

 tary and t<>chnical education also open up astonishing 

 vistas to these people. Religion, m the form of mis- 

 sionary enterpri,se, is fast changing the moral nature, 

 and unfolding the mentality of vast numbers who 

 were tornierly fast hound in the fetters of ancient 

 superstitions. Not only is the ma.ss of the people in 

 India becoming greater in bulk, but each individuil 

 member of that remarkable race is expanding in per- 

 sonality and becoming a mightier unit than was pos- 

 sible prior to liritish administration. 



While these things are true as they applv to tribes 

 and nations within our Empire, they are also true as 

 they apply to independent nations like China and 

 Japan. Kach of these nations not only carries an 

 immens.' population, but is po.ssessed of latent poten- 

 tialities, the development of which may mean the 

 alteration of many a geographical line. It is not wise 

 to take it for granted that the boundaries of these 

 great peoples will never expand. It is not reasonable 

 to believe that the example of Britain will not cause 

 these alien races to dream of colonisation. When that 

 dream takes the form of actual interpretation, what 

 then will bo th(> po,sitinn of Australian civilisation? 



when obtained, quite inadequate for the production of 

 sugar-cane, the company was forced to look beyond 

 the .South Seas for its field hands. J^inally. with the 

 assistance of the British Government, the company 

 has been able to inaugurate a s.vstem of indentured 

 coolie-labour. This immigration of coolies has re- 

 sulted in placing about .50,000 Indian people in Fiji. 

 Extensive as are the company's operations in Fiji 

 to-day, there are indications that their industry is in 

 its babyhood. Extensive tracts of country on two of 

 the large«t i^slands are now producing caiie to supply 

 inimense mills that are working to their utmost cap-i- 

 city. Besides the operations of the Colonial Sugar 

 Company there are other companies carrying on pro- 

 htable investments in other parts of these islands. 



Having recently visited Fiji, after an absence of 

 fifteen years, the writer was surprised, and not a little 

 <lelighte<l, to note the extensive commercial and in- 

 dustrial improvements that lia\-e taken place in .so 

 .short a peiiod. The introduction of scores of thou- 

 sands of Indians, who are increasing at the rate of 

 some five thousand per annum, is rapidly creating a 

 new set of circumstances that must most profoundly 

 affect, as the years pass, not only a few scattertnl 

 archipelagoes in the Pacific, but also the commercial 

 ami political outlook of .\ustrnlia — to say nothing of 

 the retlcx influence that may be produced on India, 

 China and Japan. 



It is patent to one who has lived and laboured for 

 a considerable number of years amongst the Fiiims 

 that, unless the race is .soon to possess itself of indi- 

 vidual and racial powers that it has not yet mani- 

 fested, it will be quite incapable of permanent and 

 successful coinpetitiou with the marvellously indus- 

 trious and keenly intelligent Indians who hiive come 

 to make their home in Fiji. 



WHEN THE .VLIEX SEA lURSTS ITS DYKES. 



The all-important question to Australia is this: 

 when thi.« pent-up alien sea bursts its dykes, will it 

 flow north or .south? Looking northward and east- 

 ward ol .Vustralia we ma.v see some fifteen millions of 

 square miles of sea-floor strewn with archipelagoes, j> 

 wIio.se indigenous peoples are comparatively few, and, 

 in some instances, rapidly diminishing. These island- 

 groups are simply ideal as arenas for the development 

 ■ f Eastern peoples. 



The Pacific Islanders have manifested no particular 

 genius for self-government, for extensive trade, or for 

 invention. With half-closed eyes they dream, and 

 drift, ami<l the clash and competition both of war 

 and commerce. For nearly thirty years a trickling 

 stream of alien immigration has been running from 

 India into the Fijian group. Foreign missionary 

 enterprise commencing in Fiji in the year IS.^.'). and. 

 facing a system of cannibalistic savagery and moral 

 debauchery .so terrible that it almost outruns the 

 limits of human i^redence. sjicceeded, after some fifty 

 years of <launtleHs endeavour, in practically subjugat- 

 ing the whole country to Christianity. At last, ni.ide 

 safe for all coimrs, Fiji has siuldenly develop(><l into 

 considerable commercial and industrial importance. 

 To-<lay one of the most succeR.Hfiil industrial experi- 

 ments in the group is that condiwtifl by the Colonial 

 Sugar Kefining (ompany. This huge company liai 



investod capital in Fiji that rvins into .seven figures. 

 and is giving evi-ry promise of growing into a still 

 more prodigious corporation. 



FIFTY TIKtfTSANI) ASIATIC I.NVADEHS 



Finding, after considerabh' experience, that Fijian 

 mil Polynesiuii labour wav difTicuIt to obtain, and. 



A RAPIDLY DYING RACE. 



The ohl traditions, legends and even authenticated 

 history go to prove that for centuries the Fijiaiis have 



been rapidly diminishing. During the last thirty-five 

 ears there has been a reiii.-irkable decrease of about 

 4,000 of these fine people. Under Governmental ad- 

 ministration that has honestly attempted to be pater- 

 nal, the decrease has never been seriously arrested. 

 But now, under the strenuous competition occasioned 

 by the introtluction of such a greedy and restless 

 petjplo as tho Indian-coolies, there is less likelihood of 

 the Fijian declension being stopped. 



It is stated by men who know the remarkable pro- 

 ductiveness of the ,soil that Fiji is capable of sustain- 

 ing about 2,000,000 Indians. It may happen that 

 within tli(> next fifty years Fiji may be carrying an 

 Indian population approximating to a million souls. 

 With their pride, ambition ami ,strong commercial 

 tendencies, it is highly improbable that these people 

 will be content to confine their energies to Fiji ahuie. 

 As opportunities offer it is likely that they will 

 migrate' to other Islainl-grdups that lie within two or 

 three tlioiisand miles of our coast. 



A NOBLE NATIONAL DESTINY. 



More, then, is an important call to .-Xustralian Chris- 

 tianity and to Australian commercial enterprise. To 

 purmit thesi- pi'ople to come into the possession of 

 iiioii<>y. and land. an<l inlucation. without the balanc- 

 ing and colli rolling power of Christianity, will he a 

 serious menace to thi' Comnioiiwealth. But .\ustralian 

 politicians will certainly have to reconstruct their 

 ideas of alien raci>« before it will be possible for this 

 CoiBinoawcalth to dream of exercising government 



