774 



Review of Reviews, i/io/is. 



TOPICS OF THE MONTH. 



XV.-THE FAILURE OF CONDOMINIUM IN THE 



NEW HEBRIDES. 



Six years ago the New Hebrides came 

 under the joint ruie of Great Britain 

 and France, a condominium being pro- 

 claimed in Vila — the capital — on De- 

 cember 2nd, 1907. Since then the British 

 and French flags have floated together 

 over the islands, and Britain is now 

 jointly responsible for everything that 

 goes on there. The united rule took the 

 place of the previous neutral arrange- 

 ments which had worked so badly since 

 1878. The object of the Condominium 

 was to secure settled government for the 

 New Hebrides, protection for the natives 

 and a permanent settlement of the land 

 question. It has achieved none of these 

 things ; has, in fact, amply verified the 

 dismal predictions made here when the 

 agreement was arrived at. Undoubtedly 

 it was an honest attempt on the part of 

 the two great Powers to settle a difficult 

 situation, but even if the local officials 

 had done their utmost to carry out the 

 earnest desire of the home statesmen 

 who concluded the agreement, which they 

 apparently have not, the Condominiur 

 was foredoomed to lamentable failure. 



Six years' experience has conclusively 

 proved that the present arrangement 

 cannot continue. So far as the judicial 

 treatment of the natives is concerned. 

 French and English law mix together 

 about as well as oil and water. The dif- 

 ference is basic and fundamental. This 

 being so, dual control of a native popu- 

 lation becomes hopeless. The only solu- 

 tion is that Great Britain or France 

 shall have sole control, and for the sake 

 of the natives it is to be hoped it will 

 not be the latter. There can be only one 

 code of law enforced on the natives 

 throughout the islands ; at present there 

 are two. What is right and permitted 

 under one is wrong and not allowed 

 under the other. As. a result injustice 

 and misunderstanding are rife. Under 



French law the acts of officials are re- 

 garded as almost sacred, and in com- 

 parison a native's word counts for little. 

 Under English law the native and the 

 official appear before the judge on an 

 equal footing. 



METHOD OF GOVERNMENT. 



The Condominium method of govern- 

 ment is as follows: — Each Power has 

 its own Resident Commissioner with his 

 administrative staff, while the adminis- 

 tration of justice is placed in the hands 

 of the Joint Court. This court consists 

 of three judges — a president who is 

 nominated by the King of Spain, a Bri- 

 tish judge, and a French judge. The 

 Public Prosecutor is a Spaniard, and the 

 Registrar is a Dutchman, as is also the 

 Natives' Advocate. The other officials 

 consist of an equal number of British 

 and French. The court has no power to 

 enforce its own judgments. These must 

 be executed by the Resident Commis- 

 sioner of the country to which the de- 

 fendant belongs. Another limitation is 

 that it cannot inflict penalties beyond a 

 fine of £20 or one month's imprison- 

 ment. Besides the Joint Court there is 

 the Mixed Naval Commission, which 

 deals with all cases in which natives 

 only are concerned, and the British and 

 French National Courts, which deal 

 with cases outside the jurisdiction of the 

 Joint Court in which their own nationals 

 are defendants. Still another court is 

 that in which the Resident Commis- 

 sioner deals with minor offences, and 

 with cases of non-repatriation of labour. 



CAUSE OF FAILURE. 



Although the basic difference between 

 the two codes of law is really respon- 

 sible for the hopeless state of affairs, 

 the immediate failure of the Condo- 

 minium has been actually brought about 



