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REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



October 1, 1913. 



of English law to his colleagues, and 

 the Court should follow without demur 

 the opinion given by him. He is obvi- 

 ously overruled again and again, but, 

 once more following French procedure, 

 the judges do not give individual judg- 

 ments. If the British judge did not 

 agree with the decision, and said so 

 from the bench, it would certainly raise 

 the prestige of the Joint Court in the 

 eyes of the British settlers. 



FRENCH V. BRITISH METHODS. 



The difference in the way in which the 

 two Residents carry out the sentences of 

 the Joint Court is well shown in the 

 recent trials for non-payment of wages 

 and illegal detention of natives. There 

 are plenty of cases brought against 

 French settlers, but only one English- 

 man was so sued. He was convicted and 

 the British Resident at once executed the 

 judgment, although the man's planta- 

 tion had to be sold to pay the natives 

 their arrears of wages. Last December 

 the Court condemned a French planter 

 to pay up £120 of arrears, but not one 

 penny has been paid, because the French 

 Resident will not execute the judgment 

 of the Court. Instances might be mul- 

 tiplied. Encouraged by this laxity 

 on the part of the French admin- 

 istration many French planters are not 

 paying their labourers, creating what is 

 practically slavery open and unashamed. 



So notorious is the way in which 

 planters and recruiters' delinquencies 

 are covered up by official letters and 

 certificates that the Public Prosecutor, a 

 Spaniard, declared in court recently that 

 " in future he could put no reliance on 

 official certificates emanating from the 

 French Residency." This is a pretty 

 strong statement to make, but it is per- 

 haps the best illustration of the hope- 

 lessness of working the Condominium 

 successfully. 



If a change is not made, and that 

 speedily, it will be too late to save the 

 natives. The grog-selling carried on 

 with impunity by the French threatens 

 them with speedy extinction. It could 

 easily be put down if the French would 

 co-operate with the British. Instead of 



doing so we find the records of the 

 Joint Court full of convictions for the 

 sale of drink registered against French 

 subjects ; but the penalties are so ridi- 

 culously light that even in the rare in- 

 stances in which they are collected it 

 pays the Frenchman to go on selling in 

 defiance of the Condominium. The re- 

 sult is that intoxicants are as freely sold 

 in the New Hebrides to-day as they 

 ever were, and the ravages are appal- 



ling. 



WHAT CAN WE DO? 



We in Australia are taking an ever- 

 increasing interest in the future of the 

 Pacific. Deputations have urged upon 

 the Government the need of ending the 

 sorry state of things in the New Heb- 

 rides, and the advisability of acquiring 

 New Caledonia from France. If Aus- 

 tralia as a whole is really anxious to 

 take over these islands, and if the AN.A. 

 can be regarded as truly voicing her 

 views about New Caledonia, how should 

 she set to work to bring about her de- 

 sires ? We are not in a position to drive 

 any bargain with France — that must be 

 done through Great Britain ; but we 

 ought to be able to help the Home 

 diplomatists considerably by working 

 out some practical scheme which will 

 not throw all the burden upon the 

 Homeland. A territorial bargain is the 

 usual solution suggested here — but not 

 Australian territory, rather some quid 

 pro quo in Africa, for the abandonment 

 of French rights and territory in the 

 Islands. Such bargains are constantly 

 being made. England gave up Heli- 

 goland to obtain a satisfactory settle- 

 ment in Zanzibar. France gave Ger- 

 many a portion of her Central African 

 possessions to smooth over her occupa- 

 tion of Morocco. So far as Australia is 

 concerned, though, she can have no part 

 or parcel in such a deal. If, however, it 

 came to be a question of buying out 

 French interests in the New Hebrides, 

 some proposal from Australia would 

 undoubtedly be of considerable help to 

 the negotiators at Home. At present 

 it should be remembered that the ad- 

 ministration of the Islands costs the 

 British taxpayer several thousands every 

 year. 



