At first sight such behavior must appear autocratic, to say the

least, but it should be remembered that a high chief has it in
his power fully to recompense those about him, and this without
the payment of a penny
At first sight such behavior must appear autocratic, to say the
least, but it should be remembered that a high chief has it in
his power fully to recompense those about him, and this without
the payment of a penny. Indeed, many intelligent natives still
regret the introduction of money into their land, saying that
all the white man"s selfishness had been developed through its
omnipotence. In Fiji to-day there are no poor, for such would
be fed and given a house by those who lived beside them. The
white man"s callous brutality in ignoring the appeal of misery
is incomprehensible to the natives of Fiji. 'Progress' they
have not in the sense that one man possesses vast wealth and
many around him struggle helplessly, doomed to life-long
poverty; nor have they ambition to toil beyond that occasional
employment required to satisfy immediate wants. Yet if life be
happy in proportion as the summation of its moments be
contented, the Fijians are far happier than we. Old men and
women rest beneath the shade of cocoa-palms and sing with the
youths and maidens, and the care-worn faces and bent bodies of
'civilization' are still unknown in Fiji. They still have
something we have lost and never can regain.