A close study of Mr. Baker's work and the resultant code of 1891 shows that the policy of Tonga, like that of Fiji, has throughout been a wise one, and generally the opposite of the policy that was in early days adopted in New Zealand towards the Maori. Instead of breaking up the old institutions by taking away the power and prestige of the

chiefs, these wiser statesmen of the South Sea Islands have tried, and tried successfully, to rule the people through them. Much is done to keep up what the Maoris call the Mana of the hereditary chiefs, and the respect due by the common people to renowned ancestors, as the following laws testify :

"Whoever shall defame the character of any dead person shall be liable to the same punishment as if that person had been alive.

"Salutes as a mark of respect shall be paid to nobles by raising the hand.

"It shall be (still) unlawful for an adult to wear a turban, or hair dressed with lime, or to be without loin garments in the presence of any noble.

"It shall be unlawful to pass any of the nobles on horseback or in any vehicle."

Thus the code of 1891 was wisely adapted to the existing polity of king, chiefs, and common people; a polity only altered so far that it is now turned into a constitutional government of King, Lords, and Commons.

Here, as in all countries, the laws most vital to prosperity and good government are those relating to the birthright of the people :"All land is vested in the Crown and cannot be sold." It is principally granted in the shape of inheritances—inalienable except for felony-to not exceeding thirty-one hereditary chiefs (now called nobles), and through them to the common people. These hereditary nobles have seats in the Legislative Assembly, which is unicameral, and must meet once every three years, unless sooner called together by the king. To it an equal number of commoners are elected by universal male suffrage.

Every Tongan male subject of sixteen years of age and upwards, residing lawfully on any of these estates or on Crown lands, is entitled to a village allotment for his dwelling and to a country allotment for his support. These allotments are hereditary in the male line, and in default of issue revert to the control of the Crown after the death or re-marriage of the allottee's widow, and are then available for re-allotment to others. The area of the islands being small and the land rich, the country sections are small. In some favoured spots, such as in Haapai and sacred Hihifo in Tongatabu, a piece 300 feet square is considered ample for the support of the family. Elsewhere 600 feet square is the maximum. It will be long before readjustment be needed. The land produces so much food, and the wants of the people are so simple, that, if left alone, Tonga can support a much larger population.

The occupiers are compelled to keep their plots clean, and when a dangerous weed, such as the Talatalahina, which is difficult to eradicate, threatens to take possession of the land and kill every other plant, there are special laws against allowing it to grow, and heavy fines for preserving or importing any of the seed. For sowing or maliciously planting it on a neighbour's land the penalty is a fine of 500 dollars, or imprisonment for five years with hard labour.

These sub-divisions of land each yield to the landlord (the hereditary noble or the Crown) the moderate yearly revenue of one dollar. They are called tax-allotments, being subject to a land-tax, which is in reality a poll-tax, of nine dollars annually, secured on the produce of the land, and laid on every male Tongan who has attained the age of sixteen years, whether he hold an allotment of land or not, and on every foreigner. This amount is reducible to four dollars for young men receiving tuition in a Government College, who are not salaried Government servants, and to nil in properly ascertained cases of sickness or infirmity. To ensure payment of this tax the hereditary tenants are not permitted to dispose of or destroy all their permanent improvements. Virtually the nine dollars are secured first on the movable property of the tenant, which is entirely at his disposal, and ultimately on the copra; no one being allowed, without permission from Government, to cut down a cocoanut tree, or even to pluck the nuts, beyond the few needed for immediate food.

The noble has no power to refuse an allotment to any person lawfully residing on his land, nor to dispossess any person who has long occupied a section. Indeed, he has no direct power over the tenant, for all leases are in the name of the king, and even his rent is collected by the Minister of Lands and handed over to him after a deduction of ten per cent. for the Royal Treasury. The hereditary chief is landlord only in name. The occupier is to all intents and purposes purely a Crown tenant. The Minister of Lands signs and registers all leases and transfers of leases. He presides over a land court for the settlement of all disputes, but even he cannot evict an hereditary tenant without proper process of law. Where a tenant wishes to change his residence provision is made for transfers of allotments.

Although only one tax-allotment for each male Tongan is hereditary and registerable, nobles may, if any land remain unoccupied after tax-allotments have been apportioned to all the people residing on his estate, give more allotments to one man; but for this extra land the occupier is only a tenant-at-will of the Government.

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When a tenant dies his allotment descends to his eldest son. latter probably by that time holds one in his own name. the choice of his own or his father's, but cannot hold both. on with all the sons. If all are satisfied with the allotments held in their own names, that of the deceased, otherwise the one rejected in favour of that one, reverts to the owner of the estate, and becomes available for redistribution, very much after the system in ancient Peru.

No difficulty arises from children and unmarried women being landless. Their wants are so simple both in food and clothing that they, instead of being a burden on relatives, are eagerly sought after under the peculiar system of adoption which prevails over the islands of the Pacific Ocean. In most cases girls marry young. In exceptional cases relatives are bound to take charge of them, and all must have relatives of some sort, near or distant.

The deed of allotment runs thus:

"I hereby grant you the allotment known as . . . in the estate of . . . . to be your hereditary allotment so long as you continue to pay taxes, but if you neglect to pay taxes for three years the allotment shall be forfeited. And you shall pay one dollar a year as rent to the hereditary noble, owner of the estate.

"(Signed)

"Minister of Lands."

If the tenant fail for one year to pay his taxes he may be sued by the tax-collector, and if the writ be returned nulla bona a police magistrate may make an order to the Minister of Lands for the temporary forfeiture of the section. At the expiration of two years thereafter, if arrears be not paid in full, an order may be made for a final forfeiture of the land with all its improvements. But any person, against whom an order of final forfeiture has been made, shall be entitled to receive a grant of another tax-allotment in the usual way. In fact, he begins de novo. If he cannot work his relatives must feed him, and he pays no taxes. If he will not work he may starve. But he is not permitted to become a chronically lazy vagabond without means of support. In that event he is summarily charged before the court with idleness (the unpardonable crime here, as in ancient Peru), and on conviction is imprisoned with hard labour for not exceeding three months.

Searching provision is made against ill-use of land. Good often comes out of evil. The unseemly Theologico land disputes of the previous decade have produced the following law:

"It shall be unlawful for any religious body holding land upon lease to use such leased lands for any other than religious purposes (which includes temporary use for a village tax-allotment by the minister of the denomination), or to sell or sublet such land for any other purpose. And if any religious body shall be proved to have infringed the provision of this section the lease shall be cancelled, and such land shall at once revert to the Crown or to the noble in whose inheritance such land is included."

(There must be thirty members of a church in any town or village before a lease for religious purposes can be granted.)

How much bloodshed would have been avoided had such an admirable law existed in New Zealand in the early days!

Tonga is rightly jealous, not only of religious bodies, but of any foreigner getting grasp on the birthright of its people, as will be noted by the clauses of the Land Act hereafter quoted. Only a few strips of land fronting the beach are leased to foreign traders, under onerous conditions.

The law runs as follows:

"All the foreshore of the kingdom, from fifty feet above high-water mark, is the property of the Crown . . . and permits may be granted to foreigners to erect stores and jetties or to reside there. . . . But such permits shall not be transferable . . . and if the holder should die before the expiry of the permit the land shall revert to the Crown.

"If after satisfying the needs of all his commoners a noble have land remaining unoccupied, he may grant leases to foreigners, but no lease may exceed ninety-nine years, and 'all deeds to foreigners must be in the name of the king and in accordance with the Constitution, and registered in the office of the Minister of Lands, and no land shall be held by a foreigner except upon a lease or permit signed by the Minister of Lands'; and 'whoever being a Tongan subject, whether chief or commoner, shall sell or convey any land to any person shall, on conviction, be imprisoned with hard labour for not exceeding ten years'; and if he permit any foreigner to reside upon any land without first obtaining written permission from the Minister of Lands he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding 500 dollars, or be imprisoned with hard labour for not exceeding twelve months in default of payment.' 'The foreigner breaking the law is also punished."

With these exceptions all the land is divided among the native families, and, being inalienable, has no market value. The use of it can only be acquired by a European through a native wife, who, in her turn, is unable to vest even his own improvements in her foreign husband. The whole of the central parts of the islands therefore belong to the natives, who are well off and happy without working much, and are burdened with no anxieties about the future. If they want to buy luxuries they simply pick a few oranges or bananas, or open a few cocoanuts and dry the inside part into copra, for barter with the white traders.

In old New Zealand days Europeans lived with Maoris until they wormed valuable blocks of land out of their confiding and generous hosts. Storekeepers also, of malice prepense, gave unlimited credit and intoxicating liquors to the unfortunate chiefs, and then for payment suddenly foreclosed on their lands. The enlightened framers of law in Tonga knew how to deal with such land sharks. In addition to the admirable Liquor Laws described in Chapter V., and which alone are