The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Baker, Rev. Shirley W.
Baker, Rev. Shirley W., late Premier of Tonga, was sent to Tonga in the year 1860 by the Australian Wesleyan Conference, and remained a missionary for about twenty years, being head of the mission for the latter half of that period, a position which he resigned to become adviser to King George of Tonga and Premier of the Tongan Government. During his residence in the islands he did much to obtain liberty for the people, who previously had been simply serfs of the chiefs. Mr. Baker had also forestalled the doctrine of Henry George many years before "Progress and Poverty" was written, by nationalising the lands of Tonga and enabling each taxpayer to claim land sufficient to assist him in paying his taxes and providing for his family. He also gave the Tongans their flag, and secured for them in 1875 a constitution which is still the law of the land, also a judiciary system embracing police courts and a police force. He compiled a code of laws, and had roads made through all the islands. Instead of the meeting of chiefs to manage the affairs of the kingdom, he gave them a Legislative Assembly, consisting of an equal number of hereditary chiefs and representatives of the people elected by ballot, each taxpayer able to read and write having a vote. He also made education free and compulsory. The public buildings which were put up under his supervision were highly creditable, and the King's private church is reckoned one of the finest pieces of architecture in the South Seas. He also succeeded in getting Tonga acknowledged as an independent kingdom by England, Germany, and America. During the latter part of Mr. Baker's administration as Premier of Tonga, trouble arose between the Government and the Wesleyan Church, owing chiefly to the fact that the absorption of money for the purposes of governing the islands caused a great falling off in the annual collections among the islands for Foreign Missions. After ineffectual attempts to induce the Australasian Wesleyan Conference to confer local government upon the Tongan Church, Mr. Baker established an independent Methodist body under the title of the "Free Church of Tonga," which drew away the majority of natives from the orthodox Wesleyan Church. In these islands religion enters into every relation of life, and the rivalries, political and religious, grew so intense that a discontented faction made an attempt to assassinate Mr. Baker whilst he was out driving. His son and daughter, who occupied seats in the buggy with him, were severely wounded, but Mr. Baker escaped. The offenders were brought to trial, some of them executed, and a considerable number banished for treason against the Government. About this time the administration of Tonga, Samoa, and other Pacific islands became a subject of secret international agreements, and through influences exercised in England Sir John Thurston visited Tonga in a man-of-war in 1890 and forcibly deported Mr. Baker to Fiji, issuing an order against his return to Tonga for a period of two years. A purely native Government, assisted by two European officials in non-political matters, has since ruled the islands. Mr. Baker removed to Auckland, N.Z., where he now resides.