Dispute Over Pay
Prior to the start of the Second World War, soldiers had served voluntarily and were paid "capitation grants" according to efficiency ratings without regard to race. On 8 September 1939 (One week after the Nazi invasion of Poland), Fiji mobilised its Defence Force and changed its system of wages under which European privates were paid four shillings per day and non-European privates two shillings per day. The Indian platoon members refused to accept their pay. The Commandant of the Fiji Defence Force asked for the every member of the platoon to be dismissed. The Governor refused to dismiss them and praised the European second lieutenant who persuaded them to accept non-European pay.
Read more about this topic: Indian Platoon (Fiji)
Famous quotes containing the words dispute and/or pay:
“The king said, -Divide the living boy in two; then give half to the one, and half to the other. But the woman whose son was alive said to the king -because compassion for her son burned within her - -Please, my lord, give her the living boy; certainly do not kill him! The other said, -It shall be neither mine nor yours; divide it. Then the king responded: -Give the first woman the living boy; do not kill him. She is his mother.”
—Bible: Hebrew, 1 Kings. 3:25-37.
Solomon resolves a dispute between two women over a child. Solomon’s wisdom was proven by this story.
“Thy due from me
Is tears and heavy sorrows of the blood,
Which nature, love, and filial tenderness
Shall, O dear father, pay thee plenteously.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)