New Guinea.

Praise For Public Servants of New Guinea.

[To The Editor.] Sir, —Having in mind that “Fair play is bonnie play,” I could not allow the article in the August number of The Pacific Islands Monthly, “New Roads in the Territory,” to pass without a mild protest.

For an old resident to say the Kokopo Road is not as good as it was 10 years ago is quite wrong, and to say that no one seems to care is most unfair to the Roadmasters. All our Roadmasters are smart, conscientious lads, always on their jobs. As soon as rain falls heavy enough to cause a rut in the road they have their boys on it immediately and it is soon re paired.

I live in Kokopo, so I know the road well, and have seen the improvements made. To-day, the road is half as wide again as it used to be, the road at the bends at Raluana is twice the width, and the grades on all the hills have been reduced. The motor traffic between Kokopo and Rabaul has in creased considerably during the last five years, and the road has been im proved as necessity arose.

Ten years ago it would have been interesting to see a man handling fully loaded five-ton lorry round the hair-pin bend at Kuradui, which is the way the road passed in those days, and at the bends at Raluana one has only to think of the accidents that often took place until a few years ago. Now we have natives driving heavy lorries round them at a fair pace and plenty of room to avoid ac cidents.

On the Kavieng road, there were no motors in the German time —the only vehicles that passed over it were light sulkies. Riding in a car to-day at 30 miles an hour is a very different ex perience from riding in a sulky in the German time at about six, so again the comparison is not fair. The old story (which seems to be told to all visitors to the Territory) about Bulo miniski’s treatment of the natives when he found the road bad makes one smile. If the road was bad for a sulky to pass over, it must have been bad indeed, and to-day, if any of our Dis trict Officers found any such patches,

those responsible would be dealt with just as severely as in the German time.

From the stories that reach us from Australia one would think this place, instead of progressing rapidly, is going back and will continue to do so until Germany steps in to straighten things out.

There were many able administrators in the German time, and I raise my hat to their memory; but we have equally as clever men to-day, and, given the same authority and freedom that the German District Officers en joyed, would soon prove themselves and become as distinguished.

We who have adopted this country as our own take it very seriously. We are proud of the place, proud to know we are assisting in its development, and we do not like to read articles in such a valuable magazine as the Pacific Islands Monthly which do not emanate from a reliable source and, therefore, not always true.

Genuine and constructive criticism is welcome. Anything short of that does no good, and affects industry far more than it does the Administration.

Trusting these few remarks will be received in the spirit in which they are meant and wishing every success for the Pacific Islands Monthly.

I am, etc..

J. Duncan.

Rapopo Plantation, Kokopo, 28/9/32.

EDITORIAL NOTE. —We are glad to have this testimony to the good work of the district officers and staffs in the Territory of N.G.; and from personal observation, we endorse it. This journal has been critical of the New Guinea Administration, in certain directions: but the few weaknesses to which attention nas been directed may be usually traced back to de paitmental heads in Rabaul. and are generally not faults of personnel.

As a further step in the retrenchment campaign of the Administration, the Customs and Marine Department has been amalgamated with the Treasury Department and, as from September 1, the two departments are united under one head. The Treasurer, Mr. J. G. W.

T. Pound, has been appointed Collector of Customs and Taxes. Probably addi tional savings will be effected in the near future.