Missionary Thanks
p. 42 · Read in the full issue
Traders
Good Relations In the Solomons
IF some of the hard-bitten old missionaries, who roamed the South Seas 60 and 70 years ago, fighting off cannibals on the one side, and conducting almost a ceaseless war against European traders and recruiters on the other, could have been present at the last annual meeting of the Melanesian Mission in London, they might have decided that the Millenium had arrived.
The Rev. D. E. Graves, who was Ad ministrator of the Diocese of Melanesia last year, the new “Southern Cross” was wrecked, made the following state ment at the meeting: “Before I start to speak about the gene ral work in Melanesia I want to say a few words about one class of the com munity which has not had any public word of thanks for what they did for the Mission when the “Southern Cross ’ was lost. We have heard how much was done by England, Australia and New Zea land; but I want to thank, on behalf of the Mission, the trading community of the Solomon Islands for what they did for us when they heard that the ship was lost.
“Any trader or planter who had a ship of any kind came to our rescue. If they had not done so, I do not know how we could have carried on. All the stores were lost. Replacements were sent from Syd ney and were landed in the Solomon Islands, but there appeared to be no way of getting them to their respective sta tions, till the traders and planters came down and carried the stuff for us, charg ing only out-of-pocket expenses and many of them refused any compensation even for out-of-pocket expenses.
“As one on the spot who was respon sible for getting the stores to the various stations, it would ill become me to stand here and fail to tell how much we owe to those people for what they did for us.
The Mission can never repay the debt.
“When we heard the ship was lost we realised how it would dislocate the work.
All hopes had been centred on the arrival of the ship, but still, owing as I have said already to the fact that the local traders and planters came to our rescue, the dis location was not as serious as we feared it would be.”
This statement has been brought under our notice by a missionary resident in the Solomons, who “gladly bears testimony to the frequent help which the white traders and planters in this area are only too willing to give.”