Native Policy

In New Guinea

Former Police Officer is Critical

Letter to the Editor.

SINCE I left New Guinea in 1929 I have been reading, in your excellent jour nal, first-hand complaints submitted by honourable pioneering men of the planter and miner types against the nigger-pan dering by the Administration.

When I left Rabaul, after completing two years’ service in the New Guinea police, the white residents were seething with dissatisfaction against the adminis tration’s policy which led up to the native rising in Rabaul on January 2, 1929. I witnessed numerous cases of lop-sided administration, insofar as handling of natives was concerned. From my ex perience there and in a couple of other black countries, and supported by infor mation supplied by correspondents in Portuguese East Africa and Congo. Beige, I have no hesitation in openly saying— and I do advertise the fact far and wide, both by pen and mouth—that the Man dated Territory of New Guinea suffers one of the worst governments operating in the lands of primitive peoples to-day.

First and foremost, I am moved to say something on the strange system of jus tice that obtains in the territory—a jus tice where no jury functions and where an omnipotent judge metes out punish ment to white men as, I believe, does no other judge in any part of the British Empire. Amazing sentences—excessive in the cases of Europeans: sympathetic and nominal in the cases of natives who slay Europeans—call for immediate ac tion, not mere letters to the press.

Contrast the sentences imposed on the murderers of Scott and Edmonds on the one hand and the excessive punishment meted out to Larkin for allegedly causing the death of a native. In both the cases of Scott and Edmonds the evidence given at the trials proves beyond all doubt that these unfortunate men were wilfully mur dered by natives. Scott, a one-armed man, was flayed to death with a large knife by a refractory “coon” whom he had occasion to chastise. A nominal sen tence of five years for the “coon” makes one feel inclined to resort to lynch-law in Rabaul —more so, as the coon is now back in his native village, a free man, after having enjoyed a stay in Rabaul jail, known to the prisoners as a good home. Edmonds’s murderer was only re quired to serve eighteen months in Rabaul jail for wilfully slaying Edmonds in his bed, asleep.

Now, consider the Larkin case. Here we have an educated, law-abiding planter, who served as a distinguished officer in the Air Force during the war, trying to make headway as a settler in undeveloped New Guinea. We find that government officials have been carrying on a policy not unlike that of labour agitators. We know of a case where a certain govern ment official entered upon a planter’s estate, lined his labourers, practically pleaded for complaints, definitely lowered the planter’s prestige in the eyes of pri mitive men who respect the law, “Might is Right,” and then the exasperated plan ter thrashes the impudent official, and is fined £40 in consequence.

Each and every one of us knows many cases of government action decidedly con ducive to the shattering of discipline among native labourers in New Guinea.

We have observed the drift from a state of perfect native labour discipline in 1922

to an accelerated condition of wholesale native disorders.

Larkin, suffering from the physical and perhaps mental effects of malaria fever, sees his authority flouted by one of his labourers, who knows full well the ad ministrative policy. He is attacked and injured by the “coon.” He directs that the refractory native be severely beaten with a cane. Some days later the “coon” dies from gangrene, alleged to have been caused indirectly by the caning, and as a consequence Larkin is found guilty of murder and sentenced to ten years im prisonment—an enormity!

Sabine, a European persecuted by the Administration for several years, has at last fallen into the talons of the Rabaul Central Court where he has been sen tenced to severe terms of imprisonment for a breach of some petty New Guinea laws.

Tyler, a respectable young man, was induced to enter the New Guinea police by believing rosy untruths about the con ditions obtaining there. He soon fell into disfavour with Rabaul higher officials, who dismissed him. The Administration did not even furnish him with a return passage to Australia, but left him in Rabaul stranded, workless, and penni less. The circumstances in which he ulti mately found himself apparently brought him to allegedly rob a Chinese gaming house. Rabaul justice found him guilty and sentenced him to five years! The Director of Education (Queensland) was one of the persons who took up the cud gels on behalf of Tyler and eventually, I understand, the absurd sentence was quashed by the Federal Government. I knew Tyler and was fully acquainted with the inner truths of his sufferings at the hands of Rabaul injustice.

Examine the peculiar state of affairs on outstations, where the District Officer is often prosecutor, magistrate, and head gaoler combined. Any European who dares complain about his policy towards natives is certainly in a vulnerable posi tion for the arrows of revenge which that autocrat can fire at him for a hundred and one petty reasons connected with native labour regulations, etc. And there are cases in the history of New Guinea

where District Officers have persecuted men with the aid of the offices conferred upon them to gratify their personal spite.

The prisons of New Guinea were ab surd. Rabaul prison under the Wisdom- Page regime, was openly referred to by the prisoners as “a good home.” They scoffed at the threat of a term in jail.

Insolence to employers and petty thefts were of daily occurrence in Rabaul and, as the natives began to realise that the Government officials were apparently in sympathy with their acts, they became more persistent, until the climax was reached with the native rising in Rabaul,

2/1/’29. Reformative conditions did, however, obtain in some of the outstation prisons of the Territory, but this was only due to the individual action of the District Officers or Policemasters in charge of the institutions. I understand that under the control of Brigadier-General Griffiths, the present Administrator, the prison system throughout the Territory has been much improved.

I will recall the murder of four white men—Bruce, Marlay, Collins, and Page— which was committed by savages in 1926.

Some natives, after a most comic trial, were found guilty of the crime and sentenced to death. Death sentence was altered to fifteen years’ I.H.L. From my intimate knowledge, I can say that only two of the prisoners were transferred to Salamoa prison in 1929. Is it true that, according to a Rabaul jailer, all others have escaped and no effort is being made to recapture them? An independent publie inquiry on this point would perhaps reveal another surprise for the people.

Sir Thomas Henley in “New Guinea— Australia’s Pacific Mandate,” mentions some truths on native prisons there and sounded a warning which, if taken, may have saved the expense, annoyance, and disgrace of the Native Rising of 1929. Sir Thomas wrote in 1928 in his book: “The majority of the natives know that caning is illegal, and, having no public conscience, they have nothing to fear.

They rather rejoice at being sent to ‘Kalabus’ (gaol) where they are well fed, housed, play football and do very little work. These boys belong to the stone age, and a sharp cut with a cane to instil fear into them for wrongdoings would do more good than imprisonment under pre-

sent conditions. The blackman only obeys and respects the master he fears. No sane overseer or planter would ixi these days flog his boys; he would be injuring himself; he wants their help and aims at keeping them straight and in good health as he does with a useful horse. A little corporeal punishment administered at the time of the offence or by order of the district officer, would, however, be a kind ness to the offender and act as a deter rent to greater crime.

“Some authorities make the paltry ex cuse that the blame lies with the League of Nations; I do not believe such sickly, sentimental twaddle. The Japanese do not conjure up any such bogeys or read into their mandate of the Caroline Islands such interference.”

From 1927-1929 I noticed a steep decline in native police discipline in Rabaul.

When I commenced duty in that town in 1927 the discipline and general efficiency of the policeboys was, under Sub-inspec tor A. A. Cobban, very good. On my re turning to Rabaul, after fifteen months’ service at Salamoa, I noticed that Rabaul native police had practically no discipline, had been directed to spy on white war rant-officers, and seemed to be incapable of overcoming the increasing number of night robberies in the town. Sub-inspec tor Cobban had resigned in 1928, and then the command of the Rabaul police was handed to two officials whose methods of handling natives are too well known by old residents of New Guinea to re quire description here.

Sergeant Topali, a policeboy, whom I had had reason to recommend for dis missal at Salamoa in 1928, after he had been fined by the District Officer for a

serious breach of discipline, was N.C.O.

I/C. night police patrols. One night, when I was on duty as Warrant-officer I/C night patrols, Topali wilfully absented himself from duty. The following day I charged him with being “absent from duty”; he boldly admitted his guilt to the inspector, who merely admonished him!

A month later, the native rising broke out at Rabaul—a rising in which all the native police of the town participated— and Topali was found guilty of conspiracy as one of the leaders in the mutiny, and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.

It may interest the public to know that only a few months before, several police recruits had been sentenced to six months’ jail for being “absent from duty” though actually they were merely off their beat— an offence committed through lack of training.

It will be clear that the native police had reached a state of indiscipline and total disrespect for Europeans by Janu ary, 1929. Such a state of affairs was con ducive to the mutiny of 1929 —an inevit able affair. The Royal Commission of 1929, unfortunately, did not take certain evidence from white residents, bearing on administration. Two weeks before the rising a certain high official was seen at midnight in a Rabaul street, drunk, with his clothes falling off, and being led home by a policeboy.

The high officials, who are round pegs in square holes, were permitted to re main in their offices after the rising. Since the mutiny, they have doubled the Euro pean police strength. They are not able to handle native police with native N.C.Os. The extra expense incurred is something like £2,600 per annum in salar ies alone, not to mention cost of passages, uniforms, etc. Seven white police with a cadre of efficient N.C.Os. could effectively police Rabaul in 1927, under Sub-Inspector Cobban, at a much less cost than that of to-day.

Taxpayers of Australia contribute some thing like £30,000 per annum as a subsidy towards native education and administra tion. Schools have been established at Rabaul and at other centres. Selected “coons” are sent to Australia for a free course of higher education, which should be quite sufficient to qualify them as good agitators when they return to their tribes men in New Guinea. Not only are the taxpayers of Australia compelled to con tribute to this scheme, but each employer of native labour in New Guinea must pay a tax, termed “Education Tax,” at the rate of six shillings per annum in respect of each native employed by him. If the Australian subsidy is not spent directly on native education I maintain it is used indirectly by way of officials’ salaries.

A word may be said of the mission in fluence throughout the Territory. Their meddling with native tribal affairs and their apparent hostility to European com mercial enterprise would tend to mark them as pests rather than benefactors to the territory. Under the umbrella of re ligion they have trespassed on the com mercial sphere. Their many plantations are evidence of this. The Dutch Govern ment forbids Christian missionaries to land on Bali Island, and I understand that a very strong hand is kept on their activi ties throughout Dutch East Indies. In 1901 the United States Government found that all was not religion with the mis sionaries in the Philippine Islands, and took steps to remove them. In New Guinea they thrive and prosper.

Under strong German rule, natives were freely caned for offences: to-day they are “humbugged” (that is what the natives say themselves) by imprisonment. They prefer and respect the former treatment, as something firm and manly. The only excuse that the Australian administra

tion seems to make for this state of affairs is that the League of Nations may be offended if it ruled otherwise. If this is so, why should thousands of pounds of Australian taxpayers’ money be expended on the Mandate? Why are France and Japan not concerned about the League of Nations in the handling of their Man dates? There is not the least doubt that the administration shelters too much un der the skirts of the League of Nations.

When indiscreet galoots can wander on to a planter’s estate, upset the discipline of his labour and deliver a lasting blow to the little prestige he may have develop ed; and when prisoners regard the jails as “good fella kitchens” where they are well treated; it is ripe time that a united effort was made to effect reforms.

I am, etc.,

J.B. Stratton,

Ex-W.O. of Police.

Chatham, Eng. 24/6/’33.

EDITORIAL NOTE.—We have published Mr.

Stratton’s letter because it represents a good deal of what is being said abroad about the New Guinea Administration; and we want the oppor tunity of bringing this into the open and saying in so many words that the position in New Guinea, as it is now, is exaggerated and misrepre sented. There is “nigger-pandering” in New Guinea, but the evil now is not nearly so bad as it was, and it is rapidly decreasing.

Australia took over a difficult and delicate ad ministration with untried and inexperienced men, who did not understand these Melanesian natives.

Scores of inexperienced planters also entered the Territory. Therefore, it was most necessary that the natives be protected against stupidity and brutality; but there is no doubt that the authori ties, in creating safeguards, went to ridiculous extremes. Experience showed that some of the men placed in authority over districts were tem peramentally unsuited for their jobs. Most of them have disappeared, though some are hanging on.

But in these recent years the spirit and morale of the New Guinea public service have improved very much. To-day, it may be said in a general way that the officials are men of splendid calibre, although some of the laws they work under need revision. We agree entirely with our corres pondent on the subject of administering corporeal punishment; and we suggest that the power to administer chastisement to “coons,” in the only way that “coons” understand, can now be placed safely in the hands of the District Officers. We hope soon to see this reform introduced. There is still a serious lack of discipline in the labour lines in some parts of the Territory; but the trouble is being steadily reduced, and may be left to the present Administrator. It is a kind of trouble that may be easily exaggerated in importance.

We are quite at one with Mr. Stratton in his references to the excessive punishment inflicted upon Europeans convicted of assaulting natives; and w e are still hoping that something may be done to reduce the cruel sentence of ten years’ imprisonment which James Larkin is now serving.