Papua In 1932-33

Belated Report With Very Interesting Features

POINTED references to the action of the Federal Government in reducing the annual grant of £50.000 to Papua to £34,000 are contained in the annual report of the Lieutenant-Governor (Sir Hubert Murray) for the year ended 30th June, 1933. Those references have been given some pro minence in the Australian newspapers but in untimely fashion, as Australia, since the date of the report, has partially re stored the subsidy.

The report is exceedingly interesting—as are all such compilations issued under the hand of Sir Hubert Murray—but its value is destroyed in places owing to the incom prehensible delay by the Canberra authori ties in issuing the report. Many of the matters which the Lieutenant-Governor discusses have been affected by develop ments during the ensuing twelve months.

Sir Hubert Murray (on June 30, 1933) said that expenditure had been reduced to a point which was almost too low for safety. In spite of the good work that was being done by Government officers, it was difficult to see how the administration could be adapted to existing conditions. It was unfortunate that the Government had been forced to reduce the subsidy. Had it remained at £50,000 they should have been able to carry on. But he feared that -with a reduction of both subsidy and revenue, this task may be found too diffi cult. The discovery of a rich gold field or some extensive agricultural development would save the territory, but either to do any good must come quickly.

“I do not suggest that the Government will utterly collapse in Papua,” Sir Hubert Murray goes on, “but it may be necessary to close Government stations and reduce, the number of officers. The situation may be further complicated if the subsidy is not restored by the difficulty of maintaining the existing pensions scheme, to which officers themselves have contributed. I re gret to add that reduction in salary seems to be inevitable, but in this respect we will fare no worse than many other parts of the Empire.

“I cannot believe that the very dark pic ture I have painted can ever be permanent; good times will come again, mines and plantations will be developed and the Gov ernment influence re-established. But its re-establishment may be expensive in more ways than one, and I am certainly of opinion that it would be cheaper to restore the £16,000 which has been taken away than to reconstruct stations and police camps later on. The Commonwealth has always been generous to Papua, and I confess that I feel rather like one of the ‘daughters of the horse-leech’ in pressing for a restoration of the previous very liberal subsidy. I should not do it unless I felt the danger of our position is very real and very pressing.”

The Revenue

The report went on to point out that although the subsidy was reduced by £16,000, the revenue from all sources ex ceeded that of the previous year by nearly £3000. This apparently favorable symptom, however, was completely accounted for by the fact that a new issue of stamps resulted in sales exceeding those for 1931-32 by nearly £4000. Customs receipts were £2115 less, port and wharfage dues £156 less, and lease rents £241 less. It was thus apparent

that the financial depression, now well into its fourth year as far as Papua was con cerned, was at its worst in 1932-33. There was the possibility that 1933-34 may be still worse. There was nothing they could do but hope and be patient, “like the man in the strongroom on Saturday, who knew if he acted calmly he would be alive when the door was opened on Monday.”

Copra—Gold—Rubber

The price of copra continued to fall. The average for the year was about 12/ a ton less than in 1931-32, and less than half it was five years ago. The rate at September, 1933, was £9/12/6 a ton. The total quantity exported in 1932-33 was 9686 tons, com pared with 10,011 tons in 1931-32. This was probably due to a decrease in the quantity of native copra produced, and this, in turn, to the fall in prices.

Gold mining had shown some progress, but the new activities were so far only minor in character. Capital was being ex pended in a small, way, and there was reasonable ground for hoping that one or more of these ventures may develop into something big. The export showed an in crease from 8574 oz. to 15,268 oz.—the highest return for ten years. (The gold mining activity has grown considerably since that report was written.) The report added that the rubber con cessions made by the Commonwealth to Papua were not regarded as part of a policy of protection, but merely as a tem porary measure of finance. If the existing preference of 4d a lb. was adopted as a permanent policy, he saw no reason why his dream of an Australian market sup plied by Papuan rubber should not be realised. There was still a good chance of sugar growing being the saviour of the Territory, as the prospects of raising capi tal for this purpose seemed to be much

brighter then than ever before. There was no lack of enthusiasm on the part of pro moters of companies, and he supposed that by listening to these people only were they buoyed with hope, and at times sure, that sugar growing would actually be under taken shortly.

The New Papua

“The tourist,” says Sir Hubert Murray, "is ready to proclaim Papua as the dwelling place of an interesting native race, adorned with marvellous mops of hair, and addicted to dancing and canoe-racing; whereas we should prefer that the Territory were known as a suitable place for the invest ment of capital.”

“Patrol reports,” he added, “become dull as the Territory is more thoroughly ex plored and brought under control, and there is, nowadays, not much of Papua that is not fairly well known.

“Time was when we could startle our readers with stories of Purari head-hunters or cannibals of Goari Bari, but that time is past. Both head-hunters and cannibals are now mainly occupied in looking for work on coconut plantations. It is true that there are still some lively lads in the more remote districts, but one has to go a long way to find them, and life in most parts of Papua is as safe as anywhere in Australia, and a great deal less interesting."

Black And White Magic

The Lieutenant-Governor says that sorcery in some parts of the territory is gradually dying out, but in other parts it is still very much alive.

“The belief in sorcery,” he says, “will, I suppose, never be extirpated, for one finds it among the most highly civilised nations of Europe; but it may be minimised.

“A case is reported, for instance, from the Turama River district, in the delta

division. A canoe upset in the river, and one of the crew was swept away and drowned before the eyes of the whole vil lage. The death was attributed to sorcery.

It appears that the sorcerer takes up the imprint of the man’s foot in the mud —the whole country is mud in these parts—and throws it into the river. After that the man will surely be drowned! ”

Sir Hubert added that “black magic” was punished with a brief term of imprison ment. “White magic,” practised to secure a plentiful crop of yams was not interfered with. The garden magician, known as towosi, explained Sir Hubert Murray, en sures a good harvest by visiting the gar den, armed with his wand, crooning an in cantation, and throwing portion of the soil behind him on either side (it is essential (that a number of ants should be mingled with the soil). He also takes a number of leaves and blades of grass, and beats them into pieces with his “kailepa,” or magic wand. Then he pushes the “kailepa” stick into the ground, and sways his body to and fro, moving the “kailepa” stick from side to side and up and down. After this the magician goes each day through the garden singing his songs to the growing crops.