“Completely Spoiled”

Natives of New Guinea

TOO close a contact with Europeans has completely spoiled the natives of New Guinea, especially those in and around Rabaul, in New Britain, according to Mr.

C. Buchanan, of Townsville, who has just returned from a business visit to the Man dated Territory. Anybody who had first known the Territory nine or ten years ago, Mr. Buchanan told a Brisbane reporter, could be filled with nothing but amaze ment on revisiting it, at the change which had come over the natives there and at their altered attitude towards the white man.

The latter was no longer regarded with respect but with only a contemptuous in difference which the natives frequently did not even take the trouble to conceal.

Cases of impertinence and insults offered to Europeans, both men and women, had become so frequent that nowadays they hardly excited any comment.

This was largely to be attributed to the Administration’s policy of promoting the native to practically the status of a white man, for which he was totally unfitted, asserted Mr. Buchanan. As usually hap pened with all primitive races, he had interpreted this to mean that the white man was treating him in such a manner only because he was afraid of him and had acted in accordance with this idea.

In some parts of the Island the native had

become almost unmanageable and worked only when he felt so inclined, his em ployer being powerless to do anything.

The system of accepting the uncor roborated evidence of natives in the courts against white men had also resulted in numerous false charges being brought against Europeans, some of whom were convicted and heavily punished on evi dence which nine or ten years ago would have been dismissed as manifestly false.

All these things had contributed towards giving the native an erroneous idea of his own importance, with disastrous results for the white population which had to employ him.

In his own primitive way the native had grasped the fact that amongst the white community there were conflicting elements which were always ready to make use of him for political and semi political reasons, and he had capitalised this to his own advantage. One of the greatest mistakes which had ever been made had been to explain to the native that he was virtually a ward of the League of Nations and that it was the League’s function to see that the Administration pampered him to the greatest degree pos sible. [EDITORIAL NOTE.— Mr. Buchanan describes a condition that represents one of the most diffi cult problems in this new and rapidly developing Territory; but he does not deal with the causes.

Cheap labour is needed, and the alternative to using native labour is indentured Asiatic labour.

Fiji and Tahiti are sad examples of what the latter system may mean. Australia, in developing New Guinea, has taken bush natives out of their ancient environment, and taught them to live in labour barracks under semi-European conditions.

This system worked fairly well while native labour generally was under the control of experienced planters (although the Solomons have shown that even plantation labour can degenerate dangerously); but when the goldfields began to use thousands of “boys,” the trouble commenced. The majority of Morobe employers know how to handle natives, but there are a large minority who, in their con tacts with native labourers, are absolute fools.

They try to make friends with them, and permit familiarities which completely break down the wall that should always be maintained between peoples of completely different development. The “boys” quite naturally and eagerly seize the posi tion of equality offered to them—with the lament able results described by Mr. Buchanan. One is inclined to suggest that the only remedy would be much closer supervision of the employer-em ployed relationship by the Administration; but what Mr. Buchanan says is only too true —the Administration, labouring under the Geneva com plex, is itself doing something towards creating these unhappy conditions in New Guinea.] Lady Hadfield, O.B.E., and her nephew, Count Michel de Buisseret, left Papeete for Hawaii by the City of Los Angeles on July 11. During her four months at Tahiti, her Ladyship made a great num ber of friends. Her stay in French Oceania was terminated by a native banquet given at Mr. James Norman Hall’s residence at Arue. From Honolulu Lady Hadfield and her party proceeded to California en route to England.