Lord Moyne Finds Much To Criticise

Singularly Ill-informed Comment By Rich Yachtsman In New Guinea

VV E have not been supplied with a ** review copy of Walkabout, a new book by Lord Moyne, and we are not pre pared to pay 34/- Australian for one; so we must be content to base our criticism of the book on a lengthy and generous review which was published in the Mel bourne Herald.

Lord Moyne is a wealthy gentleman who, over a year ago, visited the East Indies, Northern Australia and New Guinea in his yacht, Rosaura. He has tried to write learnedly and authorita tively about the condition of native peoples in these several territories; but one unfortunately gets an impression of snap judgments, inadequately based, and of superficiality. He is very ready to criticise and condemn, on purely hearsay evidence. He seems to be eager for re cognition as a savant, without having the savant’s equipment—a failing common enough among rich men. Money cannot buy brains, thank God!

Those Pygmies

We need not accompany Lord Moyne through the East Indies and Australia; but New Guinea may be interested in the result of his investigations thereabout.

He claims to be the discoverer of a race of pygmies in New Guinea, among the Aiome mountains. The average height of the males is 4ft. 6iins., and they were shy, friendly, and indescribably filthy.

Certain well-known missionaries have challenged this claim; they say that these pygmies were found and scientifi cally described long before Lord Moyne was heard of in the South Seas.

Attack On Missionaries

Like dozens of other uninstructed and therefore mischievous scribblers about the Pacific Islands, Lord Moyne is highly critical of the missionary system. He makes the astonishing discovery that the

uprooting of old customs and their re placement by doctrines entirely alien to the native mind in their origin and character appears wrong. He fears that, “although the missionaries were able to destroy the old beliefs, it was doubtful whether they succeeded in putting any real conviction in their place.”

He also resents the destruction of nat ive art by the missionaries, which is, he declares, not only a loss to ethnology but inflicts material change on the native craftsman; and he was glad to find that General McNicoll, the Administrator of Mandated Territory, takes an enlightened view of this matter. The natives under his control are encouraged to retain all such of their old customs as are neither cruel nor unhealthy. “I often heard the opinion in the Mandated Territory,” ob serves Lord Moyne, “that missions deli berately set about destroying the colour and gaiety of native life, thinking that they may thus drive the people to church as the only escape from their drab exis tence.” Which is typical of many silly observations in the book.

Of course, the mission system is full of weaknesses, which had been described in a much more convincing fashion by clergymen themselves long before this amateur author came upon the scene.

Lord Moyne may be interested to know that Sydney’s fiercest critic of the present missionary system is a missionary who is himself actively in harness.

The trouble is to devise a system that will work better. The present system with all its faults does at least bring some better social organisation among the natives, and some idea of hygiene, and it introduces standards of moral con duct and simple methods of education where otherwise there would be nothing.

Without the missions the condition of the natives in contact with Europeans would be calamitous indeed. But can the interests affected be got together and persuaded to remove the defects of the mission system, any more, than Lord Moyne’s financial and commercial mono polists can be persuaded to reform their system? Destructive criticism is very easy.

Germans In New Guinea

“What I learnt about German mission ary effort in the Mandated Territory has greatly increased my uneasiness,” he writes. “The newly arrived young Ger man missionaries who are pouring into the country are said to be full of resent ment against the Administration which has replaced the former German rule, and are often active propagandists for a return of the old regime. They also adopt a more fanatical hostility to the native traditions and culture than older and wiser men.”

This, it is to be feared, also is un soundly based. For over a year, we have been on the look-out for evidence

to support a suspicion, held in some quarters, that those German missionaries are political agents of Hitlerism; but we have not been able to obtain anything'at all. All the evidence we have is that most of the Germans behave themselves pro perly and are entitled to our respect and protection. They apparently know, as sensible men, that if they do not faith fully observe the laws of the country wherein they reside, they will be thrown out, in quick time. Lord Moyne has said either too much or too little.

Various Criticism

Lord Moyne finds much to condemn — he does not like the head-binding people of New Britain, nor the body-scarring practices of other districts. Presumably, he never has heard of English sailors who tattoo their bodies, or English women who pierce their ears and pluck their eyebrows.

He condemns pidgin-English as a ‘‘mon strous parody of English mixed with a few words of German and missionary Latin ... It really seems absurd to puzzle the natives with such a linguistic, outrage, and it would surely be better to instruct them in a uniform system of simple English.”

From which it would appear that the unfortunate man knows nothing at all of the history, purpose and use of Pidgin.

His comment is singularly ill-informed.

The author is pessimistic about the future of these native races. ‘‘Primitive populations, however, have not been exterminated merely by the

more obvious agencies of slaughter and disease. In many cases, the reasons for natives dying out in contact with West ern civilisation are due to deeper causes, which are unfortunately but little under stood . . , Psychological problems can not be easily solved. Different races prob ably need different rules of life, and what suits one may be fatal for another.

Our own civilisation has developed acci dentally, and is not the result of integral planning.”

The gentleman certainly is a master of the art of writing cheap and superficial rubbish and persuading himself that he is being profound. Incidentally, he should sail around in his Rosaura to Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand, and a ffew similar places, and find out why the nat ives there are increasing steadily in numbers. —R.W.R.