Why Sir Charles Rosenthal?

THE appointment of Major-General Sir Charles Rosenthal, a man prominent in Sydney’s professional and military life, to be Administrator at Norfolk Island— a comparatively minor post, carrying onlv £BOO ner annum has aroused some curiosity and speculation. , . * ■, .

Sir Charles is a restless man, of almost dynamic energy, and he is only 62 years old. It may be taken as certain that he is not going to Norfolk Island for a rest.

Then why is he going there? Norfolk Island can be of little use to Sir Charles, unless it is a stepping-stone to some other place. , Does Canberra expect that the Administrator’s position will be vacant presently in Papua, or New Guinea, or Northern Territory? And is Sir Charles Rosenthal merely being brought into line for one of those positions? If so, a cruel wrong is being perpetrated, not only in closing the Norfolk Island appointment against the trained officers of the New Guinea and Papuan administrations, but also in continuing the vicious system of political patronage in making this appointment to Norfolk Island; and this journal will do everything possible to direct public attention to the matter.

We have nothing to say against Sir Charles Rosenthal, who is most favour-

ably known as a citizen, as a professional man, and as a military officer. But against the practice of allowing a hand ful of unqualified men at Canberra, thrown by the accidents and intrigues of politics into the positions of Ministers, to invest any favourite with the dicta torial powers of a Pacific Administrator. have had and shall have a eood deal g . g svs tem that is wrong in an( j las not justified itself in

. results

e p : r The administration of Pacific ter ntones is a job for specialists. Canberra “ tscrup “ mg young men for the various Pacific Territories services—not even a cadet is taken without a special competitive examination, and courses in anthropology, tropical medicine, etc. Yet the principal positions have been filled repeatedly by the appointment of men who never pre viuosly_had had one hour’s training in tropical administration—but who had had opportunities, as politicians, of “digging themselves in” among the always vulner able political bosses at Canberra. There are very able men in the tropical ser vices, who have devoted their lives to this work; but—so persistent has been this system of political patronage—they now have resigned themselves to the convic

tion that the coveted chief posts are not for them or their associates—“they go to some fellow with influence,” say the Territories men, with a shrug.

The latest appointment—Norfolk Is land —gives colour to it. N.I. is a post to which departmental heads in Papua or New Guinea might quite properly have aspired. It would have given one of them a lift in status, if not in salary, and it would have represented a welcome change from humid and malarial New Guinea, to a cool, green island. But the job goes, instead, to Sir Charles Rosenthal, who probably has spent not one day, let alone 20 years, in Territories administration.

However, there may be behind this particular appointment a purpose of which no hint has been given; and it might be well to delay judgment. It has been made just at a time when Australia is regarding the Western Pacific Groups from two new angles—those of defence and of aerial communication.

It appears as if the British share of the New Hebrides administration will become an Australian responsibility; and that change has been brought about primarily on the score of defence. Norfolk Island, on the southern flank of the defensive chain of islands (which run round from New Guinea, in the north, via the Solo mons and Hebrides, to Norfolk Is.), may have considerable strategic value, as an observation outpost and an aviation station. Is it not possible that Sir

Charles Rosenthal, as a professional engineer and a successful artillery and divisional commander, has a special job of work to do at N.I. ? It also would be reasonable to suppose, if Australia’s responsibility for Pacific administration is to be extended, on the score of defence, that a man of Sir Charles Rosenthal’s qualifications would be sought as an adviser to the Commonwealth Govern ment, in connection with the proper use of the protective fringe of Pacific Islands.

But this is all supposition. All that we know at the moment is that another big job in the Territories has been filled, and the trained men of the services have been passed over again. It looks like a continuance of the old, vicious system.

A word of reassurance from Canberra is too much to expect—but it would be most welcome.