Australia's Record In

New Guinea

BRITAIN, in all her colonising, can not equal what Australia has done in her first colonising effort” was the remarkable statement made by a West Australian M.P., Mr, A. E. Green, after his return from a round trip of New Guinea ports.

Anyone but a jaunting politician would have known that Australia, officially, can take little credit for “colonisation” in New Guinea.

All the development that has taken

place is on the Morobe goldfield; and that is the result of the enterprise and activity of miners and mining compan ies, acting under the stimulus of gold.

The New Guinea Government, for years, has received rich revenues by directly taxing the gold industry: but it has done nothing with the money, except waste it departmentally, and provide Morobe with ordinary public works and admin istrative machinery. The developmental achievements of the Australian adminis tration, outside of Morobe, are almost negligible; and nothing is to be gained by trying to hide the fact.

The Morobe gold industry is a wasting industry, and it is a tragedy that nothing

should have been done with the public revenues it produced (according to a ministerial statement, probably £400,000 in royalties alone) to establish perman ent agricultural industries.

Mr. Green was on sounder ground when he praised the work of the young officials—especially the patrol officers— in New Guinea. There is accumulating evidence that the personnel of this ser vice is excellent, and a credit to Aus tralia. It is a pity that it is handicap ped by stupidity, inexperience, and a fiercely bureaucratic outlook in some of the higher ranks of the administration.

Mr. Phillip Henry Walmesley, a plan tation overseer on Ilia estate, Witu Island, New Guinea, died in July.