Neglected British in New

Hebrides

Letter to the Editor.

ALLOW me to comment briefly on the letter of “Inlooker” and the article by Rev. T. E. Riddle, which appeared in your July issue.

One thing stands out in both, with which I think every Britisher in the New Hebrides will agree—and that is the lack of Government-supported schools for the children of British settlers—now. alas, few in number —who came to pioneer this farthest outpost of the British Em pire.

Or, was it pre-ordained at the signing of the Protocol in 1906, that the place was simply to drift into French hands, and that those of British nationality who had taken it upon themselves to settle here were simply to fade away and die?

In the most isolated outposts of New Zealand, Australia, Africa, Canada, there are schools of some sort, within a reason able distance, to which the poorest settler can send his children. But here in this 20th century, it seems that in all the world the New Hebrides is the only place that has been neglected in this respect.

I thank “Inlooker” and Mr. Riddle for mentioning It.

I am. etc..

Britisher

Vila. N.H., August 16, 1938.

Mr. W. Clarke, who has been relieving at the Thursday Island Post Office for six months, has returned to Mareeba, North Queensland.

Mrs, R. H. Green, wife of the principal of the Methodist Mission’s Davuilevu College, Fiji, was an inmate of the Suva War Memorial Hospital during August, suffering from injuries received in a motor accident at Nodroga. The car completely overturned, and Mrs. Green’s left arm was broken near the elbow and her neck and back were severely strained. She is now making satisfactory progress, but her recovery will be slow.