British Justice?
pp. 73-74 · Read in the full issue
A Bitter Cry From New Guinea
Letter to the Editor, WHEREVER you go in the world, and get into British territory, you al ways depend on British justice, ir resnective of nationality or creed.
But what has happened in New Guinea?
The only law I can see in New Guinea is that designed to protect our black brothers against being worked and paid and looked after by those terrible “white masters”, who come and start planta tions. and ask their labourers to do their ta*k for the day.
The plantation manager either “handles” his labour properly, and by sheer luck, or through some understand ing D. 0., who knows how to interpret the law gets away with it; or he is pro secuted, and gets the sack from the company he works for, or a term in an Aus
tralian gaol. And this usually from na tive evidence, which is notoriously unre liable. Any native will swear his own father’s life away for two bob, if you get him the right way.
Have the Government forgotten that when the revenue from the goldfields peters out, there still will be the planter, who has struggled for 10 or 15 years to bring his place into being, paid his taxes, duties, etc., and is still the main indus try of New Guinea?
Copra is down. It doesn’t pay even to cut it; and still this Government per sists in putting every obstacle in the planter’s way, instead of giving him a helping hand with labour, etc.
This is the only country in the world where British justice is so misinterpreted.
In Australia, if you start on the land and things are a bit hard, you have the Agricultural Bank to see you over your difficulties. Here, with all the Govern ment surplus revenue that is talked about, wouldn’t it be a good idea to learn this little lesson from Australia?
Then, perhaps, we would not hear any more of this outcry that “we wish to God the Germans would come back here and show them how to handle natives!”
I am, etc.,
Planter.
New Britain, T.N.G. 16/8/’38.
Mr. Richard Thomas Lindley, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Lindley, of Bris bane, recently married Miss Elizabeth Katherine Greenwald, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A., at Libba Lossu Plan tation, Kavieng, New Guinea, where he is manager.
Mr. Darcy Jones, sales manager of the Chris Craft Boats and Marine En gine Division of Paul and Gray Ltd., re turned to Sydney early in October from an extensive tour of inspection of the eastern coast of Australia, from Sydney to Cairns. He reports an unusual hap pening: he met by chance in a Cairns street, Mr. “Ted” Tanner, well-known in that centre, who served in the Great War with Mr. Jones—after not having seen each other since 1916. Recognition was mutual, after 27 years!