Solomons

Conditions In The

May Be New Commissioner

IT is reported that there will be con siderable changes in the personnel of the Solomon Islands Administra tion at an early date.

The Resident Commissioner, Mr. F. N.

Ashley, who has had charge of the ter ritory for several years, goes on long

leave in April, and it is understood that he will then retire. It is not known who his successor will be.

A number of other well-known offi cials are reported to be also contemplat ing retirement within the next couple of years. The names mentioned include those of Mr. Johnson (Treasurer), Mr.

Knibbs and Mr. Mutch. It is expected that the new Treasurer will be Mr.

Sanders.

The Solomon Islands Protectorate, owing to its isolated position, its ma larious character, and the constant bar rage of criticism that is provided by discontented planters and traders, is not a station that is eagerly sought after by officials of the British Colonial Ser vice.

It is not that the planters and traders in the British Solomon Islands are more difficult than planters and traders else where. The real trouble is the fact that in the Solomon Islands, owing to the curious situation of the group, there has been no new settlement or development for many years, and consequently there are very few opportunities for individual enterprise by Europeans. Britain does absolutely nothing for the Solomon Is lands, except to send a corps of officials there to administer the place: Australia, which has all the Solomon Islands trade, ignores the territory officially.

The Europeans, in consequence, pro test bitterly against the paralysis of development that has prevailed during the past two or three decades; and their feelings are not improved when they see a small but increasing group of ener getic Chinese gradually capturing the whole of the small trade of the Islands.

As one old-timer in the Solomons, writ ing to the editor recently, expressed it: “When I look at the low price of copra

and shell, and see all these Chinese traders and Chinese ships about, and compare conditions with what they were, I feel that I could go away somewhere and weep. As an old-time district offi cer said: ‘We have put the best part of our lives into the Solomons, and simply helped to make the group into a home for Asiatics’ ”.

Mr. F. N. Ashley, C.M.G.