Rev. R. L. Turner
p. 28 · Read in the full issue
37 Years' Mission Work in Papua
Rev. Robert L. Turner, Of The
London Missionary Society, arrived in Australia by the “Bulolo”, in March, on his way to England, having retired after 37 years in the service of the So ciety as a missionary in Papua. He is accompanied by Mrs. Turner, who has been with him in Papua for the last 23 years.
Invited by a newspaper reporter in Brisbane to express his opinion about the Papuan administration, Mr. Turner said that the Government had done a great deal to pacify the natives, and he made some vivid comparisons between conditions as they are now and as they were in 1902. He said, however, that some magistrates were far too ready to support their native police even if, as often happens to Papuans, the police have perjured themselves and are in the wrong. Few magistrates take the trouble to enforce the regulations, which provide that native children shall at tend a school where English is taught.