Obstructive

Natives

Difficult Situation Near Rabaui

THERE was a remarkable scene in Rabaul, in the middle of June, when 45 natives from Ratavul, near Rabaul, ap peared before the Compensation Court, presided over by the Chief Judge, and refused to accept payment of compensa tion from the Government for land which had been taken for the erection of a native hospital.

The present native hospital is at Rap indik, beside Rabaul, and must be re moved from the proximity of an active volcano. The Government selected a new site in Ratavul, and the land was re sumed.

Only a few acres are involved and, al though there are thousands more acres of suitable and fertile land available, the natives have obstructed the Government plan in every possible way. Finally, they came to the Compensation Court and said that they would rather have the land than the £727 which it was proposed to pay them as compensation.

The Chief Judge argued with the natives, and discussed the matter very patiently, but they were still stubborn in their refusal. Thereupon, the Court dismissed the natives and took the evi dence of valuers, to satisfy itself that the amount of compensation proposed was fair and equitable.

There is far more in this than meets the eye.

It is well-known that the natives in this particular district are influenced to a considerable degree, against the author ity of the Government, by two Europeans.

The conviction is growing in New Guinea that the only way to put an end to the native restlessness in the district is to remove from the Territory the two Euro peans in question, on the ground that they have no proper appreciation of the responsibilities and obligations which must be carried by Europeans in a primi tive community.