Native Labour

Future of N. Guinea Native Labour New Commission at Work

From Our Own Correspondent

Rabaul, Dec. 2.

rE Commission of Inquiry, appointed to inquire into New Guinea native labour conditions, has issued a compre hensive questionnaire for employers and Administration officials.

It will give the average man an idea of the lines of the inquiry so that, when called to give evidence, he will know what is wanted.

Apparently, the Commission means business, and it is hoped that its final recommendations will be acted upon, and the file not be put away and forgotten, as so often is the case.

The questionnaire includes such items as:— “How long, in your experience, does it take to raise a raw recruit to the standard of a skilled labourer?”

“What labour-saving devices have you installed or in use?”

“Is the indenture system the most suited to —(i) the native? (ii) the re quirements of the Territory?”

Views are also asked as to the hours worked by labourers, and the advantages or otherwise of overtime, the closing of areas to recruiting, and whether such action has been taken without justifica tion.

Opinions on professional recruiting are wanted, and whether a government controlled labour bureau is advisable.

Casual labour is also mentioned, and views requested on whether natives should give notice before leaving the em ployment of the employer; should a law be imposed for a minimum rate of wage; and whether verbal agreements should be enforced, either by penal sanction or forfeit?

In all, there are 71 questions. The an swers to them should form a very use ful record of the opinions of people who have had much to do with native la bour in New Guinea.

The Director of District Services (Hon.

R. Melrose) is the chairman, and Hon.

G. G. Hogan (Crown Law Officer) and Dr. H. C. Hosking are also members from the Administration, while Messrs. W.

H. Carpenter and Dyson Hore-Lacy (vice president of the Planters’ Association) are non-official members of the Com mission.