of Compensation in
pp. 7-8 · Read in the full issue
Looting
Light on Vexed Problem of Compensation in N. Guinea and Papua
THE question of whether compensation is to be paid for war damage caused by looting is becoming urgent. As indicated by an article on another page, the Australian Government now is taking steps to clarify the position.
In this connection, an article in the “Sydney Morning Herald” of August 6, by Mr. Gavin Long, is interesting and significant.
It is to be remembered that, in the beginning, the Government took the attitude that (1) looting was caused mostly by natives; (2) Government could not be responsible for the wartime acts of un controlled natives: (3) loss or damage caused by looting therefore was “conse quential” and not direct war damage, and therefore was not the responsibility of the War Damage Commission.
Residents of New Guinea and Papua naturally—and properly—contested this argument bitterly—especially as everyone knew that the worst looting was not done by natives. At last, the thing is being brought out into the open.
MR. LONG, in the course of his article, says:— Some day Australians will read in detail about the dejection and the low spirits which spread among these men in Darwin and round Moresby in the early months; of the indiscipline which followed the first Japanese air raids on those towns: of the looting of both towns until each had been picked clean.
The case for the men is that they felt aban doned and apprehensive, that they lacked con fidence, and, so far as the looting goes, that they were convinced that the towns, rapidly being deserted by the civilians, were going to be razed to the ground, and that if they did not steal the abandoned furniture and the refriger ators and the wireless sets the Japanese invaders would get them.
Both in the Northern Territory and in Papua, the raw troops were subjected to bombing and machine-gunning by Japanese aircraft, without being able to hit back except with their rifles and machine-guns. In Port Moresby there were no fighters on our side for seven weeks.
To be bombed and machine-gunned from the air without being able to hit back effectively has proved a trying experience for hardened and confident troops, so it was not surprising that the spirits of the militiamen in Moresby sank low in those seven weeks.
For months they could find few amusements or recreations when they were off duty from road-building, or unloading ships, or digging weapon pits, in a muggy tropical climate. There were no picture shows, no club rooms, no beer in the canteens, and the mail arrived seldom.
THIS irank statement has helped very much in the presentation of the case for the unfortunate owners of the looted property: but there was one angle (the use of the word “deserted”) which had to be corrected at once.
On August 7, Mr. E. A. James, president of the Pacific Territories’ Association, wrote to the “S.M. Herald”:— “Some explanation should be published concerning one paragraph in your article, as it may possibly be construed as a slur on many.
“Under the sub-heading, ‘Reason for Looting’, Mr. Long says that the towns (Port Moresby and Darwin) ‘were rapidly being deserted by the civilians’.
“No residents of Port Moresby deserted the town; and the following facts are im portant. About the middle of December, 1941, all female residents of Papua were evacuated by order of the Civil Adminis tration. On January 27, the Military Com mandant of the area called up for military
service, at a few hours’ notice, all male residents not over 45 years of age, and these men immediately were put into camp. From that date the military authorities virtually were in control of the area, making the carrying on of civil administration and commercial activities impossible. From this date, looting commenced.
“On February 3, the Japanese first bombed Port Moresby area. From Feb ruary 3, looting became more general.
“On February 12, the Military Com mandant of the area ordered all civilians not in the forces to leave immediately; and, accordingly, they were evacuated within a few days.
“It will be seen that residents cer tainly did not ‘desert’ the township volun tarily, nor did they abandon their property, but in effect, left it in charge of the military authorities, who assumed control of the whole area.
“It is not our intention to discuss the moral question involved in the matter of looting. But it is a fact that, by the act of looting, those responsible prevent owners from receiving compensation under War Damage Regulations (as the Commonwealth Government at present interprets them). So, while it may sound not unreasonable to steal something be cause it may later fall into enemy hands or be destroyed by enemy action, the actual effect is to rob the owner of the value of the goods so taken.
“This is the position of a great number of evacuees. Having lost their homes, all personal belongings (many were able to leave with only 30 lb. of personal be longings), their livelihood, and, in many cases, a lifetime’s work, they can at present expect some monetary compen sation at the end of the war only if their property be damaged as a direct result of enemy action.
“If, however, no such damage is done, they are faced with the total loss of all their personal effects by reason of loot ing, of their homes due to depreciation owing to white ants, borers, dry rot, etc., or by fire, due to lack of clearing and attention —and with no means of insuring against such losses.
“The somewhat extraordinary position arises, then, that these evacuees will be far better off, from a purely material point of view, if their homes are devas tated by our enemies.
Miss Ivy Ennor, of Annerley, Queens land, was married in June to Mr. C. W.
Walsh, formerly of Salamaua, New Guinea, and now a member of the
Raaf.
No word has been received of the whereabouts of the Rev. James Benson, Miss May Hayman, or Miss M. Parkin son, all of the New Guinea Mission. Gona, Papua, since the Japanese invaded that part of the Territory, but it is presumed by the mission’s headquarters in Sydney that they were able to escape on a pre arranged plan, prior to the arrival of the enemy, and now are either further down the coast, or inland.
Rev. J. Edwards, of the Melanesian Mission, is unable at present to return to his station at Maka, Malaita, Solomon Islands, and has been appointed chap lain to the Lockhart River Mission, Rev. A. P. Jennings, principal of St.
Aidan’s College, Divari, Papua, is carry ing on his work, and writes that there are more students at present than there have been for many years, Mrs. Helen Wayne, wife of Mr. Ron ald N. Wayne, of the staff of the Sup reme Court, Rabaul. is now residing at “The Bungalow”, Woodford, NSW. Mr.
Wayne has been among the missing since the enemy occupation of Rabaul.