Papua

Over The Border!

New Guinea Labourers in Papua

THE following appeared in an article, published in Melbourne “Herald” on August 31, from F. C. Folkard, “a ‘Herald’ war correspondent”:— “Now that New Guinea and Papua are under the one * administrative control, pidgin-speaking natives from the Mandated Territory are mixing freely with the Motuan-speaking Papuans. This is designed to break down the old territorial prejudices.”

And so there disappears, under the impact of war conditions, one of Papua’s most valued and jealously-guarded privi leges—namely, the protection of Papua’s natives against New Guinea’s recruiters.

One can almost hear Sir Hubert Mur ray turning in his grave.

The guiding principle of Sir Hubert Murray’s long administration was his determination that, no matter how urgent the demand for native labour, the natives should be encouraged to retain their tribal independence, or to become peasant farmers and planters, rather than that they should be indentured as labourers. The recruiting of natives for plantations, mines, wharves, and indus trial establishments was permitted, of course, and Papua never was really short of labour; but “the old Governor,” with grim resolution, saw to it that the pro portion of natives undergoing this kind of “Europeanisation” was so small that it would not affect the Papuan natives as a whole, while they were adapting them selves slowly to the white man’s world.

When the total of indentured natives employed on the nearby Morobe goldfield of New Guinea crept up well beyond the 10,000 mark, and New Guinea recruiters were finding the going “tough,” Sir Hubert watched his borders like a wary old hawk. “Wouldn’t those fellows like to get their hands into the reservoirs of manpower on our side of the border!” I have heard him exclaim.

Natives from the Mandated Territory were not allowed into Papua, and vice versa. Both administrations were very strict about it. An occasional patrol officer or prospector, who penetrated the mountain barrier from one Territory into the other, with native carriers, found himself under closest surveillance, until his natives were returned home.

Sir Hubert Murray’s insistence on keep ing Pidgin-English out of Papua was another indication *of the principles of native administration to which he adhered. Motuan was selected to be the official native language of Papua, and its use encouraged in every possible way.

Nonetheless, while the New Guinea Pid gin was kept out, a kind of Pidgin- English, much simpler and clearer than the New Guinea variety, has been com ing more and more into use, in recent years.

Now, since the two Territories are to be as one, we may expect that the irre sistible Pidgin soon will be as common in Port Moresby as in Wau or Rabaul.

Personally, I never expected that Papua and New Guinea could indefinitely be kept so rigidly apart, and the attempt to maintain the two territories, in two separate and watertight compart ments always seemed to me illogical and impractical. But, in relation to the administration and protection of Pacific native races, I regard the late Sir Hubert Murray as the most sincere and able man I eyer met; and, if Australia throws aside his native policy and his lifetime of work in Papua, without first examin ing carefully his principles and the things he accomplished, then Australia will be making a very grave mistake.

The old borders must go; the two Ter ritories are certain to be merged; but that is not to say that the Murray native policy was wrong or misguided. There are only two Australian territorial ad ministrations for which Australia has received the unqualified praise of colonial government experts—namely, those of Sir William MacGregor and Sir Hubert Murray, in Papua. That should not be forgotten.

It is known that on July 10 last three members of the Methodist Foreign Mis sionary Society (Sister Merle Farland, Rev. A. W. Silvester and Rev. J. R. Met calfe) were carrying on their work in the Solomon Islands, free of enemy inter ference.