Wild Rubber

Story of Papuan Old-Timer and Australian Bureaucrats

HERE is a typical story of Australian political muddling.

There is wild rubber in Papua—plenty of it. Men travelled through the jungles, 40 years ago, collecting it, and selling it to the traders at 6/- per pound. Then cultivated rubber came in; prices drop ped; and the wild rubber trade is today forgotten by all except the oldest resi dents.

There are several types of wild “vine” rubber in Papua, all easily accessible.

Ficus Rigo is a tree that will yield 151bs. of rubber but it is widely scattered.

The plant that paid the old traders best was a wild vine rubber, which grows in abundance in the Territory, although not recognised by the present generation.

An old Papua resident wrote to the Australian Ministers a few months ago, supplying the foregoing information.

Mr. Beasley took the matter up. He was full of enthusiasm, and promised much activity. But nothing more hap pened.

The Papuan old-timer wrote again.

He said that if his statements were doubted, he would go to Papua at his own cost, and gather enough wild vine rubber of excellent quality to convince anyone that this was a matter worth following up. He received from Canberra a couple more letters, evasive in charac ter—and that was the end of the matter.

Anyone can see what happened. The politicians, being ordinary men, were impressed with the possibility of getting a supplementary supply of the urgently needed rubber in this way. They passed the suggestion on to some official or other. This routine-hound would auto matically resist any idea or plan that was in the least extraordinary. Knowing nothing about wild rubber, he would re fer the subject to someone in touch with rubber interests. Rubber interests, of course, would be hostile to anything which might permit a supply other than plantation rubber to be developed.

And so, as often happens with any idea or plan submitted to bureaucracy, the thing was pigeon-holed; and Papua’s old-timer still is wondering why no one had the courtesy to write to him and say either (a) the suggestion was good, or (b) the suggestion was impracticable.

Meanwhile, one presumes, there still is wild rubber in Papua—probably grow ing wilder every day.

The Rev. Robert Jones, of the Anglican Mission, Papua, is at present on leave with his wife in northern New South Wales.