The Mysteries of Army

Administration

Letter to the Editor MAY I, as an old Territorian serving in the Forces, make some comment on the way the country is now being run, and be permitted to ask for enlightenment on the reasons behind some of the present Army Administra tion’s habits? • Firstly, why should native recruits be forced to work in the G-strings in which they were recruited? I believe that ANGAU has been knpwn to supply an occasional lap-lap, but it is the usual thing for the newly-signed-on native to get an advance on his pay and make a bee-line for the nearest Army-operated PCB store and buy his own. • It would be interesting to know, also, why it is necessary to keep old indentured labourers hanging around the compounds filling in time simply because their ex tracts have not legally expired. In view of the fact that it is (or should be) uni versally recognised that the return of surplus labour to native village life is essential for the preservation of the whole race, there seems little sense or foresight in this policy. On the other hand, natives found in captured areas are sent home at the first opportunity with a note that states that they must not be recruited for a period of six months. No record of these natives is taken and there is therefore no means of knowing what labour is available in any area, or when individual natives may be recruited again.

Natives are no longer recruited; they are manpowered. After they are brought in, they are signed on for two years, and no questions are asked as to whether or not they want to work, and apparently no investigations are made as to whether it would be better in the long run if they were kept in the villages. The contract they sign is known as a “Contract of Employment.”

The practice at present is to use only indentured labourers (from any district) to clear plantations that have become overgrown in the invasion period. If local natives were brought to the planta tions in villages—or other large batches — men, women and children would soon clear large areas. Pre-war Europeans usually hired the local village for work of this sort, or for erecting houses, etc.

In this way, native life would go on uninterrupted, the planter later will benefit by finding contract labour more easily obtainable, and the Government issued rations would be a help to the natives while their food gardens are growing. Most natives do not recognise the purpose of relief rations; they simply make whoopee in the form of “sing-sings” while the meat, rice and biscuits last. I have issued thousands of these relief rations and I can vouch for the truth of this, • Much dissatisfaction has been regis tered in ANGAU when experienced New Guinea men have been passed over for promotion in favour of less experienced men. Numbers of New Guinea men, when special, responsible duties come up, are sent out to deal with them, while superior officers stay comfortably behind at base. Some of the staff officers state simply (and with some truth) that they are too old for such patrol work. Never theless they are responsible for the recommendation of commissions, many of which go to young, non-Territorian men. • If newspaper reports are to be believed, in the way of radio sets, etc., go to New Guinea. It is

reported that a number of individuals who live in groups of two and three at some base are lucky in this respect. Field men, on the other hand, get either a worn-out set which functions but rarely, or none at all. It is* in these forward areas that a radio—the only source of news—is most appreciated.

Electric lighting sets, which at one time were an almost unknown item, are now much more easily come by. • Finally—and this time on the pro duction side—why is it that the External Territories Department, which handles all rubber going into Australia, cannot do the same thing with copra? I am told that one of our biggest trading firms passes all New Guinea copra across to Levers and collects a percentage. If this is so, what is the reason for it?

I am, etc.,

Serviceman.

New Guinea, January 29.