Mystery Of New Guinea Timber

Vast Asset in Territory, About Which Canberra Cannot Make Uo Its Mind

rE dithering and uncertain attitude of the Department of External Ter ritories, in relation to the forestry resources of the Territories of Papua and New Guinea, has caused a host of rumours, in which Mr. Ward and his De partment are accused of all kinds of bad practices, from Socialism to secret com missions.

All, probably, are unfounded; but, if the Minister and his officials are embarrassed by the suspicions which centre around them, they can blame their own lack of frankness, and their unwillingness to give any indication of what they are going to do with the Territories’ timber resources, in relation to the world’s clamant need for timber of all kinds.

Reports credit the Department and the New Guinea Administration with an in tention to carry out one or other of the following plans:— • Establish a State-owned timber-getting industry, with saw-mills at several points in both Territories, the lumber to be shifted by State-owned ships. (The “State,” in each case, being Aus tralia.) • Dispose of the timber concessions to an operating company, in which the State shall own 51 per cent, of the shares. • Dispose of timber rights to certain monopolistic interests which have been wooing certain Ministers. • Dispose of the timber concessions to private enterprise, on a royalty basis.

One report says that the Government — or, at least, four minor Ministers, repre

senting a little-respected section of the Government—has been carrying on dis cussions with a “local syndicate,” headed by a Wau dentist and a New Guinea aviator, and that the negotiations had proceeded a considerable distance. It was not indicated that any of the interests concerned had any practical knowledge of the lumber industry—the profit motive seemed to be the main consideration.

Well-wishers of New Guinea hope still that the Australian Government will dis play enough vision to use Australia’s clamant hunger for timber to establish a new and profitable industry in that Terri tory. The only certain way to do this is to throw the situation wide open to pri vate enterprise, under proper control. But no such decision is expected from the people who now are in charge in Can berra. They are more likely to try to establish a State-owned industry.

MEANWHILE, to get some Idea of the timber resources of New Guinea, we have had an interview with Mr. T.

Flower, well known as a lumber contrac

tor in New Guinea and Papua, before the war. When the civilians were evacuated, Mr. Flower tried to induce the Australian military authorities to make use of his services as a timber-getter. The Aus tralians were not interested.

So Mr. Flower, like many other good Territorians, offered his services to the Americans; and the Americans, as in many similar cases, did not waste five minutes. He was engaged forthwith (at £2,000 per annum!) to make a survey of the timber available in all the places where military operations were in pro gress or contemplated. He spent two years on this work, and gathered valuable data.

The American commanders wished to avoid loading their incoming ships with necessary lumber —they wanted Mr.

Flower to produce timber close to where the timber was needed.

Mr. Flower surveyed the timber re sources of the New Guinea coast, and of the islands along the coast, from Port Moresby right around to the island of Noemfer, bevond Biak (off Geelvink Bay, in Dutch New Guinea). He operated saw mills at or near Port Moreby, Milne Bay, Goodenough Island, Lae, Finschhaven, Manus (in the Admiralties), and on the Dutch New Guinea coast. The timber from the latter mills went to Leyte and other operational areas in the Philippines.

The production of timber over the two years was enormous—yet, so great are the timber resources of these Territories, the forests were practically unmarked. They took 2,000,000 feet out of a narrow strip in the Finschhaven district, and the moval of the trees could not be noticed.

“That country could supply all Aus tralia's timber needs fbr a long time—as long as the timber-getters were given some encouragement.” said Mr. Flower.

“But Australia would have to do some thing to help the industry. There is an

application before the Tariff Board now to lift the duty on sawn timber from New Guinea. There would need to be assistance at the other end, too. Just before the war, I imported two tractors to New Guinea for lumber work, and the duty on the two machines was £500!

Roads are wanted, so that the good tim ber stands can be got at.”

At one period, the Americans were bringing no less than 6,000,000 feet of Oregon, from USA, and sawn timber from Australia, into New Guinea, but this was cut down as the New Guinea timber became available. rE use of New Guinea timber, said Mr Flower, was really a matter of trial and error. There would be perhaps 20 or 30 different kinds of tim oer in one area, and they had to decide which was the most suitable.

He used a special kind of mangrove for piling. He also found useful types of mahogany, walnut, cedar, pine and oak—they ranged from the lightest to the heaviest woods. He used a lot of Kasi-kasi, a timber heavier than Lignum Veatu, and of Balsa, which is so light that it is used by the natives for carving models. There was a good deal of Quila, a wood so excellent that the Germans shipped it away from New Britain, before 1914, for the decwation of the Reichstag building. He was interested to find on Oeake Island, near Biak, logs of Quila. indicating that the Dutch had discovered the value of the timber, and were shipping it away from that Terri tory. There are several softwoods in New Guinea which would find a ready market in Australia.

Mr Flower strongly urges that, simul taneously with timber-getting in New Guinea, the work of . reafforestation should proceed. He thinks that pines

should be planted on a huge scale, and that they would pay rich dividends.

He expressed confidence in Mr. J. B.

Me Adam, who was Forestry Officer under the late New Guinea Administration, who has been doing good work under the Military Government, and who is ex pected to be in charge of forestry under the Provisional set-up “a good sound man, who really understands the problems of forestry in this tropical Territory.”