Another N. Guinea Resident
p. 18 · Read in the full issue
Leaves The Territory
MR. J. W. HINKS, well-known mining man of Morobe, New Guinea, has left the Territory for good. He re turned to Sydney by air on November 26.
He said that many people had been driven from New Guinea by the present administration. Shipping supplies were irregular, building material practically impossible to get, and native labour was difficult to keep because of the one-year contracts introduced by the administra tion.
With regard to his own mine, Mr. Hinks said, that where 350 natives had been employed before the war there were now only 15.
On several occasions it had cost them £lO to have a native flown to the mine.
Excessive duties placed on foodstuffs to New Guinea, and costs generally, made it impossible for border-line enterprises to be operated. One had to make big pro fits to be able to live in New Guinea to-day. If people were treated fairly, gold production in Morobe district would soon return to its pre-war figure of £3 million per annum.
Mr. A. J. (“Bert”) Gaskin, of the Rabaul district of New Guinea where he has varied interests, made a flying trip to Sydney last month on business and pleasure.
M. Gaudriault, formerly vice-president, has been elected president of the Noumea Chamber of Commerce. M. H. Bonneaud is vice-president. These elections were necessary as a result of the death of M. “Tibby” Hagen, who had been presi dent for some years.
A crippled Samoan, Puga Tialavea was on October 20. It is alleged that, after a quarrel, he struck a 16-year-old Samoan school-boy with a cane knife, killing him instantly.