Tourist Office Establish[?]

At Nadi

THE Fiji Publicity Board is to estabhey an information centre at Nadi m port.

Mr. R. A. Hewlett, of the Fiji P\ nt Relations Office, has been seconder iia, the Board by the Government of ,ith and will be stationed at Nadi, where ad, will be in charge of the new office, ur addition to providing general infor an tion about the Colony, Mr. Hewlett ur. help to make travel and accommode Re arrangements for tourists arriving b he

Bulolo Valley, New Guinea; that Garden assisted Parer’s application; that Garden, Garden Jr., Parer and Farrell formed a syndicate to sell these leases to an Aus tralian timber nrm, Hancock and Gore, lor £100,000; that the firm, believing that the leases had been granted, paid out £50,000 to the syndicate; that the basis of the firm’s belief was a letter signed “E. J. Ward, per J. S. Garden,” dated November 20, 1945; that Ward denies that he ever approved of such a lease being granted, and that he at no time authorised Garden to write such a letter; and that Garden interfered with corres pondence between the firm and Ward when the firm became anxious about its rights and approached the Minister direct.

All these events extended over the years 1944-47.

The Crown Prosecutor, in opening this present case, said he understood that Garden would say in his defence that he had Mr. Ward’s authority to write the letter of November 20, 1945, and that Mr.

Ward had acted on receiving a bribe of £5,000.

The Minister for Territories. Mr. Ward, was in the witness box on May 7, 10 and 11, and for part of the time he was under gruelling cross-examination, re lating mostly to his relationship with Garden.

THE hearing became more sensational after the Crown case was concluded, on May 12.

The judge stated that he would direct the jury to acquit Garden of the first two charges, arising out of the letter of November 20, 1945. His Honor evidently took the view that, whatever else the letter was, it was not forgery or falsi fication. The trial of Garden on the third charge continued.

Garden, on May 13, gave evidence that Ward was a member of the syndicate and that Harcourt Garden .“dummied” for him; that Ward was a party to nego tiations between the syndicate and Hancock and Gore; that Ward was to get 20 per cent, of the amount paid by Hancock and Gore, which was expected to be between £75.000 and £100,000; that all that had been done had been done with Ward’s knowledge and approval.

The hearing was proceeding when this journal went to press.

A second artist to arrive in Noumea from France in recent weeks is M. Charles Demangeot. He has already exhibited some of his works.