Pacific Science Congress Concludes

Successful Session NZ

HpHE Seventh Pacific Science Congress, 1 which opened in Auckland, NZ, on February 2, ended in Christchurch on February 23.

Over 300 delegates from 30 countries attended. After the inaugural session, committees were formed to deal with the various branches of science which the Congress covered.

Tours and expeditions, designed to interest particular groups of scientists were also arranged by the host organisations in New Zealand—the Auckland Institute and Museum, Auckland University College, Christchurch branch of the Royal Society and Canterbury University College.

Scores of papers were read by the distinguished delegates—the scope of which it is impossible to deal with adequately in a newspaper report. If proceedings are published by the host organisations for the Congress they should, however, be of assistance to all Islands governments.

Native Welfare

THE majority of delegates were concerned with native welfare and it was inevitable that the old bogey of “exploitation” should be brought out for an airing.

Professor J. W. Coulter, of the University of Cincinnati, in absentia, said that the old Pacific world had gone and it was the job of governments to assist the natives during their change-over from their old culture. This change had

been brought about by with foreigners who had exploited the re sources of the islands under a Western individualistic economy commonly called private enterprise.

Dealing with the importation of Oriental labour into Pacific territories, he said that it was full of dangers from economic, social, racial and political points of view, but if an adequate supply of labour was to be available for plan tation and mine owners there appeared to be no escape from it. If Asiatics were barred from these Islands, and if European and American Administrations, now established there, turned their terri tories over to self-government, the Asiatics were likely to find some way of getting in, anyway. Once established, even in few numbers, they multiplied quickly until they became the dominant economic group. (See also page 15.) Professor E. Beaglehole, of New Zea land, criticised New Zealand’s policy in Western Samoa and the Cook Islands.

There had. he said, been a sort of con gealing of development in the Cook Islands, partly through the influence of the missions and partly because the Gov ernment had preferred to keep things orderly rather than to encourage any tendency to progress. As for the Samoans —they were beginning back wards with their self-government: They had the mechanism, but they did not know how to use it.

The mistake Colonial powers made was to believe that native communities needed

the same sort of self-government as they themselves enjoyed. The natives, how ever, had managed their simple com munities quite satisfactorily before the Europeans came. Dealing with mixed bloods he said mixture between Poly nesians, Asiatics and Europeans had done no harm to the Islands people. In Western Samoa, however, some part- Europeans had become a segregated group suffering from legal and social disabilities.

Health

DR. V. W. T. McGUSTY, formerly Director of Medical Services in Fiji, spoke of the decline and recovery of the Fijian race —the recovery, in no small measure, being due to the favourable effect of the administration of Fiji by Britain. The future of the Fijians now seemed assured.

Dr. D. W. Hoodless, formerly principal of the Central Medical School, Suva, showed slides and spoke of the training of Native Medical Practitioners from Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia.

Professor J. P. Walsh, of the dental faculty, Otago University, urged that a research expedition be sent to stuldy dental decay among the peoples of the South Pacific.

Three other papers on dental diseases were read by other delegates. It was stated that the incidence of dental decay among natives of New Guinea was re markably low when compared with the incidence among Australian children in Australia. This was attributed to the fact that Australian children ate too much white flour and refined sugar.

Education

MR. AMI CHANDRA, a member of the Legislative Council of Fiji, com plained that there was great

illiteracy among the Indian peoples of Fiji. He said that there were insufficient schools in the first place and that, in the second place, too many seasonal de mands upon juvenile labour. Seventy per cent, of the’ Indian children of the Colony had no more than four years’ schooling.

Meteorological And Seismo

Logy Stations

It was urged that more meteorological and seismological stations be established in the Pacific. Meteorological stations, to deal with surface and upper*air, should be established at Easter Island, Clipper ton Island and Marcus Island; these would serve large areas now completely without weather data.

It was recommended that seismology stations be established in New Caledonia and in Southern and Western Australia.

Next Meeting

The Republic of the Philippines will be host to the next meeting of the Pacific Science Congress. The date has not yet been fixed.