South Pacific Commission

The Task and Problems of the South Pacific Commission

THE South Pacific Commission, brought into being on the initiative of Aus traha and New Zealand to undertake an important task of international sig nificance, has made an impressive start Energy, vision and organisational ability have been displayed by the new Secre tanat in setting the Commission to work and the Research Council already is dis tinguished by the skill, enthusiasm and practical commonsense of the men seby the six nations concerned (Britain, France, United States, Nether lands, Australia and New Zealand) to discover, describe, study and find a solu tion of the problems of government in the fourteen Territories of the South Pacific.

The Secretariat provides the organisa tion, and equipment: the highly qualified °.i the Research Council—all experts in their various fields—study the problems and suggest the answer; and the Com missioners themselves have the responsi bly for co-ordinating administrative activities, especially in relation to the problems dealt with.

An examination of the list of “projects” already receiving the attention of the Re search Council (published in this issue) will give some idea of the scope, purpose and potential usefulness of the South Pacific Commission.

AT the end of the Victorian era, when the scramble for “colonies” in the Pacific Islands had died away, it be came apparent to all observers who felt a sense of responsibility for the Islanders’ welfare that there was need for some authority to undertake study, research and co-ordination of European activities

and administration. There were less than two milhons of native people in the South Pacmc: Islands—most of them in primitive Melanesia—but they were divided up among more than a dozen separate and independent administrations: and each administration was conducted in a jealously-guarded compartment, insulated by bureaucrats against any exchange of experience or ideas with the organisation next door.

Soon after it was established. 20 years ago the “PIM” repeatedly directed at tention to the ridiculous situation exist ing m the Australian • Pacific Territories Only an imaginary line separated Papua trom what was then the Mandated Terri tory of New Guinea. In the two Terri tories were the same types of natives, the same degree of native culture (or lack of n), the same diseases, the same kind of Europeans and European industries, the same problems of health, education, transport, trade. In fact, the things which divided them were as nothing, compared with the conditions which united them.

Yet, believe it or not, those two Terri tories, both governed from the same Department in Canberra, did not in any w J*y. exchange ideas or experiences or officials—instead of being practically one area, for administrative purposes, they were governed as if they had been on separate planets.

Government after Government (mostly n 9fi~ La^OUr) refused to concern itself with. Territories responsibilities, and nothing was done, until World War 11.

However much we may dislike the Evatt- Ward combination politically, we must give to the Australian Socialists the credit

Between-Wars Period. m the slightest degree, with the condi tions ruling in the adjoining Territorv S n< ?sp la 5 y ’ ther ? was a certain amount of inter change of knowledge; but what research and co-ordination ther !, were « were due to the in officfaS C6 rn th* . e ,P ter P rise of individual officials, rather than to any national or colonial policy. _.

I T not be correct to say that re , , , would be easy to wander into a tb? e^ a ! dls cussion of the way in which the Colonial Powers, in the past, hav^-or ba jc not—discharged their obligations to the native Islanders in their care; but. in at IH rp f ard - facts and arguments would fill a volume. Better to forget the and accept the leasing fact that, crea.tmg their South Pacific Commis slon and outlining its programme of work, the six nations concerned have re moved most of the conditions that were a source of reproach during the past half century. h? 6 scb ° larl y> and eminently practical address delivered by Dr. L G M Baas Becking at the inaugural meeting of the ? es / a ,‘,' ch Council on April 30 (and printed m full in the May “PIM”) probably has

been read with pleasure by most people interested in the future of the South Pacific. The programme he has outlined and the plans envisaged, must command approval.

IN considering the future of the Com mission, one may see danger in two directions.. There is a possibility that the Commission, in giving thought and effort to the welfare of the native Islanders, will neglect the welfare of the European Islanders; and, in the long view, the one is just as important as the other.

The second danger is that, if the people who planned and launched the Commis sion are not careful, the new barque will be wrecked upon the rocks of finance.

It is the opinion of this journal, frankly and frequently expressed, that there is a tendency on the part of the younger Planners of this strange post-war period to overdo their preoccupation with the welfare of native races, and to dismiss the claims of the European settlers of the Islands as merely the greedy clamour ings of convicted “exploiters.” That policy has been very marked in the Aus tralian Territories, and it has slowed up post-war rehabilitation, and created a spirit of frustration and despair, in a way that has to be seen to be believed.

The safest and surest way of securing the welfare of the natives, and of ensuring their rapid training and material progress, is to harness those desirable things to the interests of the European community.

Ninety per cent, of the Europeans like the native Islanders and understand them, and are happy to assist them in every possible way: and the New Planners should accept that fact, and make use of it, instead of regarding all Europeans as the natural enemies of the natives. If the very sincere men who planned the South Pacific Commission and its organ isation had spent more time with the experienced European settlers of the Islands, and a little less with the equally sincere but usually impractical anthro pologists and academicians, they could count on quicker results and more success.

European settlement throughout the South Pacific Islands is a permanent thing, and should be provided for accord ingly. The future of the Islands lies jointly with the Europeans and the native Islanders; and it should be one of the chief functions of the Commission to shape, and guard, and police their re lationship. In that way, success is as sured. An unsympathetic, non-co operative European community could slow up the work of the Commission.

IT is probable that the Commission al ready realises that it has made a serious mistake in selecting Noumea to be its headquarters. The French pre sented a very attractive proposition, and the Commission naturally accepted it— and neither the French nor the Com

mission are to be blamed for the fact that the cost of living, and of all activities, is about twice as great in New Caledonia as it is in the English-speaking centres. But the implications of that fact might have been foreseen.

The Research Council has a great deal to do, especially in these early, formative years. It needs plenty of staff, and plenty of travel facilities. Both, when ar ranged in Noumea, are fearfully expensive.

So far, the six Governments have been generous with funds; but, even so, the new organisation is finding difficulties with its budget.. Those generous funds probably are being eaten up at a distress ing rate by the unexpectedly heavy and apparently inescapable costs of the Noumea establishment. We probably shall hear more about this before 1949 is ended.

The Commission has made an excellent beginning, in organisation, in personnel, in envisaging the task and in the enthusiasm with which the selected men have applied themselves to that task. It would be a thousand pities if this new establishment were to be crippled, in the beginning, by lack of funds. There is the further danger that new political set ups will make less money available through the six nations. Might it not be possible, before it is too late, to con sider the removal of the Commission’s headquarters back to Sydney, where all possible facilities —staff, accommodation for staff, means of travel—are available, at much less cost? Sydney, after all, is the metropolis of the South Pacific and, with radio and these ever-growing air services, it is now in close daily contact with all the principal Territories of the South Pacific.