Magazine Section

Territories Talk-Talk

By "Tolala"

LADY CILENTO, who arrived in Sydney last month from Europe, was well in the news during her short stay in the Big Smoke before she left for her home in Brisbane. She had the opportunity of telling Sydney women about the Pan-Pacific Women’s Confer ence she attended at Honolulu last year, and of the good work this organisation is doing for all the Pacific races. Lady Cilento is better known to old Rabaul residents as Dr. Phyllis, when her hus band was PMO in TNG. She spent much of her time doing practical welfare work, especially among the Chinese women of Rabaul, many of whom remember her with grateful hearts. She left Sir Raphael in the Middle East, still engaged on in ternational relief work. * * * WAR crime trials at Manus are cer tainly focussing general reading on the northern portions of TNG. As a result “special correspondents,” in their spare time from reporting war crimes, delve into the whys and wherefores of the local set-up, and with usual journal istic enthusiasm they leave little to the imagination.

Sydney morning and afternoon papers were filled with the startling depopula tion of the Western Islands, and the lone Anchorite Island inhabitant had more than usual publicity. (Who would want to live on the Anchorites, anyway?) No body who knows them from personal knowledge, I am sure.

And, talking of the Anchorites, I am reminded that Charles (call me “Yorkie”) Booth spent some time in the group in the early years of his Expro-board ex periences as a planter. It is certainly one of the last places in the world on which to live. * * * NOT having sufficient “copy” of real interest from the war crimes, Sydney journalists have devoted their spare time to working up human interest stories of the Manus group, which has now, apparently, reverted to its old name of the Admiralty Islands, which certainly sounds more romantic.

There comes to mind one story from a Sydney writer, detailing the hardships of an eminent military lawyer, engaged on the war crimes trials, who has to carry out his own laundry duties, whilst the local “boy” enjoys his afternoon siesta.

If there is truth in the story it is in deed a sorry state of affairs that some arrangements cannot be made, either by the Administration or military authori ties, for laundry work to be carried out, in a manner suitable for this part of the world. Or are the two authorities —Administration and Military—again at such daggers drawn, as was the case in the just-before-the-war II period? If so, it ds a great pity that the Whiteman’s prestige must suffer under Red-Tape-ism.

All whites should be properly catered for, and there should be no question whatsoever of their being provided with adequate service in every respect. Lack of it only indicates ignorance of the cor rect thing in a native country, and makes Australians a laughing-stock in the eyes of the world.

MR. STEVE LONERGAN, the very able Government Secretary of the P NG, had an unenviable job recently when he presented Australia’s annual report on the New Guinea Territory to the UN Trusteeship Council in New York.

Mr. Lonergan, who should know all the answers —from his long experience with TNG and the League of Nations set-up —did quite a good job in answering the UN quizzes.

In particular (says the newspaper re port 1 from New York) Steve was asked about Australia’s peaceful penetration in to uncontrolled areas, and about the ab sence of suffrage. Seeing that peaceful penetration of uncontrolled areas has been going on for 20-odd years, he should have been able to satisfy his questioners.

As for the absence of suffrage, it is to be hoped Australia is not precipitated into action in giving natives the fran chise merely to satisfy UN ignoramuses.

Natives wouldn’t know what to do with It if they had it.

It is time Australia took a stand in this regard and told the UN Trusteeship Council to go and mind its own business,

and leave the development of the NG natives to people who know something about it. Bring forward the franchise in another 20 years time, * * * jt is good to see that the Minister for J_ External Territories is awake to the dangers of paying out such large sums to native claimants for war damage. -p^ e system only corroborates the natives’ own ideas as to “cargo.”

Money should never have been paid ou t like that in the first place. Com pensation should have been made in kind—pigs, material, vegetable seeds, f ow i s anc i the like—and all claims should have been thoroughly checked—which they were not. It was an easy way to try and re-capture the natives’ good will a fter the Jap occupation; but it wasn’t appreciated, and never will be.

Not until the white man in New Guinea can command the respect of the native W ill that native ever have any apprecia tion of what has been done for him.

Benefactions and largesse showered upon the indigenes do not make for apprecia tion, unless they primarily hold respect

These two men are well-known Pacific personalities: M. Henri Sautot, Mayor of Noumea, on our left- Mr Colin Simpson, of the ABC, on our right. They met in New Caledonia, when Mr. Simpson was’ on his way to Fiji recently. Mayor Sautot is shown presenting Mr. Simpson with a copy of his book dealing with the dramatic events in New Caledonia during the war.

Photo by F, E. Dunn.

for the donor. A tightening-up of disci pline among the natives is the surest way of breeding respect, and that is the best preventive of internal unrest.

There is little discipline left in NG, but it may still not be too late to resusci tate it. * * $ I WAS interested in reading about the revival of an old-time custom in Rabaul; The Frangipanni Ball at the New Guinea Club on May 27. It created a nostalgic feeling, for well do I remem ber the first one m 1938, when the slogan “Frangipannis ’Bloom Again” was on everyone’s lips, and there was a song, made up by some of the local optimists sung to the tune of “Happy Days are Here Again.”

Incidentally, it may not be generally known that the phrase about the frangi panni blooming again arose from an article in one of the Rabaul Times erup tion editions (referred to recently by Judy Tudor in her article on volcanoes) wherein editor Gordon Thomas spread the happy tidings that Rabaul was re habilitating itself “and the frangipannis bloomed again.” A phrase that is long remembered as it should be.

Let’s hope that many Frangipanni Balls are held in Rabaul in the years to come. * * * IT was indeed sad news to read of the disappearance of the small motor ship, Fairwind, travelling down from NG along the NSW coast recently. It is hard to believe that Captain “Sandy”

Campbell should have met his fate in this manner after his most adventurous life. There are many Islanders who will regret his passing, for he was well-known —ever since his earlier days in the old Mataram and Macdhui, and later in the luxury liner Bulolo, which he first sailed into NG waters before the last war. He was a most able skipper, and the friend of many. * * * BITS AND PIECES; Congratulations to Matron Mary Mae, of Lae, on her OBE decoration for gallantry at Kavieng in 1942. It was well deserved. . . . With regret I read of the death of that well-known gold-fields identity, Mrs.

Claire Bowring, at Lae, on June 26. She will be sadly missed. . . . Here’s a shop ping account from Rabaul, the middle of last month: 2 lb. butter, 10/-; 1 lb. bacon, 5/-; 6 eggs, 3/-; 2 lb. celery, 3/6; 1 doz. apples, 7/-; 2 lb. chops, 6/6. Time for the Prices Commissioner to get busy, surely. ... I liked that extract from the Norfolk Island annual report: Main ex ports—bean seed, £4,125; empties, £3,909.

It was a disappointment to learn, later, that the, empties were mostly drums which had carried aviation fuel to the island.