G. and E.Colony Headache In

Administration

IT was suggested, some time ago, in the PIM, that the High Commis sion for the Western Pacific is a wasteful anachronism—that the Solo mon Islands should be handed over to Australia, the Gilbert Group added I; American Trust Territory of Micro nesia, and the Ellice Islands added to the Fiji or Micronesian Administration.

The following notes (written by an old resident of the G and E Colony) carry the discussion a little further.

PERHAPS the most glaring absurdity about the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony is that the Resident Com missioner, at Tarawa, pretends to control the administration of the three distant out-posts, namely:—

Ocean Island; Canton Island and the Phoenix Group; Fanning Island and the Line Islands.

Ocean Island lies about 150 miles to the west of Tarawa and has a population of 1,351, all engaged in the phosphate in dustry of the BP Co., except for a dozen Government European or Native officials.

The company conducts its affairs in an efficient manner; it engages its own Medi cal Officer, and provides very satisfactory sanitary and hygienic conditions for all its employees. There is no reason why the Company should not continue its operations, as at present, and put the District Officer and other officials (Post, Police, etc.) directly under Fiji. It has been estimated that the phosphates on Ocean Island will be exhausted in another 35 years.

This amazing coral island of Canton lies at the very centre of the Pacific Ocean. It has a population of only 60, and a series of magnificent air-strips.

Planes arrive every day of the year, either from Honolulu or from Nadi (Fiji).

Canton Island lies about 1,000 miles due east of Tarawa, which has no plane and only on very rare occasions sends a small steamer to Canton Is. There is really no communication between Tarawa and Can ton. The Government District Officer on Canton Island should certainly be ap pointed and controlled direct from Fiji.

The other three islands in the Phoenix Group are Hull (526), Sydney (293), and Gardner (94) —a total population of less than a thousand. Under the present ab surd link-up with Tarawa they have never yet been properly visited by a Government European Medical Officer.

The Panning and Line Islands are an other thousand miles to the north-east, from Canton Island, so that their dis tance from Tarawa makes control from that station still more ridiculous. It is a well-known fact that official letters from Tarawa have taken six months or more to reach Fanning Island, and well over a year to reach Christmas or Wash ington Island. The Cable & Wireless Co. is chiefly responsible for Panning Island, with Burns Philp in charge of the copra plantations.

The position will be rendered much easier if the Bank Line of steamers con tinues to send a cargo steamer every three or four months to the Line Islands for copra.

For all administrative purposes the con trol of these three islands (Panning, Christmas and Washington) should be direct from Fiji, and not from Tarawa.

If the administration and control of the three outposts were taken from the Resident Commissioner at Tarawa, there would remain only the administration of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands proper— -30,000 Gilbertese on 19 islands, and 5,000 Ellice Islanders on eight islands.

No simple solution to this problem pre sents itself —and it is easy to say that'the simplest solution would be to hand the islands over to the USA, which is in con trol of the Marshall and Caroline groups, to the north.

Whatever form of administration is de vised for these G i& E Islands proper, its success will depend on the market value of copra—unless the parent Administra tion is prepared to subscribe adequate funds to meet any annual deficit.

The new Fijian product, Delana Mar garine—made by the Carpenter copra crushing mill in Suva, Fiji—has been well received. The manufacturers report a lively demand in Fiji and Tonga, and a substantial order from Noumea. Samoa has a duty on margarine—but there is hope that this will be amended in favour of the Fiji product.