J. K. Murray Row

Goes On

Planners Have Day Out In Newcastle

rHE retirement of Colonel J. K.

Murray from the P-NG Ad ninistratorship on June 30, which ;aused a political row, is still ttended by rumbles and snarls. r hat tireless smeller-out of scandals, dr. Eddie Ward, has been lifting his oice again in the Australian Parlia ment; Colonel Murray himself has een nagging away on the subject of is “dismissal”; and the Australian dinisters have been defending them elves in language of calculated weetness and charity.

Mr. Ward raised the matter in 'arliament on September 16, but he aid nothing new—merely re-hashed ae statement previously made.

But Minister Hasluck, replying, lade some disclosures. He said that 'hen Mr. Spender became Minister t the end of 1949 he decided that blond Murray was unsuitable. He ffered Colonel Murray another osition, but this was refused. When lr. Hasluck took over, in 1951, he id not accept Mr. Spender’s view; ut later, after careful observation, e came to the same conclusion. But e flatly denied that there had been conflict of policy between Minister nd Administrator because of the itter’s greater solicitude for the atives —the present Government had consistent policy for the protection nd advancement of native welfare.

Although Mr. Ward was trying to lanoeuvre Colonel Murray into an npleasant controversy, the Minister lid he refused to engage in it. blond Murray had reached a stage

when he had no longer the physical capacity to carry on the job, and he had been given a retirement allow ance, and had suffered no monetary loss. Colonel Murray had done his job with dignity, idealism and a sense of responsibility; and not all the cunning of Mr. Ward could induce the Government to express anything but respect for Colonel Murray and his record.

Which appeared to leave the honours with the Minister.

BUT about the same time, in New castle, NSW, Colonel Murray rather let himself go, in a series of addresses. He had been on a lecture tour in Queensland, where he had been bitterly defending his record and criticising the Government; and then he went to Newcastle to speak, at the invitation of an organisation called the Australian Association of the United Nations.

One of these speakers, a Dr. D. A.

Capell, described as “a reader in

)ceanic Linguistics at Sydney Uni ersity”, gave an address on “Racial delations in New Guinea”. Accord ng to a long report in the Newcastle Jerald, he said that “the ac nowledged intention of many of the European group in New Guinea was [> keep the native in his place—that if a serf”. That was the key to the scture, apparently—a long tirade gainst the greedy planters and the rhite exploiters of New Guinea’s un- Drtunate natives.

People who know the Territories ismiss this kind of talk, and this lass of lecturer —academic planners f Leftist tendencies, who have be jme something of a pestilence since le war—with the comments they eserve. Unfortunately, 99 per cent, f the Australian people do not know le Territories, and may accept the jbbish as authoritative, because it ames from a “Doctor”.

JPEAKING on the same occasion, J Colonel Murray attacked the oistralian Government because it ad failed to (a) give a guarantee ) buy Papua-New Guinea products istead of similar products from ther foreign countries; (b) develop le Territories’ almost incalculable ydro-electric power.

Few people will quarrel with the

late Administrator’s arguments; but most people will naturally inquire why Colonel Murray himself did not do more in that direction during his seven years as Administrator, in which Australia provided the Terri tories with from £3,000,000 to £6,000,000 per annum.

According to the newspaper report, Colonel Murray ended his address on this note:— He knew thousands of New Guinea natives and they were no different from white people. All they needed was an opportunity to de velop a culture and technology.

“New Guinea cannot develop till we give them this opportunity,” he said.

The only way to do so was to make them literate in the English language.

The Commission of Inquiry into the sale of liquor in W. Samoa Territory will shortly terminate its sittings, after having heard evidence from 50 individual witnesses and re presentatives of various bodies. The Commission, consisting of Mr. L.

G. H. Sinclair, S.M. as Commis sioner and Mr. A. D. McGregor as Counsel, has also visited the neigh

bouring Territory of American

Samoa to study conditions there.