He Was a Guest of

Pioneer's Tale:

He Was a Guest of the Government

Mr. W. A. Macgregor, More

frequently known as Bill, or Bill Mac, has been in the South- West Pacific for 31 years—all but a few of the first of them in New ►Guinea. He has been plantation overseer, miner, recruiter, trader, Jap fighter, temporary Kiap (which in NG means District Services officer) and now, as manager of the 14,000acre Government livestock breeding farm in the Baiyer Valley in the Western Highlands, a cattle breeder.

As he served his apprenticeship in the Queensland cattle industry before World War I, he can be said to have returned to the love of his youth— he confesses that nothing else that he has done in New Guinea has given him so much satisfaction as his pre sent job.

No Territorian has walked over more of the country than he, and few, if any, know the Sepik River as he does—but that is the subject of many other tales. He was in Sydney on leave recently and told this story of a Solomons adventure which led to his becoming the guest of HM George V and the High Commission for the Western Pac ific.

In 1921, after World War I serv ice, he went from Australia to the Solomons to become overseer on Pepasali, one of Lever Brothers’ plantations at West Bay, Cape Marsh.

One day, when he was visiting a friend on one of the outstations, a third Australian staggered in wear ing, says MacGregor, “Nothing but the waistband of his pants.” He had been set upon and beaten up by plantation labourers—Malaitamen.

The three of them immediately returned to the scene of the trouble.

When the dust of battle settled the Australians were slightly the worse for wear but six Malaitamen were unconscious and one was dead.

As might be expected, Authority took a dim view of their having thus taken the law into their own hands.

Am official (“with an Oxford accent md a mouth full of plums”) arrived md with sweet blandishment induced them to go into Tulagi where they were promptly placed under arrest.

They spent six restless and event ful (for the officials) weeks in gaol in Tulagi while a long inquiry was made.

They were then advised to plead guilty to having killed the native and were told that if they did so they would get only two or three years in the local calaboose. But they were suspicious of the Tulagi set-up and demanded a full trial with all the trimmings. This meant Suva and eventually they were formally charg ed with murder and despatched thither in the HCWP yacht Pioneer.

Pioneer was not equipped for carrying European prisoners and the subsequent 10 days at sea is a sub ject over which, even now, Bill Mac is happy to draw a veil. They were kept for some time awaiting trial in Suva gaol, where they struck ter ror into the hearts of Fijian police and did not endear themselves to European officials who regarded them as “difficult”. Levers engaged Henry Milne Scott to defend them and in May 1921 they were brought up for trial.

They liked their judge; alone among the officials he seemed not to regard them as criminals. He ac cepted Scott’s plea of self-defence, and remarked that a certain English man w'ho had killed a burglar in his house was subsequently knighted.

They were acquitted.

The Suva authorities immediately informed them that a ship was leav ing for Sydney the following day and that they could proceed on her with out charge. The other two took the line of least resistance and sailed.

But MacGregor dug his heels in. He reminded Authority that he had not asked to be charged with murder or sent to Suva. He did not want to go to Sydney—they had brought him from the Solomons and they could send him back there.

And the law being what it is, that is what they did, accompanied by curses from the Treasury. According to MacGregor’s story, not only did they keep him in the manner to which a European is accustomed while he remained in Suva, but they despatched him, in state, to the BSI in the Governor’s yacht.

As the yacht bore him triumph antly into Tulagi Harbour, official dom sat in its offices and spat; no flags were flown in his honour. There were no red carpets spread for him.

He was informed with some relish that the plantation rebels and their buddies, who had been the cause of the trouble, had themselves put a price on his head and had subscribed £3OO for anyone who could “get” him.

Levers decided discreetly that it would be better if he did not return to the plantation; he was found a job in Tulagi but soon was transferred to New Guinea.