New Caledonia Election

3N Sunday, February 8, the voters of New Caledonia, totalling 20,343 —including 9,832 natives -voted for the election of a new General Council. The results are hown below. NC has been without Council for nearly a year.

A Bill which provided for a new institution was passed, in the first istance, by the French Parliament i 1951. Under %his, the Council r as to comprise 25 members—l 6 lected by Europeans and 9 by atives.

Meantime, M. Maurice Lenormand -a Noumea pharmacist who has ;en called pro-native—was elected » the French Parliament to repre *nt New Caledonia and New ebrides. When the Bill came up »r confirmation, he was instru ental in having it thrown out. He *manded a common roll for NC. his was strongly resisted by jropean interests, who feared mfiscatory taxation if the Council “re dominated by Leftists and itives.

The dispute went on during 1952. ittlement was delayed by the in ability of the French Government, delegation of Deputies arrived in 0 in September, and arranged aat was called a “compromise ttlement” as between the common 11 demanded by the Leftists, and e double roll, originally proposed, lis was agreed to by the French rliament in December,

9 Natives In Council

Noumea, Feb. 10.

Lhe new Council of 25 is made , by parties, approximately as lows: Leftist and Pro-Native, led by M. Lenormand (in cludes 9 natives) 15 Rightist (led by M. Bonneaud) 8 Miscellaneous 2 25 fhe names of the 9 natives are: idjune, Bouanoue, Bouillant, ui, Enoka, Kauma, Haeweng, ipoindi, and Pidjot. fhe other elected men are: :ges, Lenormand, Newland, Caron, Jhenbrenner, Legras, Dr. Tivollier, meaud, Bichon, Parazols, Thomas gen, Stephane de Saint-Quentin, allier, Solier, James Daly and ruelle. 1. Lenormand (described as rongly pro-native, pro-common 1, a Leftist, but not a Com nist”) will dominate the new mcil, I. Bonneaud, president of the uer Council, secured only 8 seats, e three De Gaullist candidates ■e all defeated. Only one of the ididates which favoured the ible roll, James Daly, secured ;tion.

NGG Shareholders Miss Again

New guinea goldfields LTD., in the year ended last September, made a profit of £43,542 from gold and timber, but again decided to pay no dividend.

Almost similar profit was made in the previous year. All profits, for years, have been used to finance capital development.

There is no indication of when such operations will begin to return something to shareholders. The amalgam section of the Golden Ridges mill, at Wau, has been in operation for some time; and the cyanide section, constructed at very heavy cost, will come into operation this year. The Co., then, will be

getting substantial revenue from three sources—Golden Ridges (two sections), tributing and timber.

Although it has had no help from the Government, the Co. is still developing its timber interests, and 97,000 super feet of specially treated pine, from Wau, arrived in New castle early February.

The Co’s history is not promising.

Under the influence of an energetic Englishman, named Urquhart, it started some 25 years ago as the Elyou Syndicate, and by the time it had become New Guinea Gold fields Ltd., operated by the British Mining Trust, it had an issued cap ital of £5,000,000, and was absurdly top-heavy. The Guggenheim in terests, of New York, came into it in the ’Thirties, and wrote off some £4 millions; but the Co. was still floundering when the Japs invaded, in 1942. The owners have another and much more profitable leg in Mount Isa, Queensland, and do not seem to worry much about NGG, so long as it earns enough profit to pay its way.

Miss Pamela Milesby, a Sydney air-hostess, was married at the end of January to Mr. Clyde Davis, of Rabaul, New Guinea.