Official Attitude To

Recruiters

JLT E have had opportunity of ex rr amining a file of documents re lating to a series of incidents i 1949-50, when Mr. C. K. Johnson, if Lae, a recruiter for the New ruinea Planters’ Association, was ompelled to take action against ertain natives.

Mr. Johnson had persuaded the atives to accept employment con racts; but, before he could com lete all formalities and send them n their way to Rabaul, other atives—some with official status— iterfered and tried to induce the ecruits to back out of the con racts. In one case, the persons ho interefered were a medical tul il appointed by a medical mission ody, and a native constable. The il-tul was fined, and the constable isciplined.

Some people claim that there is growing reluctance on the part f minor officialdom in P-NG to ssist recruiters in getting labour >r the plantations. It is alleged lat some officials try to influence atives to avoid private employ lent, and to work only for the ative co-operative societies. A jmmentator, writing to us from ae, says: “Investigation would, I think, in cate that — 1. The NG Co-operative Societies •e of two kinds—(a) a coercive ovement towards Collective Farm g and Collective Marketing of •oduce: and (b) Plain business [n for profit (although I was re ntly told by an official that the tter are not recognised as official )-operatives). 2. Some Administration officials id Missionaries would go to any agth and take measures against irsonal liberty if thereby they uld enforce the policy of the Co icrative movement.”

Another correspondent says that e Administration will take no Bps to protect recruiters against rogant and unlawful interference native labour contracts by native mor officials. If an appeal is to made to the courts it has to be ne by private prosecution: in lich event the Administration tomatically provides the pro cuted natives with legal help, are often than not, that help is ire skilled than the prosecutor can ord to hire—in other words, the osecutor brings against himself e machinery of the Crown Law ipartment. [t is an interesting sidelight on e operation of the organisation ;roduced in the 1945-50 period by e Ward-Murray regime for the rassment of private enterprise d the protection of the native ainst “exploitation by soul-less iployers.” [t is not the offijcial policy of the

Administration to discourage engagement of native labour by private employers; but, under some conditions introduced in 1945-50, and also through the influence of certain mission bodies, the recruitment of labourers by private employers in P-NG is becoming increasingly difficult and costly.

For the first time in American Samoa, the principle of universal adult suffrage was used in the elec tions to the new and reorganised House of Representatives. The Western Samoan Government sent observers to study the elections, which were held quietly and with out incidents.