Rich And Idle

Nauruans

Set a Problem in Administration

fT\HE Australian Department of i Territories is finding that the Administration of the phos phate island of Nauru (which it administers as a Trust Territory, on behalf of Britain, Australia and New Zealand) provides one of the Pacific’s most difficult problems.

The Nauruans are not Melane sians, of the type with which Aus tralia is familiar in New Guinea.

They have sometimes been called ‘a pocket of Polynesians”—at any rate, they are an intelligent, tract able people of Polynesian charac teristics. Because they have been receiving royalties on their phos phate for a * couple of generations, they are a rich community. Nauru, unlike its sister phosphate island of Ocean, is a pleasant place—its old name actually was Pleasant Is land —and life in the non-phos phatic section is quite comfortable.

But the Nauruans insist that they are not happy. “Use our accumu lated funds to buy us another island somewhere,” is their cease less cry to the Government.

But the Government’s experts say that another island wdll not end

the Nauruan restlessness. Whatthev want is occupation—regular work of some kind. So Mr. Pitman, a Commonwealth education officer, has gone to Nauru to take charge of education there. He will try to establish an education system under which adults, as well as children, will be trained in useful trades and handicrafts, so that, instead of

sitting idle in their villages, th( may do useful work at Europea level.

Meanwhile, although seven months have elapsed since M Richards retired from the Admihii tratorship, the top position has m been filled. Evidently, it is propose to carry on as at present, pendir some internal reorganisation.