Territories Talk-Talk

By Tolala

A N apology to readers of “Talk- Talk” for my silence in the July issue. It was unavoidable. Every bit of machinery requires overhaul ing at times and, believe me, even I am not immune from the need for repairs. During my period of “servicing” I received many cheer ing messages for which I am ex ceedingly grateful. Especially did I appreciate the thoughtful tributes —good wishes, flowers and reading matter —which I received from the President and Members of the New Guinea Women's Club, as well as the cheerful visits from many of its members. I say a very big “thank you”.

I came across an appropriate reference to Pidgin the other day as I was browsing through “Some Experiences of a New Guinea Resi dent Magistrate”—C. A. W. Monck ton’s book, first published in 1920.

In the Preface he writes: “I have abstained from putting into the mouths of natives the ridiculous jargon or ‘pidgin English’ in which they are popularly sup posed to converse. The old style of New Guinea officer spoke Motuan to his men, and I have, where re quired, merely given free translation from that language into English.

In recent books about New Guinea, written by men of whom I never heard whilst there, I have noticed sentences in Pidgin English, sup posed to have been spoken by natives, which I would defy any European or native in New Guinea, in my time, either to make sense of or interpret.”

Although written over 30 years ago it could easily refer to the present-day method of mutilating the pure Pidgin.

And when I refer to “pure Pidgin” I mean that lingua franca which consists of a mere 350 words and wa,s learned by the new-arrivals in New Guinea before World War I as a separate language, not to be confused with pure English by the non-English speaking people.

The mutilation of Pidgin started with the advent of the Australian soldiery in War I, when they occupied the old German colony, and its mutilation has been steadily progressing ever since, for the reason so many of the English speaking residents do not bother to learn the real Pidgin and carry on a conversation in a fantastic chop suey jargon of words, ending in “ee” with a liberal smattering of “fella” and “savee”, somewhat along the lines of the Adelaide Pidgin as mentioned in PIM July (p. 32).

Had a letter the other day from a chap, who had been up in the Territories for over 30 years, and he mentioned employing four Papuan carpenter boys, on a New Britain plantation. Three of them from the same village. My friend carefully spoke to them in pure English, which they understood quite well, but he discovered when they worked on their own they spoke nothing but Pidgin!

A short while ago, in the columns of the PIM, there was some ex change of ideas concerning the activities of the Works & Housing folk in NG. Thus an extract of an article, on the Manus base, written by a Special Correspondent of the Sunday Herald (2/8/53): “Unlike the servicemen, they (Works & Housing employees) lived tax-free, were paid an average of £22 a week (£6 for Saturday) and were charged only 16/6 a week for messing. But they worked at such a snail’s pace that the sea-air corrosion, termites and voracious jungle growth that are the curse of Manus threaten to overtake the little they did achieve.”

Now, however (the article points out) progress is being made with Naval and Air Force personnel who “in a few months have accom plished more than W & H was able to do in four years.”

I don’t know. I’m merely quoting what a man on the spot writes and I don’t think he has any particular axe to grind for any section.

A step in the direction of real progress is the establishment of a branch of the ANZ Bank in Moresby, where a bank official is reported as saying that ordinary business in Papua “was providing an attractive and growing market.”

It’s good to read about the pro posed Historical Society in PM (PIM July, p. 131) and Minister Hasluck (himself an historian of no mean tonnage) will doubtless give it his full blessing.

One of the best sources of re search, in TNG anyway, should be the Catholic Missions, especially Vunapope, unless their old records have been sent to the Vatican.

Much valuable data was lost when the Japs came in. • • • Islands MLC Don Barrett, who is working for the abolition of the Trusteeship over NG, has an uphill fight, despite the fact that 90 per cent, of the thinking Territory population agree with his policy.

Top level politicians say the old Mandated area must remain a

Trusteeship, willy nilly. I have yet to learn what advantage the Mandate system was to the Terri tory under the aegis of the Permanent Mandates Commission, and the same applies to the present control from UNO.

Australia is far too conscious of outside criticism concerning the ad ministration of NG. A pity she does not take a leaf out of Nippon’s book when that country held the mandate for Micronesia following the First War. Japan politely ignored the League of Nations and got away with it. It’s impossible to serve two masters and no one must realise that more than Minister Hasluck.

If there is any trouble brewing anywhere it’s a pretty safe bet that Bertie Hall will be somewhere about. At the latter part of June, the 25-tonner Lochaven left Sydney harbour for a trial run, with Skipper Bertie Hall and Gus Kuster (another well-known Islands identity) and two others. The engines failed and the hooker was adrift for seven days. Conditions were grim when Lochaven was picked up and towed into New castle. So happily ended another dire experience for Bertie Hall, who has been cruising around New Guinea waters since the First War.

Falling down the hold of a ship in Rabaul and breaking his back some years ago put him in Namanula Hospital for a long spell, and internment by the Japs in China didn’t add to his enjoyment of life.

But despite his ups and downs Bertie—for all his 73 years—gets a lot of pleasure out of this world.

“Stamp duty comes to P-NG,” says a heading in the June PIM

(p. 15) —but not for the first time so far as NG is concerned. I have vivid recollections of cheque books bearing penny postage stamps back in the ’3o’s, and I think receipts for over £2 required stamping also.

Hanuabadan natives have been told by a District Commissioner to “stop bickering.” Says he: “I suggest if you talked less and did a little more, your lot would be a much happier one.”

It would appear that the adoption by the Hanuabadans (and many others also) of the Australian way of life has been most successful.

Civilisation carries the good as well as the bad attributes to primitive folk.