The Editors' Mailbag

Australia and Tahiti

From Islands Merchant: “Ac cording to the Estimates, Australia provides £1,835 per annum for a Consul in New Caledonia, and £2,500 for a Trade Agent in Portu guese Timor. I am sure the income derived from those places is not as much as what Australia receives from Tahiti. Why cannot Australia abandon Timor, and place a Trade Agent or similar official in Tahiti, where he might do some good?”

We don’t know—do you?

Do You Know?

“Do you know the story behind this memorial?” asks a Rabaul cor respondent, sending a photograph of a tombstone which is placed in a coconut grove, just off the Ra baul-Kokopo road, near Divuan vil lage. The inscription in English reads that it is in memory of “Phoebe Clothilda, beloved daughter of August and Mary Ann Horgren, born October 5, 1893, died August 3, 1914”—which was only one day before the outbreak of World War I, in which Germany lost New Guinea.

Does anyone now know the name or the circumstances?

Australia’s Easy Millions

“Maybe I’m a bit out of date— but I simply do not understand this Colombo Plan,” writes a resident of Papua. “Is it true that Australia is presenting millions of pounds’ worth of goods to the people of South east Asia? And, if that is so, what is Australia trying to do? If Aus tralia has got money to give away, why doesn’t she give it to her people who cannot get houses? Some of my relations have been struggling for years to get a home together, but are regularly knocked back by rising costs and inability to com mand the necessary finance.”

Touche, resident of Papua!

Frankly, the PIM thinks that the

Commonwealth Government’s

Colombo Plan is crazy. No. 37 of Facts and Figures, issued by De partment of Interior, March, 1953, show r s that in 1951-52 Australia jave Asiatic countries over £4,000,000 worth of food and machinery; and was planning larger gifts in 1952-53. rhe idea is that Australia, thus issistmg the unde r-privileged Asiatics, will gain the future good wm of Asia, and develop pleasant neighbourly reflations.

There are 9,000,000 people in !I ?Pty Australia. There are over ,000,000,000 in overcrowded Asia. It s as certain as the sunset that, vithm a few decades, the Asiatics vill begin to spill over into the spacious and fertile lands of the south Pacific. Having had experi -nce of the Chinese in the Boxer rebellion and the Korean War, and

of the Japanese in these Islands in 1942-43, the Europeans in these countries know just what to expect.

A dozen Colombo Plans will not alter natural law, and the Asiatics’ hatred of us.

However, the post-war inter national sociologist is riding high and untrammelled. The merino sheep are bringing rich revenues into Australia these days, and the taxpaying sheep are unprotestingly paying it out again. There is plenty for all—except the house-less. Let the song-and-dance go on!

Link with Maryland, USA

In February this year we pub lished, from the album of Mr. A. G.

Smyth, of Apia, a photograph show ing the destruction by fire of the graceful magnetic-survey vessel Carnegie in Apia Harbour on No vember 29, 1929. As a result of that explosion and fire, Captain J. P.

Ault, master of the vessel, died.

Now a letter from Mrs. Ault, of Bethesda, Maryland, USA, has been received by Mr. Oscar Nordman, of Papeete, Tahiti. She is a regular reader of PIM and appreciated this photo and the accompanying short article.

It is evident from Mrs. Ault’s letter that she is still keenly in terested in scientific affairs, being an active and regular speaker at the Eistophus Science Club, an organisation which was founded about 1890.

Though too long to quote here, Mrs. Ault s letter contains reference to many American scientists who are personal friends of hers. Her address is 4801 North Lane, Bethesda

14, Md., Usa.

Natives Could Be Misled

An old planter sends along a copy of the Misima news-sheet of Sep tember, 1953 (Vol 2, No. 5), and spits tacks over this item in it “ The plantations of the Territory

produce about 65,000 tons of copra each year. At present the price of copra is about £7O per ton when it is sold overseas. Sometimes the price is much higher and sometimes much lower. The price depends on how much people overseas need our copra.”

Our correspondent points out that this news-sheet is distributed free to the natives by the Administra tion; and the effect of that state ment, without explanation or embel lishment, is that the native is con vinced that the traders are cheats and liars.

To the natives, “overseas” means Samarai. Misima copra is mostly smoke-dried; and that is worth only £66/10/- overseas —and much less in Samarai. The trader plugs wearily from village to village, sometimes picking up only one basket of copra, sometimes none.

Freight from Misima to Samarai is £5 per ton. The trader gets no compensation for cyclone losses—the natives did get compensation. He cannot pay anything like £7O per ton.

“Is it not time,” says the old trader, “that we were given a reasonable chance in fair trading, instead of being harassed in this fashion by novice editors?”

There is a big difference between £7O per ton “overseas,” and the price the small coastal trader can pay when he is buying piece-meal, from village to village; and a news sheet prepared for natives should explain that.