Guinea

Absurdities In New

Metropolitan Paper is Entertaining

IN a lively, well-written article in the Sydney Daily Mirror of De cember 31 the absurdities and injustice of the Native Labour Ordinance, 1950, are effectively shown up. The title of the article is: “New Guinea Natives are ex ploiting White Men!”

The Ordinance, of course, is a be quest from the Ward-Murray re gime, and the present Administra tion now is actively gathering data on the effect of it, so as to justify far-reaching amendments. But, in the opinion of old observers, irre mediable harm already has been done, and the native labour force partly demoralised, by one of the most stupid and untimely measures ever introduced into native ad ministration.

The Mirror writer deals mostly with the more obvious side of the absurdity—the fact that all penal provisions were withdrawn from the

native labour arrangement, so that it became purely a civil contract.

It is easily enforceable against the white employer, but in practice it cannot be enforced against the native. Even if a recalcitrant native were fined, and did not pay, and a gaol sentence were imposed, the Ordinance achieves nothing because, as the Mirror says, prison means nothing to the native ex cept good food and comfortable conditions.

The writer also entertains his readers with a, description (per fectly true) of the operation of the war damage compensation pay ments to natives —another absurdity perpetrated by the Ward-Murray people and continued, up to date, by the present Administration.

U Mr. Cumber, a New Zealand ento mologist, passed through Fiji in January on his way to Western Samoa where he has been invited by the South Pacific Commission to undertake a study of chemical methods of controlling rhinoceros beetles. The results gained from this work will, in due course, be passed on to the various member governments which make up the South Pacific Commission.