Editorial. ..

Racial Problems And Socio-Political Dangers

In South Pacific

3E Territories of the South Pacific Islands bristle with problems peculiar to each, in lition to problems which are •ly general; but—as was pointed effectively by a special corre ndent in June PlM—there still 10 sign that the only co-ordinat- South Pacific authority in exist e, the South Pacific Commission, i done anything worth noting to dement the various rcommenda is that have gone forward to the Governments, following con sntious examination and years of mtific research. ■his, of course, is typical of the eaucratic system into which ■liamentary Government has de erated. In ninety per cent, of es, “Ministers of State” are un iressive ciphers, undecorative ire-heads, drawing rich emolu ats for carrying out the directions little Departmental czars.

Tie South Pacific Commission is ipletely at the mercy of the bem. That means, in turn, that development and implementa i of any over-all policy of South :ific Islands administration await pleasure of desk-wallahs in six ional capitals. (One is tempted discuss the character and value desk-wallahs in relation to the k awaiting us in the Pacific mds; but that may be left to tory’s verdict on the present tern of Parliamentary Govern nt.) kit conditions in the South jific Islands to-day may not be aside with the comment so ical of the average Australian er—“Oh, well,” and a deep sigh, mds conditions, now, are quiet I reassuring; but in the fields of ial, political and economic de )pment there are factors moving Ich, if not recognised and given sntion, may lead to the kind of lation that is harassing the onial authorities in Asia, Africa I elsewhere.

DNSIDER these figures. Without Borneo and Dutch New Guinea, the land area of the East Indies donesia) is less than 300,000 are miles. That area supports r 80 million people. The land a of the South Pacific' Islands, luding the whole of the island tfew Guinea, is more than 300,000 are miles—about comparable— I it supports only 2,000,000 people. : our empty archipelagoes are not ng to be occupied by a spill-over m an over-populated Southeast a (which, in turn, will mean a

challenge to European occupation of Australia and New Zealand) something rather heroic in the way of statesmanship must be displayed in the administration of the South Pacific Islands.

This has been recognised since the events of 1940-50 let new socio political forces loose in the world.

But the six footling Governments responsible for South Pacific Islands administration (Britain, France, United States, Australia, New Zea land, Netherlands) are carrying on administration along much the same lines as those followed in the halcyon years of 1920-1940, and seem incapable of reacting to signs that are plain for all to see.

That is not the fault of the vari ous Governors and Administrators, or of the top men of the South Pacific Commission. The majority of them have enough vision and ability to recognise the needs and possibilities of their areas. The trouble lies in the hopelessly dead

wood in the politico-bureaucratic structures in Canberra, Wellington, Washington, London, Paris and The Hague.

Individual bureaucrats —they do not all deserve the contemptuous description of desk-wallah —may try to get something done. But in the present state of world politics and international affairs, it seems hope less to expect any worth-while degree of co-operation and co ordination in planning a new kind of South Pacific Islands adminis tration, to take care of new and steadily-developing conditions.

MEANWHILE, the problems grow.

The natives of the Islands, and the various implantations of Asians, once they have adopted Western ways of life, are not a bit less intelligent, or politically conscious, than the Asians, the Arabs and the Africans. The Asians, Polynesians, Melanesians and Micro nesians of the South Pacific are not blind to the facts that Africans and Arabs and Indo-Chinese and Indians and Indonesians have been permitted to push their European Administrations around without penalty, and have achieved a large measure of independent govern ment.

No one has explained these phenomena to them, or tried to show them that, in most cases, self government has come too fast and

gone too far. There has been no clear-cut indication that, as a matter of policy, they are being trained for self-government within a period that will provide for racial backwardness. There has been merely disconnected and rather woolly assurances by high officials that something along these lines is in contemplation.

It is not enough. The great majority of the Islands people— practically 100 per cent.—are politic ally quiet now, and apparently con tent; but there is a growing social restlessness, a disposition to look abroad and ask questions.

Unless the Six Nations recognise the danger, and act accordingly, these people soon are going to seek information about “colonialism” from the ever-ready Communist agitators, and then we shall see the beginning of the creeping poison which has destroyed so many happy communities in Asia and Africa.

THE biggest danger in these Islands lies in the mixed com munities. Inter-racial feeling is the quickest breeding-ground for socio-political unrest.

Every one of the 14 South Pacific countries is under European occupation: and in every case the relations between the Europeans and the indigenous people are good.

Complications begin to enter, mod erately, when insufficient provision is made for the care of the part- European communities—who expect —and are generally entitled on their merits to receive—European status in the social and industrial fields.

But serious complications develop when Asiatic immigration takes place, and the growth and develop ment of Asian communities are not controlled or provided for.

The part-European problem is found in all the Territories: and an Asian problem of some degree of seriousness is found in New Guinea, Solomons, New Caledonia, New Hebrides, Fiji and French Oceania.

The situation in Fiji is under con stant survey, and the French authorities in New Caledonia have been applying themselves rather vigorously lately to a study of their Tonkinese headache there.

But there is no indication that the Six Nations as a whole are aware of how the Europeans’ and Islanders’ security in the South Seas is menaced by these deeply-planted outposts of Asian settlement.

THE conditions surrounding each implantation are different; but there is need for an over-all study of the future of the Islands races in relation to (a) transfer of European administrative authority from Europeans to Islanders; (b) the control of Asian immigration; <c) the place of the established Asian communities in the future administration of the Islands Terri tories; (d) the degree and method

of protection which must be given to the Islanders by Europeans against Asian aggression.

Unless these things are dealt with through a co-ordinated policy by the Six Nations, while the European authority in the Islands is supreme and unchallenged, there will be trouble.

Perhaps the time has come whe the South Pacific countries shorn give some thought and study to tH way in which the planned We Indies Federation has developed ot of the original West Indies Coni mission, which was similar in pu: pose and character to the Sout Pacific Commission.