[?] Marsh May Be

G Assistant [?]inistratorship

[?]Out Of The Race

New Governor for American Samoa

I health of Mr. R. Marsh,

jgarded as heir-apparent for

ost of Assistant Administra

»f Papua-New Guinea, may

the announcement of an

intment to the post.

r was told by the Department rritories in Canberra on No ;r 9 that when the Assistant listrator has been chosen, the ;er will announce his name, ite has been set for making lecision. There is a doubt er Mr. Marsh will be fit again apical service. He is at present k leave. post of Assistant Admin >r fell vacant when Mr. R. W. i announced, in August, that )uld shortly take up another itment in Australia. Applica were called for the vacancy; closed on August 18. the meantime, the Depart sent one of its senior men, [arsh, to Port Moresby to act distant Administrator, pending jrmanent appointment. It was i that Mr. Marsh was an ant for the job, and it was ed by most Territorians that I applications was just a r of form in order to comply Regulations and that Mr. i had already been selected vould in due course be con l in the position, bis, Territorians were no doubt Marsh “acted” in the Terri er about two months. In late er he and other applicants . Gunther, Mr. J. K. McCarthy Ir. F. C. Henderson) were in wed by a committee in Port by. During this period Mr. i sought medical advice and told that he was suffering overwork and exhaustion and I take leave immediately. He ic Territory within a few days, sudden departure has caused lerable local speculation, and nsinuation seems to be that arsh withdrew as gracefully as le because it was found that d not know as much about as some other applicants. 3 seems ridiculous.

Australian Government has it abundantly clear in the past ong or intimate knowledge of f the Island territories is not led as an essential requisite high Administartive post. Mr. ti knew nothing about P-NG, , when he was appointed.

The Administratorship of Norfolk It is unlikely therefnrp that it is uniiKeiy, tnereiore, that the Commonwealth or the Department of Territories suddenly found itself in an embarrassing situation because some of the other applicants knew more about P-NG than Mr. Marsh; or that they got themselves out of it by work- ° lC * mec^ica l certificate , PIM has always maintained that top Administrative jobs should go to men in the P-NG service; but we have no reason to believe that Mr. Marsh was suddenly found to fall so far short of requirements that he had to be whisked from

the scene After nil Q August 18, and if all Departmental hopes were pinned on Mr Marsh the Government may now find itself in the terrible position of having to choose one of the men in the New Guinea service.

This trouble miorht he crnt r»vpr

of courseTcZ fre^applS

tions. But it is goine to cause the biggest horse-laugh of the year in P-NG if this is done.

Mr. S. A. Lonergan P-NG Director of Civil Affairs, has been Acting Assistant Administrator since Mr. Marsh left Port Moresby on October 21. It is understood that he is not an applicant for the per manent position.

Mr. Peter T. Coleman, right, who was re cently appointed Governor of American Samoa in succession to Mr. Richart B. Lowe, who became Governor of Guam. Governor Coleman is the first person of Samoan blood to hold such a position. He was born in American Samoa 37 years ago of an American father and a Samoan mother.

Mr. and Mrs. Coleman have 10 children in their family, nine sons and one daughter, and are expecting an eleventh child this month.

He was a commissioned officer in the US Army during World War II, took a law course in the US after the war and was admitted to the bar shortly after successfully completing his studies. He was employed in the Interior Department before going to American Samoa in 1952. He has practised law privately and with the government since.

In the photograph of the Coleman family, below, two of the children are not shown Photos: Pan American Prints.