[?]itorial...

W SHAPE AND NEW DIRECTIVES: AN EFFORT

To Save South Pacific Commission

IT for re-shaping and re icting the South Pacific amission goes to one of Aus ablest young public servants ,m Douglass Forsyth, of the nent of External Affairs. Had come to the rescue, when he Commission probably would len put out of existence, as hy conception which grew vrong way. the Commission held its Conference”, early in May, is been some newspaper and Either about the value of the ts lofty aims and its good md the need for maintain a efficient order, so that it :ontinue to help raise the i of native living in the eas. lore one heard of the com rs, the more one realised y knew little of what they king about.

ations which onsible for 16 ernlng Terri n the South Britain, Aus rance, United Vew Zealand, Netherlands) brought to after World o do a necesd —n a m e 1 y, research into 1, health and ! problems of ;ive peoples, nd ways and of dealing •se problems, ordinate the rotation o f ecommenda the 16 sep- Administra mad e a tier of mis -s—excusable,

because they

ating some

itirely new,

leering in a therto un - Each little Government decades along its d, jealously n g its priv mpletely in to the fact out 90 per its problems imon to all territories, rst mistake,

of course, was in selecting Noumea as the Commission’s headquarters.

The French were much more gener ous than any other country in pro viding accommodation: and the ex-wartime buildings of Anse Vata were very suitable for SPC pur poses.

But Noumea is too far off the beaten track for an institution that should be in close and frequent touch with all Territories; so that the extra costs involved in transport, communications, and operation in two languages have been embarrass ingly heavy. rjTHE second, and almost fatal x mistake, was in the system of co-ordination that was adopted.

Admirable work was done by the officials and associates of the Re search Council—an astonishing mass

of useful data of all kinds, affect ing life generally in all the Islands, was assembled, classified, printed, and used as the basis of various re commendations; but those recom mendations rarely reached the administrative machinery of the 16 Territories in a form capable of digestion and application.

The main fault was that the re commendations and reports had little if any authority behind them.

The great majority of officials in the individual Territories probably glanced with interest at the head ings; some may have used the documents for guidance, at times; but, generally, those scores and hundreds of carefully compiled re ports were just piled up in pigeon holes.

We have 144 books and pamphlets from the South Pacific Commission in PIM office, providing valuable material on scores of important subjects; but there is no indication how this data have been or are being used to improve and strengthen the various Islands Administrations.

THE fault, of course, has been in the link between the SPC and the 16 Administrations. (Over)

In theory, the connection between formulation and implementation was through the Departments in the six countries which constituted the Commission. The SPC recommenda tions were supposed to go to the Ministers who appointed and in structed the Commissioners; and the Ministers were supposed to con sider them, and then pass on those which they approved to the Islands Administrations, for implementation.

Of course, the usual thing happened.

Ministers are not trained admin istrators — in most cases they are merely successful politicians—and the Commission’s recommendations usually were lost somewhere be tween Noumea, the capitals of the six constituent countries, and the headquarters of the 16 Territorial Administrations. The latter usually got the reports upon which the re commendations were based; but no directive.

This weakness was pointed out soon after the SPC began to function; but no one took any notice.

Inevitably, under such conditions, the SPC began to fail and stumble.

Some men and women of outstand ing ability, who had gone enthusi astically into the SPC service be cause of their love of the Islands and the Islands people, lost heart and went elsewhere. By the middle of 1956, the SPC was the target of growing criticism—some of it well informed and to the point (see PIM of June, 1956—p. 23).

IT appeared then, regrettably, that the days of the SPC were numbered. The SPC had the knowledge, the equipment, and a great eagerness to serve; but it lacked direction, did not know where to go, and more or less got in its own way.

It was then that W. D. Forsyth returned to Canberra from United Nations, where he had been Aus tralia’s representative at Ministerial level. He had been the SPC’s first Secretary-General.

There is little doubt that Mr.

Forsyth was shocked by what he found; and he certainly acted quickly.

In the latter part of 1956, urgent representations went forth to Lon don, Washington, Paris and The Hague from—it is believed—Can berra and Wellington. It was a question of either closing up the SPC, or making it work.

The other nations showed a spirit of co-operation; and the men they selected to represent them at the Review Conference of the South Pacific Commission in Canberra, at the end of April, fortunately were of a calibre suitable for the job.

The outstanding personalities —in addition to the Commissioners them selves—were Mr. P. Rogers. CMG.

Under-Secretary at the Colonial Office, London; and Mr. Forsyth.

By unanimous wish, Mr. Forsyth chaired” the Conference: and his guiding hand was perceptible

throughout some strenuous days. He was ably supported, in the work of giving SPC new shape and direction, by Mr. Rogers.

IT really was a “review” confer ence. Some of the men who assembled there were very com petent to review and criticise; and the collapse of the SPC structure could easily have been brought about.

But the reviewers decided that sufficient good had been achieved since 1949—though often in a blundering way—to justify an effort to maintain the SPC facade, while altering the structure somewhat and changing the machinery in certain important respects.

So far as outward appearances go, it is the same SPC—consisting of Commissioners appointed by six Governments, a Secretariat, a Re search Council, and a triennial South Pacific Conference of native delegates from the 16 Territories.

But the 46 resolutions of the Con ference (made public on June 1) show that the SPC has been told that it must “re-direct its efforts” and “revise its methods”—or get out.

It is not put into such brutal language—but that is what it means.

THE Commission is told that its “work programme”, instead of wandering across the wide fields of the Pacific, “should be con centrated on a limited number of activities, with clearly defined objectives of practical value to the Territories”, on a “long-term-basis”.

Furthermore, it is told to “refrain from engaging in basic scientific re search except in those cases in which research is necessary to the solution of a problem of practical importance to the Territories.”

Resolutions 6 to 12, and 19 to 23, set out in detail the Review Con ference’s demand that the SPC should establish a much closer liaison between the Commission’s work programme and the practical needs of the Territories. In other words, the SPC must develop its own channels of quick and effective co-operation with the Administra tions of the Territories, instead of awaiting that long, slow and gener ally useless procedure of sending recommendations from Research Council to Commissioners, from Commissioners to Ministers, and from Ministers to Administrations.

By Resolutions 15 to 18, the SPC is told to revise the system under which it sought to accumulate a mass of expert reports on endless Islands subjects, and so make the SPC headquarters a sort of clear inghouse for technical information; and instead to deal directly, in a simplified way, with the various charge of research into Medicine, of technical and scientific guidance on a limited number of problems.

“Territories’ participation in the work of the Commission” is strongly emphasised.

“Governments should whether Commissioners hBB ficiently wide powers to ensj effective functioning of thr mission’’, says Resolutit

significantly.

Resolution 27 says tha the Research Council lx well in the past, it no( not achieve maximum efficie: economy”, and should be con and operated in a new The three “Executive Offio charge of research into Economic Development ano Development) are retainer and the Secretary-General,, officio members of the Coun the Council of 12 is to be coc by six appointees nominated the Commission by the Governments, and two “Sc consultants”, recommended three Executive Officers s Secretary-General.

The Council is to meet year and the Commission down the list of topics for fj centrated attention.”

The South Pacific Cor (which now has met twice and once in Noumea) is to 0 to meet every three years; an is expressed a strong wish t next conference shall be in or New Guinea.

The Resolutions, as a rm form, go on to the six memb ernments. Their acceptances regarded as certain.

WE observers, who saw th mission brought inter watched its establishm studied its operations, ha\ one comment to make, in th of a question; Who is going 1 this new plan, and make is In the South Pacific Islam their six governing nations,, separate and independent A trations, there unquestiom need for a body like the SE functions effectively, it can real help to the Governme:; Administrations and the communities.

But it will not function eff unless it is under the dires sonal control of someone (0 Chairman, or Director, or SeE General, or anything else—t does not matter) who has perience and knowledge to rr the need for the SPC, as strength to instruct the poc Ministers and make the SII the service required.

In the past, there has H such personality in commanu SPC, and its decline in presfi usefulness was inevitable, first-class men were promines or twice, in its service; bu were too many gentlemen, few real managers and dfc among the Commissioners, ; good men never got a chr the top. An efficient manage can be a gentleman: he has too ruthless and brutal, if :

ient service out of the pre ieration of workers. leyiew Conference, and its utions, are all to the good, s praiseworthy effort will little unless there is strength ! f ion and control. There lave been a 47th Resolution, ing some outstanding per as Chairman, and giving 1 wide powers.