[?]Erritories Talk-Talk

By Tolala

• “Didiman”

id "Radish”

HENCE comes the derivation of the word first used by natives for the Rabaul Botanical dens— Didiman? i November, 1956, PIM, Hans msfeld connects it with the sh. In January PIM I did not *e and called on old German teer, Captain Haug, to express an lion. >w, from his bed in a sanatorium Usbad, in the Odenwald range, vrites to me: “You are not right n you say to Mannsfeld’s re ks about the origin of the word, man, ‘No can’. I think it has ething to do with the radish be >e Didiman did grow the first sh in his garden. He told me, in or 1910, one night in the Rabaul ) about how he managed to 7 the edible type. I adopted this ; in Timor and surprised every r”

'ter that I will go quietly.

Ir. Mannsfeld said that in the man days the word was “Radidt and he had taken it that it a corruption of “Radish man” the man who grew radishes.

I.)

Old

man Policy

ipt. Haug also refers to the old nan colonial system, after men ing my screed about the old , in March PIM (p. 113). • “I also think we did remark ly well considering that we had

> colonial ex rience when 5 started in 34 to take over Jr. Of course, ere was a lot bureaucracy the beginning

when the NGC started to rule as a chartered company; but after Hahl came and took over as Gov ernor, although we cursed him often, his policy was a sound one and he did his best to help a decent fellow to get along as a planter.

“He was a bit soft sometimes with the natives, but still he was of the opinion that natives should be treated with fairness and as children that have to grow up. He had no objection to punishment for natives who deserved it, but he never permitted excesses by whites, either.

“If the home government had followed his advice to establish a ‘Land Bank’ to help planters over the first seven years until a plantation could keep itself (by giving low interest loans on the improvement of the plantation), German New Guinea would have been self-sustaining already in 1910.

“As it was, we reckoned that in 1917 the colony would be self supporting.

“To help planters, Hahl per mitted the shooting of birds-of paradise. This gave them a chance to hold on through the first seven years. He was often criticised for this, but it was the only way to get men to’ settle on' the mainland of New Guinea.”

One can only wonder what the New Guinea world would be like to day had there been no wars, no exaggerated race-consciousness or denominational competitiveness. It could have been a very good place in which to live.

Snarl Over Parks

It appears that Rabaul residents are not altogether happy about their parks.

As a B4, I would indeed be a poor judge to comment on the pre sent town-planning which I noticed two years ago concentrated on placing as many buildings of modern structure (repeat modern structure) as close together as possible in the confined township area.

That surprised me more than any thing else in Rabaul, after having known the old town with its gener ous town allotments, giving oppor tunity for liberal gardens and much needed breathing space.

I realised, however that com mercial demands had far exceeded the natural urge for aesthetic beauty and that the Garden City of the South Seas was, most de finitely, no more.

However, the struggles of a few’

B4’s to establish some modicum of breathing space has been noticeable

Bill Carter, Presi- Apex Club, Port by, and Mr. Craig a Board Member [?]e Apex Club, look [?]e copy of the Apex [?]er which had just presented to the Club by National [?]ent Gordon Murray [?]e) who flew up Sydney for the [?]ral dinner at the of May. This was [?]rst Apex Club to [?]e the Charter out- Australia but since Singapore has re [?] Its Charter.

Photo: Papuan Prints.

now and again in press reports and in The Rabaul Times, of May 31, I see where an Administration official remarked that “some people apparently had little thought for the appearance of the town” and complained because an ornamental shrub had been removed from a nublic highway. And “he appealed to all members of the community to exercise civic pride in protecting

RabauTs parks and gardens.”

The following week in the same publication there is a report of the Town Advisory Council protesting against the action of an Administra tion building being erected on an set aside for a park.

Consistency thou art a jewel!

N.L. Ordinance

“Reformulated”

Once again employers of rj labourers are due for a head A new Native Labour Ordinan to be brought down to the

Mr. and Mrs. V. R. Orr on board "Funing" on their way back to Port Moresby after a recent three-months' tour of the East. Both were impressed with the cleanliness of the places they visited and the Japanese people in particular. Mr. Orr, who works for PMF, Port Moresby, said there appeared to be a lack of traffic supervision and that you took your life in your own hands once you stepped off a footpath.

jer Session of the P-NG Legco.

NL policy, says Minister Hasluck, been “reformulated.” lis Ordinance (in the TNG at ,) has been going through pro ;s of “reformulation” ever since Civil Administration took over • the First War. the old days, an employer with age intelligence had little ale interpreting the various ses. It was a comparatively le Statute, not over-burdened legal technicalities and phrases, periodically, after Committees inquiry had delved into the lems of the Master and the ant with one eye on the Aus an Labour Party and t’other on League of Nations, the legisla became more complex and aersome as each fresh Amend l was brought down, d now comes the Daddy of the Each employee, apparently, is ; card indexed and issued with cards, which will enumerate the ms qualifications of the em ;e. But, said the Minister, in •ibing the advantages of this t “reformulation”, there would no reintroduction of penal tions binding the worker to his mention has been made of the ased number of Public Servants jsary to supervise the new nance, but from the machinery ated to maintain records it d seem there will be an eciable strain on the already equate housing accommodation, nisterial instructions to officers jolicing the regulations include licy “to advance the political, emic, social and educational :ess of the inhabitants of the itory”; development of terri -1 resources and maintenance of order and government, par tly in regard to the general ge in existing conditions. the airy, theoretical verbiage Is like nothing more than f labourers’ demands upon ship rs or the wailings of Ernie O’Dea the fallen arches of his shop tants. Just how sentimental you get over a native working . non-native?

Ungracious

logy

ere is no doubt that Minister rck is capable of delivering caustic remarks when he gets he subject of the Territorial ions. ring a discussion with the isby Chamber of Commerce, h sought greater representation le Legco, the Minister said, “A hundred on the roll or a ded vote of under 1,000 meant ing,” and added: ach candidate could buy drinks WO people and if that was all candidates were representing on

At midday on June 18 a tractor and trailer owned by the Binimamp Mechanical Farm Pro ject (near Kiapit), driven by Eruk and with six native passengers in the trailer, got out of control when proceed ing down Namanula Hill, Lae, and finished upside down on the side of Markham Road.

The six passengers were thrown out, and the driver and two pas sengers were taken to the Native Hospital where they were treated for cots and abrasions.

It is understood that the driver tried to

change gears on the steep incline when the tractor got out of control.

council it would not be the thing ire after. . .” isuming the report in the South fie Post is correct—and there is •eason to think otherwise —such nark coming from a senior Min of the Crown is in bad taste, a grave reflection on the ‘sty of the candidates and the ligence of the electors, r some reason one seldom reads

kindly remark concerning non- Lai European residents coming the Minister. Perhaps the s just fails to report any.

I too often the Honourable tleman is either brow-beating i for some imagined neglect to orm with his own pet policy; talking down to them in itorial language that would get ir the skin of any freedom ig democratic individual. At the j time he does not forget to [ the virtues of officials, the Asiatics and people of d descent.

isport Problems

ie correspondence columns of Moresby paper brought to light itly two incidents that savour he Deep South: A European an’s experience in vain attempts icure a seat in a bus overloaded natives, travelling from Ela ;h to Boroka and return; and i “Administration Native Ern ies” at Goroka, a letter in antly protesting over the lack ransport to and from work for inistration native employees, e a European female employee provided with transport, and business concerns had provided sport for their employees. The tion is asked: “Is Administra transport around P-NG for

Administration European employees only?”

Cancer And The Tolais In browsing through the “Medical Journal of Australia” for November 3, 1956, I came across a compre hensive survey of the incidence of

cancer amongst the Tolai popula tion of New Britain, by Dr.

Jan Saave, the MO at Rabaul. It covered the years 1950 to 1954 and showed that cancer mortality there closely approached the Australian figures and the incidence of the disease in creases with age as with Europeans and is higher in males than in females.

So much for theories about civil isation being the cause, although the Tolais are half-way to that happy state.

Even to a layman the article is interesting and instructive and Dr.

Saave can certainly take a bow.

Anything relating to cancer is topical these days, with govern ments putting the breeze-up cig

Fr. J. Dwyer officiated at the wedding in Rabaul recently, of Mr.

Dick Choi to Miss Jeanie Choi. The wedding party is shown with Fr. Dwyer, left.

Photo: C. H. Meen.

arette-smokers and addicts cha

to niter-tips.

One cannot but marvel at ' v .?y ‘he Tolais (and natives a ally, for that matter) have es decimation by lung cancer whe that almost as so. kiddies cease suckling the be of their mothers they start sme cigarettes made of newspl™ bacco na lBaf and Strong But then again, perhaps they something there! The H Medical Research Council mig* - ln t ? e fact th at ra faccured cigarette paper is thi ception, not the rule.

The First Shall

Be Last

hv A ti.o e o ent com P et ition, sponi the Commonwealth Bank fa Pr ° greSsive and hv t .vf Q g ?r Vernm€nt coun cil. wag by the /unamami Council of Britain, with a total of 77 po Raoaul came second with 73 c and Baluan, in Manus, third DO.

The Booby prize went to Ha Fdnt Hi? white-haired boys o; Eddie Ward regime, and a rnumty located within a sti throw of Government House, Moresby, and one which coull expected as an outstanding exai of what Native Councils shouL Hanuabadans scored a mer points in the competition and t ing psychologists might fasten teeth into this and try and worU some satisfactory answer. I glim this native suburb of Mores! couple of years ago and to m appeared the worst native villa had ever seen, taking the “adva nient of the natives into consic tion. • J sn k tt about time this rn village, as it is described to i tourists, is given a general o haul? (See P-NG Diary, this is&

Naturalisation

There is a lot of talk going aro a Pout Asians in TNG having ■ right to become Australian citit It has even been suggested that a step would be an infringemen "White Australian policy.

It is certainly time that somet; definite was done about citizen UN countries, whatever their co( The status of a “Protected Per cannot be termed satisfactory even children born of Euroj parents in TNG, have not had t nationality clearly defined.

The loss of official records dn the last War has by no means ao tp the clarification of their t tion and this, of course, incll marriage certificates. I should t: that an official statement on matter would be appreciated.