The Edotars' Mailliag

Picturesque Characters of

the Early Days

“That article entitled ‘How Abbe Rougier Got His Coconut Empire’, in your August issue, is very good,” writes Mr. J. D. Whitcombe, an old Islands resident, now in Auck land.

“I personally knew Humphrey Berkeley, the Suva lawyer, and Mr.

George Grieg and his family, I also knew Sir Henry Berkeley, back in 1893, when I was a youngster in Tonga. He then was Chief Justice of Fiji, and he visited Nukualofa about the time that ambitious politician, the Reverend Shirley Baker, was deported.”

There were lively incidents and picturesque characters a-plenty in the South Pacific in those days.

Someone, some day, should write a book about the old-time missionaries who tried to become the rulers of little kingdoms—Shirley Baker was only one of them.

And More About

Humphrey Berkeley

“You said in August issue of FIM that you did not know what became of Humphrey Berkeley, the Suva lawyer who was originally associated with the late Abbe Rougier in the purchase of Fanning and Washington Islands”, writes C.

He adds: — Berkeley died in Suva, about 40 years ago. He was a well known lawyer, and in some ways an esteemed citizen. But he seemed always to be in money trouble.

For some reason, a group of Indians who had become domiciled in Fiji decided to transfer to South America—Brazil, I think. They saved hard for their fares, and they lodged the money with Berkeley, who was to arrange the bookings by a suitable ship.

Unfortunately, Berkeley died be before this transaction was com pleted, and his affairs were in a sad muddle. The Indians’ money, at that stage, had not been used for the purchase of their steamer passage—in fact, there was difficulty in tracing their money.

Berkeley had provided, in his will, that his body should be buried at sea; and that wish was carried out. But the Indians were deeply suspicious. They believed that Berkeley had cleared off with their funds, and that he was not dead —that the burial at sea was merely a blind.

I think it was all settled up in the end—but it was a lively incident.

Berkeley had two very clever sons, who did not live in Fiji. I believe that one of them achieved consider able fame as a writer.

No Weird

Mob for Samoa

John O’Grady, of the Western Samoan Health Department—better known elsewhere as Nino Culotta, of They’re a Weird Mob —had a bit of bad luck a few weeks ago, although he was still able to write a cheery letter. He says that he “went down like a dead duck with a cerebral thrombosis —was un conscious for a few days but am now ip'proving.” There is a suggestion that he may be leaving the Terri tory sooner than epected.

He says that he is still planning to visit Italy next year and that in the meantime No Kava for Johnny —his story of Western Samoa —has gone to the readers. “Guess it will disappoint them a bit,” he says, “Any resemblance to the Weird Mob is purely coincidental.”

Pointed Questions

By a Fijian

A well-educated Fijian—who, for obvious reasons, wishes to remain anonymous—has written at some length on the future relations between Fijians and Indians, the problems of changing the Fijians’ socio-political condition, and the character of the future government of Fiji. Some extracts from his letter: The sooner the Fijian leaders rid themselves of their complete trust in the Deed of Cession, the better.

The world has changed very much in 75 years. What Britain could do then, she obviously cannot do now. Britain does not wish to hurt the Fijians—but, even more, she does not want to get at cross purposes with India. Delhi is important. Our little archipelago, away in the South Pacific, is not . . .

The Indian is much more mature than the Fijian. The Indian has had to fight and struggle through many, many centuries of poverty.

Those vicissitudes have not been suffered by the Fijian, who has lived for centuries in a land of plenty. Naturally, the Fijians’ change from a communal and subsistence economy, to an in dividualist and competitive one, like that of the Indian, seems slow and difficult . . .

Who really is to blame for the fact that the Fijian has failed to make rapid and effective use of

the lands he holds? The laws under which the Fijians live compel the great majority to give absolute obedience to their chiefs. There is here a form of communal parasitism that does nothing but kill personal incentive. It is pitiful to see how the Fijian village men are kept in a state of serfdom . . .

The Department of Agriculture has really not done anything sub stantial for the Fijian landholder.

There are many areas in banana growing country suitable for cattle farming—but how many Fijian growers have been helped by the Department to undertake cattle farming, or otherwise diversify their activities? Many Agriculture officials seem to take the attitude that the Fijian is hopeless, and not worth helping . . .

Why is the Agricultural Loan Board so reluctant to help the Fijian, with loans, to an extended and better agriculture? The Fijian is subjected to months of frequent visits by Board inspectors—while people who have been in the country only a little while, on a residence permit, can get loans.

It is time the Fijian Administra tion thought of some means of creating its own financial resources or loan agency for the Fijians.

Why couldn’t the money reserved in the Development Fund Board be loaned to deserving cases, instead of being passed over to the Bank, which makes a profit out of it?

Why not “freeze” rents from Fijian land for two or three years, and use the money as a Loan Fund, the interest, etc., to be paid back to the original owners.

These are mere suggestions— they may be practical or they may not—but we do agree that there is much need for reform.

When Papua Had

a Steam Train

The item in August PIM about the Australian visit of the Chief of the McNeill Clan (Mr. Thomas McNeill) and the fact that he used to be a train driver on Misima, Papua, prompted Mr. Harry Bartlett, now of the Adelaide office of the Methodist Overseas Mission, to send us a note, and a photograph of the old train McNeill drove. Un fortunately, the photograph—taken in 1923 —is rather faded and will not reproduce.

So far as we know, this train on Misima, which ran between Bwagaoia and the Block 10 Mine, was the only steam train ever, in Papua-New Guinea —w hi c h has usually had to make do with planes, cars or shanks’ pony.

The old photo shows the train, leaded with stores from the BP ship Morinda, and crowded with natives, heading for the Bom Bom —the local name for the mine crushing plant. . .

Mr Bartlett writes: “The picture

is one of a number showing early ruining activities on Misima which, together with several of Stanley’s Geographical Reports, were given to me by the late Bob Boyd, one of the pioneer prospectors.”

Bulamakau Bilong

Solwara

A New Britain reader who says that his February PIM “fell by the wayside somewhere between the Rabaul post-office and the planta tion” has just caught up with his reading—and writes with special reference to Father Mihalic’s Pidgin English Dictionary, which was re viewed in February issue.

He goes on: “I disagree somewhat with Fr.

Mihalic where he states in ‘Fish ing Terms’ that porpoise is Bulmakau bilong Solwara’.

“All local New Guinea natives with whom I have worked, if asked, would agree that Bulamakau bilong Solwara is definitely the Dugong— not porpoise.

“I agree that the phonetic spell ing of Pidgin—in which most schooled native people have received tuition—is most suitable for Euro pean and indigenous people. Native people depend utterly upon the sound of spoken Pidgin to acquire the ‘talk’.

“Many years ago the only school ing I had was in a class comprised of my brother and me and twenty monkeys. We were taught the vowel sounds as follows: A—(as in Ah) ; E—(as in Eh); I —(as ee or as in Hee); O—(as in Or); U —(as in Who). Consonants can be whacked in as required after learn ing, although we did use the ‘N’ (not written) before a ‘D’ and before a ‘G’. ”

Maybe They'll Form

A Racpng

Tolala’s paragraphs about the old Automobile Club of New Guinea (July, PIM, p. 33) brought a re sponse from the general manager of the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland, Mr. Leonard King, and the news that in mid-September he will go to the Territory to sponsor the formation of a similar body in the P-NG Territory.

According to Tolala’s story there was still £3O in the bank account of the defunct Club, but whether or not the new Club will put in a claim for it, Mr. King does not say.

Mr. King’s job is to inaugurate an autonomous P-NG body, but with a view to its affiliation with the Australian Automobile Associa tion- Present membership of the AAA in Australia is 900,000, and seven bodies are affiliated—the NRMA and RAC A, in NSW; the

RACY, in Victoria; the RACQ, in Queensland; the RAA, of South Australia: the RAC, of Western Australia; and the RACT, of Tasmania.

All it needs now is for Papua- New Guinea to add the RACPNG.

A meeting of interested motorists will be held in Port Moresby on September 18 when Mr. King will tell them about the advantages of affiliation with the AAA—such as reciprocal privileges, services, inter national driving permits and touring documents, etc. Mr. King will later visit other centres.

There will, of course, be a big difference between the old New Guinea Automobile Club, of which Tolala wrote, and the new organisa tion. In the pre-war days, the

Gazelle Peninsula was the only part of the Territory that had motor vehicles in sufficient numbers to matter. In every other centre the total motor census could be taken with the fingers of a pair of hands. That goes for Port Moresby too, when as PIM remembers it, they did not even bother to have licence plates.

Today there are about 6,000 motor vehicles in the combined Territory.

P-NG people last year drank less imported beer but smoked more cigars and cheroots. Beer imports dropped from 476,694 gallons to 441,242 gallons in the first nine months, but the weight of cigars and cheroots rose from 857 lb to 1,326 lb.