Remember ?

Do You Remember ?

There was no doubt as to the bin news 20 years ago this month.

Britain was at war. “PlM’s” froth

cover of September, 1939, showed r

photograph of the moustached Her Hitler, the swastika prominent ov his sleeve, talking to the British Ambassador in Berlin during the

critical days of August. Inside ,

“PIM” was filled with reports on how the war would affect the Pacit <

and apologised for holding out many

regular articles because of the pressure of space.

A “PIM” editorial pointed out that would be lunacy to underestimate the task before the allies . . . Unless the German morale cracks, or unless there is producer! some new and devastating technique, Germany for years can repel the strong'?:-!: forces that the allies can bring against her . . The editorial warned that the “imminent danger” of war with Japan was gone for the moment but the menace remained. “Japan must expand or perl H: * fe The commercial outlook for th 6 Pacific was reassuring, despite contrary expecta tions held a few* weeks-ibefore declaration of war, “PIM” reported elsewhere. I said commodity values were rising rapidly, and trochus shell had risen by £4/10/a ton and traders were refusing to sell at £BO. Copra prices were “nominal” but would undoubtedly rise, and it was possible that the British Government would con tract to take the whole of the South Pacific copra production. * * ♦ Volunteer defence forces were being en rolled right throughout the Pacific. In New Guinea emergency measures gave the Administrator power to increase the Euro pean police force by enrolling special constables. * * * There were predictions as to what would be the future of Papua and New Guinea after the war. These were touched off by the long awaited report of the committee set up to consider amalgamation of the Territories, which had been released on September 12. The report rejected the idea of amalgamation and said that Lae was a better site than Rabaul for ad ministration headquarters. (In any case, as the war progressed all this went into the melting pot).

He * * In Tonga a new budget had been brought down which had many critics be cause there was no alleviation of what was described as heavy taxation imposed during more prosperous times. Said a Nukualofa correspondent: “What sort of mad or callous finance is it that budgets for more than the country produces’ * * * The South Pacific had at last, on August 30 inaugurated an airmail service be tween Australia and North America, with Imperial Airways and Pan American Air ways each covering a link. But four days later war had broken out and PIM reported that “the future is obscure”.