They Make Their

What Can Be Done About The Tolais?

They Make Their Own Firewater

In the dim light of his hut at Rabaul a native sat hunched m the floor. He stirred a mash of pineapple and pawpaw m a iurgical-type enamel tray. In front of him, a crude machine nibbled and steamed.

OPPER tubing led from a home made boiler into a four-gallon drum filled with water, coiling r times inside the water and “rging at the top of the drum, im the end of the pipe dripped a 'erful brew, mainly colourless but Iked with green. moke from the fire and steam m the leaking still fogged the urior of the hut. . ’he native was still crouching re, intent and serious, when D-inspector Roy Monaghan, of Daul Police, came into the room. 3 native made no protest, but od up and explained the obvious.

Making spirit, Master,” he told police officer, le was fined £5O in Rabaul Court. ;er he was arrested again, this ie on a charge of being in isesion of liquor. He was gaoled. * * * "Wenty miles away at the little m of Kokopo, Superintendent an Holloway successfully prose ;ed another native for making rit. rhe Kokopo moonshiner’s equip nt was even cruder. It had no ivision to fully cool the vapor ich rose from its boiler of fer nting fruit. It gurgled a few tial drops of firewater, and then amed out its heart. * * * Dn a dusty corrugated tropical id, Inspector Frank Hoeter saw native-driven taxi exceeding the 3ed limit. He tailed it to give the 3 driver a traffic ticket, found 3 car laden with beer. The taxi ,s liquor running, and the jupants found themselves in more mble than from a mere traffic ket. * * * [n the hold of a ship being irked at Rabaul wharf, a sling pped and cascaded bottles of rum all directions. When the shift ded, an alert native constable ew aside one of the native tourers and searched him. A ttle of rum was concealed on the side of his left thigh, cunningly •apped in place with rubber cut Dm a bicycle tube. * * * At the native village of Malaguna

No. 1 at Rabaul, police and native affairs officers moved in one night on a rowdy party. They found natives sitting around drinking methylated spirits. A small group charged the raiding party, waving bamboo sticks and pieces of wood.

An Assistant District Officer was cut in the face and had to receive medical attention. Five natives were arrested for drinking. * * * Running with the striker in imagination made a Rabaul man thirsty while he was watching a baseball match at Queen Elizabeth Park on the edge of the town. He sent a native to buy him a bottle of lemonade. When the bottle was opened, the lemonade proved to be laced with methylated spirits—the storekeeper had mixed up his ordinary stock with his “special” stock. * * * Not all these stories are new, but they are factual. They are selected from records of the past 18 months or so. With the exception of the last one they all appear on the files

of District Services, Police or the Courts in the Rabaul district.

They are not reported here to cause a sensation, or to cause em barrassment, or to provide am munition for pointless criticism. But they are set out, in the first place, to illustrate the following points of fact: 1. Although the law says he mustn’t, the Tolai native of eastern New Britain is drinking —or more

accurately, a big proportion of his number is drinking. 2 He is drinking what he can lay his hands on by purchase or by theft—orthodox liquor, home-made brews, methylated spirits. 3. A liquor supply system is operating (into his community, and inside his community). 4 He has absorbed some technical ability to make liquor, however re volting at present might be the pro duct of his technology.

What of the Future?

If this is the present, what of the future?

To begin with, here is another fact that should be recorded: In December last year the Aus tralian Minister for Territories, Mr.

Paul Hasluck, attended a very lively meeting at Rabaul arranged by influential members of the Tolai community.

The Tolais who spoke to him ex pressed a general concern at drink ing within their community, although their opinions about con trolling or changing the situation varied considerably.

The important point is that not one of them stood up (and there were 43 of them present) and said, “Give us the right to drink.” In other words, as far as the leaders are concerned, the effects of drink on the native community at present outweigh other considerations.

The real and immediate problem in New Britain today is not yet one of drink for the native, but one of fitting together a race which drinks with a race which (theoretically) shouldn’t.

This problem should not under any circumstances be confused with

the ultimate question of whether the native, as a specific community, is ready to drink.

The immediate problem is a dangerous issue in the community both for the native and for the European.

As far as the native is concerned, the effect is obvious, because it can create a cry of “The white man drinks. Why can’t I?” Whether or not the distinction is justified is

cde the point. It is sufficient that Kists. ne main symptom of the danger [he European community is an uxibility of opinion towards the >ect bred by time and custom, a die-hard attitude to appraise entire situation on the more •.tacular drinking incidents of native larrikin. ut in a community where drmk is illegal, the man who drinks jthe extent where he hits the dimes is not, by any stretch of agination, the normal man.

The Hoodlum

Ihe very flaw in his character ich makes him want to steal hylated spirit and pour it down throat may be the same flaw ch df ives him to act the hoodlum urw£#rds. s has also been suggested that day on which the native can ally drink will be the day when odthirsty hordes will descend on er communities, waving bush ves and slitting throats with eless abandon. tut some thoughtful people be ’e that uncontrolled native drink would produce far more trouble the form of economic misery ong native communities than able it would ever produce in any er form.

There is little evidence today of e formation of liquor-happy •des of murderers, although there plenty of evidence to prove that ) native is drinking. Furthermore, ire is evidence to show that drink 5 already caused some economic happiness. The economic aspect uld far exceed the social aspect the final evaluation, rhis point of view is strengthened statements on native drinking ich a Tolai cocoa-grower, Stanis ralimit, made in Rabaul recently the Assistant Administrator of NG, Dr. J. T. Gunther.

Stanis said: “People who have ;n drinking on the quiet for years ve suddenly woken up how mean d miserable their houses are, and w under-fed their children are, npared with the homes and ildren of people who have used eir money wisely. ‘They have made big money >m their cocoa scheme and they ve spent it on spirits and gambling itil it is all gone. They are be ming to see how stupid drink is r them at present and they are ming away from it.”

The Rev. J. Sharp, of the Bthodist Overseas Mission, has pported this view in remarks to e Kokopo Town Advisory Council lich has from time to time ex essed fears at mounting illegal inking among natives.

How does the drink get to the itive today?

There seems little doubt that an

pxtensive system of illegal supply is fn operation Even if not highly or cleverly organised, it is effective and fairly systematic.

Taxi Drivers , Native taxi drivers have been prosecuted for running liquor. One even had a town delivery service taking orders one dw and delivering the next, accompanied by a system of 8 of course rounds. A native driver, °f course, is merely a so-between Wiethe he has bought the liquor to re sen or whether he is dehvermg someone musfc hav obtained it illegally.

There is the inevitable dribble of supply by theft, but this is small in relation to organised supply. There is some pillaging at Rabaul wharf,

but strong action has cut this down considerably in recent months, To suggest whether the original illegal suppliers are members of the European, Chinese or mixed race communities is to tread on sensitive ground. Each perhaps likes to think it is the others. Evidence shows that all are pro bably involved to some degree. once supplied to the natlve in . p niinntities the liauor is in many cases distributed in small lots b na tive-operated organisations, T^e ultimate p rice which an in dividual native might pay for a bottle of rum could well be four times its retail value in Rabaul qhoTM snops.

When the Mmister for Territories, Mr. Hasluck discussed the matter in Rabaul late last year he stressed

:t he considered the supplier was villain. This view is shared

Ely generally. . . ..

It least two Administration :cers have given outspoken per =al opinions in which they favour native being allowed to drink, in which they strongly condemn existing indications of wide a, 1 e black-market activities in jior. . , "hey believe that the moral dam : caused by underhand supply iivities and the economic damage ised by inflated prices for liquor harming the native far more .n drink itself ever could. a Rabaul businessman, Mr. Charles i.cMillan, recently made the irtling claim that while churches re condemning native drinking, :me of the biggest grog-runners town were sitting in their con- The chuches should opt a more realistic and aggressive itude, Mr. MacMillan said.

What is Being Done? 3is claim brought an immediate ,ort from the Chairman of the jthodist Overseas Mission at .haul, the Rev. Wesley Button, to 3 effect that he knew of no such ople in his congregation.

What is being done to correct this uor control position?

Statutory authority as represented

the Administration has laid down finances covering liquor control, t suggestions are always coming Dm other sources, including issions, advisory councils and civic ganisations.

To deal with the Administration s ,rt first, there is complete prohibi m of native drinkers, and cer in restrictive regulations apply len a native is employed in clubs hotels selling liquor. Newer legis tion provides for keeping a check i big sales by licensed suppliers.

Administration officers have ade no secret of the fact that some them favour lifting the prohibi m at the earliest acceptable time, tie Administration itself has no imediate stated policy, although it iturally keeps the situation under view.

The Minister for Territories has mounced that should the Admin tration recommend any drastic langes in liquor control or avail jility, he would not blindly amend • countermand the recommenda ons. Administration officers on the Dot are the only people among re ranks of public servants or arliamentarians who are qualified ) make such recommendations. Mr. asluck said, and therefore their should be re jected.

One Administration officer formerly rationed in the Rabaul district has jported that he received direct re uests from some natives asking ir the lifting of prohibition. His xperience in this regard was

directly the opposite to that of the Rev. J. Sharp, already quoted.

In any case, the law is quite clear-cut at present in its provision of prohibition and penalties, and there are no indications of an im mediate change. .

This leads to the important question of what steps are being taken to implement the law, irre spective of opinion on the rights or wrongs of the law.

Most Contentious

Without a doubt this question is one of the most contentious of the lot in the Rabaul district at present.

General public opinion tends to pillory the Police and the District Services without mercy, on the grounds that the liquor laws are be ing broken under their noses and they are doing nothing about it.

A smaller section of public opinion hints at secret orders from head quarters saying, “go easy on the grog runners because some of them are not of European origin, and we don’t want unfriendliness in the nest”. . , The second opinion is a hard one to accept. The opinion concerning Police and District Services inactivity de serves some analysis.

Let it be pointed out first that Assistant District Officer Peter Maloney was once attacked and cut in the face when he closed with a drunk native, that Sub-Inspsctor E. B. Young had burning wood and coconut husks thrown over him by drunk natives, that Inspector E. J.

Herbert was pelted with lumps of wood in similar circumstances. This sort of thing has not happened often to the average person who tends

to criticise. , A 1 J

It would be fairer to suggest that the very system of British justice, with its particular emphasis on the rights of the individual, is not always the best weapon to use against a mass social problem. The legal benefit of the dpubt can arise too often when dealing with wit nesses and defendants from a semi developed culture.

The best weapon to suppress the problem would be a benevolent dictatorship where the individual would often be sacrificed for the good of the mass. But no right thinking person would want this.

The Missions

It cannot be stressed too strongly that today a great responsibility rests with Police and District Ser vices officers to pursue and prosecute to the hilt every detectable offence involving the relationships between natives and liquor. This applies par ticularly strongly in the matter of liquor suppliers.

So much for the part played by statutory authority in dealing with the problem. What is being done elsewhere? (Over)

The missions naturally are one the most active of organisations this regard. For those sects wh ban liquor anyway among tl adherents the course of action clear. It is to their credit that ami their native adherents the dr problem is generally non-existen Liquor is usually one of the toi when the combined missions m in conference with the Administ tion.

Unfortunately, a recommendat which the mission conference i out at its most recent sitting, at ■ <* 1959 » was 80 impractica tended to destroy pul taith in the ability of some missii to face up to reality.

The recommendation was tl Papua-New Guinea should be ( Glared an area of total prohibit: for every person, irrespective race or background. Hypothetica! this recommendation might be \ obvious answer, and it can’t denied that the recommendati was a sincere approach to end major problem. In addition, 1 missions which supported the si gestion must be admired because most cases they are already pract mg what they supported.

Nevertheless, the prohibition si gestion became something of a put joke. Shrewd (if distorted) brai were already planning where tfc would set up their moonshine fg tones. Others of a more techni< turn of mind were planning mai production of stills.

If prohibition came (but it won’ the joke would become an all t unfortunate reality, and the origir problem would fade to insignif! ance beside the new one.

In addition to the missions, t natives themselves frequently ma suggestions. Some, as reported mission officers, have asked f prohibition. Some, as reported 1 Administration officers, have ask* for the gradual right to drink. Son have requested the Minister f Territories to arrange heavy pel alties for assisting existing laws.

Heavier Penalties

To some extent members of tl European community have support* suggested heavier penalties, ar have extended the suggestion to ii elude drinking offences am o n Europeans (drunk driving, drur and disorderly, offences committe in drink).

Many responsible Europeans fe< that this would be one of the moi practical ways of demonstrating t the native that the European him self has no tolerance for any on who misuses liquor, irrespective c the race of the person concerned, The suggestion has much to com mend it.

Recapitulating all the points so fa made, and drawing conclusions, th problem can be set down in thi way:

Ie Situation

. Liquor is prohibited to the .fives of the Australian-admin ;*red Territories of Papua and New ■tinea, but the Tolai native in the ftrict surrounding Rabaul is un mbtedly drinking illegally on an

preciable scale.

2. His liquor is coming mainly :im regular suppliers, but some is ;,len and a small amount is sgally distilled.

E Trend

1. Some natives who drank previ •sly have now turned against it have announced publicly that ;ey no longer want it for them .ves or for their communities. 2. Despite this, there is little else suggest that the problem is be ming less acute. 3. There are some cases of natives aking representations for the jht to drink, but the expressed inion of most leaders is still lainst drink. 4. There is evidence of a feeling long some Administration officers Ithough not officially expressed) at drink should come to the itive. Such expressions have not lecified when.

Ie Problem

1. The immediate problem is to •rrect an unfortunate situation hich has arisen regarding illegal •inking in a territory where pro bition applies to one race but not • others, and which must be cor ;cted without delay. 2. The ultimate problem is to re ave the question of whether and hen the native should drink.

He Danger

1. Liquor is more likely to cause jonomic and social misery in ative communities than to cause lolence or inter-racial disturbances. 2. Illegal liquor consumption has [ready caused some economic ■ouble in native communities. 3. The growth of liquor-running )day is proving morally harmful, sonomically dangerous and socially mbarrassing. 4. The present situation will not orrect itself, and it will rapidly get rorse if it is allowed to slide.

He Control

1. The Administration has laid own extensive liquor-control ord nances, including recent legislation, nd it is constantly reviewing the ituation. There is no official indi ation from any senior officers of ny immediate consideration towards he removal of prohibition. 2. There is often public criticism if the legislation itself and of the ifforts made to apply it. The extent if the criticism which is justified s open to debate.

3. The natives themselves, the missions and civic organiations, such as advisory councils, are constantly making suggestions either for the future or for control of the present situation.

Recommendations For Today

1. There is basic provision in the law as it stands today for dealing with illegal liquor supplying and illegal drinking. Accordingly, while the present situation exists it is im perative that there be absolutely no let-up in investigation, prosecu tion and correction, no matter how unfortunate might be certain cases in relation to other circumstances. 2. Penalties for liquor offences committed in liquor must be in creased for all sections of the com munity. 3. Total prohibition for all races in Papua-New Guinea is an over idealistic solution to today’s problem, and it would not work in practice.

4. Native Affairs officers and police must be free of all official censure regarding their publicly-expressed views on the liquor situation, par ticularly as their own Minister has described their opinions as those of the greatest value.

Recommendations For

The Future

1. It must be conceded generally that a time will come when the native must be permitted to drink. 2. Preconceptions, bias, or faulty judgments based on the incidents arising from today’s liquor situation must not be allowed to affect a solu tion to the ultimate problem of when or whether the native should drink. , 3. There must be a continual and organised assimilation of all evid ence touching the relationship be tween natives and liquor to guide the framing of ultimate liquor legis lation.