Yesterday

The Balkan situation was bad, British resistance in the Western Desert was slowing up

the German advance through

Libya, British and American

newspapers were featuring

stories of the resistance against

overwhelming odds being put

up by Australian and NZ

troops in Greece—that was the

war picture 20 years ago this month.

At the same time, these were the main events in the South Pacific, according to “PIM” of May, 1941: In Wau, New Guinea, the strike of European miners employed by New Guinea Goldfields Ltd. against their working conditions was about to collapse. Earlier attempts to settle it by the Administrator, Sir Walter McNicoll, who had made a personal trip to Wau, had failed. * * * Governor-General Richard Brunot, special envoy of General de Gaulle to the French possessions in the Pacific, had arrived in Noumea after visiting NZ. A correspondent reported his visit had greatly improved the spirits of the French people, who had been fighting their own battle in the Pacific against the last remnants of the Vichy forces. * * * Five months after the South Pacific Copra Conference had sat in Sydney to consider the whole position of the Pacific copra in dustry and the effects on it of the war. there were still no details made available to the ordinary planters, who were now shouting for information. And worse, nobody had done anything about putting the provisions into opera tion. * * * “It is exnected,” said “PIM”.

“that work will commence soon on the electric lighting of Port Vila bv the Unelco Company of Noumea.

This work has been temporarily retarded because of the war”. * * * West Samoa had a new graduated salary tax, and the Administration was busily stressing that the new taxes would be borne by those ‘‘most able to meet them”. A correspondent said that considering the present economic condition of West Samoa, which was the result of restricted exports, it was doubt ful whether the Government would get as much out of the new taxes as it expected. * * Eighteen people were reported missing from the nine ton Fijian launch Rogovoka wrecked between Vanua Levu and Viti Levu. One survivor, John Miller, swam and drifted 25 miles to Vanua Levu with the news of the tragedy.