Commentary

wing Problem

[he Common Roll

I “Common Roll Issue” is likely 0 be heard of frequently in the Pacific Territories in the future, ; communities are driven on to self-government by a section of 1 Nations planners. It comes up lonth in New Guinea (see page ommon roll, based on one-man )te, has been accepted in ies where there is one racial unity. But where there is more me community, with wide dif es in literacy, standards of liv id basic privileges, a common in lead to sharp social disorder, issue is seen in Fiji, for ex where the immigrant Indians nber all other races. The have clearly defined privileges 1 ownership, and they fear they tie deprived of those by govern >ased on a common roll, casing numbers of people in n Democracies now argue in of a qualitative vote instead man-one-vote. They claim that men and women, by proving quality of citizenship, should greater power in voting for rs of Parliament. They argue ule all men may be born equal, iect of opportunity, there are ifferences in quality and judg y the time they become adults. * He *

:h First, Employment

education?

president of the Fiji Teachers’ ion, the well-known Mr. J.

'en, and the editor of the Fiji [Mr. L. G. Usher, who spent any years in the service of Education Department) have igaged in an interesting argu hrough the newspaper, about ectiveness—or otherwise—of education system, nen engaged in educating the of Fiji (Fijians, Indians, ns, part-Europeans, Chinese) ily take their jobs seriously; y complain bitterly about the icy of the funds and equip pplied by the Government, lie newspaper mildly reminds ffiers that social services— most important being health

and education—are limited by the country’s ability to pay for them.

If a country has no great surplus of earnings it naturally has no great funds to spare for “non-essentials”.

In what degree are education and public health services essential? Can they take precedence over other pub lic services designed primarily to feed and shelter and clothe a grow ing and clamorous population?

The newspaper, quite properly, pushes this question into the fore front of the argument.

The Burns Commission recom mended that no new additional ex penditure on education, and little on health, be contemplated until the Colony had solved the problems in volved in feeding and housing its 400,000 people.

The Suva Chamber of Commerce —one of the most competent ad visory bodies in Fiji—now is apply ing itself urgently to the problem of providing technical training and jobs for the increasing numbers of teen agers who are appearing on the edge of the now limited labour market.

But the country’s cramped economy does not provide enough jobs for the oncoming teenagers.

It is not a pretty prospect. * * *

Capital Being Scared

Off The Islands

or five years ago, a Euro -*■ pean plantation-owner in Papua and New Guinea need only wave his hand in the air, and he was beset by persons eager to buy his property— especially by the Rabaul Chinese.

Today, no one rushes in to buy a P-NG property, no matter what it grows—coconuts, or cocoa or coffee. Even the rich Chinese mer chants are shy—in fact, reports say that some of them are ready to sell plantations.

The chief reason does not lie in reduced prices for plantation pro ducts. It may be found in capital’s sensitive reaction to the planners’ in sistence that government of Islands’ territories by non-Europeans is com ing quickly.

Australian Territories Minister Hasluck recently gave to anxious questioners his soothing assurances that Australian control over P-NG administration will remain for a long time. But the Leftists of the Western nations—which include a

coterie in Canberra—keep telling uj that those Melanesians in Papua and New Guinea are being groomed for early take-over. And, even as this is written, the new native Legco mem bers are lining up in Port Moresby —wide-eyed and sincere and quite illiterate—for the first serious meet ing of the newly-constituted Legis lative Council (the inaugural meet ing in April was for show).

At almost the same moment, in the Trusteeship Council, in New York, Dudley McCarthy, of Austra lian Territories Department, is trying to calm a yelling pack of Reds who insist that Australia must give self government immediately to the New Guineans.

Over in Western Samoa, the Samoans have voted now for com plete independence. A Samoan gov ernment has already taken over from the New Zealand administration. The remaining remnants of European capital are moving out. A budgetary problem of great difficulty, which faces the new administrators under these conditions, is generally ignored.

In Fiji, the outlook is quite dif ferently shaped. A fast-breeding race of Asians threatens the security of the indigenous Fijians, so that the Fijians are insisting on retaining European rule, for their own safety.

But the end result is the same: overseas investors are becoming anx ious about the ultimate fate of their present stake in Fiji, and new in vestors are very shy indeed.

A generally similar situation exists in all these South Pacific territories.

That feeling of security which was there in overwhelming measure up to World War ll—encouraging over seas investment and providing the indigenous people with a fine train ing-ground in self-government which is a very slow process indeed—has been undermined and largely de stroyed by our post-war crop of political yappers.

Even if the indigenous peoples were fit to take over now—and we claim that the great majority of them still are generations away from fitness for self-government—they are faced with the problem of capital. No new country can proceed with de velopment and the building of a politico-economic structure unless it gets capital from somewhere.

Under the conditions being created by the hurrying visionaries of the South Pacific, there is little chance of the capital being provided by neighbouring countries like Aus tralia. A sine qua non of private in vestment is that state of government which spells peace, orderliness and security.

Better Deal Needed

For American Samoa

IT is almost impossible to discuss the achievements of the Hon.

Peter Coleman during his four-and a-half year term as Governor of American Samoa, which is now ended, without knowing how much he had planned to do, and how much he was prevented from doing because of the apathy of the American Gov ernment back home. Remote Samoa has never amounted to much in the American estimate, except perhaps as the locale for a book by Somerset Maugham and a one-time furlough spot for the Navy. The average American probably wouldn’t even know where the Territory was, let alone be interested in the finer points of its political and economic future.

But it is the political and economic future that count in American Samoa —more especially now that her wes tern neighbour will achieve her in dependence next January.

For this reason the selection of Governor Lee is likely to be a good thing, if only he can com bine the facts he will now learn in Samoa with the facts he already knows of the machinery problems back home, and thus work towards a better deal for the Samoans, Governor Lee showed in his in stallation address that he knows the problems. He wants better oppor tunities for Samoans at home; he wants to help Samoa attain “maxi mum self-government”; he wants to complete Tafuna airport; and he wants to clean up the roads and vil lages.

Pago Pago and its surrounding villages certainly present a dismal— in fact, disgraceful—advertisement for America, and a clean-up cam paign is well overdue. But Governor Lee will be able to brighten up the dejected faces he also sees in the streets only if he can overcome that problem of giving better opportuni ties to Samoans at home, and thus halt the present suicidal course under which every Samoan hot-foots it to the States to work as soon as he can save the fare. There he becomes just another second-class citizen.

The Governor’s plans for “more self-government” might meet with problems from the Samoans them selves, who are not at all sure that they want to run the risks of inde pendence, having been protected, although not developed, for so long.

But if Governor Lee can boost their morale and prove to them that home can be a good place to live, then that problem will fix itself.