In Tonga's Stamps

Commentary

e Extraordinary

sctacle of Buka

IE latest development in New Guinea in what some have called Buka insurrection” leaves the nary, uncommitted observer ist. ow stupid can this Australian linistration become, just at a when, in relation to the inter nal set-up, everything possible Id be done to give both oversea rvers and native New Guineans mpression of calm and wisdom!

Buka, after preliminary seeth ;xtending over years, certain Buka ges refused to pay head tax. authority breathed brimstone and 2 a snorting display of force, lat was stupidity No. 1. There ys was a doubt about the wisdom ead-tax, and there should have adjustment as between bureau : demand and native stubborn long before the stage of rebellion reached. llage recalcitrance in January into open revolt. This was natural reaction of very primi unreasoning folk to official dity. Officialdom replied by nbling masses of police and turn an insignificant incident into a minor war. )wever, the unnecessary display >rce and fury had some reward, native tax-resisters capitulated msse, and marched in miserable nns to the official posts, and the hated tax, and more or less >gised. That should have been nd of it. “You have been made md the knee and pay up. Re ber, the Government is your Now go home and behave ;elves,” should have been official s attitude. t, no. High authority, still hing fury and brimstone, lined he hundreds of natives in a il court, found them guilty en ? of defying the police, offensive dour and things like that, and id out sentences ranging from to long imprisonment, is, again, to the outside observer, id stupid and unnecessary pro e in the circumstances. How since the furious Administra wanted to smack ’em hard, let be smacked, and the lesson id; and let’s forget the sorry ess.

Jut our incredible Top Brass not leave it alone. One section

of high officialdom had got what it wanted—heavy punishment of the anti-tax natives—but now another section appeared, to appeal against the sentences imposed.

The sentences were imposed by a Court of Native Affairs constituted at Sohano by Magistrate Ralph Ormsby in February-March, under Administration authority. The appeals against Magistrate Ormsby’s decisions were taken to the Supreme Court by another Administration official.

Why, no common man knoweth.

The appeal went to the Chief Justice, and on May 7 he quashed the conviction of 49 Bukas who had been sentenced to three months’ gaol.

He interpreted the law as he found it; which was that the Court of Native Affairs was not competent to deal with the Buka cases. Follow ing on that, the sentences recorded against other classes of native tax rebellion malefactors some hundreds—were remitted. Some of the natives who were in gaol—some had already served eight or nine weeks—were forthwith released.

Neither they, nor the majority of officials concerned, would understand that the Chief Judge had not said they were guilty or not guilty—he only said that Magistrate’s Ormsby’s court had not the authority to try certain categories of crime.

The Administration has just set up a new Department of Information.

It is respectfully suggested that its first task should be to explain Buka to the outside world; and then—if it can—-explain the Administration’s taxation and legalistic system to the natives of Buka. ☆ ☆ ☆

Those Interesting Errors

In Tonga's Stamps

T'HE report on p. 29 disclosing that \ the already-famous inverted over print sheet of Tongan stamps (valued at £10,000) now has some running mates in the form of at least two 1/inverted overprints (being offered for £2OO each in Tonga) will be of great interest to philatelists, especially in view of all the criticism that the Tongan issues engendered after their release in February. It would be in teresting to have the Tongan Govern ment trace these valuable stamp errors to their source, so philatelists may be told just how it is they were released by the printers, and just how many more will now turn up.