From the Islands Press

'TOURISM will bring to A ma the natives the harsh ■ ■ realities of the so-called “civilised world” and this could be quite an embarrassment to them.

Nearly all tourists are white people and come from countries where they regard the black man as inferior.

Tourism in the New Hebrides will alter the racial position in Vila and will have a lot to do with the racial tensions and troubles, which, I am sure, will occur in the near future.

The tourist will use all the best beaches and hotels, and I am afraid that this is liable to encourage segregation. The culture of the native will be gone from him and replaced by the so-called western culture.

Tourists will ruin and defile the holy places and the privacy of the people will be gone. His beauty spots will be ruined by souvenir hunters and vandals. The women will be forced into prostitution and the race

will become a mixed breed.— Letter from G. Pakoasongi in the “British Newsletter” t Vila.

AS a visitor from Canada I re ceived today from a Suva bank the sum of $86.13 Fijian in exchange for a SUSIOO travellers cheque. Fiji, like New Zealand, does not deserve guests from North America until it decides to give value for a Canadian or US dollar. I fled NZ because of excessive cost of accommodation, etc., and now I must also leave Fiji.

It must be remembered that a $lO hotel room costs a Canadian nearly sl3.— Letter in “The Fiji Times” to which there was an editorial note that the exchange rate was correct and that the dollar of one country does not have the same value as a dollar of another — e.g., the Hong Kong dollar is worth about 15c Fijian and 20c in US currency .

J CANNOT pretend that 1 have . come among you at an easy time.

Still less can I pretend that I have brought with me in my baggage any ready-made solutions of your many difficult problems. All I can offer

as° U I "possess, "eT pledTun-

reservedly to the service of the people of this Colony. It is not given to any man to be right all the time and never to make a mistake; but if mistakes should occur I ask you to believe that they will be errors of the head but never errors of the heart.— Sir John Field, new Resident Commissioner, Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony, in “Colony Information Notes”.

Wrri t •. .

ELI I just hope there isn t going to be any suggestion that Pidgin should become the national language of Australia. The Australian National University held a survey to find out which language, not being offered, was most sought. Pidgin won hands down.

Before long the strollers in Hobart Place [Canberra] will be able to point to Ceb Barnes and announce, “Emi namba wan begpela bilong Niugini”.

And at Parliament House, Gough

Whitlam and a few others might be dubbed Tok-win Tru or Bigpela Toktok Tumas.— Douglas Lockwood in “Post-Courier”, Port Moresby.

“7 anchored

at Samasodu, Santa Isabel, re fn,ly °" her " ay back t 0 Honiara aßer Census duties, one of the passe " gers D who went asbor ® to slee P was K M P' R,umana who had boarded at BLla a ' Next morning Mrs. Riumana came back on board again, this time with a 6 lb baby boy, to which she had given birth during the night. She went into Samasodu Clinic in the early hours of the morning to have ber baby and was back on board at daylight to continue her trip to Honiara. Item in “BSIP News Sheet”.

A , , , , A T . one 0 clock on Monday mom mg a canoe, 6 ft long, was washed ashore on the ocean side of Tauma Village on Tabiteuea North, * lth one man desperately clinging to Jt - The story is that the man by the

name of Ten Tabotabo Koae, of Nikunau, aged 20, got his canoe capsized while fishing off the coast of Nikunau. Receiving no help and unable to get to the shore he and his canoe spent the next six days in the sea until the currents finally took them to Tabiteuea, having covered more than 100 miles.

He is still at Tabiteuea and reports say that he is recovering.— Item in “Colony Information Notes”, Tarawa. fTHOSE in the community who are A always vocal about the Lord Howe Island Board “taking over everything” (lighterage, etc.) have until April 1 to form a Public Hall Committee and prevent yet another take-over. Both attempts to hold the annual meeting of the Public Hall Committee were well advertised and it is hard to understand the lack of interest in the running of a hall that is used regularly by all sections of the community.— Editorial note in the Lord Howe Is. “Signal’\ MAKERS of masi (tapa) are running out of trees from which they get the masi bark. At Namuka-i-Lau, where some of the best decorated masi is made a tree shortage has cut output to the point where women are obtaining white masi from Vatulele so they can print their designs on it.— ltem in “The Fiji Times”.

HHHE British Resident Commissioner A wishes to apologise to guests invited to the reception at Iririki last night which was cancelled at very short notice.

A 6 p.m. the aircraft of Air Marshall, Sir Neil Wheeler, RAF (which was on a direct flight from Funafuti in the Ellice Group) was obliged to go on to Tontouta, The weather was so bad that the Resident Commissioner decided he could not ask guests to climb the hill to Iririki, especially since the guests of honour could not be present.— ltem in New Hebrides “Territory News”.

NOXIOUS weeds. Following a recommendation from the Department of Agriculture the Lord Howe Island Board decided that Indian Hemp, Coca Leaf, Opium Poppy and Scotch Thistle should be declared “noxious weeds”. ■■ ■■ —Notice in the “Signal”, H H Lord Howe. J