The Editor's Mailbag

Solomons History

The letter from Mrs Seton (PIM, March, p 32) concerning source material for the history of the Solo mons and your note thereon is of particular interest to me as it is our task to ensure the preservation and availability of such material.

I can assure Mrs Seton that the murder of Bell and Lillies and much of BSIP history is well documented in Western Pacific High Commission/ Solomons records in the Western Pacific Archives, presently located in Suva. I agree that there is a need to seek out personal reminiscences to complement the official records. As we develop a Solomons Archives I trust that we will be able to obtain them from those who have lived and worked in the Solomons and are interested in the history and pro gress of the territory.

B. T. Burne,

Archivist

Western Pacific Archives, GPO Box 748, Suva, Fiji.

'Repressed' Micronesians

Living and ministering among Micronesians is a real pleasure to be sure, for they are sharp people in many ways; however, being sharp is not the same as being wise.

Every time I pick up a newspaper or magazine I read something about how the Micronesians are fighting bravely for their freedom from the ugly Americans.

We love these people and are serving them here without any financial benefit, but I am afraid that their future is going to be dark indeed if they don’t wisely face up to a few realities. Many assume that the words Independence and Free dom are synonymous. They must realise that the world is full of independent nations that are not free.

It is debatable which is the lesser of two evils, a local dictator or foreign domination.

Micronesians must also realise that their islands are too strategic to be left alone, too economically poor to be independent, and too small in number to be free from the dominance of any major power that feels it has a vested interest in the islands.

From where I sit I don’t see how the Micronesians can claim that they are a repressed people. Our students have far more opportunities for col lege scholarships than most American students.

They can go anywhere they should care to, work anywhere they should care to, do anything within the law and usually find some way for Uncle Sam to pick up the tab. This is being repressed? It is my earnest

prayer that freedom-loving peoples

all over the world should be able to enjoy such repression, especially my children. A hungry man is not a free man and the real test of freedom is not in what we are free to do, but in what we are free not to do.

Harold L. Roberts (Rev).

Bethania Seminary, Koror-Palau District, Western Carolines.

The Logans

I am anxious to discover the whereabouts of Mr Leonard Logan and his family who lived in Port Moresby before the second world war.

Mr Logan was Headquarters Officer of the Armed Native Con stabulary and held this post until 1938. I have lost track of him after that. Would anyone knowing the family please let me know how I can reach them.

Mrs. A. Inglis.

University of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby,

Png.

'Misleading' Picture

In the article on political develop ment in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands (PIM, March, p 28) your correspon dent gives a picture in one particular paragraph which is so misleading as to influence seriously the reader’s judgment of the verity of crucial issues of criticism raised in this interesting article.

I refer to your statement about the influence of the Tarawa Teachers’

College in the educational sphere.

Far from being staffed “almost wholly by foreigners who knew very little or nothing about atoll environ ment until they arrived in the ter ritory”, the ratio is almost fifty-fifty local to ex-patriate staff; and if one counts part-time staff, local staff are actually in the majority.

More importantly, the curriculum

development programme is given its impetus through subject syllabus committees which are overwhelmingly made up of Gilbert and Ellice mem bers (school organisers, teachers and specialists in different fields of education).

At a time when the reins of govern ment are passing increasingly into the hands of the Gilbert and Ellice people and the primary school curri culum is reflecting more and more local culture and tradition, it seems a pity that your correspondent should, in such a painstaking article, misre present the situation in this vital respect.

Nigel A. Green.

Bikenibeu, Tarawa,

Geic.

I would like to shake hands with you and your correspondent (PIM, March, p. 23) who took the lid off the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. He said with accuracy and precision what a minority of expatriates have been feeling for a long time. What will it achieve? It has already put the cat among the pigeons—every body here is having to sign the Official Secrets Act again. Unfortu nately I don’t think it will achieve much more.

The expatriates here are so firmly in the saddle and so wedded to their well-paid jobs and their way of life that excludes virtually all contact with local people, that they will shrug it off and continue as before.

Any expatriate who does not con form to this pattern is simply not invited by the expatriates, who manage these things, to return.

I don’t think there are any secrets in this letter, but just in case I must sign myself.

Iraorao.

Tarawa.

Author Hits Back

It is a pointless exercise to cross swords with a reviewer, as the latter always has the last word. However, Marjorie Crocombe’s petulant little niggles at my book, Company of Heaven, seem so silly that I wonder if I may point out some of the more obvious inconsistencies.

Instead of using the space at her disposal to discuss a book which, for all its faults, is the first attempt for 30 years to give a general and non specialised picture of missionary development in the Pacific, your reviewer chose instead to spend much of her time sniffing at alleged inconsistencies and misspellings.

I very much regret any errors which escaped my eye when proof reading, but for the life of me most

of the time I don’t know what Mrs Crocombe is going on about!

I am accused of misspelling Eimeo on page 148. The word doesn’t even appear on page 148. Get Mrs Crocombe to look again. I am berated for spelling George T'upou differently on page 163 and pages 165 and 168.

One of us must be going blind. I use the version Tupou consistently throughout. I am flayed for misspel ling Cakobau in the index. Cakobau doesn’t even appear in the index.

I could go on for a long time, but this sort of pedantic hair-splitting has I suggest, little purpose and I don’t understand what your reviewer was trying to do when she started it—especially when she isn’t even accurate in the examples I’ve quoted and in other cases I don’t want to bore your readers with.

I don’t know what Mrs Crocombe’s experience as a reviewer is. Judging by her efforts on this occasion she is fairly new to the game. I don’t want to take the bread out of anyone’s mouth, but I wish you hadn’t let her practise on me.

Graeme Kent.

Honiara,

Bsip.

Public Defender Wanted

I fairly believe that at this stage of the progress of the Republic of Nauru it would be highly in the interest of the Nauruan people if measures could be taken with a view to appointing a full-time Public Solicitor for the people.

The government as well as Parlia ment has passed many but too difficult laws which would tend to create havoc with the rights of an individual in terms of these laws.

There is no doubt that the laws passed by parliament are sophisticated in essence, but one cannot lose sight of the fact that the fundamental in law is its application to the people. In most distinguished and democratic countries, they are institutionalised to the concept of affording safeguard to the public in their equal legal representations before the law. Their overall administrative structure is so organised as to include the public in the ambit of the government.

The present mode of process now, is that the Republic’s attitude in this matter is negative. The Republic Government has employed many ex patriate lawyers, who are pre dominantly restricted to government business. The right of a man in the street is highly neglected, as a result.

The present practice is that the Nauruan people, who probe their justice before the court of law, seek the services of the Nauruan pleaders,

who are not trained or versed in law. Pleaders comprise a handful of Nauruans, who voluntarily render their services free of charge—to represent their Nauruan clients before the Law. The government’s assistance or services in providing legal aid is quite restricted to Nauruans charged with murder or other serious offences.

The magistrate’s court is presided over by a European magistrate, and the Supreme Court by a non-resident Chief Justice.

By simply employing the top notch in our administration of justice and at the same time reserving equilibrium to a few yielding untrained advocates, is a turning point of Justice, where the odour of the sweet scent of the innocence becomes the innuendo.

I passionately believe that the good of the Nauruan people can be served greatly by the appointment of a competent person who would look into the grievances of the people— and duly authorise review by admini strative processes or instrumentalities. (A person so appointed should espouse both offices of the Chief Solicitor and the Ombudsman.) During my short experience as pleader, I have encountered many shortcomings and great hardships towards maintaining my composure in representing the interests of the Nauruan people. I fairly believe that if the government is trying to main tain a status quo for its people, it would have taken the initiative in making the appointment.

Detonga Deiye.

Nauru.

Hms Dart

In your July, 1972, issue (p 43) there is a photograph of the Baie de la Moselle, Noumea, with a num ber of abandoned ships depicted in the foreground.

One of these ships is said to be the former HMS Dart, a Royal Navy ship attached to the Australian Squadron from 1882 to 1903 for surveying duties in Australian and Pacific waters.

I have recently written a detailed history of the Dart’s activities up to the time she passed to French buyers in Sydney in 1920.

Apparently she was renamed Jeanne Elisabeth and finally Athalai, her last owners being Soc des Isles Loyalty.

If any of your readers can pass on any information of her career under the French flag I would be most grateful, as this would allow me to bring the history to a final end.

Jack Millar.

16 Heathora Ave, Sandy Bay, Tas. 7005.