Yesterday

Inclusion of West New Guinea in Indonesia was to take priority in the policy of the new government of Indonesia, the Premier, Dr Ali Sastroamidjojo, announced in Jakarta, in April, 1956. Towards that end, Indonesia would soon establish a Province of West Irian (the Indonesian term for Dutch New Guinea). Now it's called Irian Jaya and another "act of free choice" is to be decided in Timor.

A warm tribute to the services given to the Suva Chamber of Commerce and to the community in general by Sir Alport Barker, was made at a meeting of the chamber. Mr Maurice Helsen, acting president of the chamber and manager of the Suva branch of Burns Philp (SS) Co Ltd, said it was an appropriate time to pay a tribute to Sir Alport, who had recently disposed of the Fiji Times and Herald Ltd. He wished the new owners, Pacific Publications Pty Ltd, continued success in running the newspaper, that had been the means of information in Fiji, in good and bad days, for many years.

The Joyita disaster was caused by a pipe breaking in the cooling system, flooding the ship. That was the finding of a commission of inquiry, headed by the Chief Judge of Western Samoa, Mr Justice Marsack, which sat in Apia 20 years ago. The commission dismissed fanciful stories that were circulating at the time of the disaster.

There was no evidence of mass murder, organised looting, attack by foreign vessels, waterspouts or submarine explosion. The commission made a number of criticisms. There was a lack of life-saving equipment. Captain T. H.

Miller failed to ensure the Joyita was capable of making the voyage from Apia to the Tokelaus. The commission was unable to say why the ship was abandoned. Conditions on the ship must have been bad, but It was afloat and offered some degree of security. The Joyita left Apia early in October, 1955, on a voyage to the Tokelaus, normally a two-day trip. She was found floating and derelict, about 100 miles north of Labasa, Fiji, on November 10, 1955. No trace was ever found of the 25 passengers and crew.

Because of a 140 degrees deviation in the control compass of the automatic

pilot, Pan American Airways clipper, "Glory of the Skies" got off course on a flight between Nadi and Canton Island, and finally made an emergency landing at Faleolo, Western Samoa.

Faleolo airport was seldom used by anything bigger than a DC3. NZ aviation officials refused to allow the aircraft to take off with passengers.

A PAA DC4 went from Nadi to ferry the passengers to Canton. "Glory of the Skies" which had a successful takeoff from Faleolo was waiting there to meet them, and carry them on to Honolulu and the US.

Faced with greatly decreased revenue as a result of the fall in cocoa prices and every sign of a poor cocoa crop, with all the emphasis on expansion of medical services, education, and public works, the Government of Western Samoa faced problems in 1956 that did not have to be considered in 1955, a prosperous trade year.

Adverse weather in recent months seriously affected the cocoa crop, which was not expected to recover before the end of 1956. Some local businessmen were pessimistically forecasting the beginning of "the seven lean years". A steadily dropping copra price and a 10 per cent fall in the UK Ministry of Food price for copra showed that economies would have to be made somewhere.

Father George Hamilton Pearce, SM, was chosen to succeed the late Bishop J. B. Dieter as Vicar Apostolic of Samoa and the Tokelau Islands. He was known to the Samoans as "Patele Ameto". Father Pearce, an American, went to Boston for consecration by the archbishop there, Cardinal Cushing.

Some years ago he succeeded

Archbishop Foley as Archbishop of

Suva.

Only Australian Commonwealth politicians would have free trips to Papua New Guinea under a ruling by Prime Minister Robert Menzies. That annoyed Premier Cosgrave of Tasmania, who had intended to send one government and one opposition member of Tasmania's House of Assembly to PNG at taxpayer expense. "It's very important that we should know what's going on in New Guinea", Mr Cosgrave said. "We want to know the position about defence". PIM made a brief comment; "People have been known to pay their own way, of course. Return air fare: round £120".

Only slight amendments to the proposals of NZ for a plan of constitutional development for Western Samoa were made in a joint session of the Fono of Faipule (Samoan Parliament) and the Legislative Assembly of Western Samoa. The only dissenting voice,

opposing all resolutions passed by the two representative bodies, was that of elected European member P. L M.

Morgan. His opposition to everymove towards self-government contained in the NZ proposals sometimes led to stormy scenes.

An old native woman who had lived all of her 70 years on Mare, in the remote Loyalty Group, recently flew to Noumea, PIM reported in April, 1956. That was typical of the air-mindedness that had developed among New Caledonia natives since the local air service, Transpac, started operations about six months earlier.

Most traffic in that period was between the mainland and the Loyalty Group and the Isle of Pines.

According to Professor Y. B. Goto, a world authority on coffee culture, one quarter of the plantations he inspected in the Papua New Guinea Highlands in February were on good coffee land, about one-half on mediocre land, and the remaining quarter on poor land.

Professor Goto was Director of the Agricultural Extension Service of the University of Hawaii. He said he was greatly impressed with the extent and possibilities of the almost virgin PNG Highlands as a future coffee country.

He turned out to be right, and the Highlands soon after began adding significantly to PNG's economy.

Father Edward A. Tremblay, SM, of Haverhill, Mass, US, who spent more than 30 years in the mission field in Tonga, has written another book of reminiscences, PIM reported in April, 1956. In true American style he sought a title to tickle the ears of the groundlings—it is "Grins and Chuckles in the Land of Upside Down". In spite of his long years of arduous service, Father Tremblay never lost his sense of humour. His new book was expected to be well worth reading.

His order benefited from the sales of his book which included "When you go to Tonga" Fr Tremblay died in January, 1974 in Oregon, USA.

• Mr P. L. M.

Morgan ... his opposition to moves for self government in Western Samoa led to stormy scenes.