Letters
pp. 8-9 · Read in the full issue
Radio Links
We were very interested to read the article (PIM, Jan, p 25) about the first issue of PIM (August, 1930), and which produced a copy of the face page of Volume 1 issue No 1 in which one article was entitled —“Radio Links The Pacific.”
The New Zealand Post Of fice has a particular interest in the radio services in this area, as we have been involved with their installation and op eration since before World War I through to the present time when they are being progressively replaced by satellite operation.
A. Turpie,
(for Director of Overseas Telecommunications) Post Office HQ, Wellington
A Png History
The Papua New Guinea Department of Primary In dustry is sponsoring the re search and writing of a His tory of Agriculture in Papua New Guinea.
I would be grateful if any readers could assist this pro ject by means of first-hand ac counts, documents, photo graphs or case histories. They can contact me at the Depart ment of History, University of Papua New Guinea, Box 4820, University Post Office.
Catherine Snowden,
(Research Officer, History of Agriculture) Port Moresby
Underhanded
PIM received this “open” letter which has been sent to the Governor and Chief Minis ter of the Gilberts, the Hawaii
Congressional Delegation in
Washington and the Honour able US Senators Daniel
Inouye, Sparky Matsunaga and
Daniel Akaka.
It appears that the US and UK plan to agree on sover eignty of many, or all, of the equatorial islands whose status
has been in dispute for decades (including islands in the Phoenix and Line groups). It also appears that the purpose of carrying out such nego tiations at the present time is to
present the emerging indepen
dent government of the Gilbert Islands with a fait accompli, according to which some of these islands will have passed,
probably irrevocably, to US
jurisdiction.
This seems to be an under handed way to handle the mat ter. It is the Gibertese who live, or have lived, on many of these islands. Many others are poten
tially inhabitable. Beset by
overpopulation and fickle rain fall, the Gilbertese people could use these islands for a much more noble purpose (eg, colonisation, economic
development) than the prob
ably utilisation under the US.
Furthermore, the US (or other Western powers) would prob ably be able to obtain use of some of these islands for legit imate defence needs by nego tiation directly with the Gilbertese.
Past events in the Phoenix Islands have aroused suspicion that such secret arrangements between the big powers are car ried out to the detriment of the islanders. It is recalled that the Phoenix Islands settlers were induced to move en masse to the Solomon Islands in the 1950 s and 19605, for reasons not obviously related to the mild drought conditions prevailing in the Phoenix Islands at the time. Shortly thereafter, the US military established observation posts on some of these islands.
The fate of the displaced population is still unsettled.
There is no assurance that they will be allowed to remain in the Solomon Islands after independence there, and a Uganda-type tragedy is not an
impossibility. Some people are
wondering if US-UK collusion
might have been responsible
for this ill-fated mass migration of islanders. Such a suspicion would not be too far-fetched, as recent events on Diego Gar cia can bear out.
These Equatorial Pacific islands should not be alienated from the Gilbert Islands nation at this time. Such an action might tend to impair relations of this government with the
US, UK and Commonwealth.
Furthermore, future plans as well as past actions of the US and UK in these matters should no longer be kept secret from the public.
Gordon W. Groves
Kaneoke, Hawaii • All Gilbertese in the Solomons are now assured of
automatic citizenship if appli
cation is made within two years.
Editor.
Slugged
Yachtie
From the launching of the Slugged Yachtie, by Ray Quint (PIM, Feb, 1977, p 25), I have viewed with intrepid interest, the numerous and oft times wondrous waves of thought, that have been slapping the
topsides of Slugged Yachtie.
Indeed the Rev Brown and his complement of caustic comments, in his ship The Racist is well adrift, and I trust he and his like are not too long
in sinking .
Certainly it is the prerogative of any country to impose levies of their own choice and like wise also of a ‘yachtie’ to lay his own courses; however I am of the opinion the Solomon Islands Government may have holed a section of one of their own ships namely the useful little ship Foreign Exchange.
The average ‘yachtie’ is a
gregarious person, and usually
spends, while in a foreign country, far more than the two or three-day tourist type, as be
yond his normal daily require
ments of food, he purchases fuel and oils, spare parts,
imports a seemingly endless
variety of bits and pieces, slips
his yacht etc, and is renowned for his efforts in satiating his thirst. In most cases his recruit ment of services and purchases are paid for in Foreign Exchange.
I know of a cruising family, who while in Madang, Papua New Guinea, spent
US$lO 000; additionally they
purchased, through our
national airline, return and intra air fares to the US. I will concede, there are a number of Bully Hayes types among the
floating fraternity, neverthe
less, the ‘yachtie’, is for this part of the Pacific of sound percent
age potential for any country’s tourist department and should be encouraged. He is, after all, a tourist, and differs in no other respects, other than he has chosen his own mode of trans port.
From my own experience, I shall always retain fond feel ings for the officials of the Solomon Islands, particularly for their effectual and cour teous services afforded me; however, at that particular time, Slugged Yachtie was still on the drawing boards.
Happy to be here ‘Yachtie’
in Madang, Papua New
Guinea.
Sayan Marr
Crown Agents
Your reference to the Crown Agents (Pacific Report, p 5 PIM, March) is not entirely ac curate. The Crown Agents have
never supervised production of
postage stamps for the Repub lic of Nauru.
The Crown Agents’ Stamp
Bureau sold Nauru stamps to the philatelic trade until January 31 this year, but ar rangements for the design and production of the stamps have been in the hands of the Nauru Government, which employs its own philatelic adviser in London. The adviser has now taken over sales of the stamps.
Your article also refers to an inquiry into a AS36O million deficit in the Crown Agents’ accounts. The report of the Fay Committee of Inquiry was published in the United King dom in December, 1977; it was a post-mortem report, re quested by the present man agement of the Crown Agents, to investigate the circum stances which led to the Crown
Agents requesting financial as
sistance from the British Government in 1974. A sub sequent inquiry will examine whether there were any breaches of duty in relation to the Crown Agents’ affairs in UK Government Departments and other institutions.
The losses made by the Crown Agents relate to a period which ended decisively in October, 1974, prior to which the Crown Agents had been making large investments on their own account. The tra ditional agency role of the
Crown Agents as an impar tial public service to Govern ments throughout the
developing world, including
many Pacific countries is in no way affected by their own account losses. The losses themselves have been made good by British Government grants and guarantees. The ser vices. not confined to the UK
and including engineering and
other professional advice, investment, procurement and shipping as well as philatelic services, continue to expand and flourish.
Ivan Alexander
Crown Agents’ Representative for the Pacific
Stevenson’S
“The’’
In reference to the dis cussion of the Robert Louis Stevenson “misquotation” on the Stevenson tomb (PIM, Dec, 1977, p 49) here is a fur ther note of possible interest.
First of all, your quotation of Stevenson’s Requiem is in correct; the last line has no “is”: it should read “And the hunter, home from the hill”, but I assume this is but a typo.
The two bronze plaques were made in 1897 (not 1900) and were designed by long time Stevenson friend, Gelett Burgess, remembered today as the author of the Jingle The Purple Cow. There is justification for the “extra the” in the penultimate line of Requiem. Earlier printed ver sions of the poem were thus written. For example, in a 1905 printing by Robert Louis Stevenson’s official USA publisher, Charles Scribner’s Sons, of a little volume entitled The Pocket Robert Louis Stevenson: Being Favourite Passages from the Works of Stevenson, p 196, the line reads “Home is the sailor, home from the sea”.
Students of the works of Robert Louis Stevenson will testify that he frequently revised his works; often original printings in periodi cals were completely re-writ ten for book publication, and changes were often made in different editions. At least it can be said that the rendering on the tomb agreed with the
wording of an authorised edi tion of the author’s works, and was not merely an error.
The Requiem is also preserved in bronze in both Samoan and English at the foot of the Vaea trail: on the English version of these pla ques, the line in question reads “... home from sea”.
One more minor correction to your article: Isobel Field was the step-daughter, not the daughter of Robert Louis Stevenson as stated.
W. R Moran
La Canada Calif, USA
U.K.’S Papers
I too was sorry to read (PIM, Feb p3l) that J.K. McCarthy’s papers were to go to the National Library of Australia, but I was pleased to see G.M.P.
Gray’s reply in PIM, April.
p 9.
Yes, it is appropriate that items of an historical nature be presented to the country they are all about. We have in Papua New Guinea our own National Museum and our newly-established National Li brary, both of which are anxious to collect all materials relevant to the historical development of our country.
We would rather see these in our country where they are di rectly relevant, than scattered through the world at large where they become harder of access to Papua New Guinea citizens.
I can assure you that both in stitutions mentioned accept the responsibility of their national roles and will register and curate materials to world stan dards.
If any ex-residents of Papua New Guinea, especially from the colonial times, wish to do nate their collections of trivia, memorabilia etc to us we would be most grateful.
Geoffrey
Mosuwadoga
Director, National Museum and Art Gallery,
Boroko, Png.
• Would the writer of the letter signed “Truthful Nauruan” please send PlM’s Editor his name and address, which will not be published but as evidence of good faith.