Burns Philp’s men

in the Pacific

South Pacific Focus. Burns Philp’s Trading Viewed through Photographs early this Century. By Ken Buckley and Kris Klugman. Published by Allen & Unwin, Sydney,

1986. A 519.95. Isbn 0 04

909030 5.

How one’s perception of the title of a book changes due to recent events. When I saw the above, South Pacific Focus, I imagined some hard hitting, investigative disection of the Pacific scene, perhaps con centrating upon some of the recent headline making key events.

A coup in Fiji, Fishing boat siezures in Kiribati, Lybians lur king behind palms, not to men tion menacing Russians just over the horizon plotting havoc and mayhem. For that is the kind of front page Pacific that has been coming out for much of 1987 and seems to be in the wind for a little while yet.

But, no, this heavily illus trated volume describes a much gentler time, after the “Fatal Impact” (Mark 1) and before the second one to come during

and after the Second World War. It is, in fact, a companion volume to the two already published about Bums, Philp & Co., a kind of commissioned company history.

The co-authors have divided their little book into three parts.

Firstly, there is a brief history of BP, to bring the reader into the context of this particular slice of the Pacific, dealing with com mercial and administrative mat ters.

This is followed by the longest section, with three re ports by a Mr Frederick Wallin on his visits to Gilbert, Ellice and Marshall groups between 1910 and 1915. The last sec tion consists of rather well pre served black and white photo graphs of scenes of commercial significance in those islands, along with BP and associated personnel. There is also a small gallery showing the repatriation of the Queensland Kanaks by BP vessels.

The captions for the photos derive from the presumed photographer, a Mr Nevil Chat field, who joined the firm at the

age of 18 and died at the age of 90 in 1976. Some additional material is provided by other sources available to the co authors, including an interview with Harry and Honor Maude.

The pace through the photo graphs is liesurely. One pro ceeds as with an old relative.

Some comments about some one, a name forgotten or an added observation. The people shown are serene, preposses sed, very self-confident. Of course they all have work and money.

There are observations (few) of the Islanders, the comment ary in section two is taken up mainly by what Wallin made of his fellow Europeans and, later, Japanese trading partners and adversaries. This is no travel writing pen. It is a favourable (to the writer) account of trad ing activities to be sent back to home office. There is a lot of commercial information.

Nevertheless, there are small amusing incidents, such as the BP “Pacific Chart Calendar” incident of 1915. It seems that eager printers in Sydney had stamped in red, “In British Occupation” over the Marshall and Caroline Groups, before the Japanese had decided not to relinquish what they had taken from the Germans. The

Japanese felt that such a “mis take” could be interpreted as questioning Imperial authority in the area and BP was asked to withdraw them.

While there is little mention of the Islanders, there is a clear respect for them, especially when arriving at copra prices.

Japanese tended to offer better prices for copra and cheaper prices for trade goods, so the Europeans had to bargain hard.

Also, if the islanders did not think that they were getting enough for their labour, Wallin wrote: they can revert to the wearing of mats and the eating of native food indefinitely ... they have their own native resources to fall back upon, but not so the white man. The law of the domestic economy will apply with the native: it will be

cheaper for him to live on his own coconut and fish than bother making coconuts into copra when its value will not buy compensating benefits in food and clothes for the trouble. ”

So, to whom will this book appeal? Just about anybody who likes Pacific nostalgia, especially if they are Euro peans. Islanders too, especially from the groups involved, will enjoy the admiration the trader had for his local counterpart.

The Micronesians portrayed here were not simply hapless victims, enthralled to superior outsider power. They may not have known about negotiations in distant board rooms, but they certainly knew how to barter with their own products and in their own lands. Grant McCall.