PACIFIC SCIENCE CONGRESS

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25740, 28 February 1949, Page 6

PACIFIC SCIENCE CONGRESS

A RETROSPECT AND ESTIMATE This article was specially written for "The Press’ ’by Dr. Robert Cushman Murphy, chairman of the department of birds, American Museum of Natural History. Team work and co-operation have been the keynote of the congress. This is shown by the admirable fruition of plans laid by the organising committee and by the trend toward joint deliberations in the scientific sectioqf. It has not yet been generally realised that the Seventh Congress enjoyed the presence of mope foreign visitors than any other in the series. The San Francisco meeting. 10 yeai/s ago. had a somewhat larger total enrolment of members; but it has remained for Auckland and Christchurch to attain the peak in oversea delegates —a number exceeding 225. The feat of accommodating such a throng in the relatively small cities of New Zealand, and of distributing the visitors comfortably during lengthy tours, is one we all admire. Some of our busy hosts tell us that they have not been without their hectic moments; but all such troubles have been hidden from us behind closed doors and smiles. The 86 printed pages of the programme. subsequently extended by numerous “late” contributions reveal the strong co-ordinating tendency among various scientific disciplines. Zoology and botany have combined part of their sessions with Oceanography, part with Agriculture. On the final day several additional groups joined with them for consideration of the wise use of natural resources; and similar liaisons were exemplified by devotees of the anthropological, medical. and social sciences.

The programme of the 10 sections has dealt largely with fundamental science, as might be expected from the stated aims of these Congresses, as well as from representatives of research in the native land of Lord Rutherford. At the same time, lay followers of the proceedings need to be reminded that basic subjects, such as mathematics, are in large measure excluded by the geographical scope; ahd that even physics and chemistry enter chiefly as the handmaidens of seismology, meteorology, biology, etc,, as these relate to Pacific areas. Such facts always create difficulties for a programme committee. It is even possible that here and there the phrase “with special reference to the Pacific’’ has been tacked on to the end of a title with the object of dragging it into the regional paddock! Furthermore, New Zealand, as a prevailingly agricultural and pastoral community, subsists mainly from the soil and its Citizens have a keen eye for applications of science that may directly enrich their resources or accomplish the same end indirectly by slowing down the rate of exploitation. Conservation has been, indeed, a strong note in papers presented before nearly every section, indicating recognition of the truth that the modern world, these islands included, is living too much upon the capital, rather than the increment, of natural wealth. A Dominion that aims to send a thousand tons of food a day to Great Britain, in addition to maintaining a high standard for its own population, is naturally eager to learn of food supplies not yet significantly tapped. Deep interest was aroused by the report of Dr. Kask, of the United Nations Organisation. to the effect that the Pacific, the greatest of the oceans, yields much less than half the fish catch of the world, and that of this small proportion mot 5 per cent, is yet taken from Pacific waters south of the equator. Kask’s contribution proved an excellent leader for the critique by Professor Richardson, of Victoria College, of specific New Zealand fisheries. Concern About Soils Resolutions adopted at the final plenary session reveal the deep concern of visitors and native sons alike in the status of New Zealand soils, water-tables, and plant-cover, and of the role of introduced organisms. Many of the last-named have long been acknowledged pests; and yet the feeling was expressed that New Zealanders seem to have difficulty iq making up their minds—permanently —as to when vermin is vermin and when it is not. Few of the foreign delegates, whose experience here is, of course, brief, have any ddUbt about the matter. They at least have the backing of your own forester. Mr Holloway, who stated forthrightly that you can’t- keep both deer and beech (nothofagus) forests: and that the decision as to which of the two is wanted for ever is strictly a home problem. While there was a certain diversity of opinion regarding the implications of soil erosion, all visitors emphasised its seriousness. Professor Robinson, chairman of the British delegation and a renowned expert, held a relatively hopeful outlook, while otners, such as Mr Holt, of the American Soil Conservation Service, regarded the present damage in certain areas as the worst they had ever witnessed in temperate lands, and amenable to repair only through prolonged and unflagging labour, involving the re-estab-lishment of dense plant cover on hilltops and upper slopes. Among participants in the Congress, the anthropologists were perhaps represented in largest force. They also seem to have had a particularly lively time. The content of many papers in this comprehensive field indicates a new spirit ip the world with respept to what used to be called “subject peoples.” The general theme of the earlier anthropological sessions was announced as “Administration and welfare, including contemporary cultural changes among Pacific island peoples.” No longer, it appears are the big-wigs of administration wont to assume that the fewest suggestions and the least interference, from any outside source will enable them to accomplish the most acceptable job. On the contrary, most of those charged with the responsibility of governing have grown humble; they crave, and even pay for, the wisdom that may issue from specialised research. It is surely symbolic that, when Professor Ernest Beaglehole criticised aspects of his own Government’s regime in the Cook Islands and Western Samoa, the Prime Minister merely turned the other cheek, stating to reporters that Beaglehole's paper would be studied by the Island Territories office “with a view to translating such criticism into beneficial administrative action.” A Warming Experience There is something peculiarly warming and altruistic about the experience we have had As Dr. Falla remarked, monographs, text-books, and names have suddenly become faces and voices and handclasps. An international political meeting, however statesmanlike and well-intentioned, is likely to be bedeviled bv nationalism and undue watchfulness. Hera among the scientific men and women—and women have taken a notable part in this Congress—there has been no reigning idea other than the free exchange of data and the pursuit of truth, all in relation to the betterment of the world in which we must contrive to get along together. It is to be hoped that by the date of the Eighth Congress, in the Philippines, the late enemy of the Pacific, and even the unpredictable Soviet Union, may be back within the fold of research that knows not boundaries. ,

The present congress, by the way, is perhaps the first general scientific meeting at which problems of human population in relation to the ultimate possible productivity of soil and sea have begun to be faced. In the memorable symposium on “The Social Implication of Science,” as well as in various sectional meetings, present and impending population trends of man—by far the most abundant and the only rapidly increasing species of large vertebrate animal —have been stimulating!}' discussed. Press coverage in New Zealand has been accurate, dignified, and sympathetic, both in the news and the editorial columns. If the side-shows of journalism, such as cartoons, quips, and verse, are sometimes a better gauge of genuine popular interest than even the best of reporting, the Congress has fared well on that score also. We are all the happier for the attention of a little good-natured lampooning. Wo have had a glorious time; we shall not forget what New Zealand has given up of both information and inspiration, and of bountiful hospitality.