NEW GUINEA PROBLEMS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 74, 9 March 1933, Page 11

NEW GUINEA PROBLEMS

PEOPLE AND PROSPECTS

THIS YEAR’S GOLD OUTPUT. OVER £1,000,000 EXPECTED. Sydney, February 23. The Commonwealth is fortunate in having in charge of the mandated territory of New Guinea a Minister, Mr Marr, who is keenly interested in his task. He has made two personal visits to the territory and he has learned a great deal of the many queer customs of the natives. This has enabled him to approach the many problems with a thorough knowledge of what he has to face, and the League of Nations has already expressed appreciation of what has been done to date. In an address in Sydney this week Mr Marr gave a striking review of New Guinea and its people. Mr Marr said it was a pity that Australia could not consolidate Papua and the mandated territory under one administration. It would be far better for Australia if she could manage all the territories that surrounded the Australian coast, particularly those islands in the Pacific. Australia, by having a territorial service similar to the British Colonial Service, could train her young men to be pioneers, administrators and governors. Some steps had alreadybeen taken in that direction. When applications for cadetships were invited recently, 2000 young men offered their services, including several with university degrees. One was a lecturer in economies, and he was among the 76 who were undergoing a special course. ESTIMATES OF POPULATION. Mr Marr told of the difficulties in estimating the population of New , Guinea. An early German estimate was 33,000. Successive calculations had arrived at higher figures, and at present it was thought that the number was 521,000. Probably the population would be found to be 1,000,000, for there were large areas in the hinterland that had not yet been explored. : There was an extraordinary diversity of languages among the natives. The Germans wer 0 not good linguists. German was a hard language to learn, and as a result the civilised natives spoke a pigeon English which they had been taught by the Germans. Though Australia, had responsibilities to the white population, its first responsibility was to the natives, to whom the country first belonged. The Government was making that its aim. It became necessary to study the native customs, and even to think as they thought. He instanced the case of a gift of oxes to some tribles. It was essential that large axes should be given only to the chief, and small tomahawks to the lesser heads. Knives were given to the elder boys, but it would have offended tribal custom if anything had been given to the very young boys. STOWAWAYS IN AN AEROPLANE. Aviation had revolutionised travel and a trip to the goldfields which previously took seven days was accomplished in three-quarters of an hour. The natives seemed to bo fascinated by the aeroplanes, and were always keen to travel in them. Not long ago one of the large aeroplanes- left tho coast for the goldfields with a cargo which consisted of a bull and two cows. W hen the animals had been landed, 32 native stowaways climbed oui of the machine.

The missions were doing a great work. There were more than 130 stations in charge of Europeans, and about 1100 in charge of natives, an army of Christian workers of about 2000. They had established neany 1500 places of worship and had played an invaluable part in tho religious, educational, industrial and medical activities of the mandated territories. Schools to the number of 1450 were educating 40,000 pupils and 39 hospitals cared for 6000 patients in 1931. The missions operated sawmills, stores and plantations. Mr Marr said it was expected that this year more than £1,000,000 of gold would be exported from the mandated territory alone.