PAPUAN GOLD

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22499, 17 August 1936, Page 6

PAPUAN GOLD

j EXPEDITION BANNED | UNCONTROLLED AREA i SYDNEY SYNDICATE SCHEME ALTERNATIVE PLANS MADE ] [from OUR OWN cob respondent] SYDNEY, August. 10 1 Great surprise was caused when the Papuan Administration at Port Moresby | announced that Mr. Jack Hides had ] been" forbidden to enter "uncontrolled j territory" in the hinterland of Papua I et the head of a gold-prospecting exI pedition. i Mr. Hides, then a Papuan GovernI ment official, gained fame last year i as the discoverer of remarkably fertile I tountry, which he described as a Papuan J "wonderland." Recently it was an- ; nounccd that, backed by a Sydney Byndicate, he would return to the scene j of his exploits to take the preliminary i steps to testing the Tau Furoro Valley ! for gold. Mr. Hides had reported that j this valley resembled the famous Bulolo < goldfiekl of New Guinea, f An appeal is being made to the Com- ' monwealth Government to intervene, and Mr. Hides' backers, who include i prominent Sydney business men, aro j confident that this appeal will succeed, j But if it fails, Mr. Hides will go to I other parts of the territory in which the ban will not operate. Possible Alternative j The area which has been declared uncontrolled and which, therefore, may ! not be entered except by Government ■j officers on duty, is bounded on one side : by the eastern bank of the Strickland ■ River. This means that the expedition could travel up the Strickland River to possible gold country outside the banned ' area as long as any landings were made on the western bank of the river. ! Though the area which has been de- ! clared uncontrolled includes the couui try which Mr. Hides explored on his ; recent patrol, Government officials in Canberra do not know what part of j- Papua he planned to investigate with his present expedition.' | "This ban can only result in the | retarding of the natural development of ! the country," said Mr. "V. Hides, brother of the explorer. "If similar action had been taken in the early days of Australia's colonisation, our possession and development of this country might never have been achieved. The territory to which rny brother is now denied admittance was discovered and surveyed by him, and he and his assistant, Mr. O'Malley, are the only white people known to have been in it. " The only knowledge the Administration possessed about it is that sup--1 plied by my brother. The inconsistency } of the action now taken is evidenced ] by the fact that an oversea prospecting > company was given a concession over j the whole area more than two years : ago. 1 No Reckless Enterprise

" The Lieutenant-Governor of Papua, Sir Hubert Murray, is abroad on leave, and the Legislative Council which passed the ordinance is not an elected body, but is composed of Government officials, with a minority of nominated residents in Papua. The territory declared uncontrolled was discovered 18 months ago, and was only declared a prohibited area after the published announcement of my brother's intention to' revisit it. The original expedition was conceived by Sir Hubert Murray, and could only have been for the purpose of opening up new territory. Papua can never be developed if individual enterprise is to be discouraged in .this .way."

Mr. Hides added that there was 110 question of the exploitation of the natives, or of any •wild or reckless enterprise. The expedition, which comprised two white men and 60 natives, was only a prospecting one, and before any development could take place leases would have to be obtained from the Government, which could then take whatever steps it considered necessary to conserve the interests of the natives. The men associated 'with his brother had faith in the potentialities of Papua, and were prepared to baok that faith ith their money, and to accept ( and work under whatever measure of Government was considered necessary.