PROGRESS OF NEW GUINEA.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXIX, Issue 3678, 2 March 1899, Page 7

PROGRESS OF NEW GUINEA.

? A representative of Reuter’s , Agency has had a talk with Sir William Macgrcgor, who has arrived in England on the conclusion of ten years’ term of office as. Administrator .of BritishiNe.w Guinea. Dealing -with the general-prospects of the colony, Sir William said A great desideratum. in the colony is -'agricultural development, which is proceeding extremely slowly, although land has been offered at a.very cheap rate and ion very easy terms. ;, It was on-this account that the Government entered into a contract recently with a syndicate to take up a large area of land under certain conditions. The question of this contract has not yet been ■ definitely s'ettled by uic Secretary of State. As a field for emigration, New Guinea is not suitable for a man with small means. Considerable capital is necessary. It' is not a country in which a man can pi'o-dnca-wheat. or..t.ucnip§,__ltJs,md!int.exl,. above all things, for growing rubber, and,for tea, coffee, tobacco and cotton. 'Cotton, and' tobaccov are indigenous. The tobacco is of very,fine quality, and ought to "prove, a valuable’ export; - Probably thes two principal exports will be rubber and gold. There'is a great', field for rubber plantations, and there are several kinds of indigenous, rubber 'of high quality! ' Cocoanuts, grow luxuriantly all over the colony.* Water transport is supplied by many rivers, and we have good anchorages and harbours alon- the coast line. Railways axe not likely to be'Very much required on account of oar excellent Ayafer-ways.'“Tbs’'greater portion of the 400 Europeans in'the place are engaged in mining, the remainder devoting their energies- to: general trading. “Briefly,” continue- Sir William, (“the-condition of. the. natives is that they are now quite settled ■ over large areas of country, sufficiently' so to make agricultural settlement ■ under Europeans quite safe—-In the remote districts there arc, however, hundreds, and perhaps thousands, ■' of 'tribes who have never seen ■or heard of Europeans. , Since the great cannibal raid of two years ago, when all the war canoes were captured, cannibalism has been practically -Unknown «in British New Guinea, ; although there ■may, of course, be an isolated case here |and.'there. The attitude of the natives towards 1 -'the Europeans is very friendly. ;I-'firml.y"believe’that thefe'dias -been no' easy of'the settlement of a colony in .winch’, so' little ; friction, of this' sort has loocufred.” After the murder of ’ Mr -Green,. mo;;e. or ■ loss implicated in. the affair were,: captured and put into prison. After a time they were made warders, and were stih-> sequently given positions as constables among their own tribe, their first duties being to arrest the man who was chiefly responsible for the, ; murder, whom we had previously been unable to find. As a result the ■ culprit ■ was , very soon brought Ju,.-and_w.heu I. left all the ringleaders had been captured. This had been the general principle adopted by the Administration—in fact, it is the only possible one. In the case of adults our prisons are tho best schools, and means of civilisation. ■ The climate is much better than is ■generally supposed. During ten years 1 iwas only incapacitated from fever for iabout six .days,' This form of fever is very amenable to proper treatmeht, and proper . treatment is simple. I -believe that New Guinea will eventually, be con-sidercd-a-hcalthy-'tropie»l-coloß3h