THE COMMONWEALTH

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8367, 1 March 1913, Page 9

THE COMMONWEALTH

“Ob, Australia-. fair and lovely, Empress of the southern eea."

The “Colonial Office Journal” says eventually the Northern territories ot Australia will see the introduction of the camel as a means of transport, and it is likely that this well-tried animal will bo found eminently useful. Already there are over a thousand in Queensland, and tho number is rapidly increasing. Tho territories will certainly require many novel propositions for their development, and at present Australia is too busily engaged on lucrative business which it understands to go so far afield. Nevertheless, in the future, the possession of this tropical district will be an enormous boon.'

The story of a beautiful and fertile land of varied climate and sparse population is very interestingly told in a recent publication by Mr Murray, who was appointed Chief Judicial Officer of Papua in 1904 and ‘Lieutenant-Governor in 1908. “Wo have, so far as our influence extends, put a stop to raids, to head-hunting, to cannibalism, and to village warfare in general.” Yet cannibalism exists: British subjects are roasting one another alive within twenty-four hours of Port Moresby, the capital. On Goari Bari Island, where the devoted Chalmers and Tomkins were murdered on Easter Monday, 1901, human sacrifice prevails. It was the custom in Dobu when a mother died to place her in a chair, tie her child in her lap, and bury both together. “Wo went to New Guinea,” says Sir William McGregor, Governor of Queensland, in an introduction to the book, “solely and simply to serve our own ends.” Tho Queen’s sovereignty was declared in 1888 over a new country with a superficial area exceeding 90,000 square miles, without a single soldier or policeman to support the new administration. The first political example of “peaceful penetration,” Sir William calls it. In 1905 the Commonwealth Parliament passed the Papua Act, under which what was once the protectorate, and afterwards the possession of British New Guinea, became the territory of Papua. The Papuan is very conservative (says Mr Murray), much attached to his homo, his wife and family. He does . not want alcohol; Ms most disagreeable trait is avarice. The girls are apt to discourage the advances of men who have not earned the badge of the homicide. The best thing for the Papuans —who, be it remembered, are not a single race, but a number of heterogeneous tribes and communities—is to encourage them to work, and so give them something to live for in the new Papua. “Labour will save the Papuan from despair,” is Mr Murray’s wholesome specific.- The mineral wealth has yet hardly been touched; timber exportation has just lately begun.

An important address on the State schools system was delivered by Mr P. Board, Director of Education, in the School of Arts at Bathurst recently, under the auspices of the Bathurst Parents and Citizens’ Association. Mr Board came from Sydney specially for the purpose. He stated that the State system of education had two aims: (1) It wishes to have every one of its citizens qualified to fulfil all the obligations of citizenship; (2) to give effect to the belief that it was in the interests of the State that every individual in it should be able to fulfil his duties, either as a breadwinner or as the help of a breadwinner. The high school stood between the primary school on the one hand and the university or the career which the boy had in view on the other. This illustrated the incompleteness of the primary education. Australia was behind other countriesin the prevalence of the idea that primary education was enough for our boys Such an idea as that was scarcely heard of in Canada or the United States, while in Germany it was only those who could not help themselves who remained only with a primary education. Whether Australia wonld follow the lead of other countries in making education up to the age of sixteen compulsory remained to be seen; but it was a serious question whether Australia was going to hold her own if education were in future restricted to the ages of thirteen or fourteen, as at present. It seemed to him that the university and the high school were not places for everybody. He meant by that that there were those whose natural endowments did not qualify them to go beyond a certain limit of formal education. The rest of their education had to be obtained in the business world; and very often that later education was got very effectively and successfully. The qualifications of others, however, entitled them to the very best education that could be given. The University Act was most beneficial in that it furthered this. The university, however, should be open to all, irrespective of parental and financial circumstances. (Applause.) Dr Long, Anglican Bishop of Bathurst, said that there should bo a chance in respect of education facilities for everybody, quite apart from his or her circumstances in life. Education was the only weapon which would help the people of Australia to fight in the great industrial strife that lay before them.

Objection is being taken in certain quarters to the system of qualifying examinations adopted in connection with the Federal Public Service. Mr E. H. Burgess, the secretary of the Telegraph and Telephone Construction and Maintenance Union, Sydney, is reported to have stated that so far as his branch was concerned tho system had not given satisfaction, and that ho was inclined to think that these examinations were not a just way of determining the claims of officers for promotion. According to the commissioner, Air D. C. AleLachlan, there can bo no doubt that the steady recruiting of tho service by means of competitive examinations has had a marked effect upon the personnel of departments, and has assisted in building up efficiency.