UNTOLD WEALTH.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19240, 2 August 1924, Page 21

UNTOLD WEALTH.

NORTH-WEST AUSTRIA. COLOURED LABOUR. BISHOP AN ADVOCATE. (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, July 20. The perennial question of white or coloured labour for the north’ of Australia has been reopened by Dr Trower, who lor 14 years has been bishop of the great North-West diocese, with headquarters at Broome, on the coast nf Western Australia. Bishop Trower speaks of the untold wealth which ho is convinced can be won from the soil and the adjacent seas in that part of the continent, but he is equally convinced that the economic development and tho vast resources can only bo satisfactorily accomplished by the aid of coloured labour, either through indentured coolies or by leasing the whole ot the north to chartered companies similar to those which developed Rhodesia. The bishop makes an pronouncement upon a matter which is of Empire importance. In tho Commonwealth itself, ho says, the white population of tho North-West and the Northern Territory had been decreasing from year to year for many years past. Ho believed that since be had lirst gone to the North-West, about 14 years ago, the white, population had decreased by nearly 69 per tent. In tho Territory thorn was now only a handful of white peopie, and those who lived in Darwin were to an extent dependent on Government doles. White people could live in cither extreme hot or cold climates, thev could not permanently settle, there. ‘ln tho North it had been found that a change or visit to the Mouth was necessary, especially for women and children, to whom a Hip to more temperate regions was an absolute necessity. He believed that tho North-West possessed wonderful possibilities. It was well known that it contained an extraordinary variety of minerals, including gold, iron, tin and copper, all of which might he used fur tho good of tho world. Those minerals, however, could not no worked in the North with wliito labour at the price that the labftur demanded for its services. The fact was that, even more than from a health point of view, the great problem of the North was one of economics. It was impossible to get the minerals from the ground if it cost £4 to get £2 worth. To him, as an outsider, tho soil of tho north appeared eminently suitable for agriculture. I* was wonderfully productive. He nad never seen finer vegetables grown in any part of the Empire than he had seen in the North-West. Rractically eveiy station possessed its own vegetable garden. Water supplies wore available everywhere along the coast, and for a distance of 205 miles inland, either by sinking shallow wells, or putting down aitcsian bores. It was possible to grow everything that was wanted on tnc stations, and ho could hot see why more or less intensive agriculture should not bo possible, over a great part of the country. In tho extreme north, or the veal tropical part of the Elate, conditions were very similar to Central Africa, where he nad lived for eight years prior to coming to Western Australia. Both places possessed their regular tropical rains, with tho greater part ol the year dry and not. In Central Africa, coffee, cotton, tobacco, ground nuts, sisal hemp, millet, and practically all the tropical cereals and iruits wore grown. He did not know "by similar crops were not grown in NorthWest. His knowledge did not permit him saying that rubber, sugar and nee could not be grown in certain parts ot the north. When they turned from the land, with its agricultural and mineral possibilities, they came to the sea, which contained a liarvost only waiting to be gathered. There was probably no coastal seas in the .whole world that appeared to be so well stocked with fish. There were whales, sharks, (whose skins were now being extensively used for leather), dugony, turtles of both the edioie and shell varieties, sponges, and quantities of fish from the groat kingfish' down to the garfish and whiting. The oysters ut the North-West were excellent. Tho presence of those great supplies of fish gave tho possibility of establishing tish cannerios and smoke-curing lactones. but the fact remained that all the industries which might bo started were kept closed because of the economic problem connected with their establishment. Dealing with the introduction ot coloured'indentured labour Bishop Trower said that Sir I'oster Fraser, when he was in Australia, had advised that an imaginary* line should be drawn across the continent, separating the tropical from tho temperate parts. North of the lino indentured labour should ne used for development purposes. In his ll'sh°P Trower’s) opinion, Australia should toilow tho methods, employed in the Malay States. On the rubber plantations m Malaya whole families from Southern India were located to do tho labouring work They had their own stores and tempi®, hut, so far as he was awar.:, no time limit was fixed on their stay in Malaya. He understood that they had now' become an established part of the community. So far as the north was concerned, he would have families brought from Southern India and indentured to individual whites or to companies with the provision that at the end of five years they shanld all ho returned to their own country and also that they should not be allowed to re-engage for employment in Australia. The necessary would have to be insisted upon to Keep them within the area set apart for inclentoircd labour. No child bern ni A ustrolia should possess any rights as n citizen of Australia, but should belong absolutely to tho country of the parents origin. In that wav there would be no real infraction of the White Australia policy, and thousands of whites would find employment as overseers and responsible neople in charge of coolies. the same law which existed in the case of Asiatics being brought into Australia by steamers without leave could be applied to the persons to whom the coolies would be indentured. Anv coolie who came south of the line fixed should he immediately deported at the cost of the person responsible for his engagement. “Another possibility for the development of the north,’’ said Bishop Trower, “is tho drawing of an imaginary lino across the continent, and the leasing of all tho land north of the line to chartered companies, like, the Chartered Company of Rhodesia was. The companies could bn left free to make their own laws and arrangement* for their areas, subject, of course, to the Federal Parliament. The’’ could introduce such labour as they would require under conditions which could ne approved of. In such a ea«e it would not be Australia that would 1m? introducing the coloured labour. iMhe scheme was a fr.slq.ro the responsibility would rest on the* chartered company. If it were a success at the end of, say, 26 or 69 years, the area would revert to the Commonwealth, which would find a used and developed country which it could can’V on on the same lines as the companies did. if % il saw fit ;or else it could expend the leases granted to tlm companies ami permit them to continue their work. '