NORTH AUSTRALIA PATROL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23831, 10 June 1939, Page 28

NORTH AUSTRALIA PATROL

COMMANDER'S ALLEGATIONS JAPANESE AND ABORIGINES (Fbom Our Own Correspondent) '. SYDNEY, June 3. Remarkable statements concerning the inefficiency of the Commonwealth anti-poaching patrol service have been made by Captain W. Waterson, who is in Sydney on leave after commanding the Kuru, a Northern Territory patrol boat. " The appalling conditions in the Northern Territory demand a searching inquiry into the whole administration, said Captain Waterson. "As commander of the patrol boat, I lacked the support of the Administration. However, during my short stay there I made three arrg sts and obtained two convictions against lugger masters. I trod where angels feared to tread." "I went there determined to stamp out the consorting of the Japanese with the natives and the trade in lubras," Captain Waterson continued. " I brought peace and harmony to the Bathurst Island Mission. Bishop Gsell told me when I arrived that conditions were so bad he might have to leave. Now, Apsley Strait, leading to Bathurst Island, is closed to all vessels except the mission boats and the patrols. A policeman is stationed there to report on all movements of ships. "The Japanese Consul in Sydney denied the charges made by Bishop Gsell against the luggers. I myself saW the half-caste Japanese children in the mission. They were bought from the blacks by the missionaries to save them from being murdered. Those missionaries are doing wonderful work against terrific odds. "On one occasion when I made a midnight raid on luggers in Apsley Strait, I was threatened by Japanese with swords. We arrested eight lubras and a bov, and took three luggers to Darwin. I have been offered innumerable bribes to shut my eyes. In Darwin the Administration win speedily offer to house a young man who announces his intention to marry a halfcaste. Married women have to make their own arrangements as best tney Ca The crew of the Kuru, which # is a new boat in the Northern Territory patrol, assert that the vessel is unsuited for its work in northern waters. They allege that the Kuru can do only 10 knots, instead of the 18 she was ex. pected to do; she leaks, making conditions uncomfortable; she would have difficulty in weathering a heavy sea; and almost every part of the vessel is infested with bugs. Costing nearly £17,000, the Kuru has been at Darwin a month. She left Sydney for Darwin last September, but Captain Waterson refused to take her farther than Townsville. He demanded, that she should be largely rebuilt. Experts were commissioned to survey her. Finally alterations costing £6OOO were done, bringing expenditure on her before she had been on active service to £23,000. Alterations were not completed for nearly six months. The Kuru finally sailed from Townsville in April. It took her three weeks to reach Darwin. It is alleged that the Kuru would be incapable of overtaking or even keeping pace with an average pearling lugger. The Larrakia, the previous patrol boat, had a speed ol 11 8 to 19 knots. The Sydney builders of the Kuru say that the vessel was built strictly to specifications. "It never, leaked when delivered, and if properly handled should not be leaking now" said a principal of the firm. " But it never was meant for such seas as it encountered. It was originally designed for the calmer waters of Singapore. It was lighter than it should be for Northern Territory waters. The original Most was about £IO.OOO. The work at Townsville cost £ 1200, not