PACIFIC PEOPLES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27385, 10 May 1950, Page 2

PACIFIC PEOPLES

Study In Administration Island Administration in the South-West Pacific. By Cyril S. Belshaw. Royal Institute of International Affairs. 12s 6d. The particular effects of Allied occupation on the populations of island groups which stood in the path of Japan’s southern advance are the subject of this valuable study in Pacific administrations. As the result of the war new problems, human and economic, have arisen in the Solomons, New Hebrides and New Caledonia. Although comparatively unimportant in world economic and political patterns, these territories require expert study, and their progress must be considered in relation to the plan of development of backward areas throughout the world. The author examines carefully the present relationships between the native populations and the governing authority, and frankly criticises the weaknesses he exposes. His emphasis on the fundamental association between the sociological and administrative problems is well made and his conclusions will make informative reading for all interested in the problem of the future of the peoples of the Pacific. E. A. A.