THE COLONIST. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, JANUARY 3, 1913. THE PROBLEM OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY.

Colonist, Volume LV, Issue 13613, 3 January 1913, Page 4

THE COLONIST. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, JANUARY 3, 1913. THE PROBLEM OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY.

Almost since tho inception of the Commonwealth Federal statesmen have spoken impressively of the great problems awaiting the attention of the central Government which alono was competent to deal witfi them. ■ Chief of these were the development of the Northern Territory and tho construction of the transcontinental railway, and, occupying a position of lessor importance, was the Federal capital project. The successive Government of the Commonwealth, however, hid other distractions which prevented.the concentration of effort they were no doubt anxious to bring to bear on these projects, and until recently the Federation failed to produce results in these directions of a much more promising nature than in the days when consideration of great national undertakings wns h?imporofl and clouded by tho rivalries-and jealousies of. i'-itorertod States. It will always be to tha credit of the present .Government of tho Commonwealth that it has allowed nothing to stand in tho way of its determination to promote the realisation of its .policy in connection with the two most important tasks which lie before Australia. The finance of the great railway has been arranged and the work commenced, and in tho case of the Northern Territory, action has superseded the -inactivity of tho past. The Government framed regulations to govern settlement, made arrangements for the proper supervision of the aborgines, and, as a most important step, appointed an Adminis"trator possessing some knowledge of the Territory and holding special qualifications for the post. This gentleman, »Professor Gilruth, who is well known to New Zealanders as the former chief of the veterinary branch of tho Department of Agriculture, has, since he took up his. residence in the Commonwealth, devoted, much study to tho problems of the Northern' Territory, and is greatly ■. impressed, by its possibilities, and the danger it constitutes while: it" remains vunpeopled and unproductive^ An aspect of the colonisation of tropical Australia, to which attention' is now being devoted is the, systematic study :by skilled .observers of the conditions" of life^'and: tljio difficulties of ; settlement ■ from thbihygienic point of view. For this purpose an Institute--of Tropical Medicine lias been established at Townsville, and'is already well organised. Dr Frodsham, the retiring Bishop of North Queensland, in the. course of an inter-. view at Sydney a short ;timo ago, laidstress upon the value of the ■••work t^e institute was doing, and said it wduld bo particulaily useful, in the effectivo colonisation of tropical Australia by- a white race. Theso portions of tho continent are said to be exceptionally healthy, but they naturally present features dissimilar to'tlio conditions of life in more temperate climates. Tho aim of tho institute is to apply accurate scientific observations to these conditions of life, and not only, to extend knowledge vep-vCug tho bacteriological qualities of air* given disease,, but how to apply that knowledge to the direct clinical treatment of patients actually lin tho tropics. In other words,' the Australian Institute is not only^direct-, ly important to universities containing schools of medicine, but it is equally important to the State. It affects colonisation just as directly as medical efficiency. In this work tho <iirectors.-<rf tho research have nothing to guide them. Bishop Frodsham pointed oiit, that in other tropical possessions of\tlie Empiro there were- black races of 'servants to do manual and ■domestic work. In tropical Australia a.white race was endeavouring to live under conditions

similar to those of cold climates.' Tho servant difficulty, therefore, was very great, where there wero no subject black servants, but the experiment was well worth trying. It would be an enormous recompense for the inconveniences of tho present if future generations of, Australians were delivered from problems of mixed races similar to thoso found in the United States and South Africa. They had nothing to guide them .but their own experience, and he thought the greatest credit was due to the Commonwealth Government for so courageously attempting to solve the problem. Their action, like tho foreign politics of tho Empire, was really above party politics, and he suggested that any immediate failures in the experiment should not bo used for party purposes. The problem was too great, the issues too important, for any paltryness of outlook. Ho thought that tho Commonwealth could not avoid failures in the Northern Territory, but lie was equally sure that it was only by courageously preparing to meet failures that the great Australian problem of colonising the empty north was to bo solved.