ALLEGATIONS DENIED.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16725, 7 January 1920, Page 7

ALLEGATIONS DENIED.

NORTHERN TERRITORY ENQUIRY

PORT DARWIN*. January •>- | i Before the Commission, Mr Carey r was cross-examined length rcgar m 0 . tho allegations that rorta, n offir,.r> cjn- t nected with the Aborigines ro » ~ Department were got rid oi .« order to , prevent the truth coming out regardin . alleged ill-treatment and debasement tho aborigines. Mr I Uc also denied an insinuation that tho , only men wanted by Dr. , A £ • Ho' furthe°r 1 d e n^ed° that the' Palmer.ston 1> I Gilrutl?"could i •ind another council, with U.ree t\"™rn-, t ir.enii'e. s out of .-even, substituted. . 1 The evidence disclosed that the ex- f I nenditure on one Government 'Ji"nonSt on farm was £31 .(XX). and tho 1 „„ n therefrom r 'Tß'2 On another ' revenue intrmoiii .n— r .in'-» „r,rl ( farm the expenditure was £1133, and the revenue £96, spread over several 1 JC \[ r ' Barrett, solicitor, asserted that i Dr. C.ilnitli did not desire agriculture t> sucotHvl in tli'** H Ho -tto decrv the White Australia policy and • sell the Territory to a syndicate liko : the British South Africa ( ompany. ;• Mr Carey admitted that the Admin-, istration never had anyone on the domonstration farms who could demonstrate, but he deni-d that the policy was to show that the Territory was no good for white men w.th a view to toll- f nig it to a meat company. , POLYGLOT DARWIN. (FROM orn OWN ronr.nsposnF.NT.) SYDNEY. December 31. The "willy-willy" that has struck thoNorthern Territory—not tho sort that tears itn houses and throws them into I other *IHhipie's baf'kvards—huL tlie I varictv that throws the lierce spotlight ! I of i)ul>licily upon men and affairs, is, focussing mueh attention upon th s polvglot" spot. Tho reference is, ot course, to Mr Justice Ewing s Commis- ( '*0 I S ' Tiie Territory, as a whole, has not opo • white inhabitant to a hundred square miles, even if the Asiatics are reckoned in with tho whites. And without tho population of Darwin it has not ono to 20?> square miles. | Darwin is like dead sea frnit. It is, good to look upon, but it leaves rather | a nastv taste. White ants are credited in Darwin with being alli o to cat or bito throucli concrete billiard ba11., : nnd oven sheet lead. There aro public buildings, stores, and private that grace Darwin. And there aro. humpies, tenanted mainly by forcigne , that disgrace it. Thcv offend almost, every sense. - -inrr i Almost- everything m tho Territory is concentrated in Darwin. H ceived the benefit of most of tliolaro , sums which have been spent in attempts to develor* the Territory, ««d results generally summed up in the local legend that on ono of tho now closed, Government farms it cost a tidy; £12,000 to grow a pumpkin. And even , then someone came like a night nnd stole tho pumpkin. Outside ; tliero is practically nothing but tho • great pastoral leaseholds, including \ ie-; toria Downs, with its IG.OOO square. miles and 100,000 head of cattle—the largest cattle station m .tho world. Tliero aro also a few mining fields in a generally depressed condition, and a few camps of buffalo-hunters and tre-! pnng-fishors. Ro far the attempts to* establish agriculture in the Territory have been in vain There is almost a famine of vegetables, tho result, it is snid, of tho restrictions which havo been imnosed on John Chinaman. . Darwin cannot bo regarded as a striKin« nroof even now of tho success of tho white Australia policy. Even wildly enthusiastic unionists have tneir clothes mado by Chinese tailors, and wnshed by Chinese laundrymcn. TThey deal with Chinese storekeepers, and dine at restaurants in Chinatown. The Chinese, in truth, are regarded »s something liko pillars of the place People do not know how tho placein ill Ret on without them, in view of their slowlydecreasing numbers. ... » -n--Of tho "white" population- of lJnrwin a proportion consists of llus£ns fe? Spaniards, Patagonians, an ßu*tDarwin, with it nil. is not a dull, place. Oh, dear, no. It is as easy as, winking to bo swallowed by a stray | shark or an occasional crocodile. A; cyclone took tho baths awav a couplo of years ago, since when there have been no others. And open sea bathing is not altogether fashionable. To quote ono writer, "The system under which tho Northern Territory ha* been governed by tho Commonwealth has been absolutism aggravated by, union domination in an extreme form. "With the exception of tho silver tail'" section of tho Government service, ] including the Post Office, or to cablo company, of the pearling fleet, which is manned by Ivocpangers from T'mor, nnd by Japancso divers, and of the. Chinese, it would bo hard to find nny | industry or business in the Territory which the unions do not practically con-1 trol. Ono or two employers of labour! in tho town have been strong enougli, to resist this domination. They have done it by running their business with Chinese and blaelc labour. . . . Wsgcs have been forced un to almost unbolievablo fignrcs, antT all sorts of concessions and restrictions, nomo of them most unreasonable*, havo been enforced. As to tho bureaucracy, it had, j partly as the result of recent turmoil.! partly owing to the inherent defects of tho system, got into a tanglo of red ta Ali Australia is now watching with close interest the Commission's attempt to unravel the tangle.