AN ADMINISTRATOR IN NEW GUINEA

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22521, 1 October 1938, Page 20

AN ADMINISTRATOR IN NEW GUINEA

Savages In Serge, hiy G. BJde*. Angus and Bobertaun Ltd. 231 pp. (8s M.)

New Guinea ranks with the upper Amazon regions as one of the last frontiers where primitive man is in the middle of being compelled to accept the control of modern civilisation. It has produced abundant adventure, chiefly for enterprising Australians in search of gold, buff far more interesting is the story of the gradual “taming” of the native population by courageous officers of the Administration. Several of these officers have written books about this process, and Mr Jack Hides, who died only a month or so ago, was one of the best qualified of them He was born in New Guinea, and spent most of his boyhood there, before joining the staff of the Administration. The result was that the natives were real people to him, and not merely a strange lower form of life. He learned several of the essential languages, and so did not have to fall back on the ridiculous and inarticulate “pidgin English” beyond which most European officials never advance. “Savages in Serge,” his last book, is essentially the story of the Papuan native constabulary, the force that has made possible the exploration of the hinterland of the country. With these men—former head hunters, many of them—British control has been maintained and constantly extended among tribes that 30 years ago were renowned throughout the world as bloodthirsty and untameable. To illustrate the work done fay them Mr Hides describes a number of expeditions into the interior among hostile tribes.

The objective story is one of bravery and adventure; but behind it lies the tragedy of the break-up of a primitive culture when forced into line with the standards of an advanced civilisation. The reason for extending control of the people of the interior is the need to put a stop to murderous headhunting raids; but it means in the end that these people must conform to the pattern imposed by Europeans on primitive tribes everywhere—they must inevitably have no future except to become a source of cheap labour fpr European plantations. And as they do so, under the necessity to earn money to pay the annual poll tax to the Administration, what little native agriculture they have must decay, until they are absolutely dependent on the European system. The book is always interesting, but it is valuable for the things it implies rather than the things it states.