FROM PAPUA.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 834, 4 June 1910, Page 11

FROM PAPUA.

ON THE FRINCE OF CIVILISATION. QUAINT LAND TENURE. Visiting Wellington at the present time is Mr. James Wood, who . has officiated for the last eleven yeaxs as Government Printer at Papua (British New. Guinea). After such a long sojourn in this—one of tho last countries in the South Pacific to-fee) the influence of civilisation —Mr. Wood is well qualified to talk"with authority on the life of the place and its pects."If this is 'God's Own Country,' " said Mr. Wood, "Papua must be 'Old Nick's land,' for it falls short in most of the advantages New Zealand possesses. It can boast of mosquitoes, white ants, poisonous reptiles, and a climate that cannot be said to be a healthy one, according to the white man's standard. Malarial fever is comnion. I believe that malaria is always brought about by tie bite of a certain mosquito. It is a country that is no good to new chums, who are invariably attacked either by malaria or dysentry, neither of which complaints does one much good. To the seasoned white mau Papna is ill very well, but even in his case he has to go away to some colder place for a spell at least once every two years, and if he be married it is almost imperative to send- his wife away once a year. White children born there do very well for the. first two years 'of their existence; after that they seem to waste'and become weedy—if nothing else occurs. Papua's Constitution. ■ "Port Moresby is the official centre, whore the Lieutenant-Governor, Judge Murray, resides. He is an officer appointed by the Commonwealth Government, which has supreme jurisdiction over tho territory. Before the federation of the States, Papua was under tho joint control of New South Wales and Queensland, who for ten years paid £5000 a year each, whilst England contributed £7000. a year and the Merrio England (steamer) ' towards the government of the country. During that time tho revenue of the country was not touched, with the result that at tho end of the ten years there was an accumulation of some £50,000 to the country's credit Now £20,000 a year is received from the Commonwealth, which, plus the .'revenue, makes an income of approximately £50,000 a year (the revenue for the year 1908-9 amounted to £27,706 of which £20,758 was Customs receipts). That amount ■ more than covers expenses—that is to say, there k always a surplus, however small 'it may be. Whilst nominally the Commonwealth controls Papua, it delegates its powers to a Legislative Council, which consists of the Lieutenant-Gover-nor (Colonel Murray), the Administrator (the Hon. Stanisforth' Smith), the Chief Judicial Officer • (tho Hon. Judge Herbert), the Government Secretary' (tho Hon.-A- M Campbell), the Treasurer (tho Hon. H. W.- Champion),' Chief Medical Officer _ (Dr. Goldsmith); ■ and : three nonofficial- members " (appointed)'■ to' represent the people (tho Hons. W. Whitten, Fred. Weekly, and Wm.' Little). There is no native representation on the Council. The Executive Council consists of tho officials 1 nained, ■'•■with the exception of the people's representatives. The Legislative Council holds two sessions ■ a year, and its . proceedings are now reported by Hansard. A Gazette Jβ issued monthly, ■ officially, chronicling appointments, proclamations, license notices, and Government orders generally. jf"Papua has an area: of about 90,540 square miles, and-has! 3600 miles of coast-line, along which one may travel •for 500 miles, .and be sure of getting a'good bed ashore each night., The back country,- twio-thirds 'of which is covered With high, impenetrable scrub, is mountaonous, and as yet unsafe to travel in £>arts without proper protection. There tie Papuans live in their villagesj supporting themselves by-cultivating .the; taro, tita .(a tuber),; coconuts, y'a-ms, : maadioc, pumpkins, bananas (about 30 varieties, including an excellent cooking banana). The native land has been held in blocks by fainiliea from tame immemorial, but occasionally, as might bo expected, there is .trouble between them,' which if within-the districts that are under control, ; tho Government endeavours to rectify by punishing the offenders. Away back they are left to work out their own" redemption—the white man would not be safe. "There are missionaries in Papua," oantinued Mr. Wood in answer to questions. "They were there long before there was any sort of government, and they do good work.. -Sir William M'Gregor (now Governor of Queensland), who was the first LieutenantGovernor of Papua, said ho could never have done what he did had it not been for the good work the missionaries had already done. ■-.-.- Rubber. . • "There is a good deal of rubberplanting going on there now. There is α-native rubber tree, resembling in appearance tho Moreton 3ay fig, but they are getting, scarce owing to the practice of over-bleeding them. A rubber tree can be bled to death just the same as a human being, and that is what they have been doing Ho a great extent since tho coming of the white man. Several plantations are now being laid down in para rubber—one 'Conosia,' owned by Sir Eupert Olarko, , of Victoria—but it is still in its infancy. One .trouble they will have to face will bo that of labour. The soil is Eo rich that the Papuan, with little' , labour, can easily support himself by cultivating root, crops,'coconuts, and bananas, and-the low figure that is offered him is not sufficient to tempt ihim to work regular hours on a plantation. That is the trouble that is going to militate, against the progress of Papua moro. than anything elsn About eight years ago men with capital came along prepared to invest, bat when it is pointed out that tlioy have to iced and -house the; natives, "and treat'thfm wheu sick as well as" pay them wages, they have passed on to the bolomons or elsewhere whore the restric tions are not so great, and labour is of a better class. The Gold Rush. "There was a gold rush about seven months ago U. Lakekarnu (Williams -Kiver). Jhe spot was about 100, miles along the coast from Port' Moresby and then about 90 miles up the river It was a very unhealthy spot; so much so that m April last after about 200 natives had died there from dysentry the Government issued an order that Jio more -recruiting of natives for work on the field should be allowed. It was an alluyiii! field, but the return was Dompartivoly poor—a miner employing from 10 to 20 'boys' could only, average about an ounce a day. Some of the claims are still, being worked by old New Guinea miners, without much prospect of making fortunes. There was a large influx of miners from different parts of Australia, and in a great many instances the Government had to pay their board at Moresbv and their fares back to Australia. Seasonal Rains. "It rains pretty persistently In Port Moresby from December to April— then we , .have seven; months absolutely dry weather. In. other parts of the country, there is a shower a day all fJio .year round. If the shower misses for a day they call it a drought'and talk about the vagaries of the weather.

■ Port Moresby-has a whito population of about 80, made up of Government officials, traders, planters, etc. .The total white population of Papua is between GOO and 700. Owing to tho exigencies of tlio climate Government officials are allowed three months' leave of absence every two years. This, of course, is six weeks a, year, but as no one oan get far and back again in that time it is customary to bank the leave for a year. "Are the natives allowed liquor?. Not if the Government knows it. If anyone is known to havo supplied a native with a glass of liquor, he is fined £100 for-the'offence. It-is a very effective. check. Nor are natives allowed to carry fire-arms without a special permit issued by the Government. Whites are permitted to carry arms without a permit. Land Tenure. "Of the area of lands held in the territory.s6,soo,ooo acres are held by tho natives, 1,000,000 by tho Government, 337,800' acres have been leased, and only 26,442 acres are. freehold (owned by whites). The total area of land purchased from the natives or declared waste and vacant. is 1,365,100 acres or 21-3 per cent, of the territory. A T o land can be alienated in fee simple and the rental of land leased is assessed on the unimproved value of the land, and is subject to re-as-sessment at fixed periods. The' terms upon which tho land may be leased are extremely easy to the settler. Hβ can obtain a leasehold of the best class of agricultural land for any period up to 99 years on the following conditions: —For 100 acres or less he pays a deposit of £1, up to 500 acres £2, and up to 1000 acres £5. No fee is charged for the preparation or registration of the lease; and if the lease is for not more than 30 years, rent shall be paid during the whole term at the rate of 5 per cent, per annum on the unimproved value of the land. If tho lease be for a longer period than 30 years the same rent is charged, with this remarkable concession that no rentis charged for tho first ten years. All agricultural land that has not been ■alienated by the Crown, lias been assessed at an unimproved value of ss. an acre. That appraisement definitely fixes all rentals for twenty years at nil for the first ten, and 3d. per acre per annum for the second-ten years; 4dfor the second twenty years, 'and so on." ■

Mr. Wood states that owing to tho prevalence of spear-grass sheep do not do well in Papua, but cattle do splendidly. So far, however, farmers are breeding for stock, and the dairying industry has not yet made its app'earance. Sisal hemp is being largely planted and docs very well indeed.