NAURU ISLAND

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 17, 15 October 1919, Page 2

NAURU ISLAND

MANDATE BILL IN FEDERAL HOUSE

THE PRIVATE COMPANIES

AUSTRALIA'S INTEREST.

Consideration was given in" the Federal Houso of .Representatives recently to the Bill by'.which it is proposed to acquire Nauru Island in the joint interests - of Great Britain, New Zealand, and the Commonwealth.

The Prime Minister (Mr. Hughes) said that before he .dealt with.tho agreement'itself, some observations regarding Nauru, its pre-war position, and the circumstances in which it was' taken over from Germany, and the value and nature of the phosphatic deposits of the island, were necessary. The island was 5000 acres in extent, v situated a, few miles south of the equator, and in about the same latitude as Ocean Island. Before the war it was part of the German Empire, but at the suggestion of tho British Government tho island was occupied, with the rest of tho Bismarck - Archipelago, by the troops which had taken Eabnul, and had been occupied on behalf of the Commonwealth over since. In I considering the question of mandates, the Peace Conference decided that the Pacific Islands south of the line/ excepting Samba, which went to the charge of NewZealand, should be vested in tho Commonwealth. But the mandate for Nauru was vested in tho Empire, as distinct from any part thereof. It then became n domestic question, to bo settled-by the members of the Empire amongst themselves. Ho had expressed the claim of Australia to the mandate on the same terms and conditions us it held in other islands of the archipelago. But. the long and difficult negotiations were settled by. the agreement before the House. The mandate was then vested in the Commonwealth and New Zealand, and the civil administration of the island,,the working of the phosphatic deposits, and the aquiring.of .the rights/of companies interested were left to' them. Before,the war the ownership of the island, as distinct from its sovereignty—had been acquired by a British company, in which there .was a large German holding. That holding bad been eliminated. ■ (Hear, hear.) - Ho whs not prepared to say what-title-the company had to. the -island, or.to admit that it had any. , He was there ' to protect the interests of Australia. But the rights of any .person or company were, to be acquired by' the parties to.' tho. agreement, who were to make the deposits available to each other on the, basis of their respective agricultural requirements. Sir. Brehnan (V.): Sharing the swap. The Prime Minister: Phosphatic _ deposits generally were essential to agriculture generally over the. world. The world's production of rock phosphates before the-war was 7.000,00.0 ions a .year,; of which America produced 3,000,000 tons, Algiers and Tunis' 3.000.000 tons ; between them, and Hip balance, was madeup from .Ocean Island, Christmas . Island, in Straits Settlement, and Nauru. The pre-war production of Nauru was between 90.000 and 100.0 CO tons a year, and of Ocean' Island 200,000 tons. The price was then ,30s. a ton, and during the ..war £2 a. ton.. It.-yas difficult, to estimate the value of the deposits. Estimates of the deposits differed widely, ranging from 42,000,000 to-80.M0.000 tons,' practically, the whole island was made up of phosphatic rock.. .Scientists .asserted that there were between 430.000,000 and 450.000.000 tons. available. It was calculated that with reasonable shipping facilities tho deposits were sufficient to meet tho demands of the world for the .next one. hundred years. As a prog-es-sive nation. Australia, would require more, nnd more phosphntps, so that the,.agree-ment-which- vested in Australia 42 per cent, of the total: output of 'the island gave ns a most valuable asset, not merely for a day, but.for a century, and perhaps much longer. It would give-to agriculture its very life blood at a reasonable rate. .The. Commonwealth .would, be able to sell phosphates to the farmers .at cost.price. -i This would be something of a set-off for that huge expenditure we had incurred in the war,; (Hear, hcar.) : It was estimated-that the requirements of [ Australia., of., imported phosphates were 200:000. tons a year. In 1914 173.000 tons, and in 1915 190.000 tons were .imported from Nauru .and Ocean Island. Britain imported only 50,000 tons from the Pacific Islands, and 562,000 tons from all countries.- In 1914 Australia imported 100 tons of guano' nnd 90 tons in 1915-1(5. In 1916-17 it-was not obtainable. The quotations were .£4 ss. a- ton for superphosphates, and £2 7s. • rock phosphates. Of our importations of phosphates, of all kinds, 88 per cent, were rock phosphates from the islands. Britain imported less than N 10 per cent, of her phosphates in the form of rock phosphates from the is-, lands. Of-the artifibial .manures used in Australia 58 per cent, were rock phosphates. ■ Australia would keep her share of the profits from the sale of the. pro-. duct over-and above what was consumed in Australia. The 'property would be acquired by fair valuation. That meant that if anv right, : titlo-or-interest were held by an . enemy it was covered by ■ the Peace Treaty. If it y were held by a non-alien company it wns to be acquired at a fair valuation. It was agreed.between Lord Milner, Secretary of State for the Colonies, Mr. Has-' sey, Prime Minister of New Zealand, and himself, that Lord Milner would-make an agreement with the company at what was considered to be a fair price; otherwisethe matter would go to arbitration. Ho could riot indicate to the House what a fair price would be. That would pre. judico negotiations. But there was n figure beyond which he was not prepared to go. If that were exceeded, and the matter were not. settled by arbitration Parliament could then express its npin-' ion.- He wanted to emphasise a point which was not raised in this - agreement, but'which was nevertheless dealt with during the course of the negotiations between the Governments of, Great Britain, New Zealand and the Commonwealth. He meant the position of Ocean Island. It was owned by the same company, and it .was probable that they would hflve to consider the taking over of it. That would, however, have;to form part of another arrangement, biit it would-'be of incalculable benefit to Australia, and he eolild think of no better business deal to which the country could commit itself. If- New Zealand, by any chance, did not ratify tho agreement now before the House, then Britain and the Commonwealth, presuming Parliament agreed, would take the island over. It was very much to their interest that they should secure the other island, which was only a little distance off. Mr. Boyd (V.): Could you work them both under a similar agreement to tlii*? Mr. Hughes: Yes.. After dealing with the agreement itself, the main points of which been published, the Prime Minister, said that ho. politico] interference by any of-the Governments eonoerned would be permitted. It was a business proposition, and it must be carried out on business lines by the com- . missioners that were appointed Mr. Kelly (N.S.W.): Does the use of tho word "agricultural" limit the use of the phosphates for other purposes ?' Mr. Hughes said ' that if any of the three countries manufactured and sold the phosphates,'which were not required for agricultural! purposes, the' other two were entitled to their, percentage of tho profits.. Although, the output of Nauru had only been 100,000 tons per annum, it ! cunld bo made at least 200,000 tons'withpufSany. trouble at all. In ten years' time Australia would, .probably use half as much phosphates again, or perhaps twice as much, as it used how. No man couiM put a limit on the agricultural development of•the Commonwealth even in tho next 20 years, rind for all limo it would-probably pay Great Britain better to got lier phosphates from nearer places. Under tho. agreement Australia would got ncccss to that which was-vital to her primary industries. It would give to tho Australian producer' the opportunity . to get' cheaper manure, and would enable him to competo on jrcro equal terms with the rent of the world. It would do something to removo tho handicap- of Australia's .remoteness from tho great centres of population in Europe. It-'wouul make farming more profitable, nnd therefore more desirable, so it woulil bo a direct incentive to land settlement. It would be an as=ct of great valuo to the whole community. -Mr. Tudor (V.) asked whether it was intended - that, the ■ Commonwealth Government itself, or private enterprise,

should do tho maitufacturing of the phofpbate manures in Australia. ", Sir Joseph Cook: What we are going to do ivitli it will obviously have to bo decided inter. Mr. Tudor said that if tho' ; rock wero bunded over to' private enterprise.m'Aus-' trulia there would 'be no guarantee .that the farmer woul.d get manure.at a fair, price. It was no use painting faiiciy pictures for tho farmer after the Echuea election.. In assessing tho amount aof compensation to be paid t" tho Pacific- , Phosphato Company it was' necessary, to take.'into account how much tho company had spent. It had been stated that ;the company wero destroying coconut trees, 60 as to prevent the possibility of tho-natives earning a living without working - for tho company. ..In-the'past there had been n system of forced labour, or.semi-forced labour, on orie or both of ( -these -islands. Ho hoped that when the Administrator took charge notliing.of this sort would be. permitted. ' - . ' . ' Sir Robert Best (V.) said that no section of tho community had 1 "played - the game" during tho war to'a.greater exteut than the Australian manufacturers' of Superphosphates. They did-not take advantage of war conditions. Ho congratulated' the Australian delegates upon the excellent bargain they had made,' which gave a certain amount of guarantee to | ,tho agricultural interests of Australia that they would not be. neglected in the future as far ns fertilisers were concerned. What gave him most gratification was the statement by Mr. Hughes that the island was going to be controlled as a business proposition. If this wero to be done, it wah highly important that Ocean Isi land should, be included. The Pacific Phosphates Company was now.aji entirely British company. Mr. Mathews (V.) (sarcastically): Then there will be no profiteering. There can be no robbery by a British company, Sir Robert Best said the compensation, was the disturbing factor. If it were a fact that full recognition'was to be given to the British interests in this company, and if there were anything in the statement that their claim was something ;likc .£2,000.000. it would mean something like. .fHO.OM additional cost to production for years to come. Mr. Kelly argued that if the'facts were recognised," Nauru should belong to Australia iii tofo. The Australian fHg''was hoisted at Nauru as-it was at Rabanl, where this fact was. 'tho oasis of their complete mandate. '■■■ ' Mr. Mathews sa'd an agreement to apnoi"t three commissioners to run such a small show was evidence of great poverty of mind on the.part of ihose who drew

it up. K ; The' Minister for Heme and Territories s.rd that some members maintained that there shouM not be three commifir-ufners; hut one. They had, however,''to haven renresentativc for each nation concerned' The Bill.was then passed through nil stages and read a third time. /