ANNEXATION OF NEW GUINEA.

Globe, Volume IV, Issue 324, 26 June 1875, Page 3

ANNEXATION OF NEW GUINEA.

In reply to a deputation which waited upon him, on April 29th, to urge the annexation of New Guinea, Lord Carnarvon spoke as follows :—I can say most truly that I have listened with very great interest to every word which has been spoken this afternoon. The subject is one of very great interest and importance, and if anything could add to its importance it would be the presence here of so large and influential a deputation. I quite feel that a great deal deal which has been said is very true. No doubt, the physical conditions of New Guinea are in many respects attractive. The geographical position is a tempting one. The fact that it is but sixty or eighty miles from the northernmost point of Australia, and that by the creation of a new town that is proposed it will be only thirty or forty miles off it constitutes a very important conconsideration in the case. I think that every one must be proud of the discovery of that south-east passage by Captain Moresby, an English seaman. I quite agree with some of the speakers that the discovery may lead to very great and important consequences. I had the opportunity of examining some days ago Captain Moresby’s own chart, and I think it is plain that for some time it is likely to be the main route of a large branch of the colonial trade. Therefore the deputation will see that I fully appreciate the full importance of this question. At the same time it is for me, as a member of the Government, to hear all that is said on the subject. It is not for me tc express very distinctly an opinion in so early a stage of this question. The deputation need not be told that the taking over of a fresh territory is a serious concern. It is a marter into which no Minister would be justified in rushing blindfold, and without looking as carefully as he could at the whole question, While, on the one hand,

there are many arguments in favor of appropriating such a territory as the south-eastern parts of New Guinea, on the other hand there are certain grave questions of doubt. In the first place, the climate is not a climate in which a European constitution would be likely to thrive. It lies something like lOdeg from the Equator, and a very large proportion of the coast surveyed is of that low, hot, tropical character of coast which we know to be very injurious to European constitutions. It is probable and I apprehend this is the case that a certain distance inland there rises a higher plateau of land, and possibly there a European might be acclimatised. That is all at present a matter of speculation and for future discovery. In the same way with regard to the natives. No doubt Captain Moresby has thrown important light upon the character of a certain class of those natives. They seem to have been in their relations with him gentle and friendly. On the other hand, I think it would be unwise to take it for granted that that kindness which he experienced, derived from one single tribe or set of tribes, can be assumed to be a sufficient indication of the character of the whole of the races in the whole of that part of New Guinea ; and especially as one knows, as a matter of fact, that Captain Moresby’s observations are at variance with, I may say, the past reports of all former travellers. I am speaking from memory, but I think it is Dampier, who, speaking of this coast, says—- “ The people here are great savages : when they are fired upon they retaliate” (laughter): and, certainly, all subsequent travellers since that day have all more or less brought back the same class of report with regard to these particular tribes. Even Captain Moresby himself said that there were evident signs of cannibalism among the race whose gentleness he described so graphically in that statement which he made before the Geographical Society. With regard to the mineral wealth to which allusion has been made, I have no doubt there is reason to believe that there is a great amount of valuable minerals. On the other hand, I may mention it was only within the last few days that it was reported to me, by an extremely competent authority in Aus traha, “ that, to the best of his knowledge, at this moment there was no colonist who was either engaged in mining or in prospecting business in any part of New Guinea.” As yet the whole thing is a matter of speculation and for future discovery, and we will require a great deal more information than we have at present. I do not say there is not enough to induce us to look forward, but a great deal more is required before we see our way clearly to any very definite conclusion. There was one point which was dwelt upon by very many speakers. It is a point which comes home to me, because I have taken very great interest in it, and I feel at this moment that there are veiy great and serious abuses with regard to it—l mean the kidnapping trade. [Hear, hear] I think it was Sir James Fergusaon who questioned how we could very well maintain the police of these waters if we allowed the southeastern part of New Guinea to pass into the hands of foreigners. lam quite free to admit that just in proportion as you have foreigners in these waters is the increase of difficulties in maintaining the police. [Hear, hear.] But of course the deputation must remember that it is impossible to appropriate every territory and every island. At this moment you have to deal with ships sailing under foreign flags. You have a very large number of Germans and a considerable number of French and other foreign ships, and of course I am quite prepared to admit that that does add materially to the difficulty of controlling and regulating that trade; but, at the same time, it is almost hopeless to suppose that you will ever reduce matters to such a state as that the English flag can be the only flag flying in that part of the world. But I should like to mention, on that point, that there is at this moment a Bill passing through the House of Lords dealing with that particular question, and I hope to propose a clause in committee which will give Sir Arthur Gordon, who is Governor of Fiji, and who has the Consular power, the position of High Commissioner and commander of these tribes. I think that may meet many of the present abuses which exist, and though I should be sorry to bind myself absolutely to the point, my present idea is that these waters in the neighborhood of the south-eastern part of New Guinea may be very fairly and properly within the jurisdiction of the High Commissioner of Fiji. I think that would meet some of the difficulties raised on this point. Ido not know that I have very much more to say. I can only repeat that in a question of this sort many considerations naturally arise, and it is certainly not one upon which the Government would be justified in deciding Upon a partial or hasty view of the circumstances. In the twelve months that I have been here the amount of territory belonging to the British Crown has received a very material augmentation in more ways than one, and 1 do not think that any one can accuse me of backwardness as soon as I can see my way of doing anything for the interest or credit of the British Crown, [Applause,] But I am bound to say that with the work which we have had here on the Gold Coas l- and in Western Africa, and the work that we now have in hand of recognising Fiji, it is only reasonable to ask some breathing time before we are required to act on a large scale, and to do something quite as difficult to organise and control as either Fiji or the West Coast of Africa. While I am not the person to undervalue or underrate the Imperial duty which, I believe, attaches to the Home Government on this question ; on the other hand, I also feel that in such a question as the annexation of New Guinea, the interests which are primarily—l may say most closely—concerned are really Australian rather than English interests ; and it is for the Australian colonies to show a much greater sense of the value of that possession, and to show a certain desire to co-operate very freely indeed in the matter. It is for them to take the first step. At present lam bound to say that while I believe there is a very general disposition on the part of many of the colonies of Australia to see New Guinea annexed, still I cannot trace any extreme anxiety or desire for it. Of course the time may come when it may be other wise, and the importance of it may grow upon them very quickly indeed. Ciroum stances are so rapid in their development, and events move so quickly, that in a ver} short time hence the feeling may be very different from what it is now. But I say that while 1 do not underrate Imperial duties or Imperial obligations, I do say that the primary interest in the matter lies in Australia and the Australian colonies father than in this country,