AUSTRALIAN BLACKS.

Hokitika Guardian, 9 August 1923, Page 4

AUSTRALIAN BLACKS.

j >IIOFESSOK SPEX Ci: R’ S CONCLUSION.

SYDNEY - , -July 2-5. >,'o mmi is Tictter acquainted with tho Australian aboriginal than is the well-known scientist, Sir Baldwin Sponsor— initiate of .several important tribes and the writer of several authoritative works on the subject—and his conclusion that Australia’s aboriginals arc a doomed people is one that will strike conviction as well as pity into tho hearts of all people. Xiic condition of the blacks here has 'been a matter of concern to the authorities almost lront tie time oi the

earliest colonisation. Beyond, outrages that could almost always he traced to , retaliation, sometimes justified and i sometimf's not, there has never been j nnv (jVL'iUiisoil hostility tuvinnls i'-v whites on the part of the primitive ■ peoples, and many true stories are on record of lonely settlers and "envy travellers who have received the utmost kindness and generosity from them. There is the story, for instance, of the plucky woman who was pioneering in the big scrub on the north coast of New South "Wales forty odd years hiring iii isolation with her husband. who daily hewed a clearing in the dense undergrowth and huge trees which, in tho-.e days, covered these parts for mile upon mile, the only tracks being the creeks and rivers. Uncouple viewed with suspicion the bbu kwho would appear mysteriously hum out of the depths of that gloomy forest. Then came the rainy season, and loud became less and less, till in desperation the pioneer determined to make bis way down the river in order to procure supplies. I)uvs passed, and be did nou return. The rain increased and the muddy torrent swept down towards the s;ea bearing along trees and debris and dead creatures of the bush. Almost starved and distracted with anxiety, the waiting woman at last sought out lhe blacks' camp, and when they comprehended her plight men- kindness knew no bounds. \\ bat loud they had was hers, anil the men were off down j the river in search of the lost mm. Weeks after, when the waters had receded. portion of a shattered boat proved the woman a widow, amt but for the succour ol the blacks, which did much to establish the friendly relations which always existed afterwards in those parts i-etweeu the settlors and the blacks, she too. must have perished. Snell Stories, properly told, and some account of their ancient customs, religious rites, and kind-heartedness, may yet immortalise a people, who, in the eves of the world, have scarcely had justice. Bound in the midst ol their stiuie age they have failed to leap the centuries and have perished instead of prospered before invading civilisation. Yet m».ny instances ,of remarkable capacity in craftsmanship and music in purebred individuals have dene mueb to disprove the current theory of their utter intellectual hopelessness. There were potentialities, spiritual and iu- ! tcllecniai. but the gulf between tlteir j singe of evolution and the whites, it j seems, was too great to bridge - they have learnt most of the vices and tow of the virtues that civilisation ofl'erel, and tribe upon tribe lias Teen swept

Availing itself of his unique knowledge of the subject the Federal Government recently appointed Sir Baldwin Spencer to make an expedition into Central Australia wirli the object. ( ,f fminirig rccotimicndal inns as to t e stale of the tribes there, and the best wav of safeguarding them from the disastrous i oiisequenees that close contact, with the whites hail brought to the i-oastal tribes. He has now returned. find, although he has not yet pre ctited his report, be slated that IVum bis observations be was quite convinced that the natives were last disappearing. and wen- doomed to extinction cw ing to association v ith the white population. C omplete egr- gatiou was t) u . only remedy, and as that was practically impossible, they would ilisu,,poar. That was regrettable, as wii-i----out them, it would be difficult to work the land.