HAPPY ISLAND

Hokitika Guardian, 25 September 1931, Page 3

HAPPY ISLAND

PROSPEROUS NAURU. NATIVES IN LUXURY. SYDNEY, September 10. There is one place in the world, at least where the depression is never heard of —one place that has not been affected by: it—and that is the phosphate island of Nauru from which Australia and New Zealand draw such large supplies of fertilisers. By the op- , oration of the Phosphate Commission both countries share in the management of this important industry and m its profits, too, but if either of them were half so fortunate as the inhabitants of this ocean sfteek—for it is no more—there would . be a great deal less distress in the world to-day. After calling at so many ports where unemployment was rife and where money was so scarce, the members of the crew of the freighter, Newton Elm, which reached Newcastle this- week, ! were amazed when they reached Nauru to find the natives there adopting such a casual attitude towards work. “They are aristocrats there,” said one of the officers of the ship: “They have not worked, for years and they have no. intention of ever working again. And why should they. Some of the very down and out element have to do a bit occasionally, but they are' in the minority. Many of them have" their own cars, and they are not cheap ones, either. The explanation is very simple. All the work that is to b- j done, is carried on by Chinese, and there are 200 Chinese working on the phosphate deposits.” It was explained that there were a ] good number, of >white men on the is- 1 land, but tifdy uvere all officials of the j Phosphate Commission. They supervised the work of the Chinese, and the natives of the Island merely looked on, find were paid to do so. The natives owned the island and they received a royalty for every ton of phosphate that was taken out of it. Those royalties; 1 they found, were quite sufficient to keep them in comparative luxury, From a western viewpoint, the spectacle of a native dressed as an ordinary kanaka driving an expensive car seemed ludicrous in the extreme, but < ver there; according to the officers of the ship, it excites no comment. The -officers ;spoke in terms of high praise of the new cantilever conveyer which had just been completed at the

island at a cost of more than a quarter of a million pounds. With its aid the Newton Elm loaded its’ eargo -in ,12 hours, whereas, tinder the old lighter system, loading was always a matter of days. 1 ?.