THE GOLD RUSH

Hokitika Guardian, 12 November 1932, Page 3

THE GOLD RUSH

AUSTRALIA’S PROBLEM. PAST TREATMENT OF 7HE ABORIGINES. % SVDNRY, October 29. With half a dozen expedition* converging upon the Granites country and with positive proof that large, areas in “the dead heart of Australia” are auriferous—with gold at over £6 per ounce and the world hungering and thirsting for a great influx of the. precious metal into the channels of trade—it is neural that a great-deal of publ j attention should be concentrated on the pros, pects of a revival of gold mining that may ma’ e a vast difference to the prospect! of the commonwealth. Meantime, we must wait developments, and mv only reason for referring to the subject-,again just now is an announcement issued by the nevvlvappointed aiming Warden for the Granites, to the; effect that,lie rronoses “to send the blacks fvom the field and to ask that the country .within a radius of ten miles bo declared a'vprohibited ’ area for aboriginals.”

Dangerous When Molested. Of course everybody knows -that , the natives in these obscure and remote regions are dangerous when they are molested, and the experiences' of Levater and many ether p-os"'ectors may seem to justify such a noli ,v. But it m well to remember that all the most seiioiifc troubles with the aborigines in the past have originated through incursions into th" land that, th * v regard as tlicuown and especially into their bunting fields.. Men like Gribh'e and Francis Birth s, who have spent'many years in close contact with Fm natives, have constantly emphasised this, and it is to lie honed that tins invasion of the wilds of Central Australia w ; b not cause the sort of “trouble with the blacks” which is so painfully familiar to all students of past Australian history.

in The Northern District? Quite apart from this, there is only too much ground for criticising an-d condemning the treatment _ of the natives by the whites in the remoter northern districts. Speaking recently at the conference of the Congregational Churches, the Rev. W. Morley told liis audience that “aboriginal labour in the northern: part of Australia is practically slavery, and the condition of 70.00!) natives is pitiful.” According to this authority, “in the northern part of the continent, station owners go out armed to collect labour for their stations, having received a license from a police protector.”

But the worst feature of the situation is the treatment of the native women. “Twontv-five per cent of the murders among the Australian native races,” says Mr Morley, “are caused over native women, and the blacks fiercely resent their ill-treatment hv the whites.” “There are rules and regulations for protection of native women, but they never work,” and when the native to avenge himself even for a deadly injury, lie has little chance of escape.

No Justice for the Native. Mr Morley told the conference: “There is no justice for the Australian native; we often hear of murders or whites by blacks, hut we very seldom hear of the murder of blacks by whites.” Even if we regard some of these statements as exaggerated, the-e is ecitainlv enough truth in them to arouse a strong public demand ior more adequate protection for the rights of the aborigines, and to justify veiv giave anxiety about the effects of this new contact between the natives and the whit-os who are following “the lure of gold” into the heart of Australia.