NEW GUINEA

Hokitika Guardian, 29 March 1933, Page 8

NEW GUINEA

GROWTH OF WEALTHY TERRITORY.

TOUR BY FEDERAL MINISTER.

SYDNEY, March 23

It is 13 years since Australia- was given the mandate over New Guinea, since then many events have focussed public attention on the territory. Miners returning from the Edie Creek and Btnolo goldrieids have brought b..cK fragmentary tales of adventure, hardship ana lortune.s lost and won; Australian pioneers home oil furlough nave spoken of the rich and varied ugncuJtural resources, as yet hardly developed at a.l; accounts have filtered tfirougn occasionally from the largely unexplored hinterland of barbarous attacks on

white men by fierce tribes. Popular interest in this great territory has been stimulated by these means, but to the majority o, peop.e New Guinea remains a mystery. It i$ like a. fascinating book in which, here and there, a page has been opened for a momentary glance. In the circumstances it is not surprising that mbit: than usual interest attaches to the forthcoming visit to the territory n.y the Minister in Charge, Mr G. W. Marr.

The Minister’s tour on this occasion will he by far the most comprehensive undertaken by a. Commonwealth Minister. One result will ho to provide a mass of information concerning Hie

habits and customs of the native people in their uncivilised state, the progress being made by Australian officers in bringing these people under the control of organised government, the measure of success with which other Australians are exploiting the varied resources or the islands and the extent of the possibilities for further Australian development.

New Guinea -will take a big step forward with the inauguration of the Legislative Council by Mr Marr at Rahanl, the capital, on May Oth. Tt is a date already of considerable importance in Australia’s history, as it is the anniversary of the inauguration of the Commonwealth Parliament in Melbourne at the beginning of the century, of the transfer of the seat of Government to Canberra six years ago and also of the replacement ol 1 military by civil government in New Guinea. In Rabaul It will he a red-letter day of excitement and colourful scenes. Both white residents and native people from all parts of New Guinea will be present. As representative of the Commonwealth, • Marr will read several important messages at the inaugural ceremony.

The Ministerial party will go to the famous Bulolo goldfields in the heart ot New Guinea, guarded bv to we-i no mountain ranges 14.000 feet high. The three-engined Junker aeroplanes will lie made available hv the. New Guinea Airways—tile story of whose operations is an epic itself—and the party will make by gir in an hour journeys that would take many weeks by land. At Mndang, which, was the original German capital, a remarkslde pageant'of native life and customs will he staged in honour of ]Vfr Marr. Native tribes and chiefs will converge from all narts art a the event will he one of the high lights of the tour.