PROSPEROUS NEW GUINEA

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 396, 1 April 1937, Page 6

PROSPEROUS NEW GUINEA

Germany’s Desires. Sydney, March 19. Germany’s new colonial aims and ambitions vitally interest Australia, for it is administering the rich former Germlam territory of New Guinea ander a mandate from the League of , Nations, says a Sydney correspondent. A Mr Adolf L. Schultze, who has lived for 12 years at Kavieng in the Mandated Territory, said in Sydnew a few days ago thiat Germany desired 1 the return of her territory in the South Seas. Mr Schultze has just returned from a tour in Germany. Australia is now firmly entrenched in the Mandated Tetrritory, and under its rule the islands have prospered. The imparts from Australia to the territory in 1934-35 amounted to £428,720, v'hiie the totial overseas exports in the same period reached the sum of £2,340,624

Rabaul, the. capital of the territory, lies at the extreme north-east of the island of New £,ritain. Although it is only approximately four degrees' south of the equator it enjoys a very even tropical climate, the average shade temperature being 92 degrees. Many Australian travellers now visit Rabaul. A regular service is l maintained wi‘h Australian ports by the Hurns, I'hilp and E. la.nd A. steamship lines, while the Orient Steam Navigation Company occasionally sends ships on pleasure cruises. Tourisms discover that Rabaul is a picturesque, we 1-(aid-out town. There are beautiful gardens everywhere, and trees Overhang the principal paved streets ai d provide welcome 1 shade. The bu.iiiiess houses are up-to-date, v'hile there are three firstclass European 1 otels. New Guinea is adjacent to .the; Micronesian greup of islands which Japan bolds under mandate from the Lelague of Natiohi'. Palau, which has an airport and a,i excellent harbour, is less than three hours’ distance by>' aeroplane from Australia’s territory.

Japanese Trade. There are few Japanese in New Guinea (at the 1933 census they numbered’ a little over 70) but her trade with the Mandated Territory is considerable. In 1934-35 imports from Japan totalled £42,757. In spite of the fact that there are cement works in Austialia, Japanese cement is extensively used. 1 believe it is of excellent quality. When General Hayashi, the Prime Minister of Japan, said in Tokio at the beginning of this month that Japan wished to settle the emigration problem by treaty With Australia in the near futuie, he must have had in mind, besides' the vast empty sp/a-ceis in Auatralia itiseltf, /th;?, rich and fertile islands in the Mandated Territory. It was said in Canberra 1 few days’ after General Hayashi’s staitement that it was unlikely that the Commonwgalh Government would

I agree to any material variation of its 1 policy on the admission of Japanese to Australia. Residents in New Guinea, however, know well of Japan’s, policy for peaceful economic

penetration in the South Seas, and have a profound respect for Japanese patience and persistence. Hundreds of Australians hav'j settled in the. Mandated Territory. Many men are employed as managers and overseers on the plantations. Copra is the main product of New Guinea, and ,'bere are score s of plantations throughout the teriitorye The goldfields have attracted large numbers of proi.pectors, and nearly every ship that leaves Sydney for Rabaul carries men seeking their fortune on the go'd'-producing areas. On the new ground at Weivak, in NorthEast New Guinea, then? are over 200 miners at work. ‘ A visitor from Wewak v.'ho was in Sydney recently said that the men there were making £4O to £5O a week clear. _ He went on to say that at present it was only individual mining. A large area, however, had been pegged out on behalf of a dredging company which was

having tests made. Japanese Encroachment. When I Was in Rabaul I was' told that when New Guinea came under British control most of the German settlers disposed of their property and left the islands. The people to whom I spoke said that the territory would never be handed back to Germany as British and Australian interests were now far too extensive to permit of such a step. There was. however, a very real fear of Japanese encroachment, and When one sees bow J a pain has herself in the Philippines and in .the Dutch East Indies it must be admitted that the fears are well founded.