ISLANDS ARE FOR ISLANDERS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 20, Issue 509, 25 March 1949, Page 7

ISLANDS ARE FOR ISLANDERS

(Written for "The Listener’ by

G. M.

WILSON

ACK in the late twenties I was privileged to become a settler on a few acres of bush land at Norfolk Island. I had little money, only health and strength, and spurred on by the prospect of a competency through a banana plantation I set to with the fervour of a pioneer. The climate allowed for first, a tent, then a hut, with simple cooking arrangements (a kerosene tin with two bars across). Fruit and vegetables grew easily and profusely, and all "seemed well in its simplicity. Later I took a wife and built a bungalow; fresh meat replaced the canned; and a modern stove provided a’ much higher standard of living .all round. * * HE Islanders, a fine people, simple, ‘" hospitable, and wise, with a background of tradition and experience, looked on, marvelling at our industry and enterprise, but too polite to advise. We believed we had found independence and a freedom from the restraints of the Mainland, a way of life which would include the amenities of a city and still allow us to Jive an Island existence. Bananas sold well in Sydney and Auckland; our Canadian-wonder green beans and seed were established on the New Zealand market; and neither Sydney nor Auckland could get enough of our juicy oranges. And so we spread ourselves. Motor cars and trucks replaced the faithful horse. Golf became an essential pastime. Our homes were furnished more and more like those we had left. Stores opened displaying temptingly the delicacies from the Mainland which we relished. We were prosperous, so why not enjoy the best of both Island and Mainland? Then gradually something crept in. Whispers were heatd that merchants did not want our products. Some growers actually had received debit notes instead of cheques. Storekeepers began to assess our capacity to pay

our bills. Credit was restricted. We did not panic, but we were preplexed. Surely a slump could not affect Norfolk Island! But it did. One by one we had to leave, selling out to pay our store bills and provide a steamer passage. We had to leave because we simply "could not carry on’-we who were of the Mainland. * x * UT what of the Islanders? They were educated much as we were in State schools. They read good literature, and worked very much as we did. How did it affect them? They did not need to give up their homes, and land, neither were they particularly embarrassed. We from New Zealand had gone to Norfolk Island to live free, we thought, but we carried bondage and

defeat with us the day we tried to make Norfolk Island another New Zealand. We demanded amenities wé considered essential, improvements we called them, but a day came when we had to forgo all, because we failed to understand that the basis of simple living was to keep within the resources nature had provided. The _ Islanders were not disturbed! Did not the sun shine,,and ample rain provide pasture, with vegetables and fruit in season? They carried on as before, working sufficiently ta provide food and raiment and gathering in groups under shady trees to sing and enjoy one another’s company, selling in Sydney and Auckland products to provide, now a less sum for those "other" things, but still sufficient. They lived on their Island,

asking no more than was their due from their Island, and: not attempting to give it Mainland standards, : * % Es ND so we of the Mainland were defeated. We had to give up, not because there was insufficient food for our sustenance, or local timber for our shelter, or even surplus products for export, but because we could not live without Mainland "comfort." We failed because we brought to the Island a measure of value which did not apply there, and so were obliged to come away with nothing but memories of glorious sunshine, singing birds, and seas lapping over golden beaches. So it will be again if we join a second island rush and forget that islands are for islanders only.