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13.
GOVERNOR SIR H. B. LOCH, K.C.B. (VieTORIA), to the RIGHT HON. THE EARL GRANVILLE, K.G. (Received May 24, 1886.)
MY LORD,
*
Government House, Melbourne, April 14, 1886.†
I HAVE the honour to transmit to your Lordship the accompanying report* which I have received from Mr. G. Seymour Fort, private secretary to the late Sir Peter Scratchley, and now a member of my staff, together with a letter from that gentleman addressed to me enclosing the same.
This report has been written under my advice, in order that some account of the work done, and the opinions held, by the late Special Commissioner for New Guinea may be placed upon record.
My Government have been courteous enough to undertake the printing of the report, and I intend to forward to your Lordship, at an early date, a chart which is in course of preparation, to accompany the paper.
I have, &c.
The Right Hon. the Earl Granville, K.G.,
&c.
&c.
&c.
(Signed)
Enclosure in 13.
(EXTRACT.)
HENRY B. LOCH,
PART III. FUTURE ADMINISTRATION, EXPENDITURE, &C.
Before any definite programme of administration for the Protected Territory can be laid down, two questions of considerable political importance must first be settled. In the first place, the status and authority of the Special Commissioner within the Protected Territory requires to be more clearly and definitely defined; and, secondly, the present political relationship of the Imperial Officer administering the country with respect to the Imperial and Colonial Governments is a wholly anomalous one, and one which apparently will not prove workable. Under the present arrangement, New Guinea forms no integral part in the Anglo-Australien System.
With reference to the first point, namely, the authority and status of the Special Commissioner, the following is the conclusion of a legal opinion obtained from the Hon. Mr. Griffith, Q.C., Queensland, given as Q.C. and not as Premier :—
<
"I am therefore of opinion that General Scratchley has at present no legal jurisdiction and authority of any kind, except such as he can exercise as a Deputy Commissioner for the Western Pacific; and in particular that he has no power to make any regulations having the force of law, or to impose or collect any taxes or license fees upon exports or imports, or otherwise to exercise any legislative or judicial functions in the Protectorate."
With reference to the second point, and especially the relation of the Imperial Officer and the Australasian Governments, the following is the written opinion of Sir Peter Scratchley
*-
"A Crown Colony, with the simplest machinery for its government, will probably be the best. The judicial powers of the Governor should be such as to enable him to deal summarily with minor offences, and to remit, say to the Queensland Courts, offences of a more serious nature. Everything will, at first, be necessarily of a tentative character.
What proportion of the expense of the cost of government will be borne by the Imperial Government? This is of paramount importance. If the whole of the expense is to be borne by the Colonies, the Imperial Government will practically have no control, and I foresee that a deadlock must eventually arise between the Imperial Officer and the Australasian Governments.
* Extract only printed.
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"The exercise of tact, patience, and diplomacy will keep matters going for the first two or three years; but the deadlock will ultimately occur, as he will be dealing with half-a-dozen Governments, all holding more or less livergent
With regard also to the method of contributing, Sir Peter Scratchley writes as
Scratchley
views."
follows:-
"The ignorance of the intentions of the Colonial Office as to the future creates difficulties in the Colonial Governments coming to an agreement with the Imperial Government on the subject of the cest of governing British New Guinea.
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Until full information is given on all points, there is little prospect of a permanent settlement of the question, and the policy of the Australian Colonies will continue
to be of a hand-to-mouth character.
"The object should be to get the several Governments to propose acts of special appropriation to their local Parliaments, in order to permanently secure the contributions to be granted yearly to Her Majesty.
"An Act has been passed in Queensland, and although that Government declines to
increase its contribution, there is little fear of the Act being repealed. "It is doubtful whether the other Governments will do more than vote the contribution yearly. If so, every year there will be discussions, nore or less unpleasant, in the local Parliaments; and it will be difficult for the Imperial Officer in charge to look ahead and establish an economical administration."
It has also been suggested that—
(1.) That the payments should be mede half-yearly.
(2.) The financial year should commence on 1st January instead of 1st June. Pending the settlement of these important political questions, Sir Peter Scratchley had intended to restrain, as far as possible for the present, the indiscriminate influx of white traders until the necessary machinery for control over whites and natives had been established. In order to obtain this, he had proposed establishing a chain of Government officials at various points along the coast.
Each Sub-Commissioner would have to be provided with a house, a schooner or whaleboat, one trusty and reliable European, and a crew of Solomon Islanders or Fijians, who should all be married. The duties of the Sub-Commissioner would be to act as port officer, health officor, &c.; to superintend all commercial transactions between natives and whites; to adjudicate on all cases arising between them and white men; to initiate the cultivation of grain for the natives; to encourage exports of natural products; to superintend and report upon all local industries; to control aud advise all exploring expeditions in his district. The salary of the Sub-Commissioner should be at 400l. a year. The establishment of these officers would be preparatory to, and a means of, systematically opening up the country, so that, when an influx took place, not only would it be possible to exercise control, but the lands best adapted for various industries could be at once pointed out.
After carefully considering all hydrographical, sanitary, and tribal conditions, it will, perhaps, be found that the best sites for these ports, which would be ports of entry, would be as follows:-Cornwallis Island, which would command the entrance to the various rivers on the western coast. The situation is healthy, and it is within easy communication of Thursday Island and Port Moresby. The central seat of Government would be at Port Moresby, for reasons mentioned above; and the Government Resident would have charge of that district from Hall Sound to Hula. Aroma would be another centre, extending over the Hood Bay District, and along the coast to South Cape. Dinner Island could be made another centre, to control Milne Bay, the Louisiade Archipelago, and the D'Entrecasteaux group; while it might be found necessary to have an officer stationed at Rawden Bay, for the purpose of controlling the North-East Coast from Bentley Bay to Mitre Rock.
With regard to the natives, it had been Sir Peter Scratchley's intention to have formed depôts at these ports of entry, and elsewhere, to which the natives might be induced to bring trade. Regulations would be in force at these depôts controlling the prices to be paid to the natives, the method of conducting trading operations, &c.
As the area of square miles in the Protected Territory is estimated at 86,382 sq. miles (vide Appendix No. 1), some portion of this might be handed over to a company for administrative and commercial purposes. It had been the intention of Sir Peter
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