215
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
8855 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
26.
JOHN DOUGLAS, Esq., C.M.G. (NEW GUINEA), to the RIGHT HON. EDWARD
STANHOPE, M.P. (Received February 25, 1887.)
·1886.
(Extract).
Brisbane January 16, 1887.
1 HAVE the honour to forward herewith six copies of my report* for the year
I have received payments on account of the current year from the Governments of Queensland and Victoria, and I am now on my way to Sydney. All the payments will, doubtless, be made in due course, with the exception of the contribution from South Australia. This deficiency, amounting to one thousand five hundred and twenty-four pounds eleven shillings and sevenpence (1,524/. 11s. 7d.), I propose to charge to Queensland and Victoria as the guaranteeing Colonies.
Enclosure in 26.
REPORT for the YEAR 1886, by HER MAJESTY'S SPECIAL COMMISSIONER for the PROtected TERRITORY.
(Extracts).
I find
Trade and Revenue.
difficult to speak with any certainty on these points. Everything depends upon the land policy adopted. If settlement, even in a modified and restricted form, is authorised, trade will grow and revenue will come in. The limitations which have resulted from the system of permits established since the proclamation of the Protectorate has caused trade, small as it even then was, to diminish rather than to increase. During the peried I have held office about 400,000 feet of timber has been exported. There in plenty of bêche-de-mer on the coast, and there are valuable pearl-shell beds, but the repeated massacres of the men engaged in these occupations have acted as a great discouragement to enterprise of this kind, and it practically does not exist at the present time. Nor have I felt justified, under present circumstances, in giving any encourage- ment to the development of these industries, when it was not in my power to afford the people engaged in them any protection, or to place them under any satisfactory regulated system. As regards the collection of revenue, I have not thought it desirable, with my present inchoate legislative powers, to attempt to levy any duties on imported goods. I have issued a regulation under which I propose to collect a royalty of 18. per 100 feet on all cedar exported from the Protectorate, and I propose to collect this at the ports of entry, with the assistance of the Customs authorities in Australia. In the event of any refusal to pay this duty, I should withhold the permit (Appendix H) or passport which is at present issued to those who are employed in this industry.
Financial.
It
I entered upon the duties of administration in entire ignorance of the requirements of the situation and on overdraft at the bank of 2,349/. 2s. 10d. I have endeavoured to shape my expenditure in accordance with immediate necessities. It was necessary to maintain the establishment at Port Moresby, and to carry out some improvements there. Houses had to be built for the accommodation of the officers of the Government. was necessary to provide a fockup. (Appendix V.) Surveys had to be made, water was laid on, and a variety of improvements incidental to first settlement had to be carried out. A list of these improvemonts will be found attached to this report. (Appendix II.) They are really the assets of the administration, and are not incon- siderable. It was necessary also to provide for my own locomotion along the coast,
* Extracts only printed.
and some provision had to be made for supervision, both at Thursday Island and in
China Straits.
A statement is attached of receipts and expenditure for the half-years ending respectively the 1st of June and the 1st November. (Appendices La. and In.) The date of the first financial year-the year ending 1st June 1885-was fixed by Lord Derby in his Despatch of the 9th May 1881. It would be convenient, I think, if an alteration could be made in this respect, and that the financial year should be made to terminate on the 30th June.
I have had some difficulty in coming to an understanding with the Government of New Zealand as to the period on account of which their payments have been made. Two payments respectively of 2,6687, 18s. 9d. have been made by that Government; the first was for the year ending 1st June 1885, and the second, according to intimation, was for the year commencing 1st June 1886; this leaves an interval for the year ending 1st June 1886. I trust, however, that this may be regarded merely as a difference as to dates, and that an arrangement may be arrived at.
Estimates for the Year ending 1st June 1888.
I shall be prepared shortly to submit an estimate of expenditure for the year ending 1st June 1888, though I trust that in the meantime some arrangement for a permanent provision may be arrived at by Her Majesty's Government acting in concert with the Governments of the Australasian Colonies.
Requisition for Contributions on account of the Year ending 1st June 1887.
I have requisitioned the contributing Governments for the current financial year ending 1st June 1887. On account of that year I have as yet received no payments, except from New Zealand.
It would be more convenient, and a more equitable arrangement, I think, if, in future, payments were made in advance. The difficulties of administration in British New Guinea are sufficiently great without adding to these the difficulties of possible financial
embarrassment.
The necessity for a Steamer.
I wish, in conclusion, to say that it is exceedingly desirable, for the purpose of main- taining order along the coast, and for the purpose of protecting life and property both Native and European, that the Commissioner or Administrator should, without further delay, be provided with a steam vessel, Her Majesty's Government have offered to do so, and I trust that this proposal will soon be carried into effect. H.M.S. "Dart" has been spoken of as the type of a vessel suitable for this purpose. She was, I believe, a steam yacht which was originally owned by Lord Eglinton. Some similar vessel could probably be purchased in England for a sum of money well within the 18,000l. which has been spoken of for this purpose. She ought to have good sailing qualities, combined with steaming capacity worked at a minimum of expenditure. Captain Cyprian Bridge, R.N., supplied General Scratchley with an estimate of expenditure suitable for such a vessel (Appendix III.),* and I have no doubt that this probable expenditure is one which will serve as a useful guide.
Brisbane, December 31, 1886.
(Signed) JouN Douglas,
Her Majesty's Special Commissioner for
British New Guinea.
* Not printed.
Nn 4
J
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APPENDIX II.
BRITISH NEW GUINEA PROTECTORATE.
Assets and Property of the Government at Port Moresby.
Government bungalow (total cost)
Furniture
Government store
Gaol -
Surveys
Fencing (cemetery, &c.)
Stockyard
Men's quarters
7 horses, 107. per head
6 calves, 27. 10s. per head
Whaleboat and fittings