GERMAN EXPANSION.
[To THE EDITOR Of TEl ..8rscrAvos.".1 Sr,—Your article last week on "German Expansion" inter. ested me very deeply. I have just returned from a tour to—amongst other places—Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands, including the Friendly Islands (Tonga), Samoa, and Fiji. Of these three groups Samoa belongs to and is most excellently administered by, Germany. Th. trade with the Tongan group is principally in the hands of German traders. Fiji is more cosmopolitan. On the other hand, German New Guinea is so far a colony causing great expense and trouble to her foster-mother. The two most widespread
facts about that country seem to be (a) that for each colonist there is an equivalent of about three soldiers in the garrison and (b) that any visitor venturing more than a mile from the protection of the fort is likely to be eaten by the natives. As the Papuans—judging from those I have seen around Port Moresby—are fine specimens of the primitive savage, and as the white people resident in British New Guinea (with the exception of a few officials) are anything but creditable pioneers either to the Mother Country or the Dominions—we should be conferring a cheap present on Germany and ridding ourselves of a very expensive piece of colonial administra- tion by ceding that particular "place in the sun" to her, besides pointing the way to the other Powers for her colonial expansion. I do not think that Australia (which is the Dominion with which Papua is at present incorporated) would have any objection to ceding to Germany; it is the Japanese and Chinese influences whose insidious progress is to be feared in that part of the world. Australia has all she can do within her own seaboard for the next hundred years without managing external and uncivilized islands. The trade with British New Guinea, although coming largely from Sydney, is chiefly carried on by German and Dutch steamers, which reship German goods brought in under bond by the Norddeutscher Lloyd from Hamburg.—I am, Sir, &e., GWENDOLYN L. HAMILTON.
80 Susses Square, Brighton.
[If " Barkis is willing" there is no objection that we can see to selling our portion of Papua to Germany; we very much doubt, however, if the Government of the Common- wealth would hear of any such proposal. Note, however, that our next correspondent is dead against a cession of territory in the Pacific, and assumes that Germany would also object to increasing her holdings in those regions. He suggests, indeed, that we should become possessed by exchange of the whole of Papual—ED. Spectator.]
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