Anthropology and the professionalisation of colonial administration in Papua and New Guinea

Journal of Pacific History

Volumn 33, Issue 1, 1998, Pages 69-90

  Campbell, I C ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CANTERBURY   (New Zealand)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 61249341797     PISSN: 00223344     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/00223349808572859     Document Type: Article

References (59)

1. Hermann Joseph Hiery, The Neglected War. The German South Pacific and the Influence of World War I (Honolulu 1995), chs 2 and 7.
2. F. W. Eggleston (ed. ), The Australian Mandate in New Guinea: a Record of Roundtable Discussion, issued for the Victoria Branch of the League of Nations Union (Melbourne 1928), 5-10, 13, 14.
3. Francis West (ed. ), Selected Letters of Hubert Murray (Melbourne 1970), 53.
4. Canberra, Australian Archives, A452/1 1959/4708. All archival references are to the Australian Archives, except for those to the Elkin Papers and Sydney University Senate minutes which are in the University of Sydney Archives.
5. Cf Deidre J. F. Griffiths, 'The Career of F. E. Williams, Government Anthropologist of Papua, 1922-1943', MA thesis, Australian National University (Canberra 1977), 11, who claims that Strong was appointed merely so that Murray could say that he had an anthropologist. While this is true, the reasoning behind it, that it was merely a propaganda device so he could present himself as a paragon of colonial administration (p. 5), is incorrect. J. E. Cashen, 'F. E. Williams. The Dilemmas of a Government Anthropologist', BA Hons thesis, University of Adelaide (Adelaide 1973), 7-8, also took the view that Murray's eagerness for an anthropologist was mere eye-wash - to allow him to present his own 'common-sense' views as 'scientific'.
6. A New Zealander, who already had research experience in the D'Entrecasteaux Islands.
7. Murray to Minister for External Affairs, 20 Feb. 1920; various cables and letters June-Oct. 1920: A452/1 1959/4708.
8. Chinnery is clearly the man referred to in West, Selected Letters, 106-7.
9. There is no direct evidence on the reasons for Williams's subordinate status, but when Chinnery was subsequently appointed to the territory of New Guinea in 1924, his salary and status were discussed in precisely these terms, and he did in fact have the status of a departmental head, reporting directly to the administrator. Undated report by J. G. McLaren, Australian Archives A452 1959/6066.
10. Various items and dates between May 1921 and May 1922, A452 1959/6066. Wisdom's most pressing concern at the time was financial, and finding men to do the lower-level work of practical administration was a higher priority in the circumstances.
11. J. H. P. Murray, Review of the Australian Administration in Papua from 1907 to 1920 (Port Moresby 1920), 41-2;
12. idem, Anthropology and the Government of Subject Races (Port Moresby, n. d. ), read at the Pacific Science Congress in Melbourne, Jan. 1921.
13. J. H. P. Murray, 'The Population Problem in Papua', TS in A452 1959/6066.
14. A452 1959/6066, various.
15. Report of the Royal Commission on German New Guinea (Melbourne 1920), 30. The Royal Commission members were Murray, Walter Lucas (manager of the islands trade of Burns, Philp & Co. ), and Atlee Hunt, Secretary of the Department of Home and Territories.
16. G. W. L. Townsend, District Officer. From Savage New Guinea to Lake Success (Sydney 1968).
17. Report of the Royal Commission, 67.
18. E. L. Piesse, 'Re Territory of New Guinea - Selection, Training and Salaries of Administrative Service', 22 July 1921, A578 C852/l/5/pt 1.
19. Piesse, Memorandum for Administrator, Rabaul and Secretary Home and Territories, 26 July 1921, loc. cit.
20. 12 Apr. 1921 & 24 June 1921, A518 E800/l/3/pt 1.
21. Various memos, Aug. -Dec. 1921, A518 G852/1/5.
22. Memo, A. G. Brown, 10 Dec. 1921, A518 G852/1/5.
23. 24 Nov. 1923, A518 G852/1/5.
24. 22 Aug. , 4 Sept. and 21 Oct. 1922, A578 C852/l/5/pt 1. Each proposal was annotated 'under consideration' or in the last case 'for investigation'.
25. Administrator to Secretary Prime Minister's Department, 8 June 1923, A518 C852/1/5/pt 1.
26. Piesse to Secretary Prime Minister's Department, 17 Apr. 1923, A518 C852/1/5/pt 1.
27. Loc. cit. , Wisdom to Minister for Home and Territories, 11 Jan. 1924.
28. Murray to Minister Home and Territories, 26 Sept. 1923, Canberra, Australian Archives, Halliana Papers CP 136/1.
29. Resolutions of the Pacific Science Congress (TS) at A452 1959/6066.
30. 'Re Suggestions for the Training of Officers in New Guinea', 25 Jan. 1924 at A518 C852/1/5/pt 1.
31. Wisdom, 19 Mar. 1924, A518 C852/1/5/pt 1.
32. Senator Pearce to Sir David Masson, 10 Mar. 1924, A518 N806/1/1.
33. Chinnery, 10 June 1924, A518 C852/1/5/pt 1.
34. Officer to Secretary Home and Territories, 12 Feb. 1925;
35. McLaren to Administrator, 18 Feb. 1925: A518 E852/1/5.
36. A518 C852/1/5.
37. ANRC submission with cost estimates to Senator Pearce, 30 Jan. 1924; telegram Australian Association for the Advancement of Science to Prime Minister, 27 Aug. 1924: A518 N806/1/1.
38. Senator Pearce, Minister for Home and Territories, to President, ANRC, 5 Sept. 1924, A518 N806/1/1.
39. University of Sydney, Senate Minutes, 1923 and 1924, Sydney University Archives.
40. Notwithstanding its condemnation as 'disastrous' by Adam Kuper, Anthropology and Anthropologists. The Modern British School (2nd edn, London 1983), 20.
41. Sydney University Senate Minutes, various dates.
42. Deputy Administrator to Secretary Prime Minister's Department, 4 Oct. 1930, A518 E852/1/5.
43. Minutes of Advisory Council, 12 Jan. 1931, A518 E852/1/5.
44. Various items of correspondence Aug. -Dec. 1930, Sydney University Archives, Elkin Papers, Box 197 files 4/2/577 and 4/2/581.
45. Radcliffe-Brown to Murray, 15 Sept. 1930; Murray to Radcliffe-Brown, 8 Oct. 1930: Elkin Papers, Box 165 file 4/2/21.
46. Radcliffe-Brown to Lugard, 10 Sept. 1930; Lugard to Australian High Commissioner London, 20 Oct. 1930: Elkin Papers, Box 64 file 4/2/17.
47. Elkin Papers, Box 166 file 4/2/46. Kuper's remark that Radcliffe-Brown was an enthusiast who was more interested in starting than sustaining programmes, with its implications of irresponsibility, is contradicted by the evidence of Radcliffe-Brown's efforts to ensure the survival of his department. At the time of his resignation, he did not expect his efforts to succeed. See n. 44.
48. A518 E852/1/5.
49. Elkin Papers, Box 169 File 4/2/84, 25 July 1937.
50. Elkin Papers, Box 85 File 1/13/50, letters 21 and 23 Dec. 1938.
51. Elkin Papers, Box 165 File 4/2/33, 8 Mar. 1930.
52. Elkin Papens, Box 164 File 4/2/24, 9 Oct. 1929.
53. Murray to Minister of Home and Territories, 24 Sept. 1926, A518 N806/1/1. Griffiths, 'The Career of F. E. Williams', 9, has misconstrued Murray's motives in not having Papua collaborate in the cadet scheme.
54. Various places in Elkin Papers. Among New Guinea officers who took the course were Robert Melrose, S. H. Christian, George Whittaker (an optometrist) and J. A. Costelloe. Not all of these, either from Papua or New Guinea, took the course in Radcliffe-Brown's time.
55. 4 Aug. 1930, Elkin Papers, Box 165 File 4/2/21.
56. Submission by the New Guinea Planters' and Traders' Association, Sept. 1927, A518 E852/1/5. Also published in full in Eggleston, The Australian Mandate for New Guinea, 56-62.
57. Cuttings in A518 Item N806/1/1, Rabaul Times articles 'Anthropology and Administration', 27 Mar. 1931, 'Thinking Native', 8 May 1931, 'Not Understood', 19 Feb. 1932, and 'The Practical Value of Anthropology', 11 Mar. 1932.
58. New Guinea Advisory Council Minutes, 12 Dec. 1930, A518 E852/1/5.
59. Fortune's attacks on Murray and his regime were the subject of a letter from Murray to Radcliffe-Brown, 17 Sept. 1930, Elkin Papers Box 165 4/2/21.