MARITIME BOUNDARY OF QUEENSLAND.
By the Hon. JOHN DOUGLAS, C.M.G., F.R.G.S.
(Hon. Member Royal Geographical Society of Australasia,
Queensland.)
I am honoured by thus having audience of the Royal
Geographical Society of Queensland, and I beg to crave the attention of members
for a brief space while I expound my theme on a matter of some general
geographical interest, and one of special local significance to those of us who
are connected, as I am, with the islands of Torres Straits, and the somewhat
important little dependency of Thursday Island and Port Kennedy.
There is a tradition that a commission was sent out to Sir
John Young, authorising him to extend the boundary of New South Wales to the
10th parallel of south latitude. I cannot ascertain whether it was ever acted
on. Let me, however, relate how it was that the islands of Torres Straits came
to be annexed.
In 1876–7 certain adventurous spirits connected with the
pearl-shelling industry had pushed out beyond the recognised bounds of our
jurisdiction, and it was found that there was no legal authority which could be
brought to bear upon them. It became necessary, therefore, to extend the
boundaries of Queensland, and after a good deal of correspondence this was
finally accomplished by the passing of an Act of the Queensland Parliament in
1879, which had been duly authorised by letters patent under the Great Seal.
Thus it was that, “certain islands in Torres Straits and
lying between the continent of Australia and island of New Guinea, that is to
say, all islands included within a line drawn from Sandy Cape northward to the
south-eastern limit of the Great Barrier Reefs, thence following the line of
the great Barrier Reefs to their north-eastern extremity, near the latitude of
9½ deg., thence in a north-westerly direction, embracing East Anchor and
Bramble Cay, thence from Bramble Cay in a line west by south (true), embracing
Warrior Reef, Saibai, and Tuan Island, thence diverging in a north-westerly
direction, so as to embrace the group known as the Talbot Islands, thence to
and embracing the Deliverance Islands, and onwards in a west by south direction
to the meridian of 138 deg. of east longitude.”
That then is the present boundary of Queensland. When it was
thus defined it was considered desirable to annex everything up to the shores
of New Guinea. The annexation of British New Guinea did not take place for some
nine years after this, but it then soon became apparent that some modification
of the boundary in Torres Straits was necessary. This became the subject of
correspondence between Sir William M‘Gregor, the Colonial Office, and the
Government of Queensland. . . . In 1892 Sir Samuel Griffith, then being in
office visited Torres Straits on purpose to satisfy himself on the merits of
the case, and I have no doubt that it would then soon have been settled, but
unfortunately for this particular matter then in hand, Sir Samuel became Chief
Justice, and nothing more was done until the correspondence was again revived,
and at last various propositions were made and rejected. In May, 1898, an
Order-in-Council altering the boundary, was passed, and such alteration was to
take effect upon the passing of an Act of Parliament by Queensland endorsing
it. The Act was duly drafted, printed, and prepared for the approval of
Parliament, but unfortunately again, it was never brought in, and nothing more
was done. I shall now proceed to describe to you what the alteration was which
it was thus proposed to effect.
Starting from a point three miles south-east of Bramble Cay,
on the existing boundary line, it was designed to pass midway between Pearce
Cay and Dalrymple Island, thence by the centre of Moon Pass in the Warrior
Reef, thence by a line passing three miles to the south of Turnagain and
Deliverance Islands, westerly, thence west by south to the meridian of the
138th degree of east longitude. But, as I have said, this was never authorised.
Soon after the Commonwealth came into existence, and with it the incapacity of
Queensland to deal solely with the matter, passed to the Commonwealth. Now, we
know that the Commonwealth Parliament is about to legislate for British New
Guinea, or for Papua, as it is to be called, and that is why I am anxious to
draw attention to the maritime boundary of Queensland as affecting the maritime
boundary of Papua, in order that it may be clearly understood.
In the first place, allow me to say that, in my opinion, the
boundary, as defined by the Order-in-Council of 1898, ought to be accepted as a
fair and reasonable solution of the question. It was arrived at after an
exhaustive correspondence between the parties concerned, and would, I feel
sure, be gladly accepted by the Papuan Government authorities as a just
solution of their claims, for they have undoubted claims to a rectification of
the existing boundary. So far as regards the Government of Queensland, it ought
to be a relief to them to be able to hand over to the Papuan Government islands
which they are not able satisfactorily to govern from Thursday Island.
Moreover, the Papuan Government, by its special ordinances, made applicable to
native requirements, is much more capable of administering justice and
maintaining order than we are. I have done the best I can to administer justice
and maintain order in a patriarchal kind of way through the head men, or
mamooses, as they are called, of the different islands, and the people
generally carry out my wishes, but something more than this is now required. It
is difficult, nay almost impossible, to apply our Queensland laws to such
islands as Saibai, Dowan, and Boigo. To the magistrate at Daru, with his native
ordinances, and his proximity to these islands, it is another matter
altogether.
The people inhabiting these islands are Papuans. They are
most amenable to order. They have improved immensely. When I first knew them
they were literally naked savages. Now they are among the most intelligent and
enterprising of our islanders. But, like most natives, they are easily led
astray. Unprincipled men, both white and coloured, give or sell them drink, and
through Saibai a good deal of liquor has been supplied to the natives of New
Guinea. Indeed, so frequently has this been lately done that the authorities at
Daru have prohibited our Saibai natives from landing on the shores of New
Guinea. I have done the best I can to stop this nefarious traffic in liquor,
and I am happy to say that I have secured two convictions; but this is not such
an easy matter, for the proceedings have to be conducted in accordance with the
laws of the State before the court at Thursday Island, which is eighty miles
from Saibai. In the last case five witnesses had to be brought in and taken out
again in order to secure the necessary evidence. Such cases would, I can assure
you, be much more easily and effectually disposed of at Daru, the western
headquarters of administration in British New Guinea. That is one very good
reason why I should like to see Saibai under the jurisdiction at Daru. There
are many other reasons, but geographically—and you, gentlemen, are specially
interested in the question from that point of view—it does seem ridiculous that
a large island like Saibai, being almost within gunshot of New Guinea, should still
belong to Queensland. Nor must it be forgotten that as Government Resident at
Thursday Island I have now no steamer in which I can visit these Islands. This
year, it is true, I have visited the coast of New Guinea four times in order to
investigate matters of this kind; but it has always been in a small sailing
vessel, and this does not further prompt action.
What I have said of Saibai holds good of Dowan (Tuan) and of
Boigo. They are both visited and occupied by Papuans, and they are both tarred
with the same brush so far as the distribution of liquor is concerned. I am
sorry to say it, for the Papuan, as a rule, has no great longing for our
liquors, unless he is educated in that direction by the white man. He is
satisfied with the mild excitements of the betel nut until he reaches a higher
exaltation under the influence of our liquor essences. Of course you all know
that under our laws persons are prohibited from supplying liquor to aboriginal
natives, or to South Sea Islanders, and at Thursday Island we are sometimes
held up as examples of how a good law can be violated with the most impunity. A
distinguished visitor, a senator from the South, for instance, remarked the
other day that he saw aboriginal natives served at the bars of public-houses
with the police looking calmly on. This, I admit is perfectly true. There
appears to be great apathy on their part. When challenged, however, with
negligence of duty, they say that they arrest offenders who exceed, and that
they prefer the open violation of the law as practised to the illicit sale of
bottles and cases of grog through intermediate persons. They also say that it
is almost impossible to secure a conviction against a publican who sells to an
aboriginal across the bar, for the law requires proof that the liquor so sold
contains or contained so much per cent. of alcohol. How are they to prove that,
they say, when the alcohol is absorbed into the stomach of the participant? I
fancy myself that a way out of that difficulty might be found. Still, the fact
remains that no complaints are lodged, and convictions are rarely obtained.
To revert, however, once more to the theme of my paper,
which I do not wish to make tedious, there are manifest advantages connected
with the proposed rectification. No one can question its geographical
justification. It will fairly meet the claims of the Papuan Government, and it
will in no way prejudice the territorial rights of this State. The trade of
that portion of New Guinea, such as it is, gravitates to Thursday Island, and
will continue to do so. It gives reasonable scope to the natives of Papua for
the prosecution of their pearl-shelling industry, to which they are by no means
indifferent, and it will enable the Papuan Government to control and repress
altogether, I hope, this nefarious dealing in liquor, which is calculated to do
so much harm if it is allowed to go on.
Before I close this paper I must honestly tell you that
before the desired object can be attained considerable difficulties stand in
the way. The rectifications could easily have been effected in 1892, after Sir
Samuel’s exploration, or, indeed, in 1898, when the Order-in-Council
authorising it was passed; but now there is rather a formidable lion in the
path. The 123rd clause of the Commonwealth Constitution provides that “the
Parliament of the Commonwealth may, with the consent of the Parliament of the
State, and the approval of the electors of the State voting upon the question,
increase, diminish, or otherwise alter the limits of the State, on such terms
and conditions as may be agreed on, and may with the like consent, make
provision respecting the effect and operation of any increase, diminution, or
alteration of territory in relation to any State affected.” As I have said,
this is rather a formidable lion; but it can be tackled and required to retreat
in this particular case if we can show, as I think we can, that he stands in
the way of what would be a decided improvement.
Sir S. W. Griffith, in proposing a hearty vote of
thanks to Mr. Douglas, said very few persons even in Queensland knew how very
interesting these parts were. They were attracting attention from scientific
people in Europe, and there was an expedition on its way now to study natural
history in that part of Australian waters, which had peculiarities not found
anywhere else. With regard to the boundary, when it was fixed in 1878, it was
not unreasonable for Queensland to require to get all she could. She could not
get New Guinea, but managed to get as near as possible. We followed round as
close as we could get between the islands, and the coast of New Guinea, taking
in practically everything. At that time all these parts were equally unknown
and unsettled; but later, when New Guinea had what was after all a civilised
Government, and in some respects a highly organised Government, considering the
nature of the people it had to deal with, it became extremely absurd that some
of the islands should be governed by Queensland because, as Mr. Douglas had
pointed out, Queensland laws were quite inapplicable, whereas New Guinea laws
were perfectly applicable. That impressed itself so strongly on his (Sir S. W.
Griffith’s) mind that in order to remove the anomaly, he took the opportunity
of going up there in the steamer Lucinda. Mr. Douglas was with him, and
the trip was extremely interesting. It was hardly necessary to go up to see how
absurd the arrangement was; but up there it appeared much more absurd. To
illustrate this, he mentioned that when Sir William MacGregor defeated an
invading tribe some of them escaped to the islands, where, being in Queensland
territory, he could not interfere with them. Few concerned in the Government of
the Commonwealth, and few in Queensland, knew anything of the matter. The cash
value of the whole territory involved was not more than £100 or £200; but it
was a serious matter that involved the welfare of a great number of very decent
people. The first thing was to get the people to understand the facts; when
they did, there would not be two opinions as to the correct thing to do. The
next thing was, What was to be done? The Parliament of Queensland must consent
to the alteration of the boundaries of the State of Queensland, by giving up
these island to New Guinea. In the next place the Parliament of the
Commonwealth must consent, and then the electors of Queensland must consent
when the matter was submitted to them. He suggested that at the next general
elections ballot papers on this question should be submitted to the people, and
this could be done at little cost.
Sir Hugh Nelson: About one in 1000 would vote.
Sir S. W. Griffith said if only five voted and three
were in favour it would be sufficient. If he had an opportunity of
communicating with any one concerned in taking the necessary steps it would
give him the greatest pleasure. (Applause.)
Sir A. C. Gregory seconded the motion, and said it
was important to include the whole of the islands with Queensland at the time;
but the moment New Guinea had a separate Government the conditions changed.
The motion was carried with acclamation.
John Douglas “Maritime Boundary of
