Ivi. 



the Review of Reviews. 



April, 



191; 



f'fiutn I [2'. H^imp}iri-y and Co. 



PROFBSSOl! BALDWIN SPENCER. 



Of the WellHiuriie UniverBity, who haa been appointed 

 Protertor of the Atmriginee in the Northern Territory 

 by the Federal Government, and whose interest and 

 synipalliy with the aliOTigines ensure tlie most hnman© 

 and kindly treatment. 



Kxternal Affairs, to whom I wrote, telling him of 

 the general charges made, and asking him for par- 

 ticulars as to what was being done in the Northern 

 Territory. Mr. Thomas kindly replied fully. 

 Statements as to cruelty have mostly referred to 

 West Australia, but the Northern Territory, until re- 

 centlv under the care of South Australia, has 

 also come under the general charge. Since receiv- 

 ing Mr. Thomas's letter T have decided to publish 

 it here and now, instead of waiting till I get fur- 

 ther evidence, for it shows the active steps being 

 taken by the Federal Government to deal with the 

 question, and will serve as a first instalment of the 

 (]uestion. The dovernment is to be congratulated 

 upon til'- -.\i-[> it has taken: — 



DipartnicMt <d Kxtoriial .\ffair.s, 



.M.-llxMMMc, l.-itli March. 1912. 

 Dear Mr. .hidkinN. 



1 \\a\r yiinv IcttiT ni tin' lltli. anil it ^ivoK mc 

 much ph'a.siirc to .siippl.y .yon with iMloiinatidn. 



As you arc awnrc, the bidk of the ahori^^inaLs .still 

 n-maiTiinp; in .Viistralia, arc in WcsIimii .Vustralia 

 and the Northern Territory. I have no first-hand 

 knowh'<ln<' of what tll<^ Wi'stern .\ii,stralian fioyern- 

 nient are <loinii. but I see from their annual report 

 that they ari> .spendinp a very snb.slantial sum, oyer 

 £'2,5, 000, in conneolum with lie pnit<il ion of 



aboriginals, and from the nature of the report, I 

 should judjio that they are doing yi>ry good work 

 indeed. With regard U) the Northern Territory I am 

 .sorry to say that, except for grants of blankets and 

 proyi.sion.s to a limited number of these people, very 

 little had been done prior to the transfer of the 

 Teri'itory on the 1st January Ia.st year. There lia<l 

 been no law dealing \yith them until one was hur- 

 riedly put through the .South Australian Parliament 

 about the end of 1910. 



One of the first actions of my predecessor, Mr. 

 Jiatchelor, when this <lepartment assumed control of 

 the Territory, was to organise a small Aboriginals' 

 Department. A Chief Protector, two Inspectors, 

 medical, and two Inspectors, lay, were .sent up to the 

 Territory about May Ia.st. Tlie chief protector did 

 not remain very long, and it fell to me to appoint 

 a successor. I was fortunate in being able to secure 

 the services of Professor IJaldwin Spencer, the well- 

 known biologist of the Melbourne University, who is 

 perliaps the greatest living authority on Australian 

 ethnohigy. He has consented to give up a year of 

 his time towards organising work amongst the natives, 

 and, in addition, I have appointed a third lay 

 in.spector. 



A number of reserves, some of them of .substantial 

 areas, have been set apart for the exclusive use of 

 the aborigines. 



At present the work being done is largely that of 

 examining existing conditions, in order to frame a 

 policy for the future, but Professor Spencer has taken 

 prompt action to remedy evils that were obvious. He 

 has put a stop to the supplying of opium and liquor 

 to the aboriginals by the Chinese, a practice which 

 appears to have been .siunewhat rife. He has re- 

 gulari.sed the emplo_yment of aboriginals b.v whites, 

 and now no one can take a native into service with- 

 out written authority from the protector. All the 

 police throughout the Territory have been appointed 

 sub-protectors, aiul will as,sist in carrying out what- 

 ever general propo.saLs the chief protector may lay 

 down. 



I feel sure that you will agree with nu^ that Pro- 

 fes.sor Spencer's name is a guarantee that everything 

 that ought to be done will be recommen<le<l by him, 

 and I tliink I may proinisi>, on behalf of the depart- 

 ment, that his recommeinlations will be carried out. 



At pn\sent we stibsidi.se two missions, one in the 

 MacDounell Kaiige region, conducted bv the Lutheran 

 Church, and the other on the Hopor River, conducted 

 by the Church of England. In addition, a Roman 

 Catholic mission has been establi.she<l on Hathurst 

 Island, which appears to be making a very goo<l 

 start. 



1 think that you will tiiul that it cannot be doniwi 

 that there have been indiyidual instance's of ill- 

 treatinent; such perhaps was only to be expected 

 in a new countr.v, where there was V(>ry little of the 

 organisation of Goyernmi^nt, but I agree with you 

 that these in.stances have not been widespread, and, 1 

 think, seeing that it i,s now well known that tho 

 Goyernment intend to take active measures for the 

 protection of the natiye tribes entrustiHl to our 

 care, that eyeii these are not likel.v to i)e of fre(juent 

 occurrence. —Yours faithfully, 



JOSIAU lllo.MAS. 



My invitation, 1 hupc will be widely taken 

 advantage of by everyone iiUeresteil in the ab(.)riginc 

 question. For or against existing systems, in har- 

 mony with administration or not, let everyone who 

 can say anything authoritative say so, and settk 

 the in.itter once and for all. 



