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INDUSTRIE 463
hand more white Australians were imported and on the other the natives were
absorbed earlier in industrial pursuits. In addition, the Australians made an earlier
start in developing the country.
On 30th June 1951, excluding the police force, some 51,500 Papuans in the
Territories of New Guinea and Papua were employed by the Government and
private firms out of a total of about 1,000,000 under government control.
Wages. The wage level in New Guinea is not everywhere the same, but varies
according to area and living conditions. It is not affected by racial differences, but
only by ability. Average wages are shown for various categories of workers, both
for Netherlands New Guinea and the Australian part of the island, where they
are lower.
Wages for factory workers amounted in the last 3 years to f 40,- a month
and in addition free food, housing and medical attendance, in the Dutch part.
Import and export duties. The old rates in force in Indonesia before the transfer of
sovereignty, i.e. in a territory quite differently circumstanced to Dutch New Guinea,
still apply to the latter. It is intended to draw up a new tariff system. It is clear that
this new tariff must be chiefly directed towards furthering the development of
New Guinea itself, as has been the case in Australian New Guinea.
Power supplies. Thanks to the heavy rainfall and the extremely mountainous
nature of the country, causing steep drops, there is a large reserve of hydraulic power.
To turn this to account naturally requires a large amount of capital, which can
only be provided by the Government or large concerns. The former will only
take this step after industrial centres of some size have grown up, while any large
concerns that are established like oil companies, will in most cases use their
power installations for their own business. At Rona falls near Port Moresby
an electric powerplant is under construction (3000 to 5000 kw) to supply current
for light and power.
Next follows a discussion of which industries might be possible in Netherlands New
Guinea. In this the petroleum industry, mining and agricultural industries 1 are left
out of account, as these are dealt with in special chapters of this book.
Forest exploitation. Although New Guinea is very rich in timber the forests are
of a very mixed type, like in all tropical areas, and this is a drawback to exploitation.
But exports of iron-wood (merbau, Intsia amboinensis) are considered
possible. The large amount of softwood which thereby becomes available can
perhaps be used for producing wood-pulp, as is done at Abidjan on the Ivory Coast.
The Eurasian colonist settlement at Manokwari has led to the establishment of
1 Except those based on copra.