Port Denison Times, 21 July 1866, p2 [2]

The Port Denison Times.

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 1866.

Our correspondent "Teila" in his letter published in our issue of Wednesday last mentions amongst other grievances the want of sufficient protection against the blackfellows. This is a question that is day by day becoming of more importance to us. For some months past the blacks have been gathering in large numbers in our immediate vacinity. Only last week Mr. Sub-inspector UHR dispersed a mob of over two hundred encamped near Euri Creek. They were evidently bent on mischief of some sort from the number of spears they had made. Mr. UHR brought in between 30 and 40 and destroyed about six times that number. They were also well supplied with greenhide, an evident proof that they had been already victimising some unfortunate cattle-owner. Natives from very distant tribes both southward and westward were noticed amongst them. From various indications, such as the boiling-down arrangements which we noticed some time ago in our account of their maneuvers at Crystal Brook, and from their growing predilection for beef over kangaroo and opossum, it is evident that our sable brethern are advancing in civilisation; and, as "Teila" observes, they seem to be rapidly losing a portion of that dread, we may say awe, of the white man, which is so great a safeguard to us, and we may add to them, as without it we should be compelled to enter upon a war of extermination or to abandon the country. Up to the present time, owing to the wise precautions of our able Inspector of Native Police, Lieutenant MARLOW, in determinedly keeping the blacks away from the town, we in Bowen itself have experienced no incovenience whatever from them, although the owners of cattle runs in our immediate vicinity have been robbed of a considerable amount of valuable property, and indeed they and their men run no small present risk from the natives, and it needs no prophet to foretell that this risk will increase as the blackfellows gradually lose their superstitious awe of the white man, and that therefore the means and appliances towardsp rotecting the country for them should be in the best possible order. Are they so? We are inclined to think not. We have very good officers and as a consequence very good troopers, but we say that we have not enough of either for the protection of the enormous area of country which, owing to the rapid progress of pastrol enterprise, it is the duty of our Government to guard. The horses too are deficient both

in number and quality; and last but not leaet [sic], although the police have a fine paddock reserve, the enclosure of which about a mile of fencing would complete, our Goverment have not thought it their duty to expend that small sum for the purpose. Consequently, were a station to be attacked and the assistance of the police never so urgently required for the protection of life and property, if the horses happened to be astray, as we understand they have been on two or three occasions lately, that assistance could not be granted. We perfectly agree with "Teila" that every Native Police Camp ought to have a suitable paddock attached to it. Of course it is not intended that the Police horses should be constantly kept in the paddock, as we do not suppose they would keep in condition, but there should always be some horses kept at hand to drive the others with, and that on occasions when an early start was required the horses might be paddocked over night. While on this subject may we say that we were very much surprised to hear from Lieut. MARLOW the other day that some people had expressed to him an opinion that the blackfellows ought to be admitted into the town. There are so many reasons for thinking the policy of exclusion which Mr. MARLOW has so firmly adopted a wise one, that we hardly understand anyone entertaining an opinion to the contrary. The results of their admission would be injurious to us, and to them perhaps even more so. The results to them would be that semi-civilisation which consists in an inordinate love for strong drinks, contamination by European diseases from which they possess no remedy, a partial adaptation of European clothing unsuited to their habits; the net result of all which is, in a marvellously small number of years, a complete deterioration of the constitution of the race and the consequent rapid decrease of it. Any loss that our troopers may inflict by shooting blackfellows in the execution of their duty is as absolutely nothing compared with this. The results to us would be first that the blackfellows would very soon lose what we have called their superstitious dread of the white man, and we should, like the inhabitants of Brisbane and Ipswich, be liable to have our men speared and our women violated by them. This has been the result in other places where the admission policy has been tried, and affords, we think, a very good reason why we should not try it. We should almost be inclined to advocate the passing of a law which should render it punishable even for squatters to admit the blacks to their stations at all. Omne ignotum pro mirifico is a very true saying, and the less insight the blackfellows are allowed to get into the white man's habits the more awe they will have for him, and the more easy they will be to manage; the less money it will be necessary to spend on our side and the less blood on theirs for the protection of our interests here.