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Report about Chinatown Rabaul

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Brigadier General 22-May-1919 Memo View

The Brigadier-General (possibly George Johnston) writing to The Secretary of the Department of Defence, outlining steps to be taken to seize control of land (and other assets) in Rabaul's Chinatown from Ah Tam. COLONY OF GERMAN NEW GUINEA (in British Military Occupation)

Rabaul, 22nd May, 1919

MEMORANDUM FOR :-

The Secretary, Department of Defence, MELBOURNE.

In a previous report I stated that when Major Cummins assumed the responsibilities of Acting Commissioner for Lands, he told me that a number of leases between the Government and various citizens -- planters, traders and others -- which were due for reappraisement of rent, had been left in abeyance, and among these was a lease of Chinatown to Ah Tam, due for reappraisement in April 1917, that had not been dealt with. Upon further inquiry it was discovered that Ah Tam paid an annual rental of about £20 for this lease to Administration and there was every reason to assume that he was drawing considerably over £1000 per annum for leases in Chinatown. Ah Tam owned several houses and buildings in Chinatown, and had financed many concerns there. His actual rents for leases and buildings amounted to over £2000.

All Chinese in Rabaul are compelled to reside in Chinatown, where practically the whole of the area reserved and leased to Ah Tam was occupied by buildings.

I arrived at the following conclusions:

  1. A regulation which prevented Chinamen living anywhere but In Chinatown; the restricted area of Chinatown; the fact that Ah Tam leased the whole of Chinatown, and was able to charge any rent for sub-leases, appeared to be a most undesirable monopoly.

  2. Ah Tam paid the Government £20 per year for a lease which should have been re-appraised in April 1917, and obtained for the actual ground leases over £1000 per annum. Any increase in rent caused by reappraisement would be passed on by Ah Tam to the occupants.

  3. To prevent Chinatown becoming a collection of humpies building restrictions were necessary: To provide for any increase of Chinese residents a further area would have to be added to Chinatown.

  4. The Government was well able to collect rents from occupants in Chinatown without the assistance of Ah Tam: The Government would be fairer than a private citizen who had only his own interests to study.

  5. A conditions would soon arrive when Administration would have to assume responsibility of Chinatown and buy out the monopoly.

From old documents and statements made by residents, Major Cummins was able to obtain the following information, some of which although unsupported by documentary evidence, is generally reliable and I submit the whole of the following facts are worthy of every credence:-

  • In 1906 (the) North German Lloyd commenced the construction of the present existing wharf in Rabaul, and made endeavours to attract and compel the removal of the existing Capital then established at Herbertshöhe (now Kokopo) to Rabaul.

  • It is stated that through the influence of the German Royal family interests in the Lloyd the Government were compelled to remove to Rabaul, where the major portion of the land had been previously acquired by the North German Lloyd in 1905. The Government thus became the tenant of the Lloyd, and had to resume land from this Company for building the new town . The only other settlement on this side of the harbour was that of Hernsheim and Coy., who had built their main station on the island of Katupi, but owned freehold land adjoining North German Lloyd land on the south.

  • The New Guinea Coy. and Forsythe, who had established themselves at Kokopo since 1897, were reluctant to remove to Rabaul, as the Capital had already been moved six times since 1885, and their vested interests had suffered.

  • In 1907 pressure was brought to bear, and the large firms were compelled to buy land from the North German Lloyd for business purposes and remove to Rabaul.

  • At that time there was no labour available to erect the new town, and Hernsheim & Coy. endeavoured to obtain a grant of land on the condition that they would supply indentured labour but Governor Hahl, who had reluctantly consented to the remove of the Capital, and being of the opinion that a considerable amount of victimization had been practised by the North German Lloyd, monopoly of the town lands, refused to grant a further monopoly to an already powerful firm.

  • The Government, however, recognised that it was necessary to obtain reliable and efficient labourers for government work and for private persons, and Chinese coolies being deemed most suitable, Ah Tam, a trustworthy Chinaman, was granted a 30 years lease of about 17 acres of land adjoining the North German Lloyd land on the north, the lease commencing in April 1907. The conditions are attached to this lease were roughly as follows:-

  • Ah Tam had to import Chinese Carpenters , coolies, washermen, cooks, and other labourers for the Government and for private use, for which he was paid a capitation fee.

  • He was also required to import Chinese women for the use of citizens and others. (None of these women remained in a state of prostitution -- they have all married or made some matrimonial relationship with Chinamen.)

  • All Chinese, other than those whose duty compelled them to live at the place of their occupation, had to reside in Ah Tam's lease, which was called Chinatown.

  • Chinese were permitted to open stores &c. only in Chinatown.

  • Ah Tam was granted a monopoly to trade in opium and nobody else was allowed to import it. (This monopoly was worth at least £2000 per annum, but among my first acts on assuming duty here was an order prohibiting the further importation of opium.)

  • Ah Tam was allowed levy a tax on gambling houses. (Efforts were made during my term of office to induce me to licence certain gambling houses in Chinatown but this was of course most naturally refused and gambling and gambling dens in Chinatown are illegal.)

  • Ah Tam had power to sub-let any portion of Chinatown, but only to Chinese or other Asiatics.

  • All rents collected were the property of Ah Tam.

  • Ah Tam carried out his part of the contract, and a prosperous Chinese town has grown upon the land. There are at present 40 shops and residences, and about 36 additional residences erected in Chinatown. In the great majority of cases the houses are the property of the tenants who lease the land from Ah Tam.

  • The first rental charge was 100 marks (about £5) for five years. At the end of the first period of five years the lease, which was subject to reappraisement every five years, was appraised at a rental of £20 per annum.

As already stated a further reappraisement was due in April 1917, and when I was put in possession of the whole of the facts as set out, and arrived at the conclusions referred to, I appointed Major Cummins as commissioner to re-appraise the land, which was of course greatly enhanced In value, and generally preparations were discussed with a view of bringing moral persuasion to bear on Ah Tam with the idea of inducing him to terminate the lease of Chinatown.

Ah Tam is a prosperous old citizen, who has done exceedingly well in Rabaul; and believing that this Administration would re-appraise his lease at a considerably increased value, and probably open up other portions of the city for the extension of Chinatown, he voluntarily agreed to surrender all his right, title and interest in the lease of Chinatown, and the rents due to him from sub-leases in Chinatown, on condition that he were permitted to obtain sub-leases of those portion of Chinatown on which he had erected buildings (which were still his own property) and on the further consideration that we paid him the sum of £400.

The actual amount of rent due by sub-leases of Chinatown lands to Ah Tam is over £560. These are good debts which can be collected without the slightest difficulty.

Ah Tam had a further claim of £300 against Administration for the housing of certain coolies, who are generally occupied as wharf labourers by Burns, Philp & Coy. and other firms. I regret to state that this liability of £300 had never been brought under my notice, and apparently was unknown until this investigation.

The effect of this transaction is that Administration pays £400 to Ah Tam and secures his voluntary resignation of his interest in the lease of Chinatown, destroys a monopoly, and permits the introduction of certain building regulations, both sanitary and otherwise, obtains the immediate collection of £561 from Chinese sub-leases, the cancellation of a debt of £300 due by Administration to Ah Tam, and immediately enters into the most prosperous occupation of a complete little town which will secure a direct rental to Administration of at least £1000 per annum. Also sub-leases will be charge a nominal fee of about £2-2-0 for a lease and probably 10/- registration fee for a renewal or transfer of such lease.

I regard this as a completely satisfactory transaction which will be most profitable to Administration, afford a maximum amount of protection to our Chinese residents, permit the introduction of all sorts of improvements thought necessary, and the complete cancellation of a monopoly which would be regarded with considerable suspicion and distaste in any other part of the world.

I desire to bring under this notice of the Minister the excellent work performed by Major J. J. Cummins, Chief Surveyor and now Commissioner for Lands, who first directed my attention to this state of affairs, and then, after many conferences between Major Rowland, Major Cummins and myself, most ably carried out an amicable settlement and arrangement so particularly favourable to this and the further Administration of these possessions.

At an early date I hope to be able to give you further details concerning the actual rents to be obtained from Chinatown, and furthers suggest permanent improvements in Chinatown which will be of immense benefit to the citizens. Among these I may state as an example the necessity for the introduction of a few additional wells (there is only one in the town), fitting a windmill or substantial rotary pump to the present well, which is 50 feet deep, and is now manipulated by means of primitive and often dirty buckets.

Brigadier-General, Administrator.