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ELLIOTT ELLIOTT
ELLIO OTT ELLIOTT
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JAR U610F M81.
Piccadilly Meade
Ex-Wari:F Bros Sluded
Tel. 67988
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B796B
PERT$ WEDNESDAY,SEPTEMBER 12, 190.
NO. 6,197.
sZVZNTYSECOND YEAR.
PRWE TBRELPENCE.
Native Mission Celebrates 1st Birthday Pallottines Aim to Uplift the Half- Caste Pioneer Labours in RoadMaking and Building .. . Future Centres Round Technical Training of Children— By RECORDER.
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Among the many problems which Australia will have to face in the Postw ar period none is m ore cmnple . and urgent of solution than the welfore of the black race, in whose land and place we stand. Despite the conflict of ideologies, even in our midst, the awakened sense of public responsibility finds common ground in the claims of all contenders to be seeking the establishment of a social order based on social justice. And if there are preferential claims in such a matter, the aboriginal race, both full-blooded and halfcaste, must surely have a high priority. There is no useful purpose to be serv• ed, perhaps, by recalling the hardships and injustice's which the Australian aboriginal has received in the past from his white brothers except in so far as it may help to underline the collective moral obligation upon the Australian people to compensate these unhappy folk and to make their welfare and happiness part and parcel of the New Order we all hope to see. It is perhaps understandable, if not excusable, that we should lose sight of the plight of the full-blooded tribes. They are so remote from our centres of population that they might as well be living in another continent. But in their regard it is a striking and humili• ating fact that the bulk of missionary work is being done by foreigners, and in New Guinea at least the mission• educated native has given asurpassingly good account of himself during the war years. The problem of the half-caste is more mediate and tangible, though it is of no less complexity . In this State we have almost a fifth of the Austra. lian total of these children of No Man's Land. Moreover, while the birthrate of our own people is in dangerous decline, the multipliction of the halfcastes is amazingly prolific. Since 1(901 they have trebled their numbers. Their lot is a sorry one. Detribalised, they are not accepted by the full-
blooded aborigines, nor do they wish to be classed as "blacks." On the other hand, they are debarred from the society of white men . Hence it is small wonder that they live in a state of confusion and frustration . Having no defined social status, they become the victims of environment and neglect, and frequently lead idle and dissolute lives in and about country towns throughout the State. To make some practical and positive contribution towards the uplift and rehabilitation of the half-castes, Archbishop Prendiville decided in Septernber of last year to found a Mission for their welfare. Despite the difficulties of the war period, the work has proceeded and a satisfactory stage of development has been reached. It was necessary at the outset to choose a centre which would not overlap the "sphere of influence" of any other Mission area. Wandering Brook was at length decided upon as a focal point for the natives situated in and about Dwarda, Boddington, Narrogin, Williams, Pingelly, and Brockton. This
site.had the added advantage of being adjacent to the Perth- Williams-road and of being close to the township of Wandering. The Minister for Native Affairs duly issued an authority and St. Francis Xavier's Native \fission Station came into -Being on an abandoned farm property of 2,600 acres. The mortgage on the land was very kindly cleared by the Crown, and an additional area of 7,000 acres of Crown and forest lands was included in the reserve.
Rt. Rev. Mgr. J.Hannan (National Director of the Propagation of the Faith ), Rev. Father J. J. Rafferty,and a full-blooded native, at St. Francis Xavier' s Native Mission,Wandering Brook.
MERCERS AND DRAPERS 215.219 William Street, Perth
Portion of the sixmile road made by the Pallottine Brothers Mission to the WilliamsPingelly Road.
E. LUISINI
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Meanwhile, Archbishop Prendiville had invited the Vicar Apostolic of Kimberley, Most Rev, Dr, Raible, Y.S.M., to staff and conduct the Mission. Bishop Raible is Superior of the Pious Society of Misisons, aid the pioneering work of these Fathers and Brothers among the natives at Beagle Bay and Lomhadina is -widely and favourably know. Rev. Albert Scherzinger, 1'.S.\b, was appointed Superior and \tanager of the new Mission, and brings to his task a long and comprehensive knowledge of the natives and theii customs. Three religious Brothers, simtlarly experienced and competent farmers to boot, assist him. They took up residence shortly before last Christmas, their first moms• tery being an old wool shed standing in the cleared portion of the old farm, overlooking the ruins of the homestead. Their first major problem was the construction of a serviceable road into the \fission, and the three Brothers toiled ceaselessly surveying, clearing and grading the track and constructing a bridge over the Bannister River. To-day agood road runs six miles from the homestead to the north-west corner of the property, where it joins the Williams-Pingelly-road, thus bringing the Mission within easy distance of the (ity ( So miles), yet leaving it sufficient ly remote from the larger towns to preclude the natives from undesirable outside contacts. (Continued on Page 6.)
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