GERMANS AND THE ISLAND TRADE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 33, 8 February 1905, Page 3

GERMANS AND THE ISLAND TRADE.

A TRADER INTEBYIirwED. At the present juncture, when the . Brit** Government has communicated with the German Government re-ard- . mg the charge., made upon British trading vessels in the Marshall Group, _ w is of interest to learn anything re- . garding the position of affairs- in the " l™ : MS pUr P° se a -presence of tne "Auckland Star" had a wv' Wh ° for the past four years ' fV 1 at the 6il *ert Is- ' oi'£ wh °. "rived by the Ventura trom Sydney with the intention of permanently residing here. down at' the Gilbert Isc lands 1S pretty bad at present," re"mA ? lT C<J P ela *d. "As a matter . oi tact, it is hard to compete with the . German traders." "With equal chances cannot the British trader hold Ms own against ! the German one?" . "Well, you see, the German Firm - has a head station, with one of their . scnooners rroing through the whole i group. Their system of trading is i to give a man supplies to trade with, . on condition he sells the copra solely •to that firm. You see by that means i the trader is pretty well bound to the i one firm, so others cannot do business . with him. What we British traders : object to most, however, is that while i the Germans are allowed the full run i of trade in the Gilbert Group, which •is under British protection. British : traders are blocked in £h"e Marshall Group, which is under German protee- ■ tion. by an export duty of 30/ per ton : on the copra shipped out." "Is that charge levied only on tbe British vessels, or equally on German and British?" "So far as I know the duty does not apply to German vessels. That was the cause of the trouble with Burns, Philp and Co. To my mind the Germans want the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, so as to have a clean line through to Samoa. The new rule sim- . ply prohibits British vessels trading with the Marshall Islands. The charges on the Ysabel, belonging to Burns, Philp and Co., totalled £300. If that is to continue, the same charges should be levied upon German vessels trading in British islands." "That seems fair, at all events." "There is another matter I would like to mention. At tbe time T was at Butaritari, a Marshall Island chief named Tutuke was there. He owned considerable property in the Marshall Islands, as well as two schooners. He informed mc that he accompanied the Ysabel on the first voyage round the* Marshall Islands, assisting the supercargo in his trading operations. He recently came to Butaritari, in the Gilbert Islands, in trie ship Emily, which came from the Marshall Group to load copra for Europe on behalf of a German company. Tutuke was visiting friends at Butaritari intending to return to his home at tbe end of his visit. Shortly after he landed, a letter was received by the British authorities at the Gilbert Islands from the German authorities at the Marshall Islands, informing them that Tutuke was not a native of the Marshall Islands, and therefore could not be allowed to return. Now, Tutuke was the son of a Marshall Island chief and an Ocean Island woman, the latter place being within the British protectorate of the Gilbert Group. Tutuke says that this action is taken solely on account of his having used his influence on behalf of the steamer Ysabel during her recent trip there, and says there is no other complaint against him. When I was in Sydney I reported the facts of the case to Burns, Philp and Co., and my sworn affidavit was taken upon the matter."