SAMOA'S TRADE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 217, 1 June 1918, Page 8

SAMOA'S TRADE

COPRA—AND THE BEETLE

TRADE COMMISSIONER'S IMPRESSIONS

His Majesty's Trade Commissioner (Mr. E. W. Dalton) has returned to Wellington after a visit to Samoa and Tonga. He was directed by the British Board of Trade lo make a visit to these islands in order to prepare a report concerning some trade matters, and though his lime was limited he was able to gather a largo amount of information bearing upon the commerce of the groups. lie spent about a month at Samoa, and he expresses his warm appreciation of the courtesy and assistance that he received from the Administrator (Colonel Logan).

Speaking to a Dominion- reporter yesterday, Mr. Dalton said that the commercial prospects of Samoa were bound np with the copra trade. The conra was being produced, but shipping was scarce, and very large quantities of tho product had accumulated in (he hands of the mcrchanls. The output of copra had heen affected to some extent by Iho depredations of tho rhinoceros beetle, but this pest has been got in hand, largely through Ihe activity of the Administration. The beetle was being ';ent within bounds, and 'rhi> insects were becoming smaller, a fact that had been nttribnli'd to inbreeding. Tho removal of dead am! decayed wood, which provided breeding places for the beetle and the weeding of the plantations were tho rufians employed in fighting the beetle. Some of the small plantations had suffered badly. But the larger plantations were being kept in good condition. In fact he had been informed that on the big plantations the production of copra had not been materially affected by the pest. The shortage of shipping naturally was a verj serious matter for the peoplo engaged in the copra trade. Copra wna accumulating in the hands of the traders, who etored it in big sheds on the beaches, and as these traders had to pay cash for an article that could not be sold again until it reached an outside market, they were gravely hampered in their operations, When the traders became overstocked the price of copra tended to fall, and then the natives, who were not enthusiastic workers, would stop cntt : ng instead of trying to maintain their incomes by increasing production. This was simply a phase of the general labour problem. Before the war much of the trade of German Samoa was in tho hands of the German company known ns the D.H. and P.G. This concern has been placed in the hands of a liquidator, who has sold the contents of its stores, and is now directing the management of its extensive plantations in Samoa. Mr. Dalton states that these plantations, which cover thousands of acres, are probably in better condition now than they were when the New Zealand Forces occupied German Somoa. The liquidator is employing the old staff to a large extent. The ultimate fate of these plantations and of the other interests of the D.TI. and P.G. will be .decided when the end of the war comes.

Kefcrring to tlic general trade of the occupied Sam<xui territory, Mr. Dalton said that, subject to the satisfactory solution of certain difficulties, Samoa presented opportunities for development. The difficulties that had , to be understood were understood 'by the Administration. With, development would come increased trade. The natives were already in a good financial position. They were able to buy poods of quite good quality on a fairly extensive stale. Most of the trade was done in textiles, which had been supplied by the. United Kingdom before the war. During the last three years the Americans and Japanese had secured a considerable amount of the trade, but he had little doubt that when the British brands could return to Samoa, the trade, or most of it, would revert to the old channels. The worjrt's markets would take copra in very large quantities when the shipping situation became normal again. Samoa had some cocoa plantations, which produced cocoa of a very good quality, and also rubber plantations. The output of cocoa and rubber was email at the present time, owing to several factors, but it might bet'omo important in the future. The conditions in Tonga, milled Mr. Ditlton, were pretty much the same as in Samoa,,, except that copra was the only product: of the Tonijan firoup. Tlio inlands were badly affected by hurricane and drought in' 1915-16, but the coconut groves bad made a good recovery during the last twelve months, and this year's copra output wos exnected to be well up to the average nf the years preceding the. hurricane. Most of tire trade of Tonga was carried on by British traders, though prior to the war the D.H. and P.G. had its branches throughout iho group.