STATE OF TRADE IN FIJI.

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2584, 30 May 1871, Page 3

STATE OF TRADE IN FIJI.

A special correspondent of a Sydney jour nal writes : . Trade at present at T.evuka H at a verj low ebb ami money scarce. Both these circumstances m«»y be easily accounted fur. With regard to' the first, the accursed wai tliat has been raging in Europe has, by stopping the outlet, brought down the price of cotton, copra, &c., to a low price, so much so that with the scarcity and expense of labour, the planters find the production of their commodities no such lucrative pursuit, Those who have cotton in stock decline to send it away pending the termination of the war, which they hope will soon terminate, and considerable quantities remain on hand. This is one great causa of the scarcity of money. Another is the large amounts that have been a’ sorbcd in procuring labour ;and a third is the traders draining away every available dollar. You would he surprised at the heaps of merchandise that are piled up in tne stores upon the beach, far, very far, in excess of the demand Importer? to A u tie la ami New Zealand of -wines, spirits, beer, hardware, dry goods, provisions, <' c , have evidently looked upon Fiji as .a certain outlet for tbeir surplus stock. And here such stock is held, considering the population, in prodigious quantities. Much of it is as dead as though buried in the cemetery at llaslcm’s Creek. In vain, those gifted auctioneers, Messrs, Burt and Cudlip, at their respective stores, offer, with eloquence that would do honour to your assembly, and with persuasive powers that would think nothing could resist, goods that I am certain would be briskly competed for in any of your Sydney auction marts. All have abundance for many months to come—there is no money on the “beach,” and no buyers for anything. lam concerned to think that there will be many sufferers in Sydney by this flood of merchandise to Fiji, ■ although, with the cessation of war, and the coming abundant crops of cotton, I think there will be a great re-action and prosperity resume her sway.