PACIFIC OCEAN’S FUTURE

Hokitika Guardian, 13 September 1923, Page 4

PACIFIC OCEAN’S FUTURE

AY! lAT IS BEING DONE BY POWERFUL UNION.

A WELLINGTON, Sept. 7. The belief of the pan-Pacific Union is that this mighty ocean is destined to loom large in world affairs. Perhaps it bolds in its hands the key to newer and higher civilisations than any to which Europe has attained; in any case it is bound to alfect the world’s history in an increasing degree as the nations which border it arc developed and educated, for tliey number two-thirds of the people of tiio earth. A COMMON CAUSE. Air Alexander .Hume Ford, director of the Union, whose work is one oi incessant organisation and effort, told something of wliat his hotly stands for. ‘•We are working unolncially for the Governments of the Pacific countries,’' he said, “and we can do for them things which they would licit care to do themselves, The .Prime Ministers of your country, of Australia, and of Canada, tho Presidents of the United States, China. •Japan, the Ring ol Siam, all are honorary presidents ol this union. THE COAHXG CONFERENCE “It is an unofficial organisation, but lacs flic goodwill of ail in bringing the peoples of the Pacific together into better understanding and co-operative interests common to tile Pacific area. It Inis held five conferences, the first which took place in 1911. being financed partially by appropriations made by the Au'slraiian and New Zealand Guvennnentx. And now we have called another, to which "ill journey Air L. O. Howard. Amorii-a’s loading entomologist, who will take the chair. 'lbis will be held in duly of next year. “The nhieets of this conference conics under dilferelit heads, but one of the mot,l important is that it will attempt 11, roira .-'ome sort of internal ion.nl agreement, as to loodstulls and food conservation. THE AFTEHAIATH. “Tho aftermath of the Great War has left us in such a position Unit there will always be a food shortage from now on. Europe cannot now supply her own needs, nor can America cope' with Europe’s demands. And one of the most important forms of food icing fish, wo arc vitally concerned with the fisheries of the Pacific. “Our scientists tell us that with a proper knowledge of the movements ol fish and of the conditions affecting 1 l:cm there should lie sullieient fish in the Pacific to furnish tinned food for cent oi-ics to come. Blit if the depiction whirls is now {.xoinji on rontinmvs, m n few decades our lisli will so have fallen awavtliat there will he no hope ol

bringing them up to tho world's needs again. .Prime .Minister Bruce has said that at the Imperial Conference he will bring up the mailer cd a l’aoJ’neific l.eague of .Nations. A TENTATIVE AG It EEAI EXT. "if life conference approves, matters will be easier; bin at present wliat wo waul i-- to get Ihe leading inteinationnl lawyers and the fishing men together. and to see if they can frame u tentative agreement to ensure cou-t-eiration of our lisli. To give you an instance of win!, lias happened, let me say tint lisli in Hawaii lo years ago was lb cents per lb. Tim Japanese fisheries commenced sending their sampans 1909 miles to fish in those waters, and the result is that now lisli is priced at (if) cents per lb in Hawaii. Again, the Japanese caught small fisli to use as bait further out. They look lliose ir large quantities, and now ii has been discovered that these small lisli were morelv the young of the ohm. a

fish of 1 All lbs. and that when tin should have been ready to be cm" there were no more in Hawaiian wa

ers. The result was that the ennuerie; there bad to close down litis year. “This kind of tiling is happening everywhere, and the United States i calling an international conference with a view to preventing the dumping

of petroleum into harbours by ships, heeause it lias been lulling the iish. Von in New Zealand have wonderful potential fisheries, uiiicii may be menaced; you see anybody can trawl anywhere at present., except inside a. three-

mile limit, and you are vitally interested in helping to bring about the ending of the present unscientific methods. “Then there is the question of economic entomology, which a ill enable us tc deal with insect pests. In Hawaii we had the leaf hopper, which was destroying our sugar cane, and we sent our scientists in search ol its natural enemy. FOUND IN QUEENSLAND. ‘They found it in a parasite in the centre of Queensland, and took it to Fiji, where it stayed to be acclimatised, going oil to Honolulu, where again it spent a period for acclimatisation. I hen it was taken to Hawaii, and let go. and in two or three days the leaf hopper bad been exterminated. The parasite then found nothing upon which it could live, and died out in turn. There was the ease of the lautann. the roof and flower of which were attacked by two parasites, so that in two or three months the whole area looked as if it had been burned up. We cheeked that by similar endeavour, as we did the fruit fly which was introduced by an Australian steamer, the latter being countered by a South African ant. Agriculture is only possible and profitaide bv due attention to entomology, and this our conference is to discuss. A POLICY FOB PLANTS.

“Further, there will be the matter of plant patholgoy and international quarantine policies. V\ o want uniformity in the customs of dealing with foreign plants. Some plants from overseas may ho perfectly harmless, others may bo like some grasses which, when introduced to Hawaii, commenced eating up the forest, and lias created a serious position up to the present time. Others may he like the alga rah tree (the one from whose husks the Prodigal Son fed), which was introduced some time ago from the East, and has proved most beneficial, the whole honey crop of the islands now depending upon it. It such a tree were introduced into the Northern Territory of Australia it would stop the spread of the cactus and make hundreds of thousands ci acres of good grazing land for cattle. But we must know what to try.

NOW AS TO TRANSPORT. “Forestry and climatology will also he a subject of attention. Forestry you bear something about in this part of the world, and there is no doubt that if China were re-afforested she could produce twice as much as at present. When you destroy the forest yon destroy the crops. Topography too. must he a matter of attention, for then it can .he told to what certain countries are suited and in what areas certain crops may be grown. “And one of the most important of all the matters before the conference will be that of the transportation and distribution of all food products. At present when you send butter front

New Zealand to Japan, it lias to go into cool storage at Hawaii on the way. THE WEAK LINK. “Our union is urging all large cities to provide cool storage facilities, and has also prevailed oil certain Pacific lines to increase the cool storage accommodation on their boats. The Orient is prepared to receive more frozen butter and frozen meat, and we hope to see a. line of steamers from Java to New Zealand. The weak point in the Pacific communication chain at present is between Perth and Java, and wc have reason to believe that Australia would unite with New Zealand in sending steamers through here. Tho trip from Perth to Java can be made in five days.- Under the present system of transportation it takes three weeks. A commission should bo appointed to survey the possibilities of the various (•outvies, see wliat they are best suited to produce, how great a population they can sustain by tlic-ir own elforts, and wliat surplus foodstuffs they would have for export to each other and to Europe.”