TRADE WITH EAST INDIES

Hokitika Guardian, 14 August 1931, Page 6

TRADE WITH EAST INDIES

AX INTERESTING SIDELIGHT

WELLINGTON, August 11,

An interesting sidelight on the possibilities of trade between New Zealand and the East Indies was obtained from :Mr A. Faithful, of Cromwell, Centra! Otago, vho returned to the Dominion by the LVlakura yesterday after having spent two and a half years in the Federated iMalay States. Mr Faithful, who was in charge of one of 11 dredges owned by Southern Toronk Tin Mines, said that while there was a very large native population in the Federated States, there was also a large number of Europeans engaged in the tin mining industry and one of. the clue! drawbacks of life was the difficulty experienced in securing articles of food, such as butter, meat, apples, and other products of .New Zealand. During the time he had been .in the Federated States he had only once seen fresh meat, and that was when a hunting party secured two wild pigs. All of the butter used was tinned, and was of a very poor quality. The manager of a dredge near Ipoh had discovered that ‘the butter he was receiving bad two labels on the tin, and he had soaked them off to discover thta the Now Zealand label on tile outside had been pasted over the label of its origin. Mr Faithful added that he hau travelled down to Sydney with the New Zealand Trade Commissioner (Mr Schmidt), who had just completed a survey of the East, /and he had explained the position to Mr Schmidt. He believed Mr Schmidt’s activities during his survey would lead to increased tin die between New Zealand and the East Indies, and to better conditions for Europeans working there. . Referring to new markets in the House of Representatives to-day, the Minister of Industries and Commerce (Mr P- A. de la Perrelle) said the commissioner had returned from a visit to the East Indies, which had been very successful. He hoped to have an interesting report in about a month s time.