Cheaper Transport

For Copra When Reduced to Oil Form

Mr. B. B. Wiltshire, of Sydney, who has had a long connection with com merce in the Pacific, expressed the opinion in an interview recently that the tariffs imposed on products arriv ing in Australia from Fiji, Samoa and the Mandated Territory of New Guinea were responsible for Islands’ trade be ing lost to Australia.

Sydney, he said, was at one time the depot and Clearing-house for all the produce of the Pacific. Then copra was made dutiable, and submitted to cer tain restrictions by the Harbour Trust Commissioners, who declared it a dan gerous commodity. Handling costs also increased and, gradually, the volume of

trade decreased, until now it had been practically all diverted to England, the Continent, and the United States.

While discussing copra, Mr. Wiltshire mentioned that when he was in Manila a couple of years ago, he had observed that the export of copra in the raw had almost ceased. It was being ground down and despatched in the form of coconut oil, first in drums and casks, and then, when the quantities in creased, ships fitted with tanks carried the oil in bulk. This method of export was now used throughout the Philli pines and Java, and he considered that the time would soon come when produ cers in the Pacific Islands would adopt this process. Minimised balk in freight

was a great advantage, another being the recovery of the by-products—fod der, desiccated coconut, etc.

Summing up the trade position, Mr.

Wiltshire stated that if Australia wished to make the most of her oppor tunities in the Islands, the following would be necessary: (1) Better transhipment facilities in Sydney. (2) More liberal tariff towards Is lands produce. (3) Cheaper transport of produce Government subsidies for ship ping would be essential. (4) Supply of Australian foodstuffs and manufactured goods at reas onable cost.