Ships For Tonga

Talk of a State Enterprise

Better To Open New

Markets

THERE is a hint of an interesting shipping development in the Tongan Islands.

The Tongan community is not satis fied with the existing shipping services. (Islands communities — say Messrs.

Burns Philp & Union S.S. Co., bitterly— always are dissatisfied with their ship ping services.) Tongan ports have been served, for innumerable years, by the four-weekly trips of the Tofua, carry ing cargo and passengers.

The main trouble seems to be that practically a fortnight elapses from the time the Tofua leaves the Tongan ports until she reaches Auckland; and the trip, via Apia and Suva, does not im prove the fruit cargo intended for the New Zealand market. Tonga thinks it should have a more direct service.

The Tongan Government — as gov ernments go these days — is rich. It has an accumulated surplus of about £150,000. The question has been asked, why should not Tonga inaugurate its own shipping service, just as New Zea land has done with the s.s. Maui Pom are?

It is not likely that the idea will go beyond the discussion stage. Shipping experiments are costly. Even New Zealand, with all the trade of her Sa moan, Cook Islands and Nuie territories to call on, made a loss last year on the Maui Pomare of £5,000.

The Island territories get precisely the shipping service that their trade warrants. If Tonga, for instance, wants better shipping facilities, it should look to Australia, rather than to the over-served New Zealand market, and join with other Pacific communi ties in a united effort to break down the barriers which the Commonwealth has so unwisely erected against Pacific trade. If Tongan products could enter the Australian market, Tonga very soon would have a prosperous fortnightly service instead of an attenuated mon thly service.

Much better to make an effort to open the rich Australian market, than to dissipate valuable cash on shipping experiments.