Tropica Lutes

Written for The Pacific Islands Monthly by “Sea Serpent.”

THE re-alignment of shipping forces which seems to indicate the first movements towards a shipping war in the Pacific, is being eagerly watched by the Territories of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. When it was an nounced that the Matson Co. were building three large new steamers for the Frisco-Sydney service, and that Matson ships would include Auckland in their itineraries, many people won dered what the answer of the Union Co. would be. It has now come in the merging of the Canadian-Australian Line (Aorangi and Niagara) with the C.P.R. (Empress Line). There has been no official announcement, but it can be taken as certain that the Empress liners, sooner or later, will come from the Northern Pacific into the South Pacific to co-operate with the Aorangi and Niagara in meeting the competi tion of the new Matson liners. Suva, which is at the crossroads of the South Pacific, just as Honolulu is in the north, is certainly going to benefit; and it is quite likely that when trade and passenger traffic returns, Western Samoa will receive a better service from one or other, if not both, of the two companies. The great Inchcape combine is behind the Union Co., and powerful American interests support the Matson Line. They may com promise; but, if it is to be war, the first shots can be expected by the end of the year.

A WRITER in The Auckland Star challenges a statement that the Rev. John Williams was the first to introduce Christianity to Samoa. He says that when Mr. Williams arrived in Samoa, in 1830, he found that Christian religious services were al ready being held in some villages.

Christianity had been introduced by the Samoan natives on their return to Samoa, in 1828, from Tonga, where the Gospel was first preached in 1825.

ITS vitiated source makes the recom mendation of the Australian Stew ards Union (that a tariff to give pre ference to Australian goods be imposed on imports by the New Guinea Admin istration) more than suspect. Such disastrous consequences have attended practically every interference by the Australian Labour Party with economic conditions that it is safe policy to resist anything it suggests in the shape of tariffs; and the particular brand of Labour to which Mr. Moate (secre tary of the Stewards Union) subscribes can be classified only under the gen eral heading of “Pests.” Mr. Moate cited the Marshall and Caroline Is lands, where Japan, holding the Man date, has excluded all except Japanese goods. Mr. Scullin has replied that an additional preference on Australian goods would only place a further bur den on the residents of New Guinea.

He could have added that the prefer ence given to Japanese goods imposes no special burden on the northern islands, because Japanese goods are produced with some regard for world parity. Australian Labourites, on the other hand, force murderous tariffs, high wages and short hours upon Aus tralian producers; and then bawl their silly heads off because Australian manufacturers cannot get down to the

level of world prices in any market outside of Australia. To force such prices upon New Guinea would be an intolerable thing.

MUCH indignation was expressed recently in Rabaul when the re port was circulated that Messrs.

Burns, Philp had classed all the Mac dhui’s cabins as “deck cabins,” and intended to extract an additional 10 per cent, accordingly from the already shrunken Territory pockets. Angry New Britishers threatened to come to Sydney in a body and singe the beards of the entire B.P. board. Our Rabaul correspondent, however, made inquiries and found that ample provision had been made for ordinary accommoda tion on the Macdhui’s B and C decks, without the imposition of any addi tional 10 per cent. The A deck cabins, being really deck cabins, carry the higher rates. The company is scupu lously observing its undertaking not to raise Islands fares.

THURSDAY Island residents cer tainly believe in patronising local industry. There has been quite an influx of motor cars to the island of late; and some of the owners have adopted the novel idea of having the numbers on their wooden number plates outlined in pearl shell. The sheen of the mother-of-pearl on the number plates can be seen a long way off.

OUR Thursday Island correspondent walked right into it. He wrote, innocently enough, about “the late Captain David Reid.” By an early mail we received, from 8 Drummoyne Avenue, Drummoyne, Sydney, a letter which carried a vigour of phrase and a tang of the salt seas which indicated that the writer was very much alive, and it was signed “David Reid.” It was made perfectly clear that the “late,” like Mark Twain’s death, was a slight exaggeration. As a result, we have apologised to Captain Reid, and our Thursday Island correspondent has apologised to us, and this journal now apologises to Captain Reid’s friends.

When next the Captain visits Thursday Island, the cost of the necessary liquid hospitality may be debited to The Pacific Islands Monthly.

ONE of the pleasantest callings a man can follow these hard times (writes our Thursday Island cor respondent) is to be owed money by Americans, and it is not an over crowded profession, from all accounts.

As a case in point, we instance the experience of a local business man who received a postal note from America for the sum of one shilling. One pre sentation at the post office he received one and threepence, an increase of twenty-five per cent.

SOME more “Pidgin” from a Tongan correspondent: A Solomon boy hav ing returned from a message, deliv ered on horseback, reported to his mas ter: “Master, horse, he savvy run too much, coconut tree long road all same one feller.” Which is on a par with the white man’s description of a train which travelled so fast that the tele graph poles beside the railway looked like a fine-tooth comb.