Tropicalities

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

ONE can almost hear the sigh of relief with which Messrs. Brown & Joske, managing agents for the Fiji Coconut Planters’ Union Ltd., penned this paragraph in a recent circular; “This will be the last Bulletin we shall issue in 1931 —a year the equal of which we hope not to see repeated. At the end of 1928 copra was £25 a ton; at the end of 1929 it was £22; and at the end of 1930 it had sunk to £ 16. That, however, was only child’s play as compared with the crash in the middle of 1931 —down to under £10 a ton. No one knows what the future holds in store for us. but one thing is certain —the future cannot be worse than 1931. We therefore take the oppor tunity of wishing you a happier and better new year.”

At the end of the previous year I was in London, and I was much in trigued when some of the popular newspapers there, dismissing 1930 with bitter curses, pointed out that if the figures in the wretched year were added together they made 13—so, perhaps, said the grumbling scribes, nothing much better could have been expected.

Now, Messrs. B. and J. say nearly as cruel things of 1931. It almost makes one uneasy regarding this promising young 1932. * * * FAR too little has been heard about the Nauru-Ocean Island radio telephone installation. How many peo ple know that these two islands —the seat of the important phosphate in dustry—talk regularly, easily and con veniently with each other by wireless, and also with approaching and de parting ships which carry the necessary telephone equipment? I wonder how many Pacific Islands administrators have examined the possibilities of this invaluable equipment. The problem of quick communication between groups and between important centres in the one group, has now been most success fully solved by wireless transmission of Morse signals; but the provision of wireless telephony, to supplement the necessarily limited Morse communica tions, would be a tremendous conveni ence. I understand that the wireless telephone is now used by Guinea Air ways Ltd. in carrying on its fine aerial transport service between Lae and Wau, in New Guinea. * * * Elsewhere in this issue, it is noted that the planters of Tonga have vigorously entered the New Zea land banana market and that an en deavour is being made to arrange ship ments so as to avoid a clash in that market with the bananas from Fiji, Samoa and the Cook Islands. It seems almost impossible that a market glut can be avoided. There is, in the four Groups Samoa, Fiji, Cook Islands and Tonga—an almost unlimited cap acity to produce bananas, whereas the New Zealand market is very limited indeed. The copra price is now more satisfactory, but uncertain; and there is a strong tendency throughout the four Groups to depend more for imme

diate income on the quick-growing banana. Unless there is some co-opera tion between these four Territories, it seems inevitable that they will get into each other’s way in New Zea land market, and that the growers will suffer the loss which is usual when a market glut occurs. If the four Ad ministrations could act jointly, they could not only hold their export down to the capacity of the market, but they might also be able to make effective representations to Australia, so as to bring about the opening of that huge market to Pacific Islands bananas. The effect of the present embargo is that the large populations of New South Wales and Victoria receive a limited quantity of bananas that are quite a miserable fruit in comparison with those from the Pacific. Also, Australia, so far as her tariffs are concerned, is now in a chastened mood. In trying to protect home industries, she has gone to ridiculous extremes, killed much of her overseas trade and learned some hard, bitter economic truths. She may now be in a position to listen to reason. * * * A METHOD of catching fish, which has been followed with keen in terest by many visitors to the Eastern Islands, has been prohibited by the Cook Islands Administration. The method is to block up two ends of a section of a lagoon and impregnate the water thus enclosed with a nar cotic, which is contained in the crush ed nuts of the utu tree. The fish, under the influence of the drug, become silly and helpless, and are easily speared by the men. or gathered from out of the coral by the women. Large num bers of natives organise these fish drives periodically, and feast mightily upon the harvest thus gathered. It is be lieved that the decision of the Raro tonga authorities to forbid the prac tice has been taken because of a grow ing paucity of fish in Rarotongan waters. * * * HERE is the latest one from the Solomons: A Mataram “towerist” (as Skipper Voy used to say) landed at Tulagi to view the sights, armed with the vague information that “the pub was on the hill.” He trudged around in the blaz ing heat; then, in his thirst, this young man’s fancy lightly turned to thoughts of iced beer. He ascended several hills without success, and then with flag ging footsteps made up the steepest grade, which leads to the highest hill.

At last he came to a building more imposing than the rest, and asked: “Is this the pub?” “No,” said the Resident Commissioner, sweetly, “This is the Residency!” * * * BEFORE Mr. J. G. Fowler, a Papuan Resident Magistrate, entered the tropical service he was a journalist, and he tells with keen enjoyment of

an unsual newspaper experience.

Through some combination of circum stances he edited one newspaper in Cooktown, Queensland, while his father edited the rival newspaper. They were friendly at home, but in the columns of their respective newspapers they quarrelled violently, after the manner of country editors. Spmetimes the advantage lay with one—sometimes with the other. One day, after the senior editor had been somewhat roughly handled by his “reptile con temporary,” he referred bitterly to his rival as “the young cock-a-doodle doo.” The junior editor, however, came back thus; “The difference is this; The old rooster has lost his spurs and feath ers. The young rooster has not.” The argument thereupon ceased. * * * THE curriculum of Tonga College, which has been in existence in Nukualofa for many years, was pub lished and commented on in a recent issue. It was pointed out that a large proportion of the 80 or 90 pupils there will spend their lives as planters on a limited area in the Tongan Islands; and it seemed ridiculous that, for this purpose, they should have forced upon them several subjects which belong to the realm of higher secondary educa tion. A recent visitor from Nukualofa strongly emphasises this view. He says that the majority of the young Ton gans from this college eagerly seek positions in the Government service, but there is not room there for a quar ter of them. It is believed that quite adequate education is provided by the missionaries and the primary schools.

The effect of this higher training given by Tonga College is, in a social sense, more harmful than otherwise. Euro peans in Tonga are strongly of opinion that far more good would be achieved if, instead of Tonga College, the Gov ernment maintained a college of Agri culture, where the better-class young Tongan men would learn the principles of the work to which they must apply their lives and, more particularly, would acquaint themselves with the technique of producing new crops. Re cently. when the depression and the drought rendered the production of copra impracticable, and the Tongan planters wanted new alternative crops, they were rather pathetically helpless.

They did not know what to grow, or how to grow it. * * * EVERYONE concerned was genuinely sorry to say farewell to Mr. Chifley (the Federal Labour Minister who had charge of Pacific Islands affairs) and to note that he had lost, his seat in the political debacle. Mr. Chifley’s strong and genial personality won for him many friends among the Islands Ad ministrators and residents. Unlike some members of his party, he never allowed political prejudices to colour his decisions—he was a just, fearless, far-seeing and hard-working Minister, who earned the respect of everyone with whom he came in contact. It is a great pity that political ties should sweep out of office a man who is so well qualified to give good service to his country.