Papuan Sugar And Wild Cats.

THE following appeared in “The Syd ney Morning Herald,” of May 21, 1932: Tropicane, Ltd., has been registered in Sydney with a capital of £20,000 in £1 shares, to cul tivate sugar, tea, coffee, etc., in New Guinea and Papua. First directors; G. Macdonald, B.

N. Missen, E. C. Ritchie, W. T. Hill, M. D.

Davies.

Something seemed to strike a chord in the memory, so we looked through our records, and we found this cutting from “Companies registered,” in the Sydney “Sun,” early in 1931: The New Guinea and Papuan Undertakings, Ltd.—Nominal capital, £20,000 in 20,000 shares of £ 1 each. The company intends to acquire mines, mining rights and metalliferous lands in New Guinea. Directors: G. Macdonald, E. C.

Ritchie, B. N. Missen, W. T. Hill, M. D.

Davies. Head Office, Sydney.

Thus encouraged, we sought infor mation at the office of Tropicane, Ltd., which was also the original office of N.G. and P. Undertakings, Ltd. —namely, 17 Martin Place, Sydney. We were frostily received—they seemed to think we were in league with “Smith’s Weekly,” or the devil, or something.

However, we did ascertain that the general idea is the sale of bonds in a Papuan sugargrowing enterprise, and we obtained a copy of a sort of pros pectus. This optimistic, cheery docu ment bore a strong resemblance to a copy of the prospectus of N.G. and P.

Undertakings, Ltd., which was sent to us last year by a Papuan resident, with a covering letter couched in really 'shocking language.

Both prospectuses, compiled with a view to inducing people to invest in sugar-planting, have been written by a dreamer. Undertakings, Ltd., although described in the newspapers as primar ily a mining enterprise, is really a bond-selling company, based on sugar growing. Tropicane, Ltd. is exactly the same sort of thing—in fact, it is the same concern under a different name.

These prospectuses contain much matter about the possibility of growing sugar in Papua—which no one has ever disputed—but nothing at all to show that practical men are behind it. The directors are comparatively unknown.

MacDonald is a “company manager”; Ritchie is a “master baker, of Lismore” —which may be so, although a recent caller who said he knew Lismore well, had not heard of him; Missen is an “advertising contractor” but not known to this writer, who has acquaint ance with the majority of advertising men; Hill is a “company manager, of Brisbane”; Davies is a “company direc tor, of Brisbane.”

These may be very worthy gentlemen; but it is not a directorate which indi cates any vast practical knowledge of the ticklish business of sugargrowing and marketing. Their prospectus is loquacious on the matter of profits to be made by the purchasers of bonds, but disappointingly vague in regard to land cultivation, labour, planting, trans port and marketing.

Papua is marvellously rich in unde veloped resources: with the result that a whole herd of “wild cat” companies have been prowling- about the Territory, promising to produce sugar rubber,

sago, nipa spirit, hemp, and so on, and begging quite pitifully for “capital.” A few people have been bitten, and lost their money; but the majority have smelt the unmistakable odor of the wud cat, and have re-acted accordingly.

But the unfortunate thing is that the activities of the get-rich-quick company promoters tend to prejudice the per fectly genuine flotations.

We do not say that Tropicane, Ltd. is a wild cat; but we do say that, as far as we can ascertain, it has little to recommend it.

The only proposition based on Papuan sugar worthy of serious consideration up to date, is the Sangara enterprise, backed by prac tical residents of Papua—and it is not intended to float this until both sugar market and world-finance are in a more satisfactory condition. Our Port Moresby correspondent, in this is sue, describes another sugar enterprise, backed by New Zealand capital, which seems to be in the hands of practical men, who are making a very careful investigation.

The investor who takes up Papuan “sugar bonds,” without the most cautious inquiry, deserves all he gets— or doesn’t get!—R.W.R.