New Hebrides
p. 24 · Read in the full issue
Financial Crisis In
French Government Anxious About Commitments
CONFIDENTIAL information to hand from the New Hebrides indicates that economic conditions in the Condo minium are bad.
The group, as is well-known, depends largely for its sustenance on the products of the plantations—mostly copra and cocoa, with a fair amount of cotton —and those are the products which are suffer ing so badly to-day on the world’s mar kets. In consequence, planters have suf fered severely.
Furthermore, there have been compli cating factors in the New Hebrides. Dur ing the boom years—and partly during the period when Britain was on the gold standard—the French were very eager to purchase plantations from the British.
The prices they offered were high and many sales took place, with the natural result that French financial and commer cial predominance in the group became more marked.
Not only has the price of copra and
cocoa fallen to calamitous levels, but the primary producers thus affected are suf fering from the fact that, while Britain and other nations have abandoned the gold standard, France is adhering to it.
Another complicating factor lies in the responsibility of the French Government for French investments in the Condomin ium. During the good years the Admin istration assisted its nationals in finance to a marked extent.
The net result of it all is that the French Government and the Bank of In do-Chine have heavy obligations in the New Hebrides and, owing to the slump, there is very little prospect of their get ting their money back. Practically none of the planters can pay interest, let alone principal, and, in fact, some of them have difficulty in meeting the bare cost of liv ing.
An important official recently arrived in the New Hebrides from France to take whatever action was necessary. Our in formation is that he found an economic situation that caused him alarm; with the result that the steamer Bucephale was sent specially to Noumea to bring the French Governor of the Condominium to Bila. He was expected there early in March.
Some of the big French trading firms have gone into liquidation during the past three years. Others, with greater re serve strength, have survived the crisis; but one of the biggest of them is severely affected by New Hebrides conditions, and a very drastic overhaul of its internal or ganisation is now proceeding.