Driven Out!

British Planters in New Hebrides

CONDITIONS in the New Hebrides are becoming steadily worse and there is little sign of any effort forthcoming from the British authorities to help the British planters in their struggle for a meagre existence.

Residents have watched the British au thorities sit idly by, while French interests have slowly overwhelmed and displaced British interests, until France is virtually in full possession of the Group. British planters have foregone their British na tionality and become French citizens in order to secure the many benefits which French residents enjoy, in comparison with their British neighbours.

We have received numerous letters from British and Australian residents in the Condominium concerning the lamentable state of affairs there. The following is typical:— “After over two years of battling along

with no produce, due to the hurricanes,, plus the sympathy of the British portion of the Condominium, I am now starting to make up a bit of copra. I had a few tons bagged ready when the B.P. steamer, Ma kambo, arrived recently, offering £3/10/per ton —the supercargo said that, really, to allow themselves a margin the price should be £2. Anyway, I did not sell to them, but sold the copra to one of my French neighbours (an opposition trader) at £6 per ton, and he was evidently allow ing himself a fair margin of profit at that.

“As I have not had copra to ship or sell, for the past two years, I have not been greatly interested in prices, taxes, etc., but as far as I understand, the French plant ers in this Group have the advantage over the British planters in every way. Their copra enters France duty free, and in ad dition they receive a bonus of 170 francs per ton on French-grown copra. I believe the copra has to be accompanied by a declaration that it is French.

“Under these conditions it is hard to know how the British planters are going to survive in this Group. In the mean while, the British Condominium authorities sit in Vila twiddling their thumbs, or at tending to their social duties.

“To give France her due, she seems to be the only country with the pluck to' have a crack at the Unilever combine!

“The British Resident Commissioner re cently paid us his first and only official visit in nearly six years, and, judging by results, I will not worry if it is another six years before he again remembers us.

Asked about the French Copra Tax, he said, ‘Oh, they are just trying to do the same kind of thing as we did at Ottawa,’ which left us about as wise as we were before, and that’s not saying much."