Missions And Traders

THIS is taken from a personal letter from a man who has made —and is still making—a success of trading with the natives on one of the larger islands of Melanesia: “The secret of success —if there is any secret —is to gain the confidence of the native. By this, I don’t mean to make a brother of him. Far from that —no na tive is allowed to hang about my veran dah after his business is done.

“But help them in every way that you can. If a mother dies, see that the baby is supplied with a bottle and milk, and see that the bottle is clean —the beggars will let a bottle go sour. Help half-castes in making their returns; bank tax money in your safe for them —and so on. Soon, if they are in any trouble they will say: ‘Let us go and see the father.’

“I have never bothered about mission trading. The missionaries’ methods are such that any storekeeper who knows his business need not worry about the very small difference the missionary makes to his turnover.

“Yet the whole matter of mission tra ding is infernally difficult. The head of the big mission station near here is one of the best chaps in the world: yet the fact remains that he takes work out of the hands of local traders, boatbuilders, at this most difficult time. The head of this mission is a man who does a good turn for every soul needing a helping hand, whatever the colour of the skin; and I would do nothing to hurt him.”