Samoans are Cutting Copra

Better Prices

From Our Own Correspondent APIA, October 22.

THERE is an inclination here to bless the war in Abyssinia; for copra is rising, and is expected to go higher.

Glycerine, used in the manufacture of explosives, is a component of copra and therefore needed for the conduct of war.

Copra rose during the Great War to £43 per ton, resulting in unparalleled pros perity for copra-producing countries.

In expectation of higher prices, natives and Europeans alike are cutting large quantities of copra. Small buyers are

competing against the big firms, and native producers are benefiting by this keen competition. The weather is splen did for the cutting of copra, and all over the islands the natives are energetically at work.

A good cocoa crop is being picked and planters hope that, corresponding with the general upward movement of prices of raw materials, the cocoa price will also improve.

Prospects for bananas are also good, and the Inspector of Produce hopes to get full shipments of good-quality fruit during the coming months. Though the Inspector of Produce is an efficient and experienced official, banana shipments have not been delivered as smoothly as is desirable. Growers are urging the Administration to create an Advisory Board of European and native growers to advise and to work in conjunction with the Inspector and at the same time rep resent the interests of the producers.

Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Street arrived in Syd ney from Rabaul, New Guinea, by the Nankin on October 23. Mr. Street is Re gistrar-General of the Supreme Court in New Guinea, and during his absence Mr.

I. Shoobridge, of the Crown Law Office, will be Acting Registrar-General.