Australian Enterprise in New Caledonia
p. 36 · Read in the full issue
New Caledonia
Contributed.
T'HE policy of the Government of New Caledonia, to drive out of French ter ritory all enterprises that are not French, failed in the case of the Austral Guano Company.
The Company, at great cost and after many years of work, proceeded to work the guano deposits at Walpole Island. The Government, following its usual methods, imposed a crippling duty on the product, which it classified as “phosphate.” The Co. contended that guano was not phos phate; and, after long and plucky litiga tion, it wen. But. probably, it will not benefit much. The Government will get it in the end.
The Forestiere case is an example of that. The Co. won, after endless litiga tion: and, nominally, it should get sub stantial refunds from the Government.
But what hope has it got?
The memory of Kamehameha the Great, Hawaii’s first monarch, who brought all the islands of that group together under one rule, will be honoured with an exten sive programme of pageants, parades and sporting events in a celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of his birth, on June 11. Kamehameha Day—June 11 —has always been observed as one of the most important Hawaiian holidays.