Rubber Investigations In

Papua.

Letter to the Editor.

A MESSAGE from your correspondent at Port Moresby, published in November, 1937, commenting on in quiries carried out by officials of this department into the cost of producing rubber in Papua, contains the following passage:— “We hear that some of the planters showed reluctance in giv ing their lowest costs; and, com paring the cost of production on the Government rubber plantation at the Kemp Welch River with the figures submitted by the planters, the officials came to the conclusion that extravagance might be a cause in some cases of an unsatisfactory condition.”

Contrary to the statement that some

planters showed reluctance in giving their lowest costs, planters generally ac corded the officials the utmost co operation and assistance, and did everything to facilitate the investi gations along lines planned by the officials.

As the statement is liable to place in an entirely false light the Planters’

Association and individual planters whose full co-operation, at considerable inconvenience to themselves and their staffs, was a pleasing feature of the official investigations, I wish to say that your correspondent’s comments do not reflect either the experiences or the conclusions of the officials.

I am, etc.,

E. Abbott,

Comptroller-General.

Department of Trade and Customs, Canberra.

Miss J. Barton, of the Methodist Mission’s Matavelo Girls’ School, Fiji, is at present spending furlough in South Australia.