Subsidise The Copra Industry

Interesting Plan Urged By Resident of Fiji

A PLEA for assistance for the copra industry, based on sound and vigor ous reasoning, is made by Mr. S. H.

Wilson, of Savu Savu, Fiji, in an article in the “Fiji Times” of December 10.

Mr. Wilson points out that, apart from copra, there are at least two great in dustries in the Islands —sugar-production and gold mining. But, in each case, the profits of those industries go directly to shareholders who do not live in the Is lands : whereas the whole proceeds of the copra industry are spread through the Islands communities.

Also (proceeds Mr. Wilson) copra keeps fully 75 per cent, of all inter insular shipping in regular employment.

Wages, ships' stores, and repairs are all paid for in the town centres. Thus cop ra helps very considerably in the eco nomic stability of those places.

We hear loud-voiced acclamation about the justice of the democratic form of Government, but we are apt to over look a very unjust and dangerous form of autocracy which is allowed to exist within our democracies, and that is the autocratic rule of the big buying com biner. These are allowed to plunge pri mary industries into despair and misery, when they think it can be done with not too much risk to themselves, keeping most of the profits within the orbit of their own organisations, rarely ever giv ing the consumer-buyer any of the ad vantages of the lower prices which they are able to force the producer to accept for his raw material.

These forces are an economic danger and are the root cause of low prices in industries, that are in themselves disun ited or unable to protect their interest collectively on account of the scattered nature of the places of production. Such a one is copra.

Mr. Wilson reminds us that the Is lands territories now are becoming high ly important units in the plan for de fending the European-Pacific countries against the future southwards thrust of Asia. The best way to make those Is lands bases stronger is to increase the European populations and guarantee them security, by assisting and protect ing their main industry, copra-produc tion. Other industries have had much Government protection: but practically nothing has been done for the copra in dustry. Why not? A measure of gen eral assistance at the present time would make a world of difference to the eco nomic condition of the Islands commu nities.

Mr. Wilson makes a practical sug gestion: That the Fiji Government ad vise the Home Government to grant some preference to Empire copra on the British market, as against the huge im portations of foreign oils and oil seeds.

This policy would be equally advantage ous to both the inhabitants of these Is lands and British industries, as all the extra money earned by copra would be spent on imported goods of British origin.

He presents the argument also in this way: These Islands should be helped to a better trading position by those coun tries who will benefit most through the strategical position of these bases on their trade routes. Australia. New Zea land and Great Britain are the coun tries that will benefit most, therefore is it unreasonable to look to these Govern ments to give some assistance to the main, and, in some cases, the only means

of gaining a livelihood by the people of these Islands groups?

It is to be hoped that this sound pre sentation of facts, in favour of assisting the copra industry, will be considered by the British Empire governments con cerned. Three things appear to be es sential; and. in their order, they are: 1. —An exchange of views by the Empire governments concerned, with a view to joint action. 2. —Consideration of ways and means of beating the powerful and merciless combines, which now control the copra market, and which would try to grab any benefit designed for the copra producer. 3. —Discovery of a practical method of giving preference, in British markets, to Empire-grown copra.

All the foregoing arguments and con siderations are based upon a plan for giving help to European copra-growers in the Pacific, south of the equator. In this connection, it must be remembered that the quantity of copra produced south of the equator, while large in it

self, is so small in the total of world production, that it is not even listed among the world’s chief sources of sup ply. The world copra market is sup plied chiefly from the Netherlands In dies, Malaya, Ceylon, the African Coast, and the Philippines. That fact, how ever, simplifies in some directions the solution of the problem presented by Mr.

Wilson.

Tuboutoa, Crown Prince of Tonga, who has been a law student at the University of Sydney for a year, is at present at home in Nukualofa. He will return to the University this year, and take a course in anthropology under Professor A. P. Elkin.