Grow Rice And
p. 27 · Read in the full issue
Tobacco!
Economic Problem For New Guinea
IT is being urged that the planters of New Guinea, being unable to sell readily their principal product, copra, should give some attention to the possi bility of producing two articles which now bulk largely in the list of the territories imports. They are rice and tobacco.
The 1939 statistics of the Territory show' that, apart from mining machinery, rice was the Territory’s largest import— the value imported from £70,565, and most of this came from Saigon and China, which are non-sterling sources. Only £13,634 worth of rice came from a sterl ing source —namely, Burma.
The Territory, in the same period, im ported trade tobacco —that is, tobacco for distribution and use among natives, as distinct from tobacco made for European trade —to the value of £35,654, and, of this, £33,691 came directly from the United States another non-sterling source.
It is obvious, as a matter of simple national economics, that if the staple products of the Territory, such as copra and gold, are to be sold abroad, the Terri tory must purchase abroad a certain quantity of foreign products—and rice and tobacco fill the bill as well as any thing else. The ultimate basis of all extra-territorial trade is the exchange of goods.
But, when a country’s staple product loses its market —as copra has done —then it is sound policy to turn around and see if the plantations can produce anything else.
There is no reason that we know why New Guinea’s requirements in rice and tobacco cannot be produced in New Guinea. But one thing is highly neces sary—namely, administrative initiative, direction and drive. What can we expect of an Administration which, for 15 years, has maintained an expensive, liberally staffed and very efficient Department of Agriculture and yet has failed to estab lish in the Territory any agricultural in dustry worthy of the name, apart from the coconut industry. And the coconut in dustry already was established there, quite soundly, when Australia took the territory over from the Germans.