Shipping Problem

A Copra Marketing Board But No Solution of Shipping Problem

rE Minister in Charge of Australia’s Pacific Territories (Mr. T. J. Col lins) announced on April 10 that a Pacific Copra Marketing Board is to be set up shortly, with head-quarters in Sydney. It will represent the Govern ments of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and the Western Pacific High Commis sion. with subordinate committees in each territory, and it will bring all the copra production of the British and French territories in the South Pacific into one pool, and market same to the best advantage.

Mr. Collins said that it should be pos sible to dispose of a substantial quantity of the present copra output—but the difficulty is to secure transport.

The crux of the problem is shipping.

Mr. Collins says that “Government con trol of marketing is considered neces sary, to enable sales to be allocated to the various countries and to economise in shipping space.”

But an interesting position may arise, as between the operations of this Mar keting Board and the vigorous enterprise already displayed by such firms as W. R.

Carpenter & Co., Ltd. Messrs. Carpen ter, instead of sitting and wailing about the difficulties of the copra industry, have been instrumental in establishing a large copra-crushing mill in Vancouver, and in securing shipping to carry South Pacific copra to the mill—a veritable godsend to the South Pacific copra industry. Sir Walter Carpenter has been in America for some months where, apparently, he has secured for this enter prise the active goodwill of the Canadian and United States Governments.

It may be expected that the Carpenter interests will not kindly accept any inter ference in their shipments at this stage by the Governments —which, after many weary months, still are dithering around with the copra problem, and which have not yet even appointed the Copra Mar keting Board which was first discussed

in the middle of last December.

The Australian Minister, Mr. Collins, has shown energy and enterprise in try ing to organise this copra pool; but even he cannot move the mountains of bureaucratic inertia—democracy’s great est wartime danger.

IT was announced late in March that Messrs. Carpenter had purchased in Canada an iron steamer, 51 years old, 4,618 tons, and were reconditioning her to carry copra between the South Pacific and Vancouver. She is an old tanker, built of thick iron plates—slow, but when reconditioned, she should be thoroughly serviceable. She had been used for years as a floating fish reduc tion plant at Lansing.

A member of the Carpenter firm said to the “PIM” recently: “We have com plete confidence in copra. If the authori ties would only let us have three or four freighters per annum to carry the copra to market, we could sell the whole of the production of the territories in which we are interested, at prices which would make it unnecessary for the Australian Government to provide funds wherewith to subsidise copra-growers.”

SO far as financial assistance to copra growers is concerned, it was an nounced by Mr. Collins that con certed action by the South Pacific Gov ernments is to be confined to market ing—any financial aid to planters (the difference between marketing receipts and a living wage) is to be provided by the individual territories. It was under stood that there was to be some co ordination of financial effort between the different territories, but there is no indi cation of this.

The Minister announced that the Commonwealth Government will appoint a board to regulate and control the copra industrv in New Guinea and Papua, and assist in the distribution of financial aid (which will be provided by the Common

wealth Government to supplement the proceeds from copra sales).

The outstanding feature of all this discussion is the extreme slowness with which Governments act. It is six months since Sir Harry Luke and Mr. Collins, recognising the condition of South Paci fic copra planters, arranged the copra conference in Sydney. That took place in mid-December. Four months have passed since then. Another two or three months probably will elapse before the proposed organisation will begin to function —and, by that time, the copra producers will either be dead from star vation, or will have made other arrange ments which will make them indepen dent of Government assistance.

It was announced, recently, that Brit ain had undertaken to buy from the Pacific Copra Marketing Board, to be formed, about 100,000 tons of copra—a quota to be allotted to each British and French territory. But the position in relation to transport is becoming worse.

Britain can take 100,000 tons of copra, but it may be impossible to provide transportation for much of it.