Traders Have Their

Troubles

Prom Our Own Correspondent

Mangaia, June.

mHE small, independent storekeepers of J. this island find life difficult these days. Their lot, like that of Gilbert’s policeman, is a happy one.

The “small” store has to make, in order to survive, large profits on a very small stock. Usually the trader doesn’t benefit; it is the Administration that gets this money! And now, to make matters worse, profits are “fixed.”

Result: Several cases of alleged pro fiteering, and two of unlicensed selling of goods—one man being penalised to the extent of £l6/15/-.

Nobody holds a brief for the calculat ing profiteer. But the small traders could be assisted in legitimate business by a reduction in their licence fees (at present £5 yearly). Then, they could carry on without resorting to illegal stratagems of the kind described. .

Few complaints come from the native population, and where complaint is made, there is reason to believe that the person making it is often a “stool pigeon” of other interests.

The whole Cook Islands trading system is a mess, anyhow—the most insane forms of competition are indulged in, and there is still the old monopoly of inter island communications.

Sir Henry Milne Scott, of Suva, Fiji, expected to arrive in Sydney on a visit, in mid-September.