May be Lean Months
pp. 45-46 · Read in the full issue
Has The Rot
Set In?
May be Lean Months Ahead for Fiji Indians
Suva, Oct. 18.
IF the present anxiety on the part of Indian importers to unload newly arrived merchandise is any indica tion, there should be some interesting developments in the price of drapery and manchester goods in Fiji in the next few months.
Before the Pacific war, almost all Indian storekeepers in the Colony bought their softgoods from the Big Firms on a 5 per cent, discount. The fact of be ing a storekeeper seemed almost sufficient reward for them, and they were content with ridiculously snjall profits of perhaps 1 or 2 per cent. Few Indians imported goods on their own account.
Then came the American invasion, and a period of absolute panic-buying. The bought everything as it ap peared on the shelves, some of which they shipped home to America (where a great deal of it came from originally) but mostly to throw away as presents to local Fijians or Fijian girls. Cotton goods, ladies’ underclothes, men’s wear— all were snapped up as soon as they ap peared and European residents were forced to do such buying as was permit ted them through the good graces of departmental heads, and by stealth.
The first result of this mad scramble on the part of American soldiers and the suddenly-enriched Fijians, Euronesians and Indians was that the Big Firms closed down on the Indian storekeeper—
all their stocks were needed for their own stores, and selling their precious goods at 5 per cent, discount no longer made sense.
The Indians begged and howled, but it got them nowhere; and eventually they were forced to seek other sources of supply, and for the first time started out to try to make overseas contacts for themselves.
Indian import agents sprang up all over the place, and storekeepers, in tune to the wild stampede that was going on in the retail trade, began to place over seas orders, apparently overlooking the fact that by the time these orders ar rived, the scene might be vastly changed.
MOST of those orders were placed something like two years ago, but are just now arriving in the Colony; and, although there is still a fair amount of slack to be taken up, the scene has changed vastly and will change even more in the months immediately ahead.
It is almost impossible to keep any thing a secret here: and when one store keeper two years ago ordered 500 dozen ladies’ panties, it was not long before his neighbour, and his neighbour, and his neighbour, infected by the buying bug. was placing orders for a similar amount of goods. At the rate of two
years ago, these stocks might last the storekeeper a week or a few days; but at the normal rate of consumption they are likely to last him 10 years.
The position at present, therefore, is that the Indian traders and indent agents are running around in circles trying to unload on one another, and if the pre sent rate continues ladies’ underclothes, household linen, towels, etc., will be a dime a dozen in Fiji, in six months’ time.
It seems a fantastic situation that these consumer goods are allowed to flow freely into a Colony like this, while the pro ducers in England are not permitted to buy as much as a sheet or a towel.
It is likely that some Indian firms will be bankrupt before the situation straightens Itself out. But in the long run who is going to lose? It is obvious that, having once established overseas connections, such storekeepers who do survive are not going to return to pur chasing from the Big Firms for resale at 2 per cent, profit. They will be able to import from overseas, make a modest but adequate living, and still beat the Big Firms. rE greatest source of Indian wealth is still, of course, the manufacture and sale of jewellery and curios.
Many people—and not Indians—seem to
think that this insatiable demand for tortoiseshell, cat’s-eyes, shells and fila gree will go on indefinitely and that there will always be an overseas demand for such things: But this is doubtful. The dull brown and green of tortoiseshell and cat’s-eyes is something of which one easily tires; much of the workmanship is extra ordinarily crude, and most of the “sil ver” filagree work is made of any white metal but silver.
None of this stuff is in any way com parable with the exquisite, and cheap, costume jewellery which, before the war, came from Czechoslovakia, other central European Countries or from the United States The only really good “buys” in Fiji at present are hats, ivory and silver from Ceylon, mats, baskets and purses from
Samoa and other islands; and the newly arrived “paua” shell jewellery from New Zealand. Called the New Zealand marine opal, this “paua” shell is made into all manner of ornaments, mounted expertly on solid silver and sold in this Colony for little more, if any, than the New Zealand price.