Crowded Tahiti

Increased Population Brings New Problems of Housing and Water

From Our Own Correspondent

Papeete, Oct. 5.

PAPEETE, during the war period, has increased in population an esti mated 50 per cent.

This has had the usual consequence of congestion, due to insufficient housing, and progressive profiteering in rentals.

Land values have ascended to truly astronomical levels. This is chiefly caused by competitive buying by those who—having accumulated considerable funds during the war—are persuaded that land is the only commodity which has any chance of emerging from the wrath to come, possessed of any value.

The early morning market at Papeete now resembles a mob scene in a hectic Hollywood drama, as men and women compete for the fish our crafty fishermen maintain in limited supply.

This is typical of the predatory miasma which has invaded nearly every phase of Island life—to banish, perhaps for ever, the old spirit of gracious goodwill and kindly good manners. “Paradise Lost” would be, Indeed, the most truly descriptive title for a History of Tahiti during the past 25 years.

The same title would serve for an essay on the manifest destiny of the white man in the Orient. Those who discourse learnedly on the causes which have undermined European prestige in the Orient, have overlooked one major fac tor—the employment of men of African negro blood as soldiers and officials on the continent of Asia.

Anyone who has studied the so-called reconstruction period following the Civil War in the United States, may vaguely comprehend the effect of that immediate folly on peoples of the Orient, who proudly trace their ancestry to the im mortal gods. rE increased population has made necessary additional sources of sup ply of water for Papeete. A new system—nearly completed—will convey water from springs in the Tipaerui Val ley to supply the western half of the city. The eastern half of Papeete will, then be amply supplied from the old pipeline carrying water from the Fau taua Valley.

Tahiti has been a well-watered island.

Water supply is, however, visibly dimin ishing. The mania for chopping down trees will—if allowed to run its course transform the “Pearl of the Pacific” into a bleak, thirsty desert.

The efficient Director of the Depart ment of Agriculture is performing ad mirable service in repairing the damage; but he cannot keep up with the de stroyers.

The industry of tree massacre was in troduced by the early navigators, who considerately choose bread-fruit trees as their first victims. To-day, if a tree is beautiful, it is marked for destruction.