Australian-Samoan
p. 32 · Read in the full issue
Trade
A Good Chance Is Being Missed
From Our Own Correspondent
Apia. Dec. 1.
THE devaluation of the £ Sterling has had a marked effect in Western Samoa, where—probably because
most of Western Samoa’s cocoa is sold in the American market —there always has been a large importation of American goods.
All purchases for which dollars are re quired are now sharply restricted and, while the present situation lasts, Western Samoa must turn elsewhere for the goods which customarily have been brought in from the United States.
There has been some move here to in sist that the tariff should be adjusted to
give American goods the same duties as are enjoyed by British goods—but under present conditions little is expected to come of that.
Australian manufacturers and exporters should note that they have an excellent opportunity at present of capturing prac tically the whole of the Western Samoan market. The depreciation of the Austra lian £, in relation to both the British and New Zealand £, and the ban on the use of American dollars, means that Austra lian goods can be landed in Western Samoa at rates with which British and other goods simply cannot compete. Fur thermore, Australian goods in this country have a good reputation in regard to quality.
Australia’s greatest present disability in this connection is the lack of a direct shipping service between Australia and Western Samoa. This, combined with the apparent reluctance of Australian ex porters to send commercial travellers here with samples, means that many dis tributors in Western Samoa who would like to try out the Australian lines are forced to buy British and New Zealand goods. Why do not Australian exporters combine, to exploit these markets?
Australia imports a lot of cocoa—it is strange that Australia does not buy the excellent product of the Samoan cocoa plantations. This would help Samoan- Australian trade considerably.
It seems that there is need of some vigorous agency to publicise and straighten out these things.
In the Western Pacific High Commission Gazette of October, and under the Native Status Ordinance, 1941, three men of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony were declared non-native. They are Robert Leonard Sutherland, George John Brech tefeld, and John Armstrong Murdock.