Pacific Franc
p. 19 · Read in the full issue
Future Of The
Colonies Fear Decisions Made In Paris
ALTHOUGH it was announced during the month that the French metro politan franc had increased in value in the exchanges of the world, there re mains in the French Pacific Colonies— New Caledonia and French Oceania —a certain amount of uneasiness at the trend of recent customs and exchange develop ments.
It always has been French Imperial policy to tie the economic machinery of the French Colonies very tightly to the economy of France. Wherever possible, French colonial trade is kept jealously for France—all French colonial profits are directed to Prance.
New Caledonia and French Oceania have never been very happy over this policy, especially in the last ten years. Its weakness was exposed in 1940, when the European war shut France off completely from all communication with her Colonies, and New Caledonia and Oceania were politically and economically isolated.
Theoretically, they were supposed to conserve all their economic resources for France; but actually, as France was gone and they were surrounded by the active trading nations of United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, they were compelled to set up a completely new economic structure.
After the war, when France again was free, it was found impossible to resume the old economic tie-up between France and her Pacific Colonies. The economy of the latter now was closely integrated with the economies of the Pacific nations.
Thus there was established the Pacific franc which, in international exchange, has a value completely different from that of the Metropolitan (or Parisian) franc.
NOW there is alarm because the Econo mic Council, sitting in Paris, has been investigating France’s Colonial currencies and has condemned, among other things, the Pacific franc and the Indo-Chinese piastre. There are indica tions that this body of “experts” may now interfere with the preferential cus toms system, and try to establish a new value for the Pacific franc. One member of the council has condemned any separate relationship between the French overseas francs and foreign currencies— with for example, the Australian £, or the United States s—and$ —and argues that such relationships are a step towards the loosening of political bonds with France.* One can see how the minds of the Metropolitan Frenchmen are work ing—it is so typical of French Colonial policy. But it is not regarded with any pleasure by French interests established in the Pacific Colonies—they know that any interference with the economic struc ture that has been created to provide for the special circumstances existing in the Pacific, may have disastrous conse quences.
Noumea’s newspaper “Bulletin de Com merce” has pointed out that the Pacific franc, and the economic structure it rep resents, were forced upon the French Pacific countries by their geographical situation —they are surrounded by active trading nations like Australia and the United States; such nations provide the * It takes 981 metropolitan francs, but only 178 Pacific francs to equal £ 1 Stg. The US dollar can be bought with 60 Pacific francs, or 349 metropolitan francs. In other words, the Pacific franc is five times more valuable than the parent franc.
French Colonies with excellent markets; and it would be nothing short of a cala mity if, for purely ideological reasons, New Caledonia and Oceania were shut off from those markets. Any attempt to force the Pacific franc into line with the Metropolitan franc would inevitably raise the cost of living.
Indications are that the dicta of the Economic Council will be fought very strongly by New Caledonia and French Oceania if they mean that those two im-* portant French Colonies are not to enjoy the full measure of self-government guaranteed to them by the constitution of the Fourth Republic.
“Why should the Metropolis still try to force on us this policy tutelage, this objectionable dirigisme?” asks the Noumea newspaper. “Not less, but more liberty is wanted here, as must be ad mitted, wherever there is a genuine de sire to develop the economy of the French Union.”