Pacific

Shipping Services In Central And South

Position of Trade Between Islands and North America

We publish hereunder, in full, the text of a letter received from the Assistant Vice Presi dent of the General Steamships Corporation, Ltd., of 432 Cali fornia St., San Francisco.

OUR attention has been called to the following article which ap peared in the February issue of Pacific Islands Monthly (page 89) mder the heading of “APPEAL TO

Ship Owners”:

.“Tourist interests in Tahiti are irging that the Union and Matson Lines be given cargoes to encourage -hem to send passenger steamers ;o Tahiti. .These two companies, in he past, have rendered valuable icrvice to these islands. They relped to put Tahiti and other South Seas Islands on the tourist nap.

“To-day there are European teamship companies entering the stands trade and carrying cargoes, ►ut they do not seem to care whether Tahiti prospers or not—all hey want is to get the freight noney and move on.

“The Matson people have said

that if Tahiti can help their ships with only 500 tons a trip, it would encourage the Line to send to Tahiti vessels that could carry passengers and tourists. This would not affect the Maritimes, which comes from France. We want the tourist traffic from North America, Australia and New Zealand.”

We are sorry to say that some of the statements are grossly mislead ing and it is apparent that the person writing it was either not acquainted with the facts or had no knowledge about the part which Pacific Islands Transport Line has played in developing the Islands trade.

This Line commenced operations between the Pacific Coast and the South Seas in 1938 with two vessels, MS Thor I and MS Velox, both of Norwegian registry. Subsequently the Velox was substituted by MS Philae and, prior to the war, was the only Line offering regular service from this coast to Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, New Caledonia, New Hebrides, Solomons, New Guinea, wdth occasional calls to such out of-the-way places as Fanning Is

land, Washington Island, Niuafoo, Canton, Tarawa, etc., carrying petroleum products, lumber and general merchandise south-bound and returning with full cargoes of copra north-bound, principally to Mexico.

At the outbreak of the war all commercial shipping was withdrawn from the trade to serve the Allied cause, with the result that most of the Pacific Islands, principally, Tahiti, Fiji and New Caledonia, were left with practically no con nection with the mainland. How ever, with the co-operation of our principals, Messrs. A. S. Thor Dahl, Sandefjord, Norway, it was arranged with the War Shipping Adminis tration and British Ministry of Shipping to retain the MS Thor I in the trade, as both the American and British Governments recognised the importance of keeping these islands supplied with foodstuffs and other materials.

Throughout the war the Thor ;I was not only an important factor in maintaining the economy of the islands but also rendered valuable service to the common cause. We are certain that important firms with large interests in the South Seas, such as Bums, Philp Co. (South Sea) Co., Ltd., Morris Hed strom, Ltd., W. R. Carpenter & Co., Ltd., Etablissements Donald Tahiti, Ltd., Etablissements Ballande, can subscribe to this statement.

During that time this vessel carried not only essential materials from America to the islands under direction of the War Shipping Ad ministration, but also full cargoes of copra from Tahiti and the Marquesas to San Francisco, which was urgently required for the war effort, especially since there was a complete shut-off of similar supplies

from the Philippines and the Netherlands East Indies. She also carried, as passengers, Government and other personnel in both direc tions and between the Islands ports.

We do not know what prompted the article in your publication but we hasten to assure you that the Thor I is still operating regularly from the Pacific Coast to the United

States and Canada to Papeete, Apia) Suva, Noumea, etc., carrying s capacity list of passengers (12) anc general cargo to these areas. Everj possible effort has been exerted to obtain return cargoes from Tahit and other islands but so far we have been unsuccessful, especially copra* The reason for this is twofold: — (1) The British Government re quires that all copra produceo in the Fijis and Solomons b* shipped to Great Britain Australia or New Zealand while the French Govemmem requires that copra produceo in the New Hebrides, Tahiti and Marquesas be shipped t* France. (2) Since the resumption of ship< ments from the Philippines tx USA and the reinstatement oc the Excise Tax on coconut oi derived from copra (term porarily suspended during tlu war) prices on copra from thi South Seas have been noni competitive.

We have also endeavoured to obc tain copra for British Columbia, bu importers have not been able t; consummate any business.

Without detracting from thr efforts which other Lines haw rendered in developing trade bes tween the Pacific Coast and thr South Seas, we should like to ca'j your attention to the fact tha Union Steamship Co. of New Zea*

and primarily serve New Zealand nd Australia, calling at Papeete nd Rarotonga southbound. The )ceanic Steamship Co. (Matson) ormerly called at Suva, Pago Pago, few Zealand and Australia, but ave changed their service whereby liey are now calling only at Sydney nd Melbourne. During the past lx months they have had several essels call at Papeete enroute to ustralia, but their service to that ort cannot be considered as jgular.

In closing, permit us to say acific Islands Transport Line has een an important factor in the Bvelopment of trade between the acific Coast and the South Seas, ur principals are determined to mtinue this policy and have üblicly stated on numerous oc isions that they are ready and filing to supplement the service Efered by the Thor I with Iditional tonnage, if and when the ade warrants taking such steps.

We have given you the back round of this matter as we are nte certain that you may desire > correct any wrong impression hich your article has undoubtedly ven some of your readers.

Editorial Note

T was through inadvertence that our writer, in February issue, failed to include the Pacific lands Transport Line with the imes of the Matson and Union ines, when making his plea for irgoes. We apologise to the eneral Steamship Corporation, eyond question, the Thor I has ven the Islands a useful service.

What is of greater concern to the lands is the absence of copra rgoes for North American ports, nder present conditions, all South ‘as copra is being drained away Europe, and there is a dwindling nount for North America.

That is due to a number of ctors, of which the eagerness of •itain and France to grab all their lands trade for themselves is only le. Over a very long period, the tiited States arranged its tariffs id its shipping so that Philippines pra was readily admitted, and the oduce of other Territories more or 5S discouraged; and of course that ily encouraged the non-American ands to buy their goods where ey sold their copra.

The international situation has anged, and is still changing. All •n-Asiatic countries in the Pacific •w are under American protection, id the ties between the South icific countries and the United ates are growing stronger, every ar. Always, the tendency of trade to follow the flag; and, if the minant flag is American, then Dre trade is likely to go to nerica. But, if there are to be velopments in that direction, it

will be necessary for the Americans to give serious thought to some of the tariff and port laws which govern the introduction of Pacific Islands produce to their country.