Do You Remember ?

From PIM of 20 Years ago.

Rubber troubles and copra troubles—they had them all 20 years ago, just as they have to-day.

Starvation, we said, when copra dropped to £l2 Stg., in London.

Yet, if the 1953 £ is worth only a 1933 5/-, as most people say, that

meant £4B Stg. at present day

values. Take away the favourable rate of exchange from the South Pacific copra producers of 1953 and maybe they are not such million aires as we think!

Here are some other extracts from our issue of February 1933: “Burns Philp (SS), Ltd., have now ex tended their activities to French Terri tory—on Wallis Island—having acquired the interests there of Messrs. J. S. Brlal and Wing Ming and Co.” * * ♦ “As a result of the New Zealand Government embargo on fruit grown in Australia or Australian territories, the shipping service maintained by Burns Philp with ‘Morinda’ between Auckland, NZ, and Norfolk Island has been dis continued.” * * * Papuan rubber planters were still hav ing trouble with Australian rubber manu facturers who were refusing to buy Papuan rubber until the Federal govern ment cancelled the 4d per pound duty imposed on rubber imported from any where but Papua. Mr. E. C. Harris, then Treasurer in Papua, and Mr. Arthur Jewell, Member of Papua’s Legislative Council, journeyed to Sydney to meet representatives of the rubber manufac turers. The discussions, contrary to ex pectations, were amicable enough, and the parties withdrew to consider ways and means of mutual help. Greatest obstacle to success seemed to be that the Aus tralian government got £50(),000 per annum out of the 4d impost on foreign rubber and was naturally unwilling to give up this sweet morsel. * * * “Two European prospectors, William Naylor and Emile Clarius, and nine of their carriers were killed in an uncon

trolled area between Surprise Creek and the Langamar River, Morobe District, NG, on January 6. There was no evidence of conflict; it seems obvious that they were surprised and clubbed to death.

District Officer G.W.L. Townsend and ADO Penglase set out for the scene of the massacre as soon as the news was received.” * * * Copra had slumped again—down to £l2/2/6, cif, London. ‘‘This means starvation for the copra planter,” we said, and commented that there seemed no reason for the fall within a few months from £l5. other than that Unilever had bought enormous quantities of Antarctic whale oil cheaply. * * * The late Robert Dean Frisbie, then a resident of Tahiti (and who had not at that time gained fame as an author) wrote an article for PIM wherein he de manded damages from writers of Sooth Seas literature which lured men to the Islands by false representations. ‘‘On the island of Moorea,” he wrote, ‘‘along two kilometres of beach, there are If) white men who have arrived in the past six months. They are all victims of ridiculous books about the Pacific such as ‘lsles of Eden’ and ‘White Man, Brown Woman’ Mr. Loring Andrews is responsible for about half these men. In his book ‘lsles of Eden’ he tells his readers that money is a secondary matter in the Islands—in fact that one can live on 10 dollars a month and have a new girl every day.” * * * As you will read elsewhere in this present issue, when the Australian Terri tories Department recently called appli cations for cadet patrol-officers for the P-NG service, there were 200 applicants for the 30 positions. An encouraging response, one might think. But 20 years ago, when applications were called for six New Guinea cadetships, there were 2,126 applicants. After the wheat was sorted from the chaff, there was still an imposing array of university graduates, ex-RAAF officers, ex-Naval officers from Jervis Bay, plain accountants and other mental and physical giants for the Terri tories Minister (then Mr. Marr) to choose from.