Remember ?

Do You Remember ?

Copra was news in the South Pacific of 20 years ago. The outlook for the industry was “dark”, and planters were be ing urged to face up to the fact that there was a lack of markets and a lack of trans portation. The war was now

being felt.

Here are some extracts from that Issue of “PIM” of June, 1940; In Rabaul the New Guinea Branch of the Returned Soldiers’ League asked for the deportation or Intern ment of enemy aliens and all per sons “having or suspected of having Nazi sympathies, and in particular the following persons”. It then supplied a list. * ♦ ♦ In Fiji, income tax, which had been increased only recently, was further increased by the measure of lowering the figure at which ex emptions were granted. Still free of tax were married men with less than £450 a year and single men with less than £2OO. ♦ * * The outbreak of war was forcing Tahiti to severely ration its dollar imports from America, and to re place them with imports from Australia. Hopes were expressed by Tahiti businessmen that reciprocal trade would continue after the war. + * ♦ “PIM” reported that when Mr.

Winston Churchill, Britain’s new Prime Minister moved into 10 Downing Street in May. one of the first radiograms he received read: “Samarai, May 9—Congratu lations. Hold fast. We are com ing.—Dusty Millar”.

When it was explained to the new PM that this apparently was Papua’s way of saying that men were enlisting for the war, Churchill replied, “Well, we want all the humour we can get—so long as there is a rifle at the end of it!” * * * A murder case had shocked people in Western Samoa. A young Samoan woman was sentenced to death for having strangled her 10 months old child. The murder created wide interest because Samoans are passionately fond of children. * * * Despite the dark cloud that hung over the Pacific copra industry, other industries were booming— including New Caledonian nickel, New Hebrides cocoa and coffee, Fiji’s gold and sugar, and the fruit industry of Tonga, Samoa and the Cooks. This was being looked on as something in the nature of a lesson for the future. All crops shouldn’t be placed in the nn» basket.