NOTHING TO FEAR.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 237, 4 October 1916, Page 4

NOTHING TO FEAR.

■ .'- ■ . » ~ ' . • ■ -.■•'....; HOW THE GERMANS ABE HANDICAPPED. ' A'WORD FOR-THE HUN TRADER. / CAFTATS ROSS OPTIMISTIC.Captain W. Uoss, -whose*-'-trading -Jsx- ; perience of ■ the -South Sea . Islands exj tenH3 over a period, of 35 years, 'and; ! whose firm purchased about "three- | fourths, of,the J3.H. and P.G. Company's |_Btock and property in':.the Kingdom ofTonga, possesses no pe3simifitie_views respecting future German competition against British enterprise in the Pacific' '"as.'a tnittefisfiiciSr hfe"; reiaSHied--fhiis morning in ' discussing . the : situation, "We are mot "expecting the D.H. and P.G. to start business agayi. in, -thct. Islands after And dt they" do start in the'future"-'tire^ , will have an eiiormoue. amount of leeway to make up. ■Ons, of.their-inaiugers; tola"me that .after the war_ company, would not "go back to Toifga.to trade, and would probably 'not- attempt. to- reopen business in the South Pacific at all, but would employ, their:capital, and where, better prosgect-s offered. ..In any casej" added' th"c" captain,' "tHe ferny of Tindal and Kq3s will -not be afraid of German conipe.tition,, and. I think the same remark can be applied to other British firms. Speaking personally, I welcome German 'competition.. ■-We hayeeuccesefully competed against them during the last 20 years, and we jiayfi a 1 wave found the big German firms, especially the Dfl. ; and P.G.,. the best and fairest competitors we had, because they were-there to make money and were good business people. ;lio one wishes to compete against ..a bad ness man, because, hie reckless and undercutting methods often do as much harm to his competitors as to himself." 'TThere is a; c pointj'-' liowever, which those who are feeling'tinid about'fuiture : German competition, seem; to forget. ;AccWding ■ference, which aias now beeitratified by the Entente Governmente, German traders are specifically .prohibited from returning to Pacific islands "owned" byany o£ "the Allied Powers for .a period of fiTe'y-ears :aftef : the -vir'ar. That xeaßy means the' exclusion of German eompeti,tion from the South' Pacific -during that period, as aff- the islands; arenow-under_the:flag.6f,one.or another of the Allies. It is difficult, therefore,tb understand what we. ehall have to fear v frpftl;.. German L competition, with such an immense handicap against it."