THE NEW HEBRIDES

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 104, 4 May 1936, Page 10

THE NEW HEBRIDES

JAPANESE COMPETITION

ACUTE LABOUR SHORTAGE

SURVEY

PROBLEMS

"The Japanese have captured by far the largest part of the native trade in the New Hebrides," said Mr. John Fletcher, formerly of the Survey Department, Wellington, and now a boundary commissioner of the New Hebridean Survey Service, in an interview today. Mr. Fletcher and his wife have been in the New Hebrides for the past seven years, and are at present completing their furlough in Wellington after a three months' tour in Australia.

Japanese goods, Mr. Fletcher said, had been undercutting all others, particularly in the very considerable trade in cheaper commodities with the natives. Competition had not, however, stopped there, and many of the French and British plantation owners' requirements were now being supplied by Japanese factories. Plantation owners complained that British goods were too expensive. The import trade of French goods, which had" formerly, been very considerable, had now been transferred to the East because of the cost of the French gold franc. An interesting account was given by Mr. Fletcher of the decline in British plantation-holding and the increase in j French land ownership that had taken place in the New Hebrides. At one time Britain controlled by far the! largest part of the trade, and owned very considerable plantation areas in the archipelago. France, however, made determined efforts to establish a colonial footing, apart from that held by her missionaries, and since the islands were placed under the joint authority of British and French representatives—the so-called "AngloFrench Condominium"—she had taken a considerable and material interest in the islands. This alone would not have been sufficient to cause the transfer of large areas of land that j took place immediately before the I depression. NATIVES DISINTERESTED. The cause of the decline in British plantations was that they had to depend on the labour of the natives, who were not essentially interested in planting, whereas the French plantation owners imported Tonkinese labour in considerable quantity from French Indo-China. As far as Mr. Fletcher knew, the British had power to bring over British Chinese from Hong Kong, but the idea had apparently never jbeen approved or at least exploited by them. A bond had to be deposited whenever the Tonkinese were brought into the New Hebrides, and they were generally signed on for from three to five years. Many British plantations had been unable to compete, and as there j was an ample supply of French capital these were taken over at what appeared now to be very good prices by the big .French company in the islands. At the present time, as a result, there were four times as many French owners as there were British, though the latter were generally in a much more sound financial position. The very acute labour problem affecting the British interests in the New Hebrides had been investigated in IJJ27 by a special commission consisting of the Governor of Fiji, the High Commissioner .for the Western Pacific, and the Administrator of Nauru, but no report was ever made, and the matter.was lost sight of when the depression reduced the demand for copra, and for labour to work the plantations. Now the question was again likely to become one of importance. . CONDOMINIUM CONTROL. ' When asked how the condominium I form of government was working, Mr. Fletcher said that in view of the particular difficulties it had to meet, tlie system worked very well. Although there was friendly rivalry between the British and the French, the planters of both nations were very friendly to each other. He had worked for six months of the year with a French surveyor, as joint ' boundary commissioners, away from headquarters at Bila, the administrative centre, and always found his companion' and the French planters the best of friends. In the more or less dry season between June and December, Mr. Fletcher said, he and a French surveyorcommissioner, each with ten native "boys," would make expeditions frequently into very difficult country for the purpose of making surveys and determining titles to land. Everything had to be carried, as there were no roads except here and there on the coast, and where there were no native tracks the subtropical bush was almost impenetrable. The combined area of the islands was about half that of the North Island of New Zealand, and in parts they were distinctly mountainous, rising in one part to well over 5000 feet. There were three active volcanoes, and the whole structure was that, of coral island, elevated and broken up by volcanic action. Fruit was plentiful, and was one of the staple items of diet oh the long expeditions; There were no wild animals, snakes, or poisonous insects, but lowlying parts were usually well stocked with mosquitoes. LAND TITLE DIFFICULTIES. Although' surveyors very seldom met with active opposition on the part of the natives, the determination of title to land was- one of very considerable difficulty, particularly as much of it was claimed as having been exchanged 2or a few muskets, knives, beads, and similar goods in the very early days. There, were no surveys at that time, and most of the natives who knew anything about the sales were now dead. Before title to any land could now be settled it was necessary for the two commissioners.to interview all the old native chiefs and to collect other evidence, as with New Zealand Native land. The New Hebridean Land Court, which is also the civil and criminal court, was presided over by a neutral Belgian Judge, assisted by two others, one French and one British. There was also a native advocate, who was a Belgian. The official languages were French and English. In spite of the difficulties of nationalities, said Mr. Fletcher, the land system, as well as the legal system, appeared to work satisfactorily, and the only major problems at present facing British residents were the acute labour shortage and the replacement of British trade by Japanese.