SAMON FINANCES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 117, 17 April 1934, Page 9

SAMON FINANCES.

THE BUi|i:T BALANCED. | Per Prb Association. CHRIS|CIIURCH, April 16 The economic!,.. fficulties being far' 1 in the mandat® territory of Western Samoa because;®: the decline in pric' < for copra and co> t were described 1.? the Administrate (Brigadier-Genera H. E. Hart) |!in n interview_ to-day. Brigadier-Generab l[art, who is on a holiday visit to, Aw Zealand, mentioned that the pi lion had been met to some extent by ilie remission or reduction of taxation In the form of export duties on bojjfoa and copra. Notwithstanding;; the hard times the Administration or|l’..» s tern Samoa had been able to balan its budget, said Brigadier-General fi t. That applied not only to the yea ended March 31, 1933, but also to file financial year just ended. Samoa had natural been affected by the fall in prices f<" its products on the world’s markets. Two or three years ago there was big drop in prices for the two nr , exports, cocoa and copra, and in ' addition there was a further drop of 33 .3 pe r cent, toward the end of .last , ar . As a result there was undoubted!: a ' shortage of money in the tenjitor,'. a t present. If was fortunate thlt tl;.. natives could live almost entire*' vithout money. They had not re\t 0 r interest pay and no rates or trees With the Europeans, unfortunately, tlie conditions were»di!i,, ren t. However, the total EuroDeii! population was less than 3000, .sowl ;,.- the number affected was not larged Tho Administration % . endeavoured to meet these conditions. ma king concessions in export dtttio j n November last it remitted life .) 10 ] e 0 f the export duty on coco;. ) and , educed the export duty on copnt by 33 1-3 per cent. At the beginniife oi ibe present month a further concision lV;ls made, the remaining export tax < CO pra bebeing reduced by 50 pirlcei: The banana trade i*ons; i u ted the brightest spot on the dfc°%ini c horizon of the mandated terril %»%•"! bananas were realising a paya'lp prii a fc present. In that respee; f-,i the, i> eo p]e of Niue and of Weste iyi San,<, a were much indebted to t d New Zealand Government for prov hng air steamer service by the Maui I’ofnarai without which the banana trr id;'’ w’ould not be possible. ■ i;' 1