Manawatu Evening Standard. TUESDAY, FEB. 21, 1939. NORFOLK ISLAND.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIX, Issue 71, 21 February 1939, Page 8

Manawatu Evening Standard. TUESDAY, FEB. 21, 1939. NORFOLK ISLAND.

The arrival in New Zealand recently of a party of Norfolk Island residents, who have found it impossible to make a reasonable living there, is hardly surprising. In recent times considerable dissatisfaction has been expressed by settlers who till the soil for its re-' wards and earn practically nothing from their labour. New Zealanders w r ho have been attracted to the island have been sharply disappointed, and in the party who came here recently -were settlers who had spent their lives on Norfolk Island. Though access is difficult to the shore because of a high cliff-bound coast, the climate is most congenial and the land of excellent fertility. Oranges, lemons, passion fruit, figs, pineapples, guavas, and other fruits grow abundantly, and potatoes, maize, onions, and arrowroot are cultivated. The flora is similar to New Zealand’s. Since Norfolk Island was discovered by Captain Cook in 1774 it has been put to several uses. Convicts were its earlier inhabitants along with the Administration officers. For twenty-five years the penal settlement existed in connection with that at Kew South Wales and some desperate criminals were sent to the island. Again, from 1825 to 1855 the island was used tor the same purpose, but in 1856 the descendants of the mutineers of the Bounty were transferred there from Pitcairn Island. In 1914 the settlement was transferred to the authority of the Commonwealth and the administration has not been a very happy one for the settlers. The restrictions governing the export of fruit from the Commonwealth lo New Zealand consequently apply to Norfolk Island, and its people have to sell their produce in Australia. There the markets are not very friendly and with an abundance of fruit produced on the mainland prices are so low as to often give a negative return for the island’s exports. A change to control by this Dominion is regarded as the first solution of these difficulties, and then an improved shipping service, but the first prospect is remote. Norfolk Island is not alone in its economic troubles. Lord Ilowe Island, another idyllic but equally isolated spot, lying closer to the mainland to the south-west, and enjoying exist-

ence as a dependency of the Commonwealth, has quite a number of difficulties, which the Chief Secretary (Mr Gollan) recently investigated. The chief need, lie found, is an improvement in a growing tourist trade, which has received added importance from the decline of the demand for Kentia palm seed, once the island’s staple industry. A charming holiday resort, Lord Howe Island has notable attractions to offer the tourist, hut the accommodation is lacking in many respects, and the Administrative Board is reported to have been not always tactful with those who seek flic island’s pleasures. A better shipping sendee is required, together with much improved accommodation for the tourist industry which could then absorb the island’s unemployed youth. Both islands would seem to need more sympathetic administration if they are to become prosperous.