SOUTH PACIFIC ISLANDS.

Northern Advocate, 9 February 1920, Page 4

SOUTH PACIFIC ISLANDS.

VALUE TO THE BRITISH

EiVIPIRK

(By Thos. J. McMahon, F.R.G.S \

Popular fallacy persists in throwing ur glamor of romance over t-h- . South Pacific Islands They are considered more beautiful than useful, the haunts of primitive savages, not civilis'd and Christianised peoples. They s<.re. certainly rich and vivid with '-ropic plant life, they are gems of fertility under the bluest of skios, but every acre has its use in tin , bounteous production of some tropical plant product useful to man in his food industries. With the exception of one or two remote islands, the cannibal and th e savage are gone. To-day these islands of the' South Pacific art , being developed'by British brains, money and energy, and within th*' next deead' , they must be a commercial asset of the Empire and -in outstanding- factor in its commercial progress. At present this fact, that cannot be challenged, is not receiving the attention it merits. ' .

A quarter of a century ago there were few plantations or cultivations, and no industries, in these areas under cultivation, many thousands of these acres already being fruitful and profitable. There are industries worthy of British pluck and endeavour. The phoshate of lime indanries of Ocean and Nauru Islands are notable instances, and will, there, is no doubt, be recognised one day as foremost in t!>e ranks of British enterprise in any part of-the- wide worM. Despite the interruption to progress causej by the war, and its baneful effects upon British trade, the South Pacific Islands trade is now worth £10,000,000 a year, and with wis" and progressive administration British trade might easily be in another decade worth £50,000,000 a year. To the young and energetic man, the investor with capital, there is no more attractive field than the British South Pacific possessions.

The commercial progress of these islands has been most marked in the last twenty years. 'In those early days, as they are accounted, settlers could be counted in th c hundreds; to-day there are thousands, including many white women, in any one of the larger groups. In the early days the comforts and conveniences of modern life were unknown With few exceptions, officials, missionaries, planters, traders, indeed, every class of white settler, nowadays live comfortably, and are in as close touch with the outer world by telephones and wireless—in short, in as up-to-date a manner as people are in any progressive portion of the British Empire. Twenty years ago towns and settlements, with the exception of Fiji, the headquarters of the British H ; gh Commissioner of th c Pacific, could not be found in any island group Towns like Port Moresby, of Papua (British New Guinea), in which there are streets, tradesmen, fresh water systems, and other conveniences, are to be found in the British Solomons, Ocean, and Nauru i<? lands.

Settlements—what might be called the beginnings of towns—are many in number on the larger groups. Rabaul, the capital of the newly-acquir-ed German New Guinea territory, which is to be considered British, as Australia has the mandate for its future administration, is one of the most complete, and picturesque small towns of the Southern Hemisphere. This town has a botanical gardens that may claim to be one of the prettiest out. of Europe. Commercial progr'ss is, moreover, apparent -n the restlessness of settlers for more progressive administration. There is a demand for light railways for th- 1 more speedy transport of planters and their plantation products. Banks are opening in many of the more populous islands, docks and wharves ar<' showing the increase of shipping, and everywhere there are manifest aV. the modern facilities for a quicker and greater trade.

Communities are petitioning for representative governments, the Imperial Government is continually being asked to raise the status of islands from protectorates to Crown Colonies. And, as this progress proceeds, development is spreading on every side. The wonderful variety of the resources of the islands is at tracting investors and experience .1 cultivators from every nation of the globe. Experiment is proving that the soils of the islands are ready for the successful cultivation of temperate clime cereals and fruits. Cocopnut plantations not only produce the wonderful cocoanut for oils, margarine, and other innumerable everyday household commodities, but they are becoming ranches for the breeding of cattle, the island grasses being particularly succulent and fattening. Exploration is opening up vast areas of forests of excellent timbers for all classes of work—heavy and light— for the building of ships and bridges, and the making of furniture. Many of the timbers take on the highest polish, are durable, and beautifully grained. Petroleum has been discovered in Papua and German New Guinea, and it is no secret that the eyes of the great oil companies of England and America are on these fields, ready at the administrative command to develop them, and to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds in doing so.

British enteprise in the islands is worth millions, so British responsibilities ar<' greater than most people think. Investigation will show that British enterprise has turned these island* from wastes of unproductiveness, from the haunts of aggressive savages, to prosperous lands and Christianised peoples. There is a bsoluf'ly no exaggeration in this description; the facts are to be gained from any of the islands' administrations, and the facts will prove what a

valuable commercial asse t the South Pacific is to the Empire, and how British efforts, encouraged by sympathy and support, will thrive to tb e distinct advantage of the British Empire. British enterprise, such as that of the British New Guinea Developin- Company in Papua (British New Guinea), "is remarkable This enterprise has opened up thousands of the most fertile acres of that large territory. It has in a nourishing condition plantations of cocoanuts and rubber, cultivations of sisal, hem , ), and tobacco. It is experimenting in the niltivation of cotton. It has trading stores, a tobacco factory; it employs hundreds of white men and thousands of natives.

In the British Solomons is another instance of splendid British enterprise—the widespread, well-improved cocoar.ut plantations of Lever Bros. From these plantations thousands of tons of copra are exported to Ausralia and England every year. This successful venture has at Gavutu, its headquarters, a settlement showing the same fine organisation that marks Port Sunlight-. The British Solomons Islandr, known as the "Treasure group" of the South Pacific, by Brothers' energy are already a colony far advanced in commercial progress. But undoubtedly the phosphate of lime Industries are as interesting a.-> they are, in a sense, almost romantic. The tiny islands of Ocean and Naur.i, the one five miles in circumference and the other barely twelve miles, or in another calculation just 5000 acres in extent (Ocean Island of 1000 acres), by their value and the magic product they give—phosphate of lime, *-h<" richest soil fertiliser known to the agriculturist—would, if there were no other islands in the whole Pacific, give a comme-rodal wealth that would be, as it is, of especial importance to the British Empire.

The island of Nauru is the treasu-'e island which Australia demands as part °f the late German New Guinei territory. New Zealand wants a share in the ownership. Japan whs aggrieved it was not included in the mandate for the Marshalls. British administration since its occupation in 1914 has been conspicuously successfu, , and the natives have petitioned King George that the island remains under British protection and administration. What this administration has already accomplished is sufficient guarantee for its progress in the future, and the enterprise of tha Pacific Phosphate Company, a purely British concern, in the mining and distribution of the phosphate of lime, can hardly be excelled. These islands are in the greatest solitude of the Central Pacific, and they are two centres of a wonderful industrial activity, having every convenience and comfort of civilised life. The enterprise controls over 100 miles of railways, and has for the crushing and drying of the phosphate rock some, of the finest machinery in th.? world. The settlements are lighted with electricity, they have fresh ana salt water and sewerage system?, there are fresh food supplies and ice refrigerators. Its thousand employees, white and black, Japanese and Chinese, live in conditions unsurpassed in the tropic world.

Such is the commercial progres-j of th e South Pacific Islands, and enterprises—all British—throw a strong light on the value of Briti;h interests. British settlers are at present clamoring for mor c Imperial recognition; they want to be assured that these South Pacific Islands arc considered useful and valuable to the. British Empire. The enterprises and energies of the settlers have surely given a value to these British possessions, and they naturally want to so*; British influence remain paramount in the South Pacific.