TRADE WITH SAMOA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18380, 21 April 1923, Page 11

TRADE WITH SAMOA.

NEW ZEALAND'S NEGLECT. VIEWS OF COLONEL TATE. According to Colonel R. W. Tate, the late Administrator, -New Zealand business men are apathetic toward Samoa, and this they ( cannot afford to be. Samoa, he said, should be of supreme business . importance to them, as it was governed under a "mandate system which was different altogether from the old system of annexation. Their government at present was liable to scrutiny. It was their responsibility to look after the : welfare .;• of Samoa, and he would dwell on the economic interest of the island. The imports for the last four years were £1.544,352, as compared with exports amounting to £1,526,236. The speaker referred in .detail to the trade of the island, and dealt with the comparative imports from Australia and New Zealand. .In ; some of the items New Zealand lagged behind, and the speaker asked if it were not possible for this country to capture the trade- Although in some cases New Zealand had a supremacy, he suggested that a general survey of the figures would show that New Zealand was not holding her own. J First-class meat from Australia was going to Samoa 10 per cent, cheaper than New Zealand meat. New Zealand had a had reputation in the Pacific. There were certain defects. which should be remedied. For instance. New ■, Zealand did not send any catalogues or travellers to the islands, whereas Australia had eight travellers constantly in the islands. Then, again, there was , the trouble of bad packing. As. to Samoa's products, there was copra, which at present went to Europe and America; fruit of all kinds j. nutmegs and peanuts. New Zealand : should have the . Samoan trade, as it . was 600 miles nearer Samoa than was Australia.

Samoa" also had ■ a . personal interest to New Zealanders as. a playground. Samoa was delightfully warm when New Zealand was very cold; the climate was delightful. They would get an entire change of scene; everything was so bright and the vegetation was so brilliant. Another attraction was the strange and wonderful fruit to be obtained at the island, and the scenery was a delight to the eye. The Samoans themselves were also very interesting, as were the villages in which they lived- -