NOT PAYING.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20391, 23 August 1934, Page 10

NOT PAYING.

Two Out of Three Fijian Products. SUGAR, COPRA AND BANANAS. (Special to the “ Star.”) AUCKLAND, August 23. '•Fiji !s supported by a three-product economy, and two of these products arc not paying to-day,’’ said Mr. Hugh C. Jenkins, editor of the “Wansranni Chronicle,” on his return from Suva. “ The major product is sugar, the secondary' product is copra, and the third product is the banana.” Referring to the low price of bananas, Mr. Jenkins said that the restriction placed on the quantities which might be imported from Fiji into New ZcaianJ was a serious matter. “Xew Zealand has of course to consider the Cook Islands Group and Samoa as well as Fiji,” he said, “and this results in Fiji not having an adequate market for her banana crop. The Australian market was to he opened to Fiji in accordance -with the terms of the Ottawa agreements, but the provisions ;>f these agreements were nullified by various loadings on bananas sent from I‘iji to Sydney. An effort was recently* made to induce Australia to conform to the spirit and the letter of her Ottawa agreement, but while I was in Suva word was received that the Federal Government was unwilling to come into line because it feared to lose the Queensland vote at the forthcoming Federal elections.” Copra Going Back. “The copra market is in an unsatisfactory condition, and in consequence many of the plantations are going back in condition. When copra was £2O a ton it was claimed that the cost of production was £9 a ton,' but I was informed in Levuka that production costs are now from £3 10/ to £4 a ton of copra, which shows what can be done in cost reduction. It was not clear, however, whether this low production cost included the risk of considerable deterioration in the plantations. It is claimed that most copra growers are financed to some extent on mortgage, and that factor makes it difficult to assess a base in production costs. The competition of whale-oil and the soya bean has hit copra hard, and some people in the islands believe that copra is out for all time. What is wanted is an economic survey of the whole field of fats and oils to decide the future policy. The exchange is standing at 110 in Fiji, as against 125 in New Zealand. This was a compromise decision, and done chiefly’ with the idea of affording some aid to the copra growers. “Sugar, the mainstay* of the colony, is wholly controlled by the Colonial Sugar and Refining Company. I went through the mills, I talked with employees of all grades, and with Indians who cut cane for the mills, and I never heard a complaint against Qie company. The company does its very best for its emplo.vees, provides them and their families with good holiday's in temperate countries, and sells stores, meat and farm produce at cost prices, evidently* with the aim of getting a contented staff in a tropical country. This, as far as I could discover, they achieve. This accomplishment should not be liglitl.v passed over, for it must be remembered that the mills run 24 hours a day while they are in operation during the cutting season, and this involves the employees in long hours at times. Cane Growers’ Income.

“As the company shoulders all the risks of the market the cane growers know that they will have a steady income from the cane that they grow. The value of the cane is assessed on the sugar content per ton similarly to the method employed in assessing the value of the milk delivered to a factory* in New Zealand. The method of arriving at the sugar content of the cane is similar to the method of arriving at the butterfat content of milk, namely by taking samples. After the cane enters the mill each consignment loses its identity.” Mr. Jenkins said that sugar always had been and still was to-day the backbone of Fijian economy*, and while sugar was in demand and Fiji had a market for its sugrr the colony would continue in a satisfactory condition. Fiji sugar, however, was sold in Canada and the United Kingdom, where it enjoyed a preference over non-E:npire sugars. While this agreement lasted the market was satisbut should another agreement come into existence the terms of the new (agreement would materially* affect the welfare of Fiji. The political factor was therefore at the base of Fijian prosperity to-day, and as that was an incalculable factor, Fiji should not anticipate the future too much in its public expenditure. ________________