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stocks, there has been brought about a decline in the world price of sugar to such an extent that such price is substan- tially less than the cost of production."

The upward trend of world prices as a consequence of this restrictive agreement must necessarily be a slow process, the full effect of which is not likely to be realized for several years. We were informed, however, that some slight improvement due to this cause was already perceptible, and that the progress in that direc- tion although slow should be steadily continuous. So far as the present year's crop is concerned, Mauritius has also gained an un- looked for advantage in the enhanced sterling prices of her exports due to the British abandonment of the gold standard, an advantage which is, of course, dependent upon the rupee maintaining its pre- vious relative position to the pound. As already stated, however. those prices are still too low to provide a margin of profit except in the case of estates working under the most favourable condi- tions both of physical suitability and financial management, and it was strongly urged, upon us that a greater measure of British Customs protection is necessary, at least until world prices have made the full extent of their recovery under the Chadbourne scheme. This is a matter on which, as it obviously involves im. portant issues lying outside our terms of reference, we do not feel justified in expressing any opinion.

Aloe Fibre.

12. The production of aloe fibre or Mauritius hemp has ranked for many years as the second largest industry of the Colony. Like the sugar industry it has undergone wide fluctuations of prosperity and at the present moment is suffering a period of severe depres- sion. The fibre is manufactured from the leaves of the Fourcroya gigantea, a plant which grows wild throughout the island, par- ticularly in districts which are unsuitable for sugar cane, and fron a cultivated variety of aloe known as sisal. By far the greater part of the product is obtained from the wild variety, which re- quires little attention when growing except a periodical clearance of undergrowth of bush scrub and cactus which compete with it for soil and air. About 17,000 acres of land are given over to the growth of aloes, and 47 factories are engaged, many of them only intermittently according to the state of the market, in the manu- facture of the fibre. Owing to the combined effects of low prices, due to the world trade depression, and a temporary shortage of raw material due to the extensive damage caused to the growing plants by the recent hurricane, the majority of the factories have lain idle for the greater part of the present year, and the export of fibre is likely to be much smaller than in 1930 when it amounted to 1,469,327 kilos valued (f.o.b.) at Rs.347,889. The exports for 1930 also showed a heavy reduction on that of each of the six

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preceding years and was the more disappointing inasmuch as the value of the 1929 export had reached the exceptional figure of Rs.828,481.

An important step towards the more efficient organization of the industry was taken when the Mauritius Hemp Producers' Syndicate was formed for grading and buling the fibre. A factory for the carrying on of this work was opened in 1929 with the assistance of a government grant from the Improvement and Development Fund. The Syndicate does not act as a selling agency but is concerned solely with the standardization and certification of weight and quality, with a view to improving the marketable value of the fibre produce of the Colony. The completed bales are returned to their owners for sale and the bulk of it is purchased by local merchants for consignment to the London market, from which much of it eventually finds its way to Belgium where it is used in the manufacture of ropes, bindertwines, etc.

The aloe fibre industry enjoys an important advantage as com- pared with sugar, in that the number of factories engaged in the manufacture can be adjusted readily to the state of the market. The only expenditure incurred outside the factory is for the cutting and transport of the leaves, or for the purchase of leaves grown elsewhere than on the factory's own land. This expenditure can be suspended at short notice and the closing down of the factory itself does not involve any appreciable continuing expenditure on maintenance. The industry, therefore, is not required to be kept running at a loss in times of bad trade and much of the labour dis- placed would be absorbed temporarily by the sugar estates. The total labour displacement during the present year when 25 fibre mills have wholly ceased from production is estimated at 2,000 men, 1,000 women, and 600 children, and no unemployment problem has resulted. It is a surprising feature of the labour situation during the present year that, notwithstanding the general depression and the extremely low rate of wages, the demand for agricultural workers on the sugar estates has generally exceeded the supply.

13. A highly important new development of the fibre industry of the Colony has been the opening in October of the present year of a spinning and weaving factory for the manufacture of sacks. The fibre used for this purpose is of a low-graded quality unsuitable for ordinary export, and it is hoped to turn out from what would other- wise be waste produce a highly serviceable type of sack in sufficient quantity to meet the whole annual requirements of the sugar industry of the island, and at a cost at least as low as that of the jute gunny bags now imported from India for that purpose. Seeing that the number of jute bags imported into Mauritius in 1930 was 3.207,900 at a value of Rs.1,173,037-in 1929 the figures were 3,506,400 and Rs.1,910,066 respectively-the success of this new enterprise will be of appreciable benefit to industry in providing

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FUBRIC

RECORD OFFICE

Is I lo la l

Reference

C.O.882/12

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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