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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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wwimminC.O.

885/25

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

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However that may be, the competition is valuable, inasmuch as, so long as it exists, there can be no possibility of the committee adopting the methods of an unscru- pulous trust. Attempts to treat the native harshly and unfairly in the matter of price for produce would probably fail even if every shipper in Freetown became a party to the committee's agreement, as he will neither work, nor sell what he has already worked for, if the price offered falls short of what he regards as remunerative.

8. As bearing on the question of payment to the native for produce supplied, it is stated that the price decided on by the executive is regarded as slightly elastic, and that the recent rise in price from £10 to £11 per ton was due, not to competi- tion, but to the fact that produce was not arriving in sufficient quantity to satisfy the market.

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coaxer

"C

9. It is claimed that the course followed by the committee has been the means coaxers," of eliminating from the produce trade those pests colloquially known as the parasites that were wont to batten on the ignorance and inexperience of the natives who brought small quantities of produce for sale. The name is indicative of their calling. Constantly on the look out for strangers, they would meet the small party, or the small craft, with their few bushels, and straightway proceed to With the market price at act as middlemen, or brokers, in the sale to the trader. 4s. 6d. per bushel their commission would amount to threepence, or even as much as sixpence, on every bushel which changed hands. Now that there is no uncertainty has been as to the price obtainable-and this has become known to the native-the inter-

His occupation being gone, the mediary is not in demand. obliged to transfer his activities to some other, possibly more useful, sphere.

10. In another respect action taken by the committee has proved beneficial They refuse to buy kernels which are not to the kernel trade of this Colony. clean, i.e., which contain more than five per cent of extraneous matter-shell, dirt, etc. commonly spoken of as "refraction," properly "refaction." This decision has been so effective that it is now not unusual to receive kernels which contain as The practice is that adopted in cent. little as four or even three per

"Clean " kernels are those which contain not more than the European markets. five per cent. refaction; where the percentage is found to be higher, the kernels are

clean," " and suffer a proportionate reduction in price. not regarded as

11. For some time prior to the inception of the Freetown committee there existed in Sherbro an arrangement for the mutual convenience of buyers and shippers. This was no doubt worked on somewhat similar lines, but information regarding it is vague. Now, the practice followed by the Freetown committee is adopted also in Sherbro. Conditions there differ very greatly from those in Freetown. Water being the only means of transport, kernels purchased up-country must be stored in the factories until the rising of the rivers permits of their con- veyance to Bonthe or York Island. Thus a large amount of capital lies idle for lengthened periods, and this affects very materially the price paid in the district, which is always less than that paid in Freetown.

12. When the difference in price is appreciable kernels are sent, by smal When it is not so this trade coasting vessels, from Sherbro to the better market. falls off, as the uncertainty regarding time occupied in transit by sailing craft renders the ultimate profit small and precarious.

13. With regard to Lagos kernels, it is accepted that they are of a quality superior to that of the Sierra Leone product. The price in open market shows this. They are charged with 10s, per ton more freight-ordinary freight—and incidental expenses being greater it is extremely unlikely that the local price in Lagos can ever exceed the local price in Sierra Leone. It is much more likely, as is the case at present, to fall below it. It is claimed, further, that these kernels are sent to market in a more clean condition than are Sierra Leone kernels, and that this is due to the system of produce inspection which obtains in Nigeria.

A. P. VIRET,

Comptroller of Customs.

His Majesty's Customs,

Freetown, Sierra Leone,

8th March, 1917.

13549

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No. 18.

SOUTH AFRICA (SOUTHERN RHODESIA),

THE SECRETARY OF STATE to THE HIGH COMMISSIONER.

(No. 82.)

MY LORD,

Downing Street. 4th April, 1917. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, Southern Rhodesia No. 105, of the 14th of February.* transmitting a despatch from the Administrator in regard to the recommendations of the Paris Economic Confer- ence and the commercial and industrial policy of the Empire after the War.

2. With reference to paragraph three of your despatch, I shall be glad if the Administrator may be informed that the only oversea Governments which have been invited to send representatives to the Imperial War Conference are those of the Self-governing Dominions and India, but that I am myself attending to the interests of the other portions of the Empire. The views expressed in the Administrator's despatch will, of course, receive the careful consideration of His Majesty's Government.

I have, &c.,

18655

(No. 70.)

SIR,

No. 19.

BRITISH HONDURAS.

WALTER H. LONG.

THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 11th April, 1917.)

Government House, Belize, 19th March, 1917. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Bonar Law's circular despatches of the 25th of Septembert and the 24th October last, on the subject of the commercial and industrial policy to be adopted after the War and the measures to be taken to avoid any recurrence of the dangers to which the Empire has been exposed by the growth of German trade and influence within it.

2. It is not possible for me to put forward a statement of the views of the Government of this Colony, as the views of separate members differ considerably. I have therefore circulated Mr. Bonar Law's despatch of the 25th of Septembert among the members of both Councils, and J enclose copies of the opinions.

3. Those Free Traders who considered it consistent with free trade to allow our own industries to be fettered by the action of a foreign country giving bonuses in order to enable the produce of that country to keep out British produce in the British Empire will have had their eyes opened. I am afraid that the scales on the eyes of the old-fashioned Protectionists will have become thicker than before. But whatever policy may be adopted generally with regard to foreign trade, I see no reason why that policy should not be adopted for British Honduras. The amount of trade between this Colony and enemy countries has been so small that the Free Trader need not worry about this extinction, and the Protectionist need not worry if it should be re-established.

3A. For myself, I have more objection to the introduction of Germans than to the introduction of German goods; always supposing that German goods are not sold at unnaturally low rates by reason of assistance given by the German Govern- ment to the exporters. I have no desire to expel from the Colony any of the cause for complaint. Germans now in it. They have given the Government no Only four of them are of military age. One of these will leave the Colony as soon as he is permitted to do so, two others would like to leave the Colony if they could dispose of their saw-mill business. Only one is likely to remain permanently. The other Germans are all domiciled here, and are more British Colonial than German. 4. The two who have the saw-mill came out with a view to obtain suitable timber to send to their father, a timber merchant in Bremen, who sold to the

* No. 12. + No. 1.

45879: not printed