April r, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



691 



thus the traders double their profits. The conditions of 

 this trade are at present less favourable. On the one 

 hand, there is a superabundance of tea on hand at the 

 depots, so that the merchants have been obliged to dispose 

 of it on credit to the amount of several hundreds of 

 thousands of roubles, the payments coming in the very 

 small proportions. Oathe other hand, Indian teas are again 

 flowing into Bokhara, audmore particularly iuto Ferghana, 

 notwithstanding the duties imposed on them. Owing to 

 the nature and extent of our frontier, it is exceedingly 

 diflScuIt to guard agaiust clandestine importation. More- 

 over, the Chinese tea merchants who have returned to 

 Kuldja from Verui will not fail to re-open the direct route 

 from Liliina to Kuldja so soon as the way by Shikho is 

 rendered secure. All this, coupled with the difficulty of 

 obtaining payment of the money due to them, will compel 

 the Russian merchants to limit their business. It is pre- 

 .sumed that this condition of affairs can be improved by 

 cheapening the means of transport through Siberia, by 

 putting a check upon tho smuggling of Anglo-Indian teas, 

 and by adopling measures for the enforcement of thcpay- 

 nuint of their debts by the natives of Central Asia. The 

 tea trade affords too large an item of profit in tho Mnssian 

 Central Asian trade to allow of any neglect in the appUc- 

 ation of measures for its retention in Russian hands. 



THE POSITION OF FIJI TN 1SS4 



ia thus depicted in the Fiji Times. It will be seen, 

 tlial. tiie whole question of progresses depends on 

 labour supp'y aud that little hope of an adequate 

 force ia expected, unless tlie restrictions agaiust tho 

 employment of local labour are removed. Tliey had, in 

 fact, been rendered more stringenf, and the hopes of the 

 Kurnpean planters are directed to annexation to 

 .\u3tr.ilia: — Giving precedeuee to the staple industry of 

 the colony, sujsar culture and manufacture, there are nu 

 every hand signs of the advancement made during the 

 past year, and contingently of that to be made dur- 

 ing the year upon which we have just entered. The 

 Deuba, the Nevua, and the Mago mills arc fast .ap- 

 proaching completion and will, before many mouths 

 elapsed, be adding their qunta to the material wealth 

 o£ the colony. The liltle Pioneer mill now in course 

 of erection on the Dreketi promises to do for that 

 river what it has done tor the Ilewa, namely, de- 

 monstrate its productiveness by actual experiment ; at- 

 tract to it the attention of capitalists, and open up 

 the way for the larger mills which, as a rule of i>ro- 

 gress, shall again push it to the further edge of the 

 circle. For this the (;reater honor is due to the Pioneer, 

 speaking both in the special, and in the general case, 

 and when there is a chance of valuable public service 

 meeting deserved recognition, something more will be 

 heard of Mr. Leicester Smith and his Pioneer sugar mill. 



Besides these instances in which preparations are 

 almost completed, there are to be taken into account 

 those in earlier stages of development. Foremost in 

 point of magnitude comes the New Zealand Sugar 

 Refining Company's undertaking on the Ba Bivor. 

 Here there are about 2,000 acres of splendid sugar 

 land under preparation, to plant which the manager 

 han a nursery nearly one hundred acres in extent. 

 The Ellington fluids at Kaki Raki are in splendid con- 

 dition, and there can be no doubt that when the mill 

 is in w.ii-king order, in point quantity aud quality 

 th» yield will rival that from its Peuang neighbor. 

 The success of the enterprizos in present operation on 

 the Rewa has detarmim'd the Colonial Company to 

 increase its plant by additional machinery, shortly 

 to atrivi- ; the Rewa Plantation Company is extend- 

 iug its operations, and has .also decided to increase 

 its machinery ; and lastly, as that in the earliest stage 

 of inception, m:iy be mentioned the propoeod openmg 

 up by a Melbourne company of tho Bua lands. 



In other direction.s, and with respect to other pro- 



ducts also the progrejs made during the pas 

 year, and the prospect for this now current i 

 fairly encouraging. At various intervals reports 

 have recently appeared in these columus from 

 competent authorities very highly^ commending the 

 coffee aud tea products of Taviuni, pointing out tho 

 directions in which improvem mts can be etl'eoted, aod 

 promising for more systematic cultivation and manu- 

 facture an extensive sale and iuiproved returns. At 

 Serua Mr. Hamilton Baillie is meeting with encourag- 

 ing success in the ouUivatiou of Ciuchoua, aud at 

 Bua Mr. Gauly has shown what can be done with 

 cocoa. These for the future, but the concrete results^- 

 for the past are evidenced in the surplus, smill though- 

 It is, of actual receipts over actual expemliture for 

 lSb2 ; in the still larger surplus authoritatively pro- 

 mised with every prospect of realization for 1S8.3 ; in 

 the reasonable expectation of an increase in revenue 

 for the present year, aiul in the prospect of progress 

 with ncce3!<ary public works which this additional 

 spending power has opene<l up. Mention must also 

 be made of the improviment in our nieans of com- 

 munication with the outside world ; of the increased 

 postaland freight facilities we now enjoy, and of the 

 stiU important additions to be made in tliis rtspcot by 

 the resumption of the interinsular service, and by the 

 opening up of direct steam communication with the 

 mother country. 



The above rehearsed items constitute the most im- 

 portant entries on the credit sido of our ledger, and 

 go far to show a gi-and total in our favor ; ibut the 

 debit entries b.avo also to bo tak'-n iuto account, and 

 these unfortunately very seriously afTect the result. 

 Speaking generally, the per contra may be stated under 

 the comprehensive head of " l^abor Supply ; " but this 

 involves so much that in itself it holds the balance 

 between profit and loss. Thanka to the prejudical in- 

 fluenceof aaystom of government whose guiding spirits 

 prate of progress while they strain every n.rvo to 

 prevent progression, tho restricted native labor supply 

 with which we started la^t year has been still further 

 restricted, and the small planters are now at their 

 wit send to obtain workmen. The costly Indian sys- 

 tem yielded about one halt|tlie number applied tor ;some 

 800 odd out of 1,600 odd ; aud these were all distributed 

 amongtho half dozen wealfliy tirun an I companies which 

 alone can afl'ord to engage them. The Polynesian re- 

 cruiting season has not been a fortunate one, and 

 the men have been introduced at a rate which 

 places them beyond tho reach of small planters ; so 

 that the advancement made ia that which a few 

 strong planting combinations have been powerful enough 

 to achieve despite all opprisition, and it bears but a 

 meagre proportion to tli.'t wh'.'h would have been 

 made under ordinarily favorable conditions. 



lu concluding his recent message to the Legis- 

 lative Council his Honor the Administrator expresses 

 himself as entertaining no doubt as to our future 

 prosperity and advaucement if an increased supply of 

 laborers cau be obtained from India, or if the Chinese 

 source can be tapped. His Honor may be asked :— 

 What prospect is there of placing the expenisive Ind- 

 i.an laborer within the reach of the small planter, 

 or what likelihood exists of his obtaining recruit"! from 

 China? The answer is: — None whatever. Then failing 

 his Honor's " if," what is to ensue ? This he h'ls dis- 

 creetly avoicled, nor was there any necessity for him 

 to dilate upon that which must be patent to all, 

 The individual planters that have made Fiji will go 

 to the wall ; the business population dependent on 

 thein will of necessity follow suit, the colony will be 

 converted into an arena for the operation of a few 

 monopolist companies and sugar exported, not a 

 thriving ever increasing population, pro-spcrous and 

 happy, will be regarded aa the conclusive eviduuce of 

 progress. 



