The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-08-25
KING MATAAFk A
COCOANUT PLANTER

The evolution of old King Mataafa of
Samoa from the shiftless ruler of a
handful of savages. whose chief delight
| when not at war with one another was
to lead a life of absolute Incidence, into
a shrewd and enterprising cacao plant
err is one of the marvellous results of
the division of his former dominions
between Great Britain, Germany and
the United States and his own aptitude
to learn the value of a little industry
and the profits which commerce brings,
as exemplifed by the new possessors Of
the soil. Mataafa observed that the
/ German company made a big success
of it's extensive plantations of cacao
and that through the utilization of
native iabour.
The Samoan chiefs have all been sud-
denly seized, in fact. with a desire to
acquire wealth. The German planters
have shown them how to do it, doubt
less without any intention to teach them
the art of money-making. These chiefs
claim the personal services of their old
followers, in accordance with Samoan
custom, and they are utilizing them pro-
fitably by requiring them to work on
their plantations. They are, moreover
proving to be such hard taskmasters
that the Samoans have become FESTIVE
under the system of enforced labor which
has been introduced, and are seeking
relief by emigrating to other islands in
the group To stop this emigration the
shrewd chiefs have obtained an order
from the German Government forbid
ding any Samoan leaving German
Samoa without a permit from the Ger
man Governor and it has been arrang
ed with the latter that permits shall
only be granted when good reason for
a desire to leave is shown and a fee
paid. To be relieved from their obliga-
tions to their chiefs is doubtless not re-
garded as good and satisfactory
reason.
Old king Mataafa has devoted a large
tract of land near Apia to cacao culture.
He has gone to work to develop his
plantation intelligently by employing
white superintendent who knows how
to get the greatest amount of labor
out of the natives and the Chinese
coolies whom he is employing. The
business of cacao culture is one Of the
most promising in the tropics, which
Mataafa has noted from the results
obtained by the German company The
latter is represented to be making large
profits from its own plantations. Re
cent statistics place the worlds demand
for cacao, exclusive of local consump-
ton in the countries where it is raised,
at 200, 900 pounds a year Brazil, Col
ombia and the Philippine islands are
now the chief producers; and although
all of them are expanding the area un-
der cacao cultivation it is assumed that
there is no danger of overproduction
and consequent fall in prices for many
years to come. Mataafa is thus going
into the business while il is booming.
In doing this he is furnishing another
illustration of the common error of
Understanding the capacity of sc-call-
ed inferior races to adapt themselves to
the conditions Of modern civilization
and profting by the knowledge which
they acquire through intercourse with
whites. Mataafa promises to become
rich through his sagacity and intelligent
enterprise, as his plantation is planned
to be one of the largest in Samoa--Ex-