Tokyo, June 6.
DMIRAL Seize Kobayashi has no intention of resigning from his position of Governor-General of Taiwan (Formosa), he said in an interview he accorded your correspondent in Tokyo, where he is making a short visit to confer with various government leaders. Contrary to persistent rumours that have been afloat during recent weeks, he is not thinking of quitting his post, nor has he received any intimation that he should do so, he said.
Admiral Kobayashi is the seventeenth governor-general of Japan's treasure island since the administration was established there some 45 years ago. He thought such rumours might be a relic of the former custom of changing the governor-general whenever the cabinet in Tokyo changed, and the average tenure of office of a governor-general has been from two to three years. The Admiral—the first navy man to hold the position—has been governor-general since 1936, and his administration is probably the most efficient and prosperous the island has ever had.
He told me that the annual value of Taiwan's productivity now reaches about Y.1,200,000,000. "This is made up. as follows, in round figure agricultural products, Y.500,000,000; manufacturing industry, Y.400,000,000 and forestry, fisheries and mining products, and other items, ¥.300,000,- 000.
Naturally I asked the governor-general about the gold Eldorado which some time ago was reported to have been found in the Takkiri River valley. In reply he asked his chief secretary, Capt. Nakamura, to bring in a small cedar chest which, when opened, disclosed a small fortune in gold in glass tubes. Four of these tubes contained nuggets, in graded sizes, which had been taken from the base of Int. Doyen, in the upper Takkiri valley.
These nuggets are shaped like a lima bean, and the largest, in one of the tubes, are about the size of the end of the little finger. The gold in the other tubes is about the size of coarse sand, and came from various other parts of Taiwan, Fair Annual Yield The Admiral said that these latter mines are producing a fair amount of gold every year. As for the Tak-kiri deposits, he said, it is reasonably certain that they are very rich, but it is not possible to make anything like an accurate estimate of the probable value until they have been actually worked.
The Takkiri gold is found in the sandbanks, and should not be too difficult. to get with proper mechanical equipment. It is, however, in the midst of a wild, mountainous region, almost inaccessible. Such bridges as cross the river are of a light suspension variety, for the use of the natives to cross on foot, and the load they will bear is very limited. Therefore to establish sufficient transport tation facilities and bring in machinery will take some time.
Until recently, Admiral Kobayashi said, the development of the land has been by the sugar and other great agricultural industries. These may still show some increase, but they have nearly reached their peak, and the further development will be by manufacturing industries. These will proceed to grow in parallel with the established agricultural industries, from now on, he said.
Japan proper, the governor-general went on, now seems to be saturated, under present conditions, with manufacturing industries. Japanese industrialists, therefore, are turning to Taiwan, as well as to Korea and Manchoukuo, to establish new enterprises where there is plenty of room for development.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.