Growers' Strike.

Illuminating Incident In Cook Islands Banana Trade.

THE lack of vision and co-operation among traders, which so frequently leads to State interference and Gov ernment control, were illustrated in New Zealand during the Christmas holidays.

It became known in Rarotonga, early m December, that New Zealand mer chants were prepared to pay only 5/- -per case in wharf sheds (equal to 2/- per case to the growers) for bananas due to arrive m N.Z. by the “Matua” at Christ mas time.

Rarotongan native growers, who pro vide most of the Cook Islands bananas, simply refused to ship.

T .he Resident Commissioner, Mr. S. J.

Smith (who has made fruit organisation and control his special concern) immedi ately called a meeting of interested part ies in Rarotonga; and the buying agents there, recognising the position, agreed to forego their buying commission and even to advance 6d. per case at their own per sonal risk, in order that the trade should not be dislocated. The Administration also withdrew certain inspection and other fees.

All these concessions brought the price to growers to 3/- a case, with the result that growers then provided a good sup ply of bananas for the “Matua’s” Christ mas shipment.

It was only as a result of these meas ures that the banana trade out of Raro tonga was not seriously dislocated. The incident almost certainly will serve as justification for the N.Z. Government, through the Cook Islands Commissioner, taking control of the banana trade, as it has done to the orange trade.

As far as we can see, the merchants have only themselves to, thank for this position. They must have known what would be the reaction to their proposed S/- per case. If they had consulted to gether and found some way of keeping growers satisfied, there need have been no trouble. In these days—and this ap plies to all distributors and not to N.Z. fruit merchants alone—it is impossible to follow the old rule of simply saying to a particular class of producers; “This is our price—take it or leave it!” There must be negotiation and explanation, and the pro ducer must be satisfied that the middle man is himself making the same sacrifices as he is asking of the producer.