Old Fruit Fund

Nz Distributes 15-Year

AN amount of £NZ93B, collected from fruit growers in the Cooks in 1937 (Growers’ Redemp tion Fund) will now be returned to growers. This was announced by the NZ Government at the end of June.

Those who have first call on the fund are shippers who were not in debt to merchants at the time of the fund’s inception. They will receive a refund of the full 6d per case collected. Claims will be called for shortly.

'The balance of the fund is to be divided between merchants and the various Island Councils, each Coun cil receiving an amount in propor tion to the number of cases shipped from their particular Island at the time the Redemption Fund was in operation. The Council’s portion will be vested in the Resident Com missioner and is to be expended on Council-approved items that will improve the Islands fruit industry.

The merchants concerned in the repayment are A. B. Donald, Cook Islands Trading Co., Jagger and Harvey, and A. B. Donald as pur chasers of the business of Bonnar and Shearman. All of these firms have advised the NZ Government that their shares of the fund are to be paid to the Cook Islands Crip pled Children’s Society for the purpose of assisting that Society in sending crippled children to NZ for treatment.

Repayment of this fund will come as a shock to cynical Pacific Island residents who believe that compul sory contributions to Government funds is a polite form of robbery.

The engagement is announced of Miss Kathleen Johnson to Mr. John Weeks, both of Rabaul, New Guinea.