THE FRUIT ISLANDS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 287, 28 August 1908, Page 4

THE FRUIT ISLANDS.

ADMINISTRATION OF TH! COOk ' { D':C 'il 'J. i V INTERESTING REPORTS, v ; " ' In submitting his annual repprfc .on. tho Cook Islands, the Minister in Charge (tho ' 'Hon. J. M'Gowan) states that- the revenue of the Cook and Northern Islands for 1907-8, including the ; balance brought ...forwaird, .' amounted to £9773 Gs. lid., while tho ex- ■ jrenditur© was £6189 '14s. Id.,' leaving • a 'balance to be carried forward of £3583.125.' lOd. Tffe"revenue~ of Niue, "including a .balance brought forward, was £3653 Is. 2d.,' and the expenditure ,£l9lo.os..''4d.,!leavjh£! a> . balance of £1743 os. lOd. ""' The import and export returns of the Cook ' and Northern Islands were as follow: — 1907. 1906. . . v . £ , £ .Imports 50,756 : • 41-,437■ Exports ... ... 51,578 49,925 'The. bulk ofSthis trade was done with Now Zealand. ; The trade of»Niue was as follows: — .'' • .? ' 1907. v.. 1906.' £ " S £"-;H... : : Imports •_ ../• , 6707 ... -~.' '.955 , 8315 It was not proposed, said the Minister, to make any—change iiv.tho system of education. in tho Cook GroV at present, but .tho question of training tlje native teachers be-: fore they wore placed* in charge of* vJlago schools - was 'receiving: attention. 5 A': schbol was to be built at Niue, and a teacher would be,looked for in New Zealand., .During tho year the question og>praw3fiig jmedi«aT"attenaanco for.vftOj'iiaSycs iflvtKe_ Cook' Group had been engaging':, the vSlinister's attention, and it ,-tiM hoped satisfactory arrangements would be made. ,i • • ■ The isolated position of'Niufe'was referred' ito.*' 1 No response had been recqivied 'to} tlio Gbvernment's invitation; for'tenders at £300, for a schooner service, r'Complaints icpntinwd' /to "be made ' witll rogsrd t<rtlie':fru|t'-trade, • but' no;ljsatisfactory solution'"'had Bp®? arii rived at. . The question inspection" "o£ ; fruit had also, b§en-under consideration, and; had, beeri'. ; "decided" 'to send an : inquire'and] report. _y. COL'ONEL.iGUDGEON'S EXPORT.

In his report Colonel-"Gudgeon; Resident, "Commissioner of tho ; .Cook Group,- says hp ■ can Justly claim ,"that 09 out or.every 100 natives 7 held' the "Court"'iri' such'' estim'atioir that there was not the least hesitation in placing their sole interest in life in tho hands of the Court. the administration of the land Ahe .Commissioner states, that a quarter of lan . acre '. of s*amp with , tarp i would • 'well-nigh; produce '.thfl' (foSd • required for 1 a ,jnan to live ujpon,- an(I f a few acrps. of orange treiis' swould...provide;..produco.. for export, sufficient to; purcliasp;.the sjmplp;; clothing suitable - for-'J;he--climate. -'-! Tho ;big men had land to spare, and if they would .use it even in the crudest manner, by..giv-, ing the people a fixed share":,of the produce,; ,they might be wealthy men: - This thoy would ' not do,:', and therefore tho only opening;, to! 'such men has been by leasing to' Europeans whose,practical-nature would.force the land; to produce to the utmost limit of-its capacity. Missioners-and others '.interested;,in.. ,the welfare of tho natives were' much exermind oyer the faot.that(,a';small;per-' .centage of the land had been leased 'to Euro- : peans. The amount of .land; so,- alienated .was not. sufficient to cause any l uneasiness in anyphil'o-Mabri if the large -'amounts lay*' ing waste were looked at. In i-his i opinion tho fact that a certain amount of land had :• been.-leased .-wast a/matter for for those leases meant progress.' It"'was the' European lesseo. who was .; redeeming , f tho ,people •' fronu itheir" life •' of; sloth* ' e-' "creating tfiem a hard-working' peopler'Tlad his . suggestions some years ago .jegarding.tho._,managfiinent.., of the natives' ...lands' iliebn/adopted, they would - have' '<b&nV:6n -'the high road Ito , prosperity. He therefore offered • these suggestions again.

In 1907 the exportations from the ; Islands ' Bunches .of"-bananas'—14,727/* Tjoxe's 75,295;. coffee,. 45,0601b.;"c0pra, 932' tons; oranges, 104,201 cases; pines, 5352 cases; taro, 153 boxes, total value, £51,000. The substitution of the Hauroto—a slow boat—for the Manapouri for the Island trade ..•■was unfortunate, ibecause she could not keep up /to time-table. For several trips the cargo ./offering was so "much'in. excess of the capac- ' ity.'of the boat that tho cargoes had been 'injured by ovorcrowdihg'. 1 The traders had good ground for feeling "aggrieved, and until the : cause was removed the complaints would bo loud and frequent. . . / Another cause of Tfrit'ation .w!as that, it the' largo , was limited in Rarotpnga, tho limitwould not apply to the firm' of Donald and Edenborough, who shipped from their OWnS'harf at Avatui, where tho agent could not ■ iupervise" them. Tho real grievanco was, , lowever, that.-the'Hnurpto ; could;not always •each Auckland'ih'time fo discharge into tho Vollington boat at Auckland. - It seemed hq company did. ; thei,r. best, with the means Mailable. A steamer was required .of not ?>ss than 3000 tpns, : ,and capable of doing 'jhirteen knots, and'eveif'then it was doubtful if such a single servico would be satis".factory.' " '../Al Vi ■ ''

WELLINGTON TRADE. "If wo are ever to put fruit on the,Wcl- .. . lington •or Southern markets -in good condition," said the Commissioner, "wo must have a steamer running ...direct .from'; this group to "Wellingtoni It has': been.,said,tin Zear;land'that only\somo*4oo'4onff;of our produce •••'goes South, each/mohthj/and therefore it /would nbt-'pay-to "put-a Steamer on for that: amount. ;This„. is.,;, simple '/nonsense. Tho' .'"■wonder"'jsi that; even iOO. tons is sent South '-■under present conditions. .No Europoan c planter'will ,send' 'fruit ;_to Auckland, for tho! , prices are hot remunerativo ; 'but it is generally recbgnisdd that ' 'Vith'' ;;a .'/direct steamer/ ;twd-thirtfs'6'f "our trido xrotijd.soon be with ..;.'th'o Bqt\tJi".of^Nisß.%iiland;' lit is truo that-' ' the island -did d^ : , ; ;-.libQtjiteJy '•reject' the; : s'te«stfcin of the agent .•of '.the ~comp*ny be two. but--this?; w?is>' ; Bierelj a passing attack- of lunacy; which- thby : hare regretted evensince. . It-.was; indeed, duo to the fact that tho returns from Wellington had been more than usually bad, and that certain shipments which had boon divided equally between Duncdin, Canterbury, and AVellington , had reached tho two . former towns !in fair condition,'but were, reported as hopelessly bad-from Wellington.; ; This mysterious condition of the-Wellington fruit has happened more than once,, and requires a . good deal, of explanation. ' ' " ' v.;" "I submit that it is doubtful whether one steamer could do tho work, howover fast she might be. From Juno to November she wo'uld nave to call at nino islands, and* could not do it' in the timo allowed. In tho prpbable event of a bad reef at either Atiu, Mnuke, or Mitiaro. tho bi<j boat would bo'unablo to "wait 'a day; and wo 1 should have five of six thousand boxes of tlie best fruit on tho islands left to rot on the reef. .With a smaller stca,me,r that. was.-not I driven '.to"consider minutes,' and would allow reasonable delays,'such fruit wouldrbo shipped." TKe balance-sheet of the- working of theCountess of Ranfurly. (Since sold)-.showed a loss of £325. ...