LAND FRUIT TRADE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13846, 4 September 1908, Page 7

LAND FRUIT TRADE.

INDIGNANT IMPORTERS. '.'. HARASSING REGULATIONS, * SERIOUS POSITION.. SOME STRONG REMARKS. % dS- i *"* *« simmering with in. S? 7 f me timo over rations recently mad? by th ° Department S of Agri--1 Ul7f^} mnn - * CertiHc:itß » the «U W thi -. m th ° "*» of Australia ' In u\ «>nagmnent« have come from ■ « orchard or plantation a mile away Iron J3«J -fcoted by tho fn.it fly> 2d vesterday the importers held a mooting, and J* 1 their feelings against th . *V«£ B W «;. Tooma f occupied the chair, and pWnt >U ° ffUit " u P° lters ™ In opening the proceedings Mr. Tooman said that during his absence in tho Islands a deputation had bom appointed to wait ; on the Prime Minister, but, he understood, mat deputation never "came off." Ho had v received a wire on July 31. before he went f away, from the Prime Minister: •' Your 'etegrwn re restrictions upon importations of fruit received, and I will ask the Minis- : ter for Customs to bring the matter up for consideration m Cabinet to-day, and wiLl communicate with you later."" 80 far as bo (Mr. Tooman) was concerned, ho had received no further reply. The first thing that was done was some months ago, wheat he wrote to Mr. T. W. Kirk., chief of the division of biology and horticulture, asking him to place pineapples under the same heading as; bananas, and at that time he \" (Mr. Tooman) understood that all that was required in the case of banana* was a ... certificate from the shipper that they were ■ shipped in a preen and unripe condition. 1 Mr. Kirk pointed out the clause in the . ■ regulations stating that such certificate (the mile limit) was not required in the case ; of bananas, but bananas must be accompanied by a certificate that they were ship|g ped m green and unripe condition. This relieved tho minds of fruit importers, and . he (the speaker) had certificates; printed in ;. that form for the banana .shipments. Then Mr. Kirk Uirnad round and said that clause was absolutely wrong, and sent along one ;; which intimated that all bananas must bo accompanied by * certificate signed by the ; shipper that they were grown in 'an orchard or plantation one mile away from any fruit fly infected area, Mr. Kirk must have known that it was impossible for any hony, est man to conscientiously sign any such certificate, and that such certificates were ;••: absolutely not required in any place while, .*,'. proper inspection was carried out here. -_-, Even when the certificates had been fur- /." nished the fly had been found all the same. ,'-' He felt he was voicing the opinion of all the fruit importers in tho Dominion in say";M ing they would never be satisfied) till tho ,'?, book of regulations was burned. Th«r© Was not one irun, importer in Auckland but had the welfare of the local fruitgrowers '"', at heart, and no Auckland importer would i|j do anything willingly to allow any pest to come into this country: but, even supping the certificates were issued, they were ; ■ no good. 2he only proper protection was .;"■'] thorough inspection at. toe port of landing. ■A To ask any man in the Cook, Fijian, or jM Tongan Islands to sign those certificates ~ * * was to ask aim to do what he absoUitei" >4 knew to be untrue. He had just returned j; from the Istands, and-lie could sty that If Earotonga was infected by the'fly. " Mr. g Reid, the new inspector, went down in the H $&ms boat, and he (Mr. Tooman) undera stood that Mr. Iteid wa-s could say that Rarotonga was infected by the fly, Mr. Reid, the new inspector, went down in the swims boat, and he (Mr. Tooman) understood that Mr. Rtfid was particularly re--1 quested *o send back certificates by the I same boatand Mr. Ileid said ho could not j| ehjn a single certificate. I VALUE OF TRADE. 1 Mr. Howarth related the circumstances I of several attempts to get Sir Joseph Ward 1 to .eceivc a deputation when the Minuter I was here in connection with the visit of I thj American fleet. Each tune Mr. His.up i (Sir Joseph's secretary! replied that fair •I Joseph could not receive the deputation, ff -and advistd him (Mr. Howarth) to set out |f the matter in writing, and he did so. In If the lefts* he referred to the importance of };' the frJit trade, pointing cut that the imm porta ion of oranges and bananas for six | mortis to Auckland exceeded £50,000 in I value, that money did not go out of | New Zealand, lor it wa« paid generally in m ■ return shipments of goods, and the goods f§ sent out tor the period ended June 50 of I this year totalled £52.000. If the impor- (| the fruit were fctopped it would if be "impossible to run the Inlaid steamer at | all. He pointed out that the certificates J requiied could not be given, for the fruit If was brought to the stores by crowds of K natives from all parts of the islands, and jl it was in passible to get a certificate from If each grower, or to identify the fruit afteri wards. In the case of bananas the fly had If only been found three times in thirty years. I He'also mentioned the fumigation charges, pi asking that the charges should be the same II for fruit from Tonga and Fiji as from the jl Cook Group, and suggested that the only by certificates required should be that the parK ticular consignments were free of infection. If No reply, Mr. Howarth went on to say, p had been received from the Prime Minister I to that letter, but from the Minister for Agriculture had come the curt note; "I. beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter relating to the fruit regulations, and sug--3 gesting certain certificates. In reply, I regret 1 cannot see my way to adopt ' the suggestions contained in your letter." The Chairman: It seems there is only one man to advise the Government, and that is Mr. Kirk. Mr. Kirk has got into rt a hole over these regulations, and ho will ! have to get out of it. He (tho speaker) was quite satisfied the importers made a I great mistake in excluding the press from I their first meeting, but they were given to understand that if the matter were kept quiet there was a chance of everything beI ing fixed up. "I feel pretty determined," I lie said, "and if we don't get something within reason, then at the next meeting wo will call in the retailers, and then we will call in the general public. The prices ■now owing to regulations, are awful, the retailers have, to pay 2d for a mandarin, • ; 35s a case, as against 3s 6d in former years ; and how is a l«or mar. with a sick wife or child to pav that price? We should ham | stuck final* from the first to 'no certifiy, eaten,' and to inspection here." \ REGULATIONS UNWORKABLE. Mr A. E. Glover thought the action of th« Government was against the wishes of i : : to citizens of Auckland. he certificate % reflation was asking natives to sign docu--1 ments they could not possibly understand. # Til action of the Government was detriI mental to the best interests of tho Domin10The Chairman then read a letter sent, by I Colonel Gudgeon, Resident Commissioner < at Rarotonga: to/the Minister tor Cu*tomj, 1 savins "the Department has either forgotSi *A\ fully "ali- nrcum--1'• stance* of these islands. Certificates may t 1 freely be given from the islands of Atm, I Mauke, and Mitiaro, and Aitutaki i may ; I also prove to be clean, but in »■*»*££ i ' we have no orchards, and the orange trees I h extend over 5000 acres. Certificates could I 1 only be given after close examination by an I officer of tho'Department and no certificate $ m would carry the required authority ana be I absolutely satidactory unless lesiied by an officer of the Department. I cannot say f: f I regard the fruit fly as a source of danger I to this island, for I now know that we I fi havo had it amongst us for the last JU I - years, and not only has it not increased, I but it has reallv decreased. In any case, I it does no mischief before the month 01 i ; July or August, ahd it would be at that m-X time we would require an inspector. We 1 : r .W:>' pay him £200 a'year, and £50 a year I housa allowance." 1

Mr. Glover: He has omitted Mkngaia. m,? * nalr , man: *hat has probably been unintentional. Mr. Howarth remarked that the 'regulations complained about were not in any * it but ' Were drafted under the authority of the Governor-m-Council. They were practically the regulations issued 'by tho Department, m effect by Mr. Kirk. The Chairman: An inspector has been sens to Raiotonga, and if we get fruit in as passed by him, there should be the same facilities given to Tonga and Fiji. Hie Js 111 trade is dwindling away from vis. 1 have had the greatest difficulty in Keeping my connection there, and now mat tin is getting Australian steamers we will lose all Fijian trade if these wretched regulations are to be allowed. As a purchaser of New Zealand goods, J-iji is worth more to us than Tonga, and the Cook Group together. - Mr. Grove; The Cook Islands are nart ot New Zealand, and it is New Zealand's duty to look atter them specially, d « m Hamilton I think the regulations should be done away with altogether. I understand there is practical.lv no infect-n-f "J" the Cook Wands. ..tho Chairman: Colonel Gudgeon says *"• ST -}l er ? for 10 ears - 1 won't be satisfied till these regulations are 'turned, and Air. Kirk made to understand that he cannot have his own way always. Mr. Howarth then moved: * " That in the opinion of this meeting the present regulations regarding the importation of Island fruits, and the certificates required by the Department, are such that they cannot possibly he complied with, and the importers wish to point out that the regulations are not embodied in the Act, but are issued by the Governor-in-Counoil on the advice of the Department, and the importers have no confidence in the officer at the head of the Department." This was seconded by Mr. A. E. Glover, and carried unanimously. It was also agreed to send a copy to every member of Parliament and to all fruit, importers in New Zealand. SAN JOSE SCALE IN NELSON. [IIY TELEGRAPH.— PRESS ASSOCIATION.] Nelson, Thursday. Very drastic action is being taken by the pomological staff in dealing with the San Jose scale, which has appeared in various places throughout the province. The majority of persons, in whose orchards the blight has been discovered, havo received notice to spray their trees, and where this has not been effectively carreid out the inspectors are destroying the trees. Fruitgrowers strongly resent the wholesale being made, and talk of petitioning the Government.