"BOSTON TEA-PARTY."

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18275, 16 December 1922, Page 12

"BOSTON TEA-PARTY."

GERMAN GOODS IN FIJI.

CARGO DUMPED INTO SEA. When the first consignment of German goods arrived at Suva, ■ some time ago, ex-soldiers held a " Boston tea-party," and dumped the goods into the sea. The intending German settlers ■were imprisoned on a small island until the Government deported them. Details of the incident have oeen given by Mr. F. Midston, a Government official, who arrived in Sydney from Fiji a few days ago.

" When it became known to the Returned Soldiers' Association in Fiji that a steamer with German goods and passengers was coming," said Mr. Midston, " the Returned Soldiers' Association held an indignation meeting, and it was decided that the Germans should at all costs be kept out of Fiji. No move was made by the Government to ban the aliens, so tho ex-soldiers waited for the steamer to arrive. Early in tho morning a huge crowd of people assembled ton the wharf to _ await the coming of the steamer from Germany. Thero were many men among that crowd who bore testimony to the atrocities committed during the war by the Germans. The women were just as indignant as the men at the coming of the Germans. " As the ship landed her cargo and the passengers' luggage it was thrown into the sea by the ex-soldiers. I am informed that this cost the Government a huge sum in compensation. " The crowd when it had tipped the cargo overboard was sobered to an extent, otherwise the cx-soldiers would have torn the intending settlers to pieces. " Action for the removal of the Germans was then taken by the returned soldiers. It was decided to imprison them. An adjacent island was chosen as a compound, and thither tho Germans were moved. The Government was forced to keep these idle men in their confinement, and ultimately they were removed from Fiji."