BANANAS CHOPPED UP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18710, 16 May 1924, Page 9

BANANAS CHOPPED UP.

ANGRY GROWERS' WASTE.

£600 WORTH DESTROYED. [FHOM OUB OWN COBRESPONDEXT.] 1 ' ]■■" SUVA, May B.' 7, The natives in the Rewa River district, who are the chief producers of bananas, are waking up to the fact that their fruit bears profits which do not come to the growers. They have at' various times shown deep resentment at the low price offered to them, and have gone', to the length of slashing up their fruit at the packing stations when they could hot obtain a price which they believed was a fair one. Of late there has been a good deal of agitation among them, and the result was shown this week, when the buyers went up the Wainimala to purchase bananas for ; shipment on the Tofua.

The Fijian when angry is an unreasoning individual: He is easily led, and must be handled very tactfully. For the last few months he, has had a series of prices offered which, owing to their fluctuations, could very, easily have puzzled a white grower. On the : present occasion he was offered 4s a case. Last month he accepted 3s a case. But the leaven of agitation had been busy, and Mr. Fijian had a shrewd notion that if he bluffed•; enough he would benefit. He demanded I 6s a case, and when it was refused he j became nasty. He tried to bully the buyers, but failed to improve the price. Then' one of those wanton and childish outbursts of temper took hold of the natives, and amid much shouting and savage invective, they took cane knives and attacked their own fruit, slicing and cutting the lovely bananas into shreds and wildly flinging .the pieces into the river. From that (the third) town right down not another bunch of :, bananas was bought, no fruit having, been cut. It turned out that the other towns had decided to wait to see what : price was offered. ''~""'' ■,»■__ The value of the fruit cut and destroyed is £600, estimated at the cost f.0.b." packing station. The value landed in Auckland would be overt £1500. -V