FRUIT SERVICE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3754, 23 February 1926, Page 33

FRUIT SERVICE.

SOUTH ISLAND DISABILITY. (From Our Own Correspondent.) AUCKLAND, February 15. The complaints of South Island fruit importers relative to the alleged inadequate service between the Islands and the South Island were referred this morning to prominent Auckland merchants, who vigorously refuted the sugggestion that Auckland merchants “cornered” the fruit, and at the same time expressed their entire willingness to co-operate with the South Island in securing improved transport facilities for the Island fruit trade. “A good many of the statements that are made are incorrect,” said Mr Harvey Turner, of Messrs Turners and Growers (Ltd.), and Mr G. S. Bradley, of G. S. Bradley and Co. (Ltd.) in a joint statement, “and especially some of the remarks made by Air MTarlane. The greatest difficulty at present facing the traders is that a Fiji boat, the Tofua, runs direct between Fiji and Auckland only. What we have been agitating for is a fortnightly service landing the North Island portion and then going direct to Christchurch. This would be satisfactory to the South Island merchants, who would get the fruit seven days after it had been shipped, at through freight rates, while in the event of a weak market in the South island they would have the opportunity of landing a portion of their southern cargo at Auckland. Of course, the shipping company would want some guarantee of a regular freight. “ The Fijian Commissioner (the Hon. J. Boyd),” continued Messrs Turner and Bradley, “had apparently been misled, or else he was not sufficiently in touch with the position to be able to estimate the South Island’s requirements. The quantity of bananas required in the South Island during the winter would not exceed 1500 cases weekly, let alone 20,000. A direct boat to the South Island during the winter would be run at a. loss to both the shipping company and the Island shippers.” Messrs Turner and Bradley also said that people in the South Island were very ignorant of the conditions existing in the Island trade, especially when they found one manufacturer reported as saying that a return cargo could easily be obtained. Reference to the shipping companies would show that very little back cargo was offering in New Zealand for Fiji, the bulk of its requirements being supplied by Australia, the United States, and Britain. The amount of general merchandise going to Fiji from the Dominion would not amount to 100 tons. At the same time, the present service was not altogether satisfactory. What was wanted were two fast oil-burning vessels specially designed for the fruit trade, and also a fast oil-burning vessel for the Cook Islands trade, which was at present served by a slow vessel unable to keep to any definite time-table. The result was that there was often from 25 to 40 per cent, wastage, a fact which made this trade a very hazardous one