WAYS THAT ARE DARK.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14274, 13 August 1910, Page 3

WAYS THAT ARE DARK.

j IN THE ISLAKDJFTITJIT TRADE. !. Air A. Tooman, who is well versed m matter..; connected with the i.sia"d trade, told an Auckland Peuorter of an unsatisiar-tory feature of the Cook slant! truit trade. The Cook Islanders he said, were addicted to sham nracf:cwell wortny ot Bret Harte's heathen ( hmee, and many of them had victimised practically the whole of the fruit ; hrokers in New Zealand. A common

custom was lor a native to writo. to UioKera lur u. auuuly ct ciisos t u ije to iimi, y.iiii a i.'i'umae 01 a bUipnuuL oi mat. Jii jvuini. Xlie tuoiici'.- loi'u alitor.; llivj c:i-*c.s Had to pay tlie out. tlu- native on LiCLtmy xiiein. Uvqui.nuy tillior sold tliom ur iiiu a tlu'iu witn inn:, winch lie S"ld tu somebody 01.-.e. Xlius thenauvo would iirrivt- oa.-;h lor ijotli ca>scs and it ait.

, rtiiile the bruKor who scut the, cades would lie lerC m the lurch. A native wuuld al-.u ol'icu senu to .New Zealand under one name ior cases, and then snip tin' iruit muter another name, uu the same broker, receiving in return payment not only tor the Iruit, but also lor the broker s own cases. "I may mention an even mure jiiarinji; instance m my own experience'' said jlr Tooman. "On one occasion when 1 visited one oi' the Islands, i luund that a. native there had been trading with me under lour differentnames. Under two of tlie.se names lie owed me a considerable .sum lor cases, whilst under the two other names he had been regularly j-eiviviny my cash lor his iruit. 1 juive a. whole "list or names of islanders in the Cook Group who Jiave slipped me up for oa.scs on one occasion or another.' Trero is no redress whatever. V.'e cannot sue tho nauves, and we have no means whafcot recovernw the sums due to us. ii anything c , ; nld he done to make these natives a n.s,vera hie ior ■those practices it u,,u!d he much better for Liu- lionesL portion <jf the islanders. It was also pointed out by Mr Too- ;>,!■:». thu whereas all the iruit from ;-'.iJi is smpned In- ,vhite men. that from "li'-'m;!.- ,S m"' 1 ' 1 " 11 . l !- v "i.tivo ( -'A, 1 , i ''' I,ult I ' l ' om tlle Cook however, was praetieallv all tlcspatclied by native growers except ci '^fs Va l b "," ahfc i and slli PP° d »»orc m.nts who have houses established in ; ne various islands. He thought it o/ tie tr.'?l SrC f ' 3cnefifc to the. whole t. lough vvhu.s u lo „'s hands. In an V :.d> "P'lT so,l ? ethi »g were dene to make debts owiujj by the islanders