The Maui news. [volume] (Wailuku, Maui, H.I.) 1900-current, 1919-05-09
T~OOrganizeB Banana
Business For Maui
W. A. Anderson Would Have Large
Quantity OF Fruit Grown For Coast
Shipment TranspOrtatiOn Prob
lem Improving

neutrality-suspicious. Prob
lem Improving
a plan for organizing the farmers
OF the Islands for the growing of
bananas for the Coast market, has
been worked out by w. A. Anderson,
now OF Honolulu, but formerly man
ager of the now defunct Nahiku Rub
Der CO.
Mr.. Anderson has been in the naval
service as a lieutenant and is still
tataticned at Pearl Harbor. He has
however, been able to develop quite
a banana shipping business which he
hopes to largely increase.
In a letter to F. G. Krauss, of the
Haiku sub-station of the Hawaii eX-
pertinent station, Mr.. Anderson has
outlined his plans in considerable de
tail. These should be of interest to
many farmers. and it is understood
hat some effort is to be made to
form an organization for banana
growing along the lines suggested.
Mr.. Anderson in his letter says in
part
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii,
April IS, 1919.
Mr.. +. G.. Krauss,
Haiku, Maui.
Dear Mr.. Krauss:
"As you know, the United Fruit
Co., control the banana business of
the L. S. They set a price on their
bananas i. O. b., New Orleans, which
determines the cost all over the U. S.
This gives us a splendid basis to
work on, as it furnishes much the
same system for determining the
proper price for Hawaiian bananas
that is used in determining the price
of Hawaiian sugar.
Gas you know, shipping on con
signment is unsatisfactory, and sell
ing outright on contract is open to
the objection that the contract price
is either too low to suit the farmer
or too high to suit the dealer, accord
ing to the condition Of the market
and, in the long III ii is more likely
to be the former than the latter
there is also the matter of fruit spoil
ed in transit which is always a bone
of contention between the San Fran
cisco dealer and the shipper. Now,
on Hawaii we are starting with a
combination consisting of CD the
growers, in a Growers Association;
(2) the San Francisco dealer, and
60 myself-a combination for mutual
cooperation, with the mutual under
standing that each shall obtain his
own proper compensation for the part
he plays in the business; il being
agreed by all that the grower should
get all that is left after the necessary
expenses of handling are paid.
According to our arrangement, the
price Of Hawaiian bananas on board
the steamer at Hilo is to be based
always on the price of Eastern ban-
anas at New Orleans, on the day the
bananas are shipped, and the farmer
is to be paid on that basis. This is
to be fixed so as to make the Haw-
allan bananas, pound for pound, cost
the dealer in a Francisco as nearly
as possible the same mat the Eastern
bananas cost him in San Francisco,
by taking into consideration the diff
ference in transportation cost, tare
for stems and shrinkage, etc, in the
two classes of fruit.
Il cannot conceive n fairer arrange
ment for assuring the farmer the
proper price for his fruit. The Unit
ed Fruit Company's price at New
Orleans establishes the price for the
entire country. We cannot, there
f,ue, expect the San Francisco deal
er to pay more than that, and by this
arrangement, he cannot pay less. We
are therefore getting just what the
market affords for our fruit. The
dealer is paying just The market price
for it, and is making just what he
regularly makes on The fruit bought
from the United Fruit Co., and We
can depend on the United Fruit Co.,
to see that he does not make an eX-
horbitant profit.
This supplies a permanent and
profitable market for our bananas,
the amount of profit being determined
directly by the condition of the mar
ket, and the farmer gets his proper
lions share when the market is
high. And, even on 4 low market, he
will make a good profit, for, during
the five years prior 10 the opening Of
the war the average price of Chan
guinola bananas was around $1.63 per
hundred pounds.
"As to transportation, at present |
can assure transportation for only
about 1000 bananas =. month. The
Matson Navigation Co., is ready to
cooperate just as far as they are able,
and propose to give Is the right kind
of transportation, but cannot give us
any more definite information than
the above until the Government shall
have determined upon its shipping
policy. When the Manoa and Lurline
are back on their regular schedule We
shall have regular shipments which
will simplify the matter of transpOr-
tation. | would suggest that you get
the men who propose to go into this
to state as nearly as possible the
number of bananas they propose to
raise, and when they expect to