SALE OF MAIL BUSINESS

Chronicle (Levin), 8 April 1947, Page 4

SALE OF MAIL BUSINESS

Protest By Rehabilitation Department f Claiming that he had on his flies narnes of returned servicemen who were desirous of reha- « bilitating themselves in positions of this nature, the legal adviser to the RehabiliGation Departmeiit, Mr. J. Cameron, lodged a protest at the sale of a rural mail business by G. ■ T. Hitchings to L. A. Hea'th. . The' sale and transfer Of the contract was put forward at the sitting of the ^ Transport • LiCfc'nsing Authority (Mr. J. P. O. Skoglund) at Levin last week. Asxed by the atlthority if the Rehabilitation Department had a prospective buyer present in the .court, Mr. Cameron replied that he had not had sufficient time to^ arrange for a person to attend. had only been notifled from thfc department's headquarters in Wellington that morning that the authority would be hearing the ease that day. The authority upheld that at least a week's notice had been given the department, and that the day of the sitting had been advertised. Mr. Hitchings had also adyertised his desire to sell. It was,-. therefore, claimed that the department had had ample time in which to bring forward a purchaser to dispute the sale. • Mr. Cameron then claimed that he .had learnt that a returned serviceman employee of the post office staff had approached Mr. Hitchings with an offef to buy, but had been "scared off" by the -price asked. ' ,

Appearmg on benair or fvir. Hitchings, Mr. N. M. Thomson said his client was desirous of selling his business, as he suffered from a physical disability which hindered him, and because the doctor had considered the work detrimental to his health. If the sale went through that day, he had an offer of a dairy business in Foxton. The owner of the business had promised to "hold it for him, but wquld not guarantee it after that day. If the sale did not ?o through, Mr. Hitchings would lose the business, and would,. therefore, not be inclined to sell his rural mail business. ' The proposid purehaser, though not regarded within the regulations as a serviceman, had been in uniform in a defence force. His occupation had not been affected by such service, which was part time, but it was not his fault that he had been able to go overseas. He had every confidence that he could make more out of the business than Mr. Bitchings had, as he had not the same disabilitv. and was an A grade mechanic, enablmg him to service his own vehicle. He was satisfied with the price asked • by Mr. Hitchings, and had already made himself familiar with the run and duties of the delivery service. , In summing up, the authority stated that at first he was not satisfied with the price and thought it should be dropped £100. He had since seen the vehicle and personally gone fully into the matter, and now agreed that the price should remain as before. In regard to the protest by Mr, Cameron, he personally thought, the business concerned was not one which the Rehabilitation Department would consider suitable for a returned man, espeeially at the price Hitchings was asking. From figures quoted, the income was a limited one, and there .was as yetno undertaking given by the department that it would touch it. If a serviceman had been Present to dispute the matter, and it he was a willing purehaser, the matter would be entirely different. It was obvious from evidence presented that Hitchings would lose the offer of the business m Foxton if the sale of, the rural mail business was ' further delayed. There was no point in holdmg tne sale up any longer, and he would grant permission for the sale ot the business at the price asked.