TOBACCO TRADE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 678, 1 December 1909, Page 5

TOBACCO TRADE.

> PROTEST AGAINST SURTAX. : . ! UNFAIR CHINESE COMPETITION. The imposition of.the 2Jj>er cent, surtax on< ■tobacoo, agreed to by the House of Kepresentatives last week, is objectionable to' the tobacco-: nists of New Zealand, ; and a deputation waited oil the Prime Minister yesterday to protest against the charge. The deputation 1 consisted of Messrs. Annit, Gilbert, Herman :and Shakes,' of ; Wellington,; and, Bolitho (Auckland). Two Christchurch representatives were/unable to attend, being detained on board the Mararoa by the fog. Air. I' , M B fisher, M.P., introduced, and Messrs. T.' tt. .Wilford, J. P. Luke, and D. M'Laren, MJ.'s supported the.deputation. . \. • ; ill. Fisher stated that the' 2J per cent. ■: surtax must come . out of. the pockets' of the ■tobacconists, as they could not hand it on to the consumer;, .. , ■'. : :' '. ■'

: Mr. Wilford stated that the wholesale merchants' Were/effectually protected, but the retailers" would lose some .£14,000 among them through the surtax. The extra tax meant 11-20 d. 'per ,Ib. on tobacco, and 6d.' per thousand on cigarettes: 'On the sale of 8s: worth' of tobacco the tobacconist would make 10d. for his whole profit.. On the sale of Old Judge. cigarettes, the profit would be reduced to 5Jd. .or Ba, Bales. -The extra imposition in the form of a surtax would ■be paid by: the tobaoconist 'alone.; - .. : , . ' ..■ >

.. MjvWilford and Mr. M'Laren referred to tile: old • grievance of Chinese selling tobacco after hours. ■■ . . _, ~-.

Mr. Herman said that the 2J per cent surtax would-cost. the retailer .£SO in twelve months. -The tobacconists would prefer to be taxed by: means of 'a. license fee, which would be some protection against the competition of grocers and Chinese, A license would be somo protection against Chinese: and grocers who sold tobacco simply as a side-line. >-". The Prime Minister said he recognised the dimcnlty, . Ho would go into the matter and see what could be done:on a fair basis. Ho would also take into consideration the sureostjon about, licenses. He had been told there were about 800 tobacconists in the Dominion He could assure them'that thef matter wonld have . fair consideration, and ' would bV dealt with probable before Christmas.: ,