CONTROL OF FOOD PRICES

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2224, 10 August 1914, Page 6

CONTROL OF FOOD PRICES

STRINGENT PROVISOS

SPECIAL ACT PASSED BY THE HOUSE

jABOUR AWARDS AND WAGES Tho Begulation of Trade and Comt nerca Bill passed by. the House of R«f. >resentative3 on Saturday provides thai he Governor-in-Council may, from tim( x) time, at any time when His Majesty s at war with any foreign pirince, or • 3tato, fix the maximum prioe in New sealand of any class .of goods, and may, 'rom time to time, vary any maximum irices. Different maximum prices of the ame classes of goods mgy be-fixed- foe lilferent localities. ' . Maximum Prices. - ' The'maximum price of-any gooda may jo fixed and determined under this dther— . -■ (a) As a specified sum; or ~ (b) By reference to the standard pried >f such goods. < . _ Wlicn fixed and determined as a speci- . ied sum, the maximum price shall n'ol bo less than the standard price, but in V its respect-every Order-in-Council niada ander this Act shall in all ; Courts and in all proceedings be conclusive, of its swn validity. , ' When fixed 1 and determined by refer-. snce to the standard price, the maximum price shall bo declared to be • either the standard price itself or the standard price with such addition by way of, percentage ...' ar otherwise as .the Governor-in-Council tbinks fit. • The "standard price" of any goods means the current price. at wWcb goods of the same naturo and quality were saleable in the' same locality on the first day of Autrust.. nineteen and fourteen, if sold in,the same quantity and on the same terms as to payment, delivery,• and otherwise. So long as any such Order-in-Couicil remains in force any person who,-whether as • principal • or awnt, and whether ..bj . . himself or his agent, sells or agrees or offers to sell any poods for a price it excess of the maximum price so-fixed and determined, commits an ■ offence ' afiinst . this Act. Any person who. whether as nrincinal ' or a?ent. and whether by himself or. his asent. while any snob. Ordcr-in-Council remains in force. l sells any goods for tyhioh. a maximum prioe luis been fixed, and dnt»rmined under this Act and thereafter demands for the roods so fold bv him a in excess of the said maximum, price commits an offence , against th's Act. Nothing : in this Act -relative' to maximum nrices sihall extend or nnrvlr to the sale of coods which are destined bv the purchaser, or believed-by the seller on Ima-wnnble grounds, to be so destined, fo7 exportation l and not for consumption <v • use in New, Zealand. ■ . Offences Defined. / ' - Every person who in purchasing-or at' ■ tempting or offering to purohase goods the maximum price of 'which, lias been fixed and-determined'undCT this Act falsely represents, to the seller or to 'any. other' . person that the goods are destined for exportation or that they are not destined for,exportation : shall- be guilty of an offence against this Act.''. ' Every'person who aids, abets.'counsels, or procures, or. is in any way knowingly concerned in the commission of an]offence against this' Act shall' be deemed to have oommitted that offence. The liability of an emnloyer or principal to penalties under this Act for offences committed by his servant or peent' in the course of 'his employment shall be determined by the same-'principles as those],whicl<, fyx.ul civil I.injuries 1 done' -by '.thaV/servant -HtX, ngent, and such offences sllall be deemed to have been comm»t,t<>d by the employeror nrincipal accordingly. 'Every,.nersou who..commits an.offence,'. Rsrainst thi- fores-oine provisions of this. Act shall be liable to a penalty] of]five hundred pounds. -.-. . ] If t.wo,or moTe.personß arp rwnonsible for the «ame offeno». paeb of those ner-' foir shall b« severally liable to a wnnlty of five hundred pounds, and the liability'• of .each of thorn shall be independent. of - the liability of the others. Penalties, ' ■ . ,/ Penalties are recoverable by action at' suit of His Majesty, and the Court may remit such part of the penalty as it thinks fit. Injunctions (in addition to the . penalties) -may be 'granted in the event. . of a continuance or repetition of the offence. ■ In any i'notion for the recovery of'a penalty or for an injunction under .the 'foregoing provisions of this Act no person, whetheri a party to tho action ornot, shall be excused from answering any, question put to him by interrogatory or , otherwise .or from producing or making, discovery of any document, on the ground , that the answer to the question] or "the production or discovery'of the document would tend to criminate him in respect of any offence against this Act. Every contract of sale made by a seller or his agent in wilful breach of the foregoing provisions of this Act 6hall bo.wholly void sis'against the buyer, and the seller shall , have no right -of actioneither for the recovery of the price, or value of the goods or for 'damages for. breach of confract,' .-but the property in tho goods so sold shall pass to the" buyer ■ at the same time and in the same manner as" if'the contract " had been of full force and effeot." -; All moneys paid by the buyer to the seller as the price of goods under any contract -which is void under this section shall be recoverable by the buyer from the seller as money had and received by the teller for. the buyer's use. , j If after any contraot of 6ale has been made, the seller, by himself or his "agent, wilfully demands from the buyer any sum as the price of the goods in .excess-" of the maximum price of those goods at the time of the oontract of sale, the seller shall deemed to have sold tho goods at the price so demanded, and the oontract shall bo void as against the buyer, and all the provisions of the last preceding section shall apply accordingly. Prohibition of Exportation, , At all times while His Majesty is at , war' with any foreign prince or State tho. powers of the Governor by Order-in-Council under Section 47 of. the 'Customs; Act, 1913, .to prohibit ,tl» exportation of, goods shall extend to any goods the prohibition of the. exportation of which, is, in the opinion of the Governor, necessary in the public interest, and all the provisions of that section and of the said , Aot shall apply accord inglyj Any Order-in-Council made under the authority of this section shall cease, to bo in force so soon as His Majesty is at peace with all foreign States , and princes.. Suspension tf Awards. The Governor may from time to time,, by Order-in-Council, if satisfied that such a course is necessary in the.public, interest, suspend wholly or partially, .and •subject to'6uch conditions as he thmko fit- ■ ■ , ; . •' • ' (a) All or any of tho provisions of any industrial award or industrial agreement under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act,- 1908, and its amendments': ' „ •' - .. (b) All or any of tho provisions of the Shops and Offices Act, 1908, and the Fa<y tories Aot, 1908, and their amendmentsi (c) All or anv of the. provisions of any. other Act so far as such provisions feika away or restrict the liberty of private contract in matters of trade, commerce, business, or employment. Compulsory Requisition of Supplies, : It shall be lawful for the Governor, whenever he deems it necessary-in the public interest to do so, bj; warrant -to authorise any person to fseize and take , possession on behalf and for the use,of His' Majesty, of any goods or class of goods speoified or described in the war-" rant. Any person who resists ■ or obstructs any person acting in pursuance of such warrant shall bo guilty of an indictable offence, and- may be arrested without warrant by any constable, or by o'ny officer of the Defence Forces; and . shall-be liable to. imprisonment for a period not crowding two years, or to t fine not" exceeding i! 500. . .. " All soods seized under any such, war- . rant shall thereupon become the property of' His Majesty, free and discharged, from all right, title, estate, or interest pos.Ksssi io re®ect thereof, bj any" otie? ■

pereofl. All goods so seized may be disposed of by the. Governor in such mau- • ner as he thinks fit, either for the purpose of the military, naval, or public service, or for sale to the jmblic. FuU compensation phall be payable by » His Majesty to the. owners of all goods so seized, and to all other persons posKssmg any- right, title, estate, or interest in .such goods. Such compensation shall ; be payable by the. Minister of Finance out of the Consolidated Fund without turthor appropriatioij than this 4ct, Commissions of Inquiry. Tho Governor may appoint'any person or persons to be a oominiseion to inquire into and report upon any i or all of the following matters:— . state of the prices of goodß in New Zealand or elsewhere, whether before or.after the outbreak; of war. (b) The quantity, situation, demand, supply, or p'ossesaiou of any goods in New Zealand. (cV The maana or sufiioiency of tho •upply or ■ transport' of goods. (d). The necessity or advisability of the exercise by the Governor or the Governor-Jn-Council of any of thie powers conferred by . this Act. ' , • Forbidden Traffic with the. Enemy. Other clauses specifically .prohibit fading with the enemy, forbidden in general terpis a' few days ago by Royal Prckilama-' tion. It is prohibited:— ' : (a) To supply to or obtuin from the territory of such foreign Prince or State so at war with Hjs any goods, wares, or merchandise. ' (b) Supply to or obtain from any person resident, carrying on business, or being in '■ that territory any goods,'wares, or inercliandise for or by w§y of trahsiniseion to or from ■ tHe said territory to or from any person resident,' carrying on business, or being therein. ' . (d) Trade in oi carry any goods, wares, ', or merchandise destined for or coming f from the saicj- territory or for or from any person resident, carrying on business, or being therein.. (e) Permit any British ship to leave for, . enter,- or bonjmunicat® with any port or .place the' said "territory."■" ' 1 (f) Make 6r eiiW into any marine, life, fire, , or othey policy or of insurance'with'or "for the bohefit of 'any person resident, carrying on business, or • being in thie said territOryi or'to make, pnder any policy or-contract of insurance, entered into before the outbreak of war, any . payment to'or for the benefit of any such person in respect of any loss due ta the belligerent : aotion of His Majesty's forces or of those of any ally' of His Majesty. ' : V • ' ! (g) Enter into any commercial, finaur, cial,.or pther contract or obligation'with' or for.-the benefit of -any person resident, carrying on business, or being in the 6aid territory; • j. ' ■ ! An offence by any person under these provisions is an indictaUe offence,' and punishable by a penalty not exceeding five years', imprisonment,' or a fine of iiIOOO, or botli, A body corporate so offending ehall bei' liable to a fine .not exceeding iCoOOO." ' ; ' Miscellaneous. In this Act the term "goods'' means all goods," wares,- or merchandise of any description,'and includes horseis, live-stock, and other" animals, and all conveyances and other means of transport pthar than ships, but does not include coin, bullipji, bank notM, or other valuable securities.' All Covirls shall take judicial notice of the existfince or termination of state of war between His Majesty and. any foreign Prince or (state. The' 4-ct"shall oontinue ii) force until I)eceml)er'?l, 1915. . • DEBATE IN THE HOUSE. : iTRADE AND'INDUSTRIAL AWARDS. The Bight Hon. W. F. Massey (Prime " Minister), having outlined tho provisions of the Bill, . Sir Joseph Ward (Awarua) said that the Bill' Was a r very important one, and in- • some respeots j.o thought that it was absolutely" AVith regard to the'.provisidns' made' ■ pxt ports, "ho know 'wfiethef prof vision was made "to nrofceot those who nad to the dcolarar tion 'of' war ?, If noti'he .thought' that'"an amendment would ba required in the law to ensure 'that those whoiiad entered' into . prior' contra'pts "were either v guaranteed against woirfinted' them.' He'was in'full aw»rij with "the proposals to fix r pr'ioas. " TJier*). was one' importiint revery''strict attention, nised that the timeg were abnormal, but / serious consideration should be giTPn before theiy agreed to wipe l out those "Acts which wore at the very bfisis of the foundation of the country; He referred tp the . Arbitration Acts'. ' ' ■ . . Mr. Herdman; It ia not necessary ta do that. ■ : ■ • • Sir Joseph Ward: It makes provision for it. He'euggested that provision Aould be miide' for Mme ,alternative.. It should' bo coinpulsorj', first, on the part of those of the employers w|p working under those Act 9 to ensuTe a reduction of hands . under the existing awards before a', gen-, eral suspension of the Aot;. 9e was .afraid tho'proposals'in the Bill, in that respect, ■wpuld Ije'prefltigg a, wropg in the country. '-' ■' |Ir. Herdman.: Wljat alternative do you ' .' " . i Sir Joseph W»Td: I suggest that before any suspension of any of tho awards is niade, provision might be mad® to alloyr the awards to. exist, with a reduced num-1 tier oi' employee's, under the 6amo cpqdh • tions and rates.of pay. ' • Mr. J. M'Combs: (Lyttelton) pointed oiit that Australia, ji| dealing, with the problem of Arbitration proposed that a Wages Board should rtduce the hours of labour, '' He thought thtit it would bo unfortunate, wheji th?y wore engaged in war with o foreign enemy, to throw diow n the very protection they had agajnst internal industrial.strife. He was suto the ' workers would regard it as. an act to. throw tho great toirdw of the war on the; wprkers.' To Protect til* Workers. v The Hon. L. . Herdman (AttorneyGeneral) : In case any erroneous impresgion should get abroad, lot mo say that this claugo is designed for"' the protection of the workers themselves, Tho position will be this: Supposing 4 time of stress comes along, and peri are, forced .out pf ■wgrk, or,employers find it impossible to . keep a large body of meji at arbitration rates, then the Government should be put-in a' position to relieve the employers themselves, > and bring about ajj alteration in tho hard and fast, rules fixed by the Arbitration Court. If the hon.' member looks into the provisions of the olause, be will come to thd/swne. conclusion: that it ia designed to interest- of the workers themselves. It -wits'»' fact that'if'the unfoTtuna-te' conditions'of war wore prolonged for a long time, trade would grow flick, and industriea ' would slaokpn, \ and possibly a state pf destitution n'ould. take place, The Government would sea that tho people .were looked after well. An Exceedingly Good' Pill. Mr. Ar M. Myers (Auckland Bast) sa}d he was sure thqt the ipember for Lyttolton }ia4 taken an' erroneous ' view of the clause; Speaking for the Opposition ho said that there was no need to be apprehensive lest tho Government would not consider interests of all classes of the community, . Mr. G. W. Bussell (Avon) paid he had eaiTOiped tho Bill and it Eeemed to him that the difflcplty suggested by the Leader of the Opposition was amply j>ro vided for by the proposal to set up Com-t missions of Inquiry. He was glad to heir that the Government did not propose to set up only pile- Commission to deal witli all questions, tut several Commissions to deal with various questions. Possibly tho Arbitration Court might be made tho Commission to deal with bus- ' ponsion ot variation of awards and other Acts regulating labour, He thought tho Bill- was an exceedingly good one. Mr, W, A- Veitch (Wanganui) sugff«3t. Ed that the Commissions to be set up should have power to compel people to give evidence. The Eight Hon. W. F. Massov said that this power to compel evidence was fully provided for. The Leader of the Opposition had raised the question of tho export of .goods tinder contracts made ririor to tho war. He would point out .that the: Bill was only an empowering Bill, and it was absolutely necessary that the Government should have power .ti). prohibit . the exportation of kinds of produce. (Hear, hear;) ;He, wiis assured by the _ Labour Department that all sorts of difficulties would crop up if fpmetbing in the nature of suspension of awards was not arranged for,. ,-For instance, the Gnvtrpment had recently placed an order .for' a thousand jwifprios with a Wellipgton firm,' whicli

must bo ready in a few days, and ho was advised that it would bo absolutely impossible to have theso ready if the provisions of the Factories Act enforced. The clause was intended to assist the workers, and not to injuro them. }Je could assure the House that if a Commission was set up to deal with wages and awards a representative of the industrial classes would be appointed to the board. The Bill was read a first time. Minimum Wages, 'In moving the second reading, the Right Hon. W. F, Massey said that the only clause to which. objection had been raised was that dealing with the suspension of Arbitration awards. The impression seemed to lie that the pioposal was to reduce Wages. That was not so, and he had accepted a new sub-clause, providing that nothing in the Bill should apply to the minimum rate of wages of the awards. The position as it seemed to him was that it would be better to have men' employed three days on full .pay than for the week on half-pay. Sir Joseph Ward said that the amendment met the objections raised by him. He again referred to the question of prior contracts/ Mr. Massey said that the position was in the hands of the Government. TKey would see that no unnecessary hardships were inflicted. All the provisions, he made it clear, only .applied to war' time,'and would'come.to an end wjth the'war. TJio Bill was read a second .time, In Committee, '■ . ' The new sub-clause moved by Mr. Massey dealing with minimum wages under awards, and providing that none of the provisions of the Bill should ivpply to them ivas carried. ' The Bill was put through Committee with amendment, read a third time, and passed. PRICE OF FLOUR, AUSTRALIA PREPARED TO SUPPLY. On Saturday morning a message.; was published from Palmerston North to the effect that Australian millers'were .'likely to cut off supplies to bakers. Thaf; tWq is hardly the case, a local flour merohant testifies. On ffytodfly mprning he received the following cable message from Mel.■bourae accept'orders flour in sacks at ... Small bags same basis,' plus extra, cost of bags. Shipping order given fourth (August) next week. The rush for stocks of flour, out of all proportion " of I immediate needs, is given as the cßuse of the rise (of only' ,£1 per ton) 'in the. price of New Zealand flour. One southern miller, writing to a Wellington merchant, puts the case in a nutshell. ■' ''The": general public," .ho writes,' "are demanding'from: three to twelve months' stock of flour, and anyone who knows the milling trade as . aware that this cannot be supplied at once. -At the present time wo haye enough orders on hand overdue and r for immediate delivery to keap run: njng threej'shifte a flay for the next month. If yo'ui'can assist us by explaining this to the public we shall be obliged. We have just received a wire from aii Auckland, firm giving its requirements by next boat as 112 tons. This order is equal to one month's supply for the same firing. We are pnly sending them 30 tons.". ' The merchant' added that it was simply beyond the'capacity of the mills to sup. ply the enormous'cemand that was being made upon them all at once, and if the public continued on rushing existing •stocks, they, and not the millers, fete putting .up ths price. It" was quite natural,. if .-regrettable,' for the. price of any commodity "to^go UP wheii'-there was a sadden abnormal demand, and that it had only risen .£1 per ton since war was 'declared is' the best of. proof that nejther holders pf wheat nor millers desire to push lip the price. 'The people become excited, and buy. six months' stocks instead of one month's pr, one* week's, and consequent upon the depletion of stocks, tho price increases.' ' ' '. " . '' "•