TRADE DESCRIPTIONS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2994, 3 February 1917, Page 7

TRADE DESCRIPTIONS

TKUE OB FALSE?

Before Mr. i. G. lleid, SM., in the Magistrate's Court yesterday, Victor Mgar Segal appeared on five charges or applying false trade descriptions to goods, and of selling goods to which such descriptions had been applied. Mr. V. R. Meredith, of the Crown Law Oince, prosecuted, and Mr. 0. C Ma/.engarb defended.

Mr. Meredith said that ilia defendant was charged with exhibiting and selling goods which had a description misleading to the public and to purchasers as to the value of the goods they were buyThg. Such an offence was looked upon as a very serious one, the object of uie section uuder which proceedings had been instituted being to prevent the piiulK's being defrauded. A.man had no more right to deceive the public by applying false descriptions fo his goods tnan he had to steal from it. The defendant had comparatively recently opened three retail shops, one in Willi's Street, opposite the Grand Hotel, another in the Grand Hotel building, and another ja Lambton Quay, opposite the Hani; of New Zealand. The turnover must be considerable to warrant the payment of three separate rents, and if the defendant was shown to have must be taken that he had reaped very committed'the offences charged, -it considerable benefit from r-uch practices. In ihe_window of one of the shops there was a _T«rc to the public in a statement that the- defendant was selling jewellery from an assigned stock. This was not correct, as a letter had <<een handed in-giving details of where the jewellery was bought. It had been bought in the ordinary way, some from England and some locally.

mt. Mazengarb said that the letter in question referred only to the articles in respect of which the defendant was cnarged.

Mr. Meredith contended that the general deduction from the statement would be that the stock was being sold a£ reduced prices. He submitted that uToT.was evidence of a general scheme to receive the public. Xhe defendant Tiau displayed and sold bait cellars to which the description "sterling silverplate salts" was given. The articles in question Have proved to bo of base metal, very lightly plated. They were, in fact, the cheapest of plated' goods. "Solid gold brooches, English hallmarked, real stones," and "Solid gold stamped filled bracelets" were the descriptions applied by the defendant to other goods. of a liko quality. Evidence was given by Henry James Salter, jeweller's assistant, who had purchased articles from the-defendant under instructions from the Jewellers' Association. Other witnesses called by tTie Crown were Sibyl Tarsone, manageress of the defendant's shop in the Grand Hotel, and Stanley Burgess, manager of the defendant's shop at 37 .Wffis Street.

Shortly after Burgess commenced to gTye his evidence, Mr. Meredith obtained leave to treat the witness as hostile.

Burgess stated that the descriptions applied : fo such of the articles as he was called upon to speak of were correct. He also said that the words "9 carat" were included in the description of the bracelets.

At this stage the case was adjourned to February 13.