TO DEAL WITH THE PROFITEERS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 269, 9 August 1919, Page 7

TO DEAL WITH THE PROFITEERS

BRITISH TRIBUNALS TO BE APPOINTED A BOMBSHELL By Telesraph-'Presfl ABSooiation-Oouyrlirht , London, August 6. Tho Government is introducing a Bill to establish, tribunals to deal with profiteering. Sir Auckland Geddes (President of tho Board of Trade), in giving evidenco before the Profiteering Committee, said that new tribunals would bo set up similar to tho military service tribunals. They will bo empowered to inflict fines, of ,£2o,' or refer tho cases to a court of ! summary jurisdiction, which will be cm- : vowerw'' to inflict penalties of .£2OO, or •■ six months' imprisonment. Appeal trii bur-pis wil!l be established for the wo- • vction of traders. Tho Government* is ' (?™sideriug whether it is possible to make ; profiteers disgorge- tho unfair profits nlI rs.adv accumulated. ■' The introduction of the Government s i Bill was ia bombshell to the Profiteering ! Committee, whicli is considering tho disj continuance of its investigation, as tho + Government had decided the matter — I Aus.-N-.Z. Cable Assu.

MR. HUGHES SPEAKS OUT ■ i . OPINIONS OF PROFITEERS AND BOLSHEVISTS. Durban, August 7. ' Mr. W. 31. Hughes, speaking at a luncheon in his honour, referred to thelabour unrest. He said he sympathised with the cry. for ■ more money and shorter horn's; but the only way to obtain amelioration was to produce moro wealth. There were two classes who were enemies to society—the Bolshevists and the profiteers—and ho said, "Damn them both." That was the message he gave. If we were to speak mealy-mouth-ed platitudes, we would do no good to the" world, which was raoking its souU. Tho world was deadly sick from the effects of a deadly debauch. He would fi«ht both-the Bolshevists and the profiteers relentlessly to the very end.—Aus.N.Z. Cable Assn. r PRINTING PAPER COMBINE ALLEGED AMERICAN-CANADIAN PROFITEERING TRUST. .(Kee. August-8, 7.30 p.m.) Melbourne, August 8. A deputation from the Provincial Press Association asked the Federal Minister of Customs for relief from the operations of the paper-producing combine whicli was said to exist iu the United States and Canada. The deputation suggesled that news printing paper should bo admitted free, or, if taxed, tho ttix should not bo above a per cent., and that in any case no preference/should 'be gran'ed on Canadian paper till a searching inquiry had been made into the methods of the Ameri-can-Canadian combine in "cornering" shipping and extorting unjust profits. It was stated I hat the American paper combine'had established itself in Canada and controlled the whole of the freight lines to Australia, exacting a profit on paper fully 100 per cent, übovc the pre-war figure. The Minister assured the deputation that the Govern men t would do nothing to play into tlio hands of tho combine.— Pre.-'s Assn.

[Apropos of tho war on profiteering, (he following letter, from a well-known-merchant firm in London to its Wellington agents, is of topical interest:—".for some months past" states the letter, "business men generally have staled flint with. Government .restrictions remoyed essential commodities, could be sold l<> tlio advantage of the consumer. This contention is still maintained, mid would operate wcro it not for outside speculators who have .absolutely no permanent interest in the business, but whose presence iu 'he market causes undue inflation of pi;ices to the ultimate detriment of tho regular trader, and consequent uncertainty as to the future. Tallow is one of the instances we have in mind, but we mention this as wo recently itienra the remark expressed that 'clergymen and' ladies' maids' were' now buying and soiling fallow, thiis giving an exaggerated view of the present state of things in this country, all of which only tends to iceep the masses in a constant state of unrest and retard people from settling down' with the contented mind necessary for the hard task of re-establishing tho trade of tho con 11 try.

"Another menace to the people's peace of mind vrliioli continues to' loom up largely \s (ho American Heat Trust,-and wc only hope that the people of New Zealand are realising fully what ell rhii means to the future, welfare of the Dominion. That the evil can only bf combated by the closest, co-operation of purpose between this country and tho.coipny is apparent to all who have studied- tho quest-toil, and. from the correspondence received.! we are pleased to note that the majority of our client? are willing to support the 'TCccommendatious of ■ the Australasian Section of tho British Incorporated Society" of Meat Importers,' copies of-which hare been - circulated freely throughout the-colony.'" "With, the subject of tho trust always in mind, the Australasian. Section of the 8.1.5.M. Importers, !in conjunction with the Wholesalers' Association, are. formulating a further, or what might bo said to be an alternative, scheme. The idea now under consideration is:—

" 'That all traders in .the United Kingdom should be registered, and licenses issued, upon conditions inserted tjiverein. Failure to comply with the conditions to entail the forfeiting of tho license. No person to be allowed.to be a trader who does not. possess such, a, license: " 'i'a) 1. License, to import meat from the British colonies; 2, license to import meat from foreign countries. "'(b) I.'License to sell British meat by wholesale; 2, license to sell foreign msat by wholesale; 'A, license to sell both British and foreign meat by wholesale. '"(c) License to sell meat, by retail.' "Thelicenses (a) 1, (b) 1, (b). 3, and (c) to be granted to British firms alone, oare being taken that no firm to whom a license is' granted should be supported, influenced, or controlled by foi'oign capital. This scheme is in' tho process of development, and in due course particulars of how it is intended to work the same will be available."!