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The Dominion THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1919. A PROMISING DEPARTURE

j . Ti:e Board of Trade Bill, wh'ieh has just been circulated, is a measure of considerable promise, and one that Parliament ought to be very willing to pass into law. That tho proposals it contains are broadly on right lines is not in doubt. On the whole,_ it seems well calculated to satisfy in the spirit as well as in tho letter the demand' thai! has been widely raised for the establishment of a separate Department of Industries and Commerce capable of systematically fostering and regulating' industries—particularly the secondary industries which up to the present' have been most unwisoly neglected in this country. At the same-time it proposes material improvements''in the existing law relating to profiteering and in measures for the prevention or detection of profiteering. _ As the Bill is , drawn (its leading provisions were summarised in The Dominion yesterday) the active work of the separately _ constituted Department of Industries and Commerce would fall largely on the Board of Trade. The present members of the Board of Trade are to remain in office, at all events until the period for which, they were appointed expires, but the powers and functions of the Board are greatly broadened and enlarged/ At present it is little more than an advisory body with fairly extended powers of inquiry. Under the Bill it is invested with drastic, powers of conducting such judicial '/inquiries or investigations as it thinks fit "into any matters whatsoever relative to any industry carried on or proposed to be 'carried on," and express_ provision ~ia raado for the imposition of substantial penalties in the way of fine and imprisonment upon those who refuse information. Similar penalties are provide! for any breach of the regulations the - Board is empowered under a wide authority to make for such purposes as the prevention and suppression of monopolies and of business methods and practices which are regarded as prejudicial' to Wew Zealand industries or to public welfare. The clause_ relating specifically to' profiteering is obriously a great improvement on the legislation dealing with this subject which was' passed last year. It is cast in much simpler terms and proposes to make the profiteer liable to imprisonment, and not merely to.be fined as was the case-in-last year's Act. The main proposal now submitted is that any person should be adjudged guilty of profiteering who charge's such a prico ' for goods as produces or is calculated to produce more than a fair and reasonable rate of commercial profit. There may be very eonsidcrabh difficulty in some cases in determining what, a fair and reasonable rate of commercial profit in the circumstances and conditions of a given business. On tie other hand it ought to be a'comparatively simple matter to fix a maximum rate of profit which would at least, prevent gross profiteering, or make those who practise,it subject to penalties under the law. Any attempt. to determine closely what amounts to a fair rate of profit in difforent branches of trade and industry will, of necessity be a work or care and time, but this is not to say that it should not he undertaken.

It is obvious not only in regard to profiteering hut to the whole scope of the Bill that the objects aimed at cannot be attained' fully .within a limited period". The Department of Industries' and Commerce cannot attain its full ■ usefulness otherwise .than by a process of growth. Assuming that it is about to be established on the lines now proposed it will be handicapped by the inevitable results of past neglect of the matters with which it. is asked'to deal; No organisation or methodical encouragement of secondary industries has yet been attempted in this country. The Customs tariff is a mass of anomalies. The new' Department ought to derive material assistance _ from the. investigations made during the last few years by Hie present Board of Trade, but it is faced by a somewhat staggering task "and no doubt a great deal of preparatory work and,of careful organisation will be necessary before it can confidently embark in a comprehensive way on its /two main duties of fostering industries and protecting the consumer. The Botvd of Trade of four paid members (one more than at present), in addition to tho Minister, is no doubt'a nucleus which will grow. Meantime as providing for a flexible organisation and for bringing specialised knowledge to bear upon specific inquiries, the proposal that outside experts should bo temporarily added to the strength of the Board from time to time seems particularly commendable. If the' Department of Industries and Commerce is developed and organised at it ought to be—which, of course, means incidentally that such salaries must be offeVed as .will attract to its service experts of the highest qualifications ■ —-its cost to the Dominion ought within a few years to be returned many times over, if really sound and methodical measures are taken tj foster the industries of the ; Dominion, ,the conditions will.at tha same time be created in which it will be possible to adequately safeguard the public against exploitation by profiteers. It has to be recognised, however, that there is a g/eat deal of lost time and ground to recover and that the best organised Department cannot be expected immediately to repair the results of past neglect.

NOTES OF THE DAY e —

Ketchked soldiers who justly take pride in the splendid record which the New Zealand Forces established for themselves, off a;; well as on the battlefield, will bitterly resent the discredit brought on the force by the rowdy clcmenr, at yesterday's deputation to Ministers and members of Parliament. The wholo thing was a stupid blunder from heginning to end. Public sympathy is naturally with the returned soldiers, and the desire is generally felt that the men who fought and risked their lives for the nation's welfare should be assisted in every possible* way to make a successful return to civilian life. But public sympathy and support is not. likely tti "toe stimulated by such tactics as were pursued yesterday. It would be wrong, howover, to associatc_ the great body of returned men with the ill-advised methods which culminated in the rowdyism in Parliament Grounds. •

When the deputation of producers waited on the Piuhe Minister a week or two ago regarding the position and future prospects of our meat export trade, a discussion arose as to the state of the meat stores' in England. _ Mil. W. J. Polson, of Wanganui, expressed the view that owing to the congested condition, of the Imperial meat stores 'and the glutted state "of the market the Home Government was not likely to accelerate the rate of dispatch of refrigerated ships to New Zealand to take away meat which for the time ibeing was not required in England. Some confirmation of this view is to be found In a communication from Mr. A.' W. PEARSE;,of the I'adoraluls Review, at present in England. In the current issue of the journal mentioned, Mr. -Peakse, writing from London, makes this comment: ■'

. The position of meat just now Here is peculiar. By July thero will bo enough purely British meat, to feed the .whole of Great Britain for three months, and frozen won't be wanted. The stores are now full of frozen, and ships aro arriving rapidly from all parts oi> the world wiili more. The British Government dare not liberate meat because they have pledged the British farmer a certain price till the end of Septombei. '

I The position now reached in connection with the improvement of the Paekakariki road is almost Worthy of comic opera. Work, which is badly needed to keep the i'oad open and maintain it, even, at alow standard of efficiency has been begun by the Public Works but is jtc be suspended: until a contribution of part of the cost has been made good by', the Hufcfc County Council The settlers concerned are disinclined to incur financial burdens in assisting to maintain a, road which is used chiefly for through traffic, and can hardly be blamed for their attitude. The serious result is entailed, however, that Wellington city is in evident danger of. being cut off for' practical purposes from road access with the Manawutu. The position, reached is all the more'absurd sinee an obvious way of escape' is being neglected. 6m William Fhasek has stated that a deviation between Parcmata and Paekakariki, which would avoid trio Paekakariki hill, would cost about £64,000. The interest and capital charges on that amount would be much more than saved in wear and teat on vehicles if tho new road were constructed. On ttiu facta here cited so clear a case is made out for bringing a new policy to bear that the Government ought to feel bound to act without delay. The only satisfactory method > of dealing with arterial roads is to} make their construction and upkeep a. charge on national revenue, such taxes as may seem advisable being imposed on motor vehicles. ,In anticipation of such a policy the Government ought to have,bo hesitation an ordering an immediate start upon the road deviation which is one of works needed to give ordinary facilities for communication between the capital of'the Dominion and. the interior country. _ In some districts contentious question!? may arise as to what are and what are not arterial roads. No such uncertainty can arise in regard to the proposed road to Paekakariki, and it'is by this time fairly evident that it cannot be dealt with in any other way than in its real character as a national highway.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19190911.2.15

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 297, 11 September 1919, Page 4

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,599

The Dominion THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1919. A PROMISING DEPARTURE Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 297, 11 September 1919, Page 4

The Dominion THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1919. A PROMISING DEPARTURE Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 297, 11 September 1919, Page 4

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