ALLEGED PROFITEERING

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 10, 7 October 1919, Page 6

ALLEGED PROFITEERING

BOARD OF TRADE SEEKING I • INFORMATION. . Ht TelejrrnP l !— Pp crs A»ri ,, inf.inn. / Christchurch, October 0. ~ Mr. R. D. Martin, secretary of the ; Christchurch Shop Assistants' Union, has received a communication from Mr. C.ul- . lins, secretary of the Board of Trade, in regard to the. dissatisfaction which is said to exist among drapery employees concerning .the gradual increase m the price of materials. The letter is as follows:—"It has been brought under the ; notice of the Board of Trade that during t tho recent sitting of the Arbitration . Court you mentioned that a spirit, of dissatisfaction existed among drapery em- ; ployees regarding the gradual increase made .in prices of materials, while there was no proportionate rise in wages, lou instanced tho landing charges of certain goods and ouoted retail prices actually chargcd. T(io board notes also from Christchurch newspapers of September you made n • statement with respect te > colnual tiveeds which cost 9s. per yard and which were ultimately sold at 31s. t Gd.> A report before the board shows that Mr. Justice Stringer suggests thai: : these wore eases which you should brnitj before the Board of Trade. The board ; has waited to hear from you, but up to the nresent has had no commmiientiov Will" you please inform me whether it is vour intention to proceed with tliw . m.-tler? I might add that under tlw existing r .aw the proofs required to estab. , l-'sh a case of profiteering, arc somewhat difficult. If you followed the ens* recentlv heard before the Courr. m Wellington, vou will no doubt realise wiiat proofs are necessary before tlie board could succeed." , . The reporter'asked Mr. Martin what action, if any, the union proposedMo take Mr. Martin replied that lis intended to communicate with the Board j of Trade offering to meet the beard either in Wellington or Christchurcn and place i before it numerous examples ol alleged I profiteering

The annual report oC the Wellington Municipal Tramways Department says:— "During the year ended March 31, the cars ran '2,774,370 milos on the city system, and carried 33,,805,092 passengers, which, on the assumption that the population of Wellington and suburbs is 85,000, represents an average of 399' rules per capital—a figure about double that usually obtained by tramways iir tho United Kingdom. The steady growth of traffic, to which attention' has been direiied in all the annual re]iorts issupu since the outbreak of the will', was fully maintained during tho past year, but owing to the unfortunate epidemic outbreak, tho effects of which seriously militated against the service for at least two months, file actual increase m passengers carried did not exceed the figure of the preceding year. On the Brooklyn and Wadestown routes the haiulling of the heavier traffic has been a diffidult problem, particularly on account of tho small carrying capacity of the; majority., of the cars provided for working theso routes." The King has been pleased to appoint Brigadier-General A. F. Home, C.8., C.M.G., D.5.0., late 11th Hussars, to lie one uf His Majesty's Body Guard of tho Honourable Corps of Gcntlemen-at-Arnis,' vice Lieut.-Coloiiel A. W. & Hornsby-Drake, resigned.