AUCTIONEERS AND LAND AGENTS

Dominion, Volume 15, Issue 26, 25 October 1921, Page 5

AUCTIONEERS AND LAND AGENTS

Sir, —In this morning’s Dominion there is a paragraph, re the Auctioneers Amendment Bill. In making any amendment, 1 consider tho question of the fee (£4O) should be considered. Why should such n largo sum have to be, paid? The land agent license only costs £5 —why not make them both, say, .£lO each. To argue both sides, why not amalgamate the two/Acts and make it compulsory for the auction, accounts as well ns the land agency accounts to be publicly audited? I should like, otherwise, to see the auction, fee made elastic,* so that each public body could fix its own fee. For instance, say, the large centres might fix the fee at £4O or even .£5O, and the countiy centres at from £lO, say. Under this system all licenses would be confined to the centre issuing same, taking electoral or county districts afe th© area. Ningty-five per cent, of the auctioneers only require a local license. This means that the big firms really get a cheap license, but the small auctioneer, who. is essential, has at present to pay dear. By this I mean one in a small town, and doing strictly local business is now burdened with a Dominion license, which ho does not require. A publican pays £4O for his license—it is not necessary, as liquor is better abolished—but his permit is restricted to the eno town, and, in fact, to the one house.

Moro could be written on this subject, but I trust some of the Liberal Parliamentary members will consider this seriously and put the two Acts together. It could be easily done. A Wellington Association is run as “The Land Agents and Auctioneering Association," which shows that an analogy exists between them.—l am. etc..

AUCTIONEER AND LAND AGENT.