MISTAKEN POLICY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20099, 20 November 1939, Page 11

MISTAKEN POLICY

TRADE RESTRICTIONS BUSINESS MAN’S VIEWS CONSULTATIONS URGED Only passing reference lo the incidence of taxation and trade restrictions was made by the chairman of directors of the Drapery and General Importing Company of New Zealand, Limited, Mr. P. L. Ilalsted, in his address to the annual meeting of shareholders in Dunedin.

“I do not think it opportune lo refer again to the incidence of taxation or to criticise Government decrees in restraint of trade, oven although I may personally think some of the latter ill-considered,” he said. “We are at war, and it .is our duty to afford the Government all the assistance we can to achieve victory in the shortest possible time. The interests of the company were bound to suffer in any case, and even if I am right in thinking that some of the decrees are unnecessarily harsh, we must accept the situation philosophically and try to make the best of .it.”

The import restrictions and control of exchange came into a different category, since they had been imposed before the outbreak of war and as a result of what, Mr. Ilalsted said, lie thought was a mistaken policy on the part of the Government. If the Minister in the beginning had called in for consultation members of the commercial community, those actually concerned in the particular trades and industries affected, in addition to civil servants who had no intimate knowledge of the subject, many of the mistakes made might have been avoided, he suggested.

“It is too late to hope that the Minister responsible may yet do this?" Mr. Halsted asked.