King Country Chronicle. Wednesday, May 24, 1911. TOPICS OF THE DAY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 363, 24 May 1911, Page 5

King Country Chronicle. Wednesday, May 24, 1911. TOPICS OF THE DAY.

s> In the course oi a .>.■ 11c-r to a contemporary a writer once ;u;ain revives the old cudtention that the townsman lives upon the farmer. '1 he land is the basis of all profits, ami irom it comes all that enables us to live and thrive. lUit it if- misleading to stifj;gcat that without the aiil oi. the townsman tho fanner would still bo comi'iutably off- 1 iut anyone ndieet, whore the farmer would he v.'it ho tit town markets for his produce, ami town artisans and mechanics to maiuiiai.ture his appliances, and he will teadily see tho illogical position taken up by thoae who wish to niako it a onesided contention. The intercuts of both farmer and townsman are. identical. It hi :'o on a smalll scale, just as on a larger scale the real iiKOteslcof producing countries are identical,, in that one need.-' to export and the other to import, to do business and make trade. It Now /.calami larmets had no outlet in the hi it, town popu]at ions at Home for their produce, we should quickly ieel the ehects, and on the contrary, it tho wholesale houses in the cities here and elsewhere, were blocked in their market with the farmers of New Zealand, the ioss would he a substantial one to them. Possibly there was an .dement of truth in the argument, say, a numlred ye'.rs ago. When fa nod wooden ploughs and y.row everything they required on their mml, and when the farmer's wife baked and spun, made her preserves and her own clothes, provided there was m> wish to do any trade with olhev.-', the lit:' was almost, a self-contained on.-. L>ut can we imagine to-day to.' modtrn farinei building his own chimneys, making hi 3 i.toveu ami Ids own looks and all tho intricate machinery----all a town product- -which to make life tolerable anil even desirable on the farm; "Interdependence absolute" as Kipling makes the old iVolrf engineer tsaj. That ia the position, as applied to countryman arc! townsman. Cooperative effort is what modern civilisation is leading to.

The Intcreatintc question of what is the lovveat price at which household necessities can be sold is discussed in ■n article on the "'Wholesale Club, Ltd." which appear:.! in tin.* Mercantile Gazette." Twelve months ;itio the CUib was atarteil by I:t 'W nulividuala in <:itri.if»th, vvuli t!n* iutention oi! .-it'll in;' retail at \\ li .li'n.ii.* prices. Tlk tnuk* by h*a|..-t and bounds, ami in Nov.*itii>er a company Was formed. la a iu>rt. time tinbusiness ovur-ran thl* capital .and the public Were invited to H»h.'u:rUn* £80,00(1 ol.' a nominal capital <>i' lm),<OOO, tho balance of beili;; donated to (.In* promoters as ;.;oodwilk Thia latter proposal brought a HmH ot criticism and i\5>j11;i•;ilin11;? fell nil, the promoter.-t were unable 1.0 buy in toe local market from the wholesale houaea, who Scared oh. end in;.'; tho ii other customer:', debeiituie followed in quick ::ucce:'.:iimt, and the curtain was do'.vu early in i\lay by tho debenture-holders wtilkiiiK »» and cloninK the InuumM.s. "Whether the Club ever had any chance of success had it been properly equipped with capital wo should not. like to *•<».», Bays the "Gazette." "l'eraonally we conceive it to ho an impossibility ."t any retailer to .-lell at wholesale piiiee and avoid lo.'inr: hia own or his creditor'.i money. I hat, howe\ei, •WaH the leading principle which the company advertised, anil it kau an eo.iBC que nee either to sell at wholesale pricen, or to eharim some additional profit. If it did tho latter then the. fselliritf price niu.it; .show the ordinary :a(Mition upon cost to cover tho exypen«eM and leave a pmiit. It. hi pos«it)lo that; with a immcnau turn-over tho company hy directly importing everything have been able to .reduce the price, but we do not know that, establishments in London, such as Ilarrod's and V/hiteley's are able to urulersoll to any extent, other hut ■smaller rivals. In New Zealand most of the larger establishments purchase -direct and we are certain that no hutfo fortunes have been made, as a nrotiult of buying in the best market

and selling; here retail." There is a morn! in this plain history for resident?. in the King Country. No specious promises, from wherever emanating, ot' goods at wholesale prices should '>;• considered until carriage and freight, have been added to the. price quoted, a;ul the fact that cash he sent with order has been taken in to account. As an illustration we take kerosene, quoted at C>s ! J(i a case by a. hi;,' Auckland firm. Add ;»s -id freight, and Is cartage to that amount, and landed in Te Kuiti it costs lis ,'ki. Any local firm can deliver kerosene at ids to 10s (id a case. The; instance could be multiplied, h'it suindent has been said to show that care should be taken before blindly accepting any statements ot what price an article can be got in a wholes.lie way.