PROFITEERING.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1894, 24 October 1918, Page 1

PROFITEERING.

ROME COMPANY BALANCESHEET R. mCII PRICES MAKE HIGH PROFITS. Labour people claim that il‘ I lie Covcrnmonl would seek (ho fundamenlal reason for (lie present high cost of livino- all (hey need to do is to analyse the balance-sheets of many New Zealand companies who sell food commodities. There can he found much food for reflection and gratification only for shareholders of the companies concerned. Some of these balance-sheets are difficult to obtain, but Labour secretaries alert for material to sheet home the blame to the right (piarter manage at limes to secure copies of company balance-sheets. Mr A. L. Monteith (secretary of the Storeman’s Union) quoted (o a New Zealand Times reporter some interesting figures from Hie balancesheets of two big Wellington companies. in these, Mr Monteith claims, can be found plain evidences of how the worker is exploited. The last balance-sheet of one of the largest wholesale grocery linns in Wellington shows some surprising figures. In .1916 this company had a paid-up capital of £250,000. The company has pij|d an ordinary dividend of 7 per cent., along with a special bonus of 10 per cent, (this totalling £136,000). In 1918 this company paid 7 per cent, on the whole of its capital of £386,000, and had £6,000 more in the reserve of undivided profits when it gave this 40 per cent, bonus. Another company of general merchants paid 8 per cent, last year free of income tax, and gave an extra bonus of: 5 per cent."to shareholders, totalling £IOO,OOO, put £IOO,OOO to the reserve fund, which was equivalent to 10 per cent., put another £IOO,OOO to a special fund for the writing down of premises, £IO,OOO to a benevolent fund, and carried forward to (he reserve fund the same amount that was brought forward the previous year. “It means/'-’ said Mr Monteith, “that this company made approximately from 35 to 37 per cent, profit last year. It is worthy of note also that many of the employees of these companies are working for less than £3 5s a week.”