COUPON TRADING

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 50, 21 October 1931, Page 3

COUPON TRADING

(Press Assn.-

DEBATE RESUMED REDEMPTION FOR CASH ONLY AFTER APRIL NEXT " " MEASURE NOT OPPOSED

-By Telegraph — Copyright).

WELLINGTON, Tuesday. To meet the convenience of members of the House of Representatives who were uhable to return to Wellington after the , week-end unsL r,oday, the interrupted debate on the Leader of the Opposition's no confidence motion and Mr C. A. Wilkinson's amendment to it will not be resumed until to-morrow. Meantime, progress was made at to-day's sitting with the Trading Coupons Bill. Moving that the Bill be, committed, the Minister of Internal. Affairs, the Hon. A. Hamilton, said there was a tendency nowadays to entice people to buy things they did not really want and' which they sometimes could not affort to buy. No objcetion could he taken to encouraging people to buy goods, provided methods were adopted that were not objectionable to the bulk of the traders and the public in general.

There was a good deal of objection to the systemt ,of coupon trading, Mr Hamilton continued. A large number of retail traders had lodged an objection, declaring that it was .not a desirable form of trading and asking that it he regulated, if not stop-

Three Schools of Thought ped entirely. It was just a question, said the Minister, whether the custom of encouraging people to buy was not overdone. There appeared to he three schools of thought as to what should be done regarding the trading coupons custom. The first school argu■ed that the State should not interfere in any way. This could be answered with the fact that the State already played a- large part in licensing or regulating trade and business. The second school of thought was of the opinion that the coupon system should be confined purely to those engaged in some form of trading business and should not be placed in the • hands of a company trading solely in coupons and that the coupon system was not an evil provided it was carried on in a legitimate way. The third school contended that all gift systems should be abolished. The Minister expressed the opinion that the coupon system lent itself to deception and tended to undermine the principle of goods being sold according to their merit and the thought a reason had been established for some interference if people were induced to buy m,ore by the offering of a gift than by the value of the goods or the necessity of purehasing them. The purpose of the Bill was to prohibit the use of trading coupons by persons other than manufacturers, packers, importers, distributors and sellers of goods and to provide that trading coupons should be redeemable for cash only after .April 30 next. Neither Good nor Bad Mr M. J. Savage (Labour, Auckland West), said the Bill was not' likely to do either any good or any harm. It seemed the Government was trying to hold down the competitive spirit, which once it had praised very highly, by legislative enactment. Under present conditions he tiid not think there was any danger of people being enticed to buy too much of what they could not afford or did not wish to buy. Mr A. Harris (Reform, Waitemata) said no one had opposed the Bill before the Select Committee and it was a fair inference that if there had been any objection to the measure it would have been forthcoming. At present they should encourage people to purehase as much as they could. The adoption of the Bill would rnean a decrease in revenue to the State and that was a big consideration. Mr A. E. Ansell (Reform, Chalmers) said there was little doubt but that the public had to pay for the coupon system. It had been said that the State would lose revenue, but the State had also to protect the small traders who were passing through a difficult period. He gave notice of an amendment designed to prohibit the free gift system. Auto. Associations •Mr F'. Langstone (Labour, WaimaVino), ■ asked whether the automobile association did not carry on a kind of free gift system when they told motorists that if they joined the association they would get accommodation at cheaper rates. He considered the Bill was attempting the impossible. Mr. W. E. Parry (Labour, Auckland Central) believed the Bill was aimed at the working section of the community which was the only 'section which collected coupons. The Bill was a .stepping stone to the abolition of the time payment system. Mr J. T. Hogan (Independent, Rangitikei), did not think the Bill went far enough. Some of the greatest rubbish in the world was being distributed by way of free gifts. He believed the time was coming when the chain stoi'es and the hire-purchase system would have to he tackled. Mr. R. A. Wright (Refonn, Wellington Suburbs), said the Bill undoubtedly interfered with the competitive system, but competition required. regulation.