CONSUMERS' MONOPOLY

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5317, 1 February 1947, Page 4

CONSUMERS' MONOPOLY

! /YBJECTIONS to the establish- ! 1 ment of monopolistic cooperative stores in State settlement areas can be made both from the point of view of the trader in general and of the ; consumer at large. The President of the Hutt Valley Cooperative Society, in answering an allegation by the secretary of the Retailers' Federation that the organisation to be set up in Eastern Hutt Valley was a monopoly, declared that under the consumer co-operative system, it was imposSible, for exploitation to take place. The consumers, he. said, controlled the system and would derive the benefit from any profits. The establishment of another co-operative store that was opened in a town not far from Rotorua a few years ago gives rise to the question whether these co-operatives are being set up on a strictly competitive basis as regards stocks of rationed goods ancl lines in short supply. If the example quoted is any criterion, the other businesses in the area will have their stocks cut doWn to enable the new venture to get awa y to a flying start. Then, with an assured, monopolised clientele, the incentive to cut costs and at the same time giye the best possible service will doubtless diminish to the point where there will be no additional advantage to the consumers' pocket. It is unlikely that the consumer representatives' oversight of the business will be sufficiently thorough or informed to make„their interest wortb-while, unless they are uncommonly fortunate in their J staff. In the meantime, the opportunity of young men, ex-service-men and others, to branch . out on their own, will be progressively restrieted as the co-opera-tives are extended. Nothing can be said against the co-operative organisations as such — indeed, a very large number of provision businesses throughout the country are already on that basis, but- a monopoly under the guise of co-operation that debars "orderly and fair competition" will in the long run be to nobody's advantage.