FOR AND AGAINST

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 447, 31 August 1928, Page 13

FOR AND AGAINST

TIME PAYMENT SYSTEM CERTAIN CLEAR ADVANTAGES Press Association. WELLINGTON, Thursday. The time-payment method of trading is discussed in the report of the Department of Industries and Commerce. The report says that while sellers of foodstuffs, clothing and similar articles, object most strongly to time-payment or hire-purchase methods, dealers in automobiles, musical instruments, furniture, and certain classes of machinery are equally emphatic in their support of the virtues of the system. It appears to be true in this, as in other instances, that it is the excessive and extravagant adoption of the principle of deferred payment which constitutes the only serious objection to a system of business which in certin respects has decided economic benefits. The time-payment system may claim to be an influence toward thrift as much as a cause of extravagance, and a means of enabling producers to use modern appliances or machines earlier than they would otherwise find possible. The purchase of goods on a deferred payment basis undoubtedly influences the direction in which the income of large sections of the communtiy is spent, and, in consequence of this, some classes of goods may, to the disadvantage of other goods, secure a sale far greater than would be possible if cash trading' were strictly adhered to. Credit trading is clearly not to be regarded as unsound or undesirable trading, and, provided that the buyer is reasonably able to meet his credit obligations, the main factor for consideration is the nature of goods sold on credit and the use which the purchaser intends to make of them.