TRADING INQUIRY

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 623, 27 March 1929, Page 10

TRADING INQUIRY

ADVOCATE FOR CASH ORDERS WOMEN AGAINST SYSTEM An abundance of evidence giving both sides of the views of business men on the cash order trading system continues to come before the official commission n Auckland, which expects to complete its investigations by j to-morrow. ! Besides the business aspect, which | has received such thorough attention | from the commission, independent witI nesses have been called to state their | opinions. Many of these have been I definite in their favour of a continuJ ance of the system. Besides these | views, the commission has taken a j good deal of evidence concerning the j extent of cash order trading, and its effects, in other countries, j The Hon. J. G. Cobbe, Minister of Industries and Commerce, and Mr. | J. W. Collins, secretary to the depart- | ment, form the commission of inquiry. Advocates of the system at this morning’s hearing of evidence were a prominent business man and a traveller, both of whom stressed the value of the cash order system to the poorer classes. The business man said that lie considered, after many years’ experience, that the system was a decided advantage to the community. It was well-conducted in Auckland and undoubtedly proved of outstandj ing service to the poorer classes. The j traveller who praised the system said I that he knew hundreds of people who j appreciated the system and the accommodation given to orders. His own wife preferred the system. Members of the National Council of Women, representing the women of the Auckland, Province, were against the system. They said it was expensive to the borrower and was opposed to thrift in a community. They felt that an unfair advantage was given over genuine cash buyers. The generous discount allowed under the system must have a reflection on the community in the long run, they contended. Another witness brought under the notice of the commission a system operated by an organisation throughout New Zealand. Orders were issued free, provided the clients became shareholders. It was an advantage. One woman shop assistant, who had Jong experience of cash order trading in Melbourne, told the commission yesterday afternoon that its use had grown rapidly. All classes in Melbourne, she said, dealt by cash orders. So large had such business grown in recent years that retailers had almost universally adopted a system of charging those who presented the orders from 10 to 12J per cent, additional on marked prices. Cash orders in Melbourne were generally accepted by even the most exclusive shops and even by firms which had formerly resisted the system. The orders were not accepted by assistants, but were presented to the accounts staff, where the orders were replaced by a departmental sheet on which all purchases had to be shown and the discounts noted above added. All parcels were checked in the basements of the shops, and the sheet had to be presented and checked before delivery of the goods was given. Special cash order departments for dealing exclusively with that form of custom had been established in all shops, so extensively had the system grown.

A director of a cash order company gave evidence in support of the system. He submitted a statement dealing with the criticism by the New Zealand Federation of Drapers, Mercers, Clothiers and Boot Retailers. Properly conducted, there was nothing wrong with cash order trading. The witness claimed that no interference by the Government was warranted. The competition between cash order companies in Auckland was sufficient to regulate any abuses likely to arise.