SEEKING PROIFITEERS.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3503, 4 June 1920, Page 3

SEEKING PROIFITEERS.

WORK OF BOARD OF TRADE. _______., REVIEW BY MR. i\L\Ssl~.l‘r'. l Touching upon the work of the Board of Trade, the 1‘;-into .\li.nistcr stated in \\'eil'li.l,lton that through its iontrol. a very effective cheek had been mposed upon the prices of essen‘li-3.1 inns such as wheat, flour, bread. suga.r_ neat, butter, milk, groceries, bcnzine, icemeiit, and timber. The board had .11 hand two very important investi gations dealing with the prices of .-voollen goods and clothing and with he prices of leather manufactured ;oods. Undoubtedly tltou:-ands ofl pounds had been saved to the consumErs of New Zealand by the work of :he Board 01‘ Trade. its activities luring recent. months had had to be :xt.cnded owing to the extreme shortige of supplies of commodities of in-irnary importance, such as timber, =ug-ar, cement, and benzine. The dc-" mmds for these goods had during thet _)ast 12 months been qrite unprece-" lented, and the board had to exercise. :t.rict. control over distributions so asl ;o conserve the needs of essential‘ iscrs. Dealing with the work of the price investigation tribunals, the Prime Minister stated that a recent. report from the Board of Trade showed ,that the tribunals had recei.\*e(l and dealt with‘ a very large number of complaints‘ covering a .wide range of articles. The Auckland tribunal had adjusted bread prices in nearly all of the small towns in the Auckland Province -on the lines. agreed to by the Government, and hadl made special investigations covering’ 3. large number of essential commodi-I ties in general use. Several cases fort protiteering were to be brought. before] the Courts in Auc.l‘<land shortly. t Th Wellixigtori tribunal was makingl important suggestions to the parent; bo:>.rd regarding the charges for cart~} age and trciglrts, and for the protec-l tion of the public in connection with the proper marking of goods as" to‘ the weights aiid contents of packages,‘ etc. Much valuable work llftti been“ per-l t'ormed, in the Prime I\linister’s opin-1, ion, by the Christc.lturch tribunal, which appeared to be ver‘y“act,ive in. the work the (:‘roVc.rnment had asked ,it to undertake. Two interesting cases t were to come before the Courts shortly, in which leading counsel“ of" the Dominion would be engaged. The Prime -Minister said that some criticism had been aimed at the Board of 'l‘r:lde 'r)c(‘ause of the class of cases taken. but very important principles were involved in these cases, and it lw-as the desire of the Goverutnent to ent'orcc the profiteering sections’ of the Board of Trarle Act“ irrespective of the class of goods dealt with. He was sure that he line the public behind him when he sztid that it’ con-ls-.inlc-~.< were t-lrzrrgetl umrcasonably ltigh in-ices tliey should be given every opportunity of ventilating‘ their grievanc.e.'<, even although it. was not strict.ly a l_)I'C‘21(l-tllltl-lll1‘tl0I' line. ' Tl)e_Duncdin tribunal had conduct,ed important investigations over a ycry wide range of gootls, including‘ the prices of furniture, nnlik, corral, ‘oatmeal. clothing, groceries, school I book.-‘. charges made for plumbing services, and an inquiry into an allegation of hoarding of flour. The l’rime .\linist/er stated that he c.onsidered all the tribunals had per formed an important public service - and their future success was as.<ure(7 it’ the co-operation of all sections oi the community waslgiven, My ;\"[a§ st-y urged that (f()mpl{lllll,‘\‘ should ht placed before the tribunals, which Wllll“ Pmlecllllg the complainants would see that they received the ful l lH;ll('l’ll of the legislation rer~omly ~,,S_q

Tho upward tendency in the index rnmbvr was I:1r;:el}.' due to tho in<:rv:l.~*("J Fri:-as Hf iln'._'»m't(*d goods. the basic lyric-<1 M’ \\'l:i(:h Thu (}ovm'xlln<'nl mmld NM ('unfml_ if being po.<.<ilflv nwroly (H 4'n.~‘nl'o ihm 11:4‘ ]:rnll'f.< Ilnznlv by m-\:'-(eh2ln‘r.< in .\W"\\‘ 7.(>:11:1nd nn Hroso imported go<)d:<. were fair zmfl rm.\'ml— The <*:lll.~'<|.< of’ the ilwl'(':l.s'wl m_<l- of fuel and lighl:in,r,»' wm-r,- well known to the gmu\l':\l public. and he \'.".ls hn3r6‘l‘lfl H 131... :15 ll 1'u".<1IlI of Hm z«’~mm‘. :Igl'w=lm-111 Cmnv In with Hug: vnfnm-~'. 311211 the pl'odu<"ti(nl wuulrl so in<'r<‘:l.~'<' :1:~' in >‘lea<l_v }nl'im~.< and onHMO T:-ml.»-ohu1d01':: to bv ‘m*:lter'! more g«~rwl'«'m.<ly as ro9;:ll'd.'< .<upplio.<.