MONOPOLY DANGER

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 407, 14 April 1937, Page 5

MONOPOLY DANGER

GOVERNMENT’S PART. MANUFACTURE OF TYRES Christchurch Project. Press Association —Copyright. Wellington, April 14. Serious implications were perceived by the executive of the Associated Chambers of Commerce of New Zealand at a meeting in the proposal which had been made by certain interests with regard to the conditions on which the motor-tyre factory would be established at Christchurch. It was reported by the Dunedin chamber that the proposal was that the capital in the project should be owned jointly by New Zealand shareholders and the Government. The promoters had asked that an exclusive license be granted to the manufacturers, and that it should be made compulsory for all motor vehicles to be imported to New Zealand without tyres and for all new vehicles sold in the Dominion to be fitted with New Zealand-made tyres. The Dunedin chamber wrote stating that it considered if the project "was making headway steps should be taken to prevent the establishment of such a monopoly. The matter of the quality of tyres was important, as was also the question of competition with British imported tyres. It was decided to draw the attention of the Government to the serious implications involved in the proposal, including trade relations with the United Kingdom, and to ask the Minister of Industries and Commerce to have the whole matter made public before any decision was arrived at by the Minister or the Bureau of Industry.