THE HIGHEST BIDDER

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 220, 11 January 1911, Page 8

THE HIGHEST BIDDER

NEW LAW IX FORCE. MEANT FOR CHRISTCHURCH. Tlie Auctioneers' Amendment Act, with its provision that every sale, of fruit, vegetables or iish shall be made to the highest bidder, and that no auctioneer shall refuse a bid from any person oll'ering cash for the goods on the fall of the hainnii'r, appears to have been designed expressly to prevent a system of trading that has heretofore existed in Christchurch, ami nowhere else in New Zealand. That, wt any rate, is the position as explained by leading Wellington auctioneers to a Dominion reporter, who made enquiries of the fruit and produce marts the otjier day. "The new Act," said one, ''makes no difference to us. Anybody can buy at tint sales here, if 'they will put down the cash and take delivery; and the highest in the land could 'not take a case of fruit away without paying cash for it. The auction sales have never been restricted to the trade, and, as a matter of fact, hundreds of private individuals come down to the mart of a morning to buy a case of fruit. The system is the same in Auckland and Dnnedin.

"In Christchuroh," he continued,' '"the retailers banded and threatened to boycott the auctioneers, if they sold to outsiders. The auctioneers yielded to the pressure thus put upon them, and accordingly nobody who was not a member of the retailers' organisation could buy a case of fruit or a sack of potatoes at any of the auction sales in Christchurch. The result was lower prices to the grower, but the consuming public did not apparently get the benefit of that. People here talk about dear fruit, but they don't know what 'it' is. Let them go to Christchurch!" Another auctioneer remarked that he believed it was illegal, even before the new Act was passed, to refuse to sell to tin. general public. "And yet," he remarked, "you could have seen, a short time ago, notices posted up in all the marts in Christchurch, stating that sales would only be made to persons in the trade."

More than one of those who were interviewed mentioned the well-known fact that the retail fruit and vegetable shops in Christchurch are all carried on by Europeans—another condition in which Christchurch is unique among New Zealand cities. The Wellington'auctioneers did not appear to think that the absence of the Chinese fruiterer from Christchurch was due to the organisation already alluded to. They attributed it to the general anti-Chinese feeling, and one said that a certain amount of pressure had been brought to bear upon the owners of shops to prevent them from accepting Chinese as tenants. He was able to state that, many applications had been made to owners of city property at Christchurch by Chinese wishing to lease premises for greengrocery purposes, and ho believed that all such applications had been refused.