DOMINION COMMERCIAL BOARD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 63, 3 August 1914, Page 6

DOMINION COMMERCIAL BOARD.

■■ Tl-IK SHIPPING UIXC. SOMK POIXTKI) KEMATJK.S. In the House of Representatives recently, Mr C. A. Wilkinson (Egmont) asked tlie Prime Minister, whether he j will consider the question of the establishment of a Commercial Board for the Dominion, on somewhat similar lines ' to the Boards of Inter-state Commerce ! in the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Australia?

[Note.—At present the operations of j commercial and other monopolistic in- ; stitutions are not subjected to regular | State supervision, and ;■ is desirable | that a system should be it;..sod in order j to protect the people from the risk of toeing unduly exploited.] I Mr Ma&scy replied: Inquiries will he made regarding the operations of the I Australian Hoard, and the matter will ! receive careful consideration. I Mr Wilkinson said that he was glad j that the Government intended to cou- ■ sider the question of looking into the ' matter of what wliat was being done in Australia in regard to the establishing ,of a Commercial Board. It was very | much in the interests of the people of | iJhc Dominion that such a Board should I be established, because then; were great | evils existing in the country that needed | attention, and at present there was no j properly constituted authority to look I into the various transactions he had to j complain about. "In the lirst plate, there was nothing to indicate to the public ; as to whether shipping companies tradI ing to Xew Zealand were. carrying out | their functions in a proper manner—j that was to say, were not unduly cxI ploiting the public. In New I'Jynioutli ] the other day they had occasion to land j a large shipment of fertilizers from the ; Old Country, and owing to the opera--1 tiona of the shipping ring the ship that carried that cargo was unable to carry general cargo from Great Britain to Taranaki. That was a loss to the district, and acted as a detriment to the merchants in that part of hlic Dominion. Then they wanted the various matters in connection with the freight chaTges looked into. At present it was a customary thing that goods could be shipped from various European countries to New 'Zealand direct at a mucili lower rate than they could be shipped from ports in Great Britain. He considered that to lie, wrong. liv.addition, the working of the various 'commercial monopolistic institutions in Xew Zealand

hould be looked into carefully. There | was no check on prices charged'by such ! institutions as the Company, the Oil Company, and tint tobacco monopoly. Thesis institutions were practically monopolies, and .lie considered that "in the interests of the public their actions and their work should he. reviewed from . time to time. In Australia, they had established a 'Hoard of Commerce, the ; Chief Commissioner of which received I x-l,Ml) a year, and two other Conmns- | sionera received a salary of a ! .year each. This Commission had very < wide powers. They had to deal with all matters ol public interest in regard to : commercial transactions.. It >cessary to deal with the various item's | they investigated: but he was quite s.it- ; isficd that m that country- a. ".iniila >■ , Commission must le.id to an immense ; mount of good to the community. The ; Hon Mr Uun-hcs, Attornev-(ienWal of ;he Commonwealth at the time spoak- ; ".IK -m the Dill cstablishm- the Commit ! sion. said:— j "it will lx, a standing Commissi,, „r : enquiry, with power to investigate o.i i reterence by I"arliament „r of its owe ! motion, practically all matters, know- . led«« of which is necessary to Parlia- ! nn-nt ivnd the pub-Ik, It wilibe , boanl jot l rade-an independent critic not only jol social, industrial and commercial vvents and tendencies, but of the operation and administration of laws. It "<" >e an actin S -f,„ardian of the Constitution, with power to reach out an.! with violations off-., < ■»„stit..tio„ with respect to trade and commerce."