“NO UNDUE PROFITEERING.”

Taranaki Daily News, 9 December 1922, Page 10

“NO UNDUE PROFITEERING.”

HON. G. iFOWLDS’ VIEWS. GOVERNMENT’S BIG WHAOK. “Any talk about business men having unduly profiteered while prices were rising is entirely without warrant, in my judgment,” declared the Hon. Geo. Fowldfl at a luncheon of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce the other day. Mr. Fowlds said there was a good deal of talk at election time about profiteering. When the subject was mentioned unions business men a sickly smile usually spread over their faces. Their experience of profiteer!nr during the last two years particularly had not been very happy For practically everybody in business in these two years there hn*d been a feeling that when prices were rising, instead of having i profiteered they had undur-estimai ed I the collapse that would cohie alter on, land instead of having laid up the surpluses of profits when things were booming they were Called upon now to build up debit baianop« in their balance, sheets. Taking the whole period of the war, including the realisation period of

_.ie last two years, which was likely to continue with some people there had been nothing in the buis ; ness world that could ]og-iti-matelv be called nrnfitcering. Manv had lost a good deal more money than they made when times were booming, when the Government Got the biggest whack of the profits. The speaker was quite satisfied there had -been no undue profiteering, and that on the contrary a gond many people wore poorer to-day than before the rising prices of the boom period.