COST OF LIVING COMMISSION

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10658, 13 June 1912, Page 5

COST OF LIVING COMMISSION

(By Telegraph—tress Association.J

CHRISTGHU3CH, Last Night

Giving evidence before 'the Cost of Living Commission to-day, Harald 13. Low, general retail grocer, said -than there was not a free and open market for retail grocers to :huy, certain lines being "tariffed" cr scaled.. Li the past twelve months the number of failures in business bad shown that the retail trade was not profitab'.e. This was due to the excessive charges of merchants, and the working of tfhe Federated Merchants' Association. When he started on his- own account, nnd was buying in a small way, he •found the prices higher because th'j quantities were not largo enough. There were two alternatives. h'e bad either to p.iy rates which no could not do, or amalgamate with another firm, fie was forced to go into the wholesale trade to relieve himself of t)he surplus he had through puroh-, asing in (Targe quantities. Several grocers took advantage of this l , and relieved himself of bis overstock, helping him and helping themiseWe 1. The scale 'hardened, and it became harder to purcLatso all lines. Some anerchainrts told him that if he exercised ia- limit he .wcfuld be prohibited ifrom doing business, lif he had not been relieved he would have had rb carry from £2OOO to £3OOO of stock, instead of £6QO worth, which was the amount tie. required. Flag matches, an i 1908 or 1909, were- bandied outside the Association and used to be ?s 5Jd per gross, inot eash'. The Feder.xt«d Association applied. 1o 4he firm to give to it the entire output, so as to be able to control the selling prices. He produced' a letter from Messrs Phillips and Pike y Wellington agents of R. Bell and Co., .-written in reply to a (letter dafcfid December 30tjh, 1907, stating that the .Company's entire output had been given over to the wholesale merchants, •so tliat they could 6ell -at remunerative rates. Two years ago, under other control, the scale for a single gross .arose to 4s, andjin case lots to 3s lid.