MARKET SYSTEM

Waikato Times, Volume 129, Issue 21582, 19 November 1941, Page 2

MARKET SYSTEM

FRUIT AND VEGETABLES PRACTICES CRITICISED (By Telegraph.—Press Association) WELLLINGTON, Tuesday Abolition of the auction system of selling vegetables and fruit and the institution of a price fixing scheme with direct deliveries to retailers were among recommendations made to the Price Tribunal to-day by j Auckland retailers as means of correcting the present position in regard to vegetable prices. The tri—i bUnal is inquiring into the price of vegetables. The retailers also suggested the licensing of all retail shops and the closing of all alien and Asiatic shops which had been opened since the war except in cases where they were shown to be economic. It was also urged that merchant auctioneers should not bid at their own auctions, should not finance shops or grant extended credits, that all transactions should be on a cash basis or on weekly account, and that rents of shops and market gardens should be stabilised. Great Price Variations Mr S. Coleman, on behalf of Auckland retailers, submitted comparative prices for vegetables in Auckland on November 16, 1938, and November 15, 1941, showing an over-all rise of 162 per cent. He also gave similar figures for November 2 last year and November 1 this year, showing that on 16 lines there was an average increase in price of 180 per cent. Mr Coleman said fruiterers’ lines were so seasonable and perishable that at no time of the year could a standard for percentage of profit be obtained. In March 100 per cent could be made on pumpkins; in November many shops would sell them at bare cost. There was 100 per cent gross profit on cabbages at certain times; at others, principally spring and early autumn, retailers could not recoup the purchase price. On occasions the prices of similar lines halved or doubled between the start and finish of a days auction. Witness said that auctioneering firms had subsidiary companies which accepted buying orders and then competed at their own auctions. Undesirable Practice Mr Justice Hunter: Do you suggest that is fradulent, or that it is legitimate buying for clients? Witness: I would say it is a most undesirable practice. Mr H. L. Wise: Has this practice . increased recently? , Witness: Yes. I understand that in - Auckland the Army and Air Force 1 use this method of buying, in fact. I Mr L. Munro: If goods are bought ' at auction that way can the firms resell them on other markets? Witness replied that some northern firms had branches where, he understood, vegetables which had been bought at auction by their own representatives at their principal markets were sold again. The chairman congratulated Mr Coleman, whose evidence lasted most of the day, on the complete way be had presented his evidence. It was a remarkable piece of work. The inquiry will be resumed tomorrow. The Railways Department advertises in this issue particulars of cheap excursion fares and train arrangements in connection with the Waikato Trotting Club’s races at Claudelands next Saturday, November 22.