THE PRICE TRIBUNAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 63, Issue 160, 17 April 1943, Page 2

THE PRICE TRIBUNAL.

REPLY TO PROTEST AT, BROADCAST. (P.A.) * WELLINGTON, April 16. “The protest by the Auckland Chamber of Commerce against the broadcast of “Guardians of the People’s Purse,” which dealt with the work of the Price Tribunal, must have resulted from some misunderstanding.” The Minister of Broadcasting (the Hon. D. Wilson) said to-night. The broadcast explained why the Government had decided to regulate prices, Mr Wilson said, and impartially discussed some of the difficulties facing both inspectors and retailers. It also emphasised that generally the retailers welcomed the advice of the inspectors. “Not for one moment was it intended to assert that traders as a class were dishonest, and having reheard the broadcast, I am at a loss to know how anyone could have obtained that impression,” lie said. “A number of prosecutions for breaches of the Price Regulations were mentioned to show that the Price Tribunal is necessary in war time, but the only fair inference that can be taken fvom the figures is that honest traders are in a vast majority.”

Mr Wilson added that the broadcast was certainly for the purpose of securing the co-operation of the public in reporting breaches, but no law-abiding trader would object to that.