PRECEPT AND PRACTICE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 184, 6 August 1925, Page 11

PRECEPT AND PRACTICE.

IN GOVERNMENT TENDERS.

PREFERENCE TO IMPORTERS.

UNFAIR TREATMENT ALLEGED.

(By Telegraph.—Special to " Star.'M

DUNEDES - , this day.

The annual report of tbe Dunedin Manufacturers' Association refers to the fact that on more than one occasion during the year complaints have been received from members .of unfair treatment in connection with tenders called for by Government departments for the supply of goods, or for constructional work. The report proceeds: "Repeated assurances have been received from Ministers that the policy of the Government was to give a local manufacturer preference, even if his price was slightly higher than that of the imported article. Unfortunately these precepts are not consistently carried out in practice. Probably , the fault lies chiefly with the individual Government buying officers and Departmental officials, who do not appear to have been sufficiently imbued with the desirability of giving preference to New Zealand made goods that would meet all reasonable requirements as to quality and price. Be that as it may, the association has had before it instances where the New Zealand manufacturer has been handicapped by a distinct paucity of detail in specifications submitted by Departmental experts when tenders are called for. In some such cases the explanation subsequently offered in justification of the acceptance of an overseas tender, often at a price even higher than that tendered by local firms, is that, the imported article embodied desirable features not contained in the local article. This might be fair enough if the features in question bad been called for in the specifications issued, but where that is not case, and where departmental officers seem reluctant to go into greater detail at the request of local manufacturers in cases where there are obvious deficiencies in tho specifications, it can only be presumed that, any real desire to encourage local industry is conspicuous by its absence. Under these circumstances the local manufacturer must be pardoned if, rightly or wrongly, he forms the conclusion that the order was intended from the outset for an article of overseas origin, and that the calling of tenders was a mere formality involving little else than serious waste of time on the part of those local firms who make up and submit prices. It seems incredible that the Government should show the slightest hesitancy in absolutely forcing upon its officers in no uncertain manner, acceptance of the policy of preference for New Zealand made goods. The urgent need of keeping imports well within our exports in itself demands such a course, to say nothing of the necessity of providing employment for our own workers.','