ALLEGED PROFITEERING.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 261, 4 November 1925, Page 5

ALLEGED PROFITEERING.

■ IN SUGAR AND TOBACCO. I ? DHNEDIN DEALERS ATTACKED. j AN EMPHATIC DENIAL. j_j (By" Telegraph —Special to "Star."'! ; * DUNEDIN, Tuesday. j * At the Hon. Downie Stewart's meet- _ ing last night, Mr. W. Clark, secretary c ot* the local branch of the Seamen's Union, made allegations regarding local { "prqfiteering" in tobacco and sugar. He asserted that in Dunedin tobacco was r 2d per tin dearer than it was in Weilington, which the questioner added was j equal to a difference of £168 per ton. Mr. Clark further stated that a bag of sugar cost 15/6 in Wellington and ( 18/3 in Dunedin, the difference equal- _ ling £5 4/ per ton. } A leading local tobacconist, seen this ( morning, appeared to be very wrathful about what he described as Mr. Clark's "veiled allegation of profiteering." "I sincerely trust," he said, "that the ' Department of Industries and Com- - merce will investigate the position, and ' I am certain that the result of any such inquiry cannot but be favourable to Dunedin tobacconists." Profit on the chief lines averaged between 10 and 19 per cent, and to show these profits a retailer had to buy in very large ; quantities and to pay practically spot ; cash for his goods. When going into this matter, Mr. Clark must take into consideration the question of how tobacconists are to pay fair wages and to meet the extra expense of keeping up stocks in face of shipping strikes, which I cause a shortage in favourite brands, and consequently increased charges to I tobacconists in their endeavour to j supply smokers' wants. • j "Mr. Clark's assertion in regard to sugar is easily answered," paid tho I principal of a big local wholesale house. | "The price of sugar in Wellington, ! Christclmrch and Invercargill has been lower than in Dunedin because of a 'price war' between retailers. For instance, price cutting became so acute that some grocers were actually selling sugar below what they had to pay the wholesaler for fresh supplies." The manager of a retail establishment said that a bag of sugar cost 18/3 in Dunedin, and not 18/9 as stated by Mr. Clark. There was very little profit on sugar, and if they sold it any cheaper they would lose money. There wag no price cutting in Dunedin, where grocers seemed to be more amiable than ; they were in other centres.