THE AUCTIONEERS ACT.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 13936, 9 January 1911, Page 8

THE AUCTIONEERS ACT.

INTERESTING WELLINGTON OPINIONS.

The Auctioneers Amendment Act, Iwith its provision. that every sale «f fruit, vegetables, or fish shall be made to the highest bidder, and that no tioneer shall refuse a bid from any •person offering cash for the goods on the fall of the hammer, appears to have teen designed expressly to, prevent a pystem of trading that has heretofore ; existed in Christchurch, and nowhere else in New Zealand, says the Wellington '-"Dominion." That, at any rate, is the position as explained by leading .'. "Wellington auctioneers to a "Dominion reporter, who made enquiries at tho fruit and produce marts. "The now Act," said one, "makes no difference to us. Anybody can buy at the sales here, if they will put down * the bash and take delivery; and the highest in the la"nd could not take a «:aae of fruit away without ,paying casJi for it. The auction sales have never -been restricted to .tho trade, and, as a

ana tier of fact, hundreds of private iui dividuals come down to tho mart of a morning to buy a case of fruit. The system is the same in Auckland and (Duhediu.* v "In Christchurch.*' ho continued, ""the retailers banded together and threatened to boycott the auctioneers, if they sold to outsiders. The auctioneers yielded to the pressure thus pnt upon them, and ; accordingly nonody who was not a member of tho retailers' organisation could buy a case of fruit or a sack of potatoes at any of the auction sales in Christchurch; Tho result, was lower prices to the grower, but the consuming public did not apparently got the benefit of that. People "here talk about dear fruit, but they don't know what it is. Let them go to Christchurch 1" More than one of those who were interviewed mentioned tho well-known fact that the retail fruit and vegetable fcbops in Christchurch are all carried on by jEuropeana—another condition in ■which Christchurch is unique among iNow Zealand cities. The Wellington (auctioneers did not appear to think that the absence of the Chinese fruiterer from Christchurch was duo to the organisation already alluded to. "Tbey attributed it to the general antiChineso feeling, and one said that a certain amount of pressure had been "brought to bear upon the otvners % of shops to prevent them from accepting Chinese tenants. He was able to state that many applications had been made to owners of city property at Christchurch by Chinese wishing to ]ease premises for greengrocery purposes, and be behoved that all such applications had been refused.