PRICE MOVEMENTS

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21792, 26 May 1936, Page 12

PRICE MOVEMENTS

STATEMENT BY MR SI LLIVAN [From Our Parliamentary Reporter.! WELLINGTON, May 25. The Government is carefully watching price movements for all commodities throughout the Dominion, and intends to take action if necessary to maintain them at what it considers a reasonable level. This was indicated by the Minister for Industries and Commerce, the Hon. D. G. Sullivan, in an interview to-day, in which he stated that any tendency to exploit the wage-earners by unduly high prices would be checked. “Officers of the department all over the Dominion are keeping in touch with the situation through 'trade organisations,” said the Minister, "and in any cases where increases are noticed, business people are being asked to justify their action. There have been definite instances of people anticipating wage increases by higher prices, but we will not stand for that. I have received a great number of requests from individual consumers about the high prices they are being asked to pay lor goods, and where these are found to be genuine, they are being passed on to the department for investigation.” The Minister said that apart from the action taken with the cement and timber industries, it had not been necessary to seek any adjustment of prices in any other lines. In fact, he was bound to say that on the whole, business people had so far met the position very fairly. There had been no suggestion of defiance, but if there was the Government had all tho powers necessary under the Board of Trade Act to deal with unjustifiable increases in prices. Under the act the Government could go as far even as issuing blanketing regulations covering prices in all industries.