TRADERS SEEK GUARANTEE

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21904, 3 October 1936, Page 14

TRADERS SEEK GUARANTEE

DEBTS OP WORKERS ON MAIN TRUNK

LOSSES DURING EARLIER CONSTRUCTION

CONCESSION WANTED FROM government

The opinion ; is strongly held anwng shopkeepers in Kaikoura ar nassus that the Government should guarantee the accounts incurre Y men working on the South .Islan Main Trunk railway, and an ass?oci- . ation of shopkeepers in the district is now considering whether it shorn approach the Minister for Pubuc Works (the Hon. R. Semple) with such a request. Dissatisfaction is felt with the present arrangement, by which the Government undertakes to reimburse storekeepers for losses incurred through non-payment of accounts for goods supplied during the first fortnight of a man s employment on the construction of the line. , , _ Traders in the district fear repetition of what they term as the serious trouble which apse during the construction of the line up ° nearly the end of 191 ' J 0 National Government acted on the recommendation of the Hadway Board and ordered the cessafeonof work. From the time work was commenced, it is said, considerable embarrassment' was keepers by the .of many of the men to.meet their OWI- - within a reasonable tune. Some traders in the district even claim that not a few of the men made no honest endeavour to discharge their liabilities for goods delivered to them on credit, and the memory of the difficulties m collecting accounts at that time is. now making them very cautious indeed about extending credit. Meetings of Traders Already since the recommencemert of work on the line traders to whom the men will come for stores have met twice to consider what action they should take to safeguard themselves against any recurrence of their former difficulties, and the general opinion at those meetings has been that business should be done only on a cash basis. It is realised, however, that rigid adherence to a rule of this nature would probably cause much inconvenience and even hardship, and that every shopkeeper must be willing to agree to work on this basis. , .„„ The most satisfactory method of ensuring that justice is.done to all.both trader and customer, is for the Government to agree ::to ensure that every man’s account will be met out of his pay. .This is the -view of. the shopkeepers most closely concerned with the problem, and the opinion has been expressed that as the Government is willing to guarantee payment of _ a man’s account for the first fortnight of work there is no reason why it should not continue this guarantee for the whole period of his employment. , Traders claim that they have full justification for asking the Government to concede this. The proprietor of one general store said yesterday that the extension of credit had cost him about £6OO. Another storekeeper, he said, had lost about £ISOO, and yet another had been forced info bankruptcy, With a deficiency of a little more than £IOOO. One of these men, it was said, had been so hard hit that he had lost the savings of a lifetime, and was still gradually working his way out of his financial difficulties. Hopes for Concession With these facts in mind, a meeting of most of the storekeepers in the district recently decided to ask the member of Parliament for the Wairau electorate (Mr E. P. Meachen) if he would place their case before the Government; but, according to a prominent storekeeper, no success has attended these negotiations, and it is considered that the natural development now is to approach the Minister for Public Works, who has expressed strong disapproval of exploitation of traders by men on public works. He has indicated that he expects men receiving standard wages to meet their obligations, and this has given tq some of the traders the hope that request will be received sympathetically. Some of the business men in Kaikoura who were approached yesterday, by a representative of “The Press” were strong in their criticism of men who were employed on-the line up to five years ago. It was said that some had made no endeavour to pay their accounts and on pay days had evaded the trader who had come to collect the amounts outstanding. The principal of one old-established firm said he would not have any dealings with the men working on the. line unless they wet-e prepared to pay cash. The only exceptions would be the men who belonged to the township and whose credit was known to be good. There was good business to 'be done, he added, but it was safer in the long run to be conservative. That had been amply shown by experience. Accounts Met So Far It was ascertained that some of the business houses had. extended credit since work was recommenced, and the principals of these firms-said that the accounts had been met by the l men. One storekeeper who did a considerable trade with the public works camps, it was reported, would not do business Unless he obtained an order from the men on their pay. All the accounts; owing to him had, however, been paid by the men, and- he had not been forced to seek payment from the department out of the men’s wages. From the statements made, it was apparent that the engineer-in-charge of the southern end of the line (Mr W. F. Young) is protecting the interests Of traders as much as possible. It was stated that Mr Young had im-, mediately investigated a complaint from one storekeeper that his account had not been'paid, and had advised the man concerned that if he did hot settle the account on the next payday—which has not. yet arrived —strict action would be taken. One of the difficulties the storekeepers faced when the work .was in progress formerly was that men would arrive "for their work, incur a debt for a. fortnight’s provisions, and then, before the fortnight had elapsed, leave their jobs. In such cases it would be hopeless to attempt to obtain payment. It is not anticipated, however, that this trouble will occur again, as the higher wages paid now are a very strong incentive to the men to remain in the district. It. is •’ widely felt, however, - that there would be a much firmer feeling of security if the Government would agree to guarantee the accounts