EXPANSION OF PRODUCTION

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25679, 16 December 1948, Page 10

EXPANSION OF PRODUCTION

TAXATION RELIEF HELD ESSENTIAL "The Press” Special Service , AUCKLAND, Dec. 15. International events dominated the markets during the year to a - greater extent even than during some of the war years, said Mr Keith N. Buttle, chairman of the Auckland Stock Exchange, and president of the Stock Exchange Association of New Zealand, at the annual meeting of members. The exchange bombshell fell heavily on New Zealand investors in Australian securities and originated one of the widest re-assessments of values that the market had experienced for many years. Heavy selling of New Zealand Government stock by Australian holders, after the exchange adjustment, had the effect of temporarily depressing the local market. Although large parcels were offered, the market absorbed all that was available and values soon settled to a iiormal level. "Surely those in authority must realise before it is too late that enterprise and initiative, be it individual, collective or corporate, must have adequate relief from taxation before any worthwhile expansion or increase in production can be achieved,” said Mr Buttle. Although the legislative machine seemed to be working at increased pressure producing laws and controls for the alleged purpose of facilitating the economy of the country, it was becoming increasingly obvious, said Mr Buttle, that trade and commerce were being thrust even more tightly into the straitjacket of bureaucracy. Few of the big companies which approached the public for capital had been able to adhere in schedule to the programme they had laid down. Delays, chiefly in plants and buildings, had not only been costly to investors but, combined with the barrier of officialdom which had to be broken down, had dampened the spirit of industrial enterprise generally.