ALLEGED PROFITEERING

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 45, 17 November 1920, Page 5

ALLEGED PROFITEERING

•SOME CHANGES WITHDRAWN. /. ■ ' ' Br Teleeraoh—Press Association- , Christchurch, November.ls. Nine charges' of' profiteering against three local firms and 0110 Lyttelton firm were called on in the Magistrate's Court to-day, before. Mr. S. E. M'Carthy, S.M. The informant was the secretary of the Board'of Trade, and the defendants were Aitcheson. Steans and Co., general merchants,"''Christchurch; Benjamins, - Ltd., merchants, Christchurch; Bernard Darby, trading as Wallace and Co., chemists, Christchurch; and Forbes, Ltd., Lyttelton. Mr. A. T. Donnelly appeared (or the informant. The first charge against Aitcheson, Steans and Co.'vas that they "did sell 1000 Clarence cigarettes at the price, of .£3 2s. 2d. per- thousand, which wa6 unreasonably high, contrary to statute." Similar charges were laid in respect.'of Clarence cigarettes 6old by the same firm. Benjamins, Ltd., were charged with sell ing 1000 Clarence cigarettes at an un-; reasonably high price, i; 3 2s. 2d. ner i thousand. The charge against Forbes ' Ltd., was that they offered to sell rabbit traps at 375. per dozen, which ,was unreasonably high. Darby was chafged with having sold half a gallon of borol at a price unreasonably high, i 2 ss. Mr. Donnelly said ttia.t <115 far as th» charges against Aitcheson, Stfhns a,nd Co., Benjamins, Ltd., and Forbes, Ltd.; weri concerncd, it would be impossible to contend that an unreasonable profit had been made, taking replacement cost into account, as His Worship had decided in the alarm clock-cases that the cost of replacement was to be taken into ac count, and this decision had been upheld by! the Full Court. It would bo idle t» proceed with the cases, and in consequence counsol asked that these oases b# withdrawn. As far as the charge against Darby was concerned, however, jt was on a different footing. It was proposed to go on with this case, and counsel asked for an adjournment.The application was granted, the remainder of the cases beiwr vitb'drawn. Mr. Stanley Ellis, builder, of Guildford, Surrey, hires a taxi-cab to take some of his men from the workshop to their work some miles out, and to .brine them back again. "It is not. that I pamper my men," Mr. Ellis told a correspondent. , "It is purely a question of £s. d. It pays me better to engage a taxi-cab every day to tako the men to and from the workshop than to pay them 2s. an hour for walking to and fro.