The Dominion. TUESDAY, MAY 19, 1936. COMMODITY PRICES

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 198, 19 May 1936, Page 8

The Dominion. TUESDAY, MAY 19, 1936. COMMODITY PRICES

The Government’s expressed intention of intervening in cases where rises in commodity prices following its legislation are considered to be unjustifiable, may cause some uncertainty and confusion in business. The country will not tolerate profiteering, but neither will it take kindly to the descent upon it of an army of Government inspectors looking for profiteering beneath every counter; yet the Government’s legislation will increase business costs, which must be balanced by a rise in prices if loss is to be avoided. Who is to be the judge of an unreasonable price? So many new factors are being brought into costs that it will be some time before their effect on business can be accurately estimated, and the extent of necessary adjustments determined. In these circumstances manufacturers to-day hesitate to quote firm prices for future deliveries. In the ordinary routine of business they might cover themselves, as the Wellington Timber Merchants’ Association has done, by announcing that as a result of recent legislation, price lists would be subject to alteration without notice. In the. case of timber, however, the Government has intervened and said that prices are not to be increased until sawmillers’ statements and figures have been officially examined. If the Government is going to apply this supervision generally, an army of inspectors will be needed, and the cost of administration will be further increased. While all .this is going on, business must perforce mark time until it knows precisely where it stands.

Public opinion would certainly resent any attempt at price exploitation of the situation created by the new legislation, and would applaud the Government for dealing effectively with offenders. But it will be very difficult to determine without a period of trial and error just what is a fair increase in price, and what is unfair.