COST OF LIVING

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 10, 11 July 1912, Page 4

COST OF LIVING

— . — i THE MERCHANTS' ASSOCIATION A GROCER'S COMPLAINT, | Farther evidence was given to £ha Cost of living Commission yesterdayi on the subject of relations between wbokn sale and retail houses in Wellington. l Air. E. Tregear presided. John Frederick Turn-bull, grocer, Wellington, said that if the Wellington Mer-> chants' Association bad little or no influence with manufacturers in and out of New Zealand, then it was a strange coincidence that the prices of goods had advanced considerably soon after passing under its control. A few lines cited were as follow : Matches, since the Merchants' 1 Association had assumed control, were 12 per cent, dearer ; Keillor's; marmalade, 9 per cent, dearer; corn brooms were recently advanced 3k 6d per dozen; the British Empire Trading Company's cigarettes had gone up 8 per cent, in three years; colonial starch, in twelve month*, had risen" from £1 12* per cwt to £1 19s 6d— over 22 per cent. Sugar, he alleged, was controlled by the Sugar Company and the New Zealand Mer-' chant*' Association. The best terms quoted by the company were £ per cenk cash discount, and a rebate of; 5 per cent. Jf purchases amounted to ,£25,000 per month. This amount was equal to 'about half . the total New Zealand consumption, yet witness had heard that certain favoured re^ tailers were obtaining, the discount. If witness sent cash with order to the Sugar Company he could not obtain this dis-, cpunt. Country storekeepers were sup-, plied at a cheaper rate . than the Wellington retailers in various lines. Wit; ness received a discount of 15 per ccsnt. on biscuits, but a country storekeeper received 25 per cent, from the same firm, although the freight and other charges, were greater. • • • NO MEAT RING. / I Edward D,_ Barbsiy ~ -Hester -A»J«&ier,' Wellington «alcf he had never found a "riiig'" operating among those from w'aoin h« obtained his meat. The rises '•'in prices were always < simultaneous, •though he admitted they were generally warranted. • "Do you suggest telepathy?'— "Well, I have no knowledge oi the^matter." A Master Retail Butchers' Association comprising two-thirds of' the butchers, he said, existed. The association was first formed to regulate holidays, etc., but since then they had endeavoured to regulate prices. There had ? however, been little unanimity. Locally-sold meat, was as good as exported. The export trade undoubtedly did affect prices, but it was beneficial for the country. Retail prices' had not altered much in the last .ten yeans. Witness said he considered the allegations of Mr. F. T. Moore regarding auctioneer* and meat "rings" 'th,6 previous day unjustified entirely.. Federick "W. Manton, candle manufacturer, said that when first he entered business ho Had imported from Scotland, but found that candles could be obtained from Australia to compete with the New Zealand prices. Local manufacturers showed -some concern after bis firm had* been importing from Australia for come time, and decreased their pricea by 1« ;'4d. His firm, then decided to put in. a plant themselves, because that practically shut out* the 'Australian . goods. They" found that the Ijulfc of th« New Zealand trade was done, in 15oz net candles ■ or 16 '> ounce gross.^ His" firm had to produce a similar article to compete. A witness, the previous day, iad said he knew of only one firm in New ' Zealand .which was making 15c* candles, but he; (witness) \vould. give that statement an absolute deniaj. , He produced lib packages of three brands in support •ot "thiß. •', ' v 'fA--, f A GOCOA FIRJifS/BONUSE?/ ' Frank Meadowcroft, manager of the New Zealand branch of Cadbury's cocoa",, in contradiction of the statement of a witness (Mr. Wilson, grocer) in Dun-; edin, said that Bourneville cocoa could, be bought outside any association. The Cocoa could be purchased direct from the firm in Wellington by retailers, as well 1 as- by wholesale dealers, provided they took a certain quantity. A quantity of correspondence that had already passed between the Commission and the witness on the same matter, was. read. Mr. Fairbairn then asked : Conld the Dunedin witness, Mr. Wilson, buy the quantity of cocoa necessary to get ,the discounts. Witness: A purchase of thirteen pounds weight ■would give him the whole- . sale price. Mr. Fairbairn : But he would have to get £100's worth in •one year to obtain the rebate of 5 per cent? — Yes. There are very few retailers in New Zealand who could buy £100's worth in one year —I do not admit that ; there are a number who could. Witness offered to. supply the names. You refused to supply a certain wholesale firm in New Zealand who would not agree to, sell under your conditions ?-j-We refused to supply because they would not observe what we thought was affair profit. . • Mr. M 'Donald : Why do you do this? — rSo. that the retailers won't cut"' one another's throats. 'Why^ean't'they look after themselves? —-We want the retailers to push Bourneville cocoa, and they won't do that unless it pays them. ■ ' THE STOCK AUCTIONEER'S SIDE. Richard Slingsby Abraham, head of the firm of .Abraham and Williams, Ltd., Palmerston North (stock auctioneers)., said the principal object of his evidence would be to controvert some Btatementii made by Mr. F. T. Moore before the Commission. Mr. Moore had said thai, "the directors of the large meat com-l panics conspired with the auctioneers in the matter of high reserves at public auctions forcing exhorbitant prices,' etc. M All this, said Mi*. Abraham, was absot lutely incorrect. He had been connect! Ed with the JobnsonviUe yards for 20 -•years, und the difficulty was to get the meat companies to come and buy at 1 all; therefore they did not do as was stated } they had their own buyers out. They could not buy big lines at the auction yards at the prices they wanted, and they must have regularity of supply. He put in a statement of the stock purchased by the -two large, companies within a certain period, and, also the quantities passed in and sent to the companies and dealt with independently., ' He had had the meat companies freezing for him and they had always treated him fairly, although he had had to. enter into the market with them as a competitor. He was not there to represent the companies, but he" would - observe that the original meat companies in "New Zealand were formed to act for; the farmers. But prices then were so bad that farmers would not freeze and the companies had to buy themselves. ' ANOTHER GROCER COMPLAINS. John Varcoe, grocer, Wellington, said there were certain lines of groceries that could only be got from the members of the Merchants' Association. One Wellington firm had stopped his lin«6 because he.sold too cheaply. The goods were proprietary medicines, and other articles. The firm was Fairbairn, Wright and Co* It was about a year ago. The firm bad stated that customers were complaining about undercutting. ~ THE PUBLIC'S PREFERENCE. . David K. Pritchaid, manager of the

Dominion Shoe Factory, Nowtown,' said thai on certain, lines of goods there was a demand for imported articles. H« produced a number of exhibits, to show that the local-made good! were equal to the imported articles. His idea, of the preference of the pohfic for the imported goods was that tiie lower daasee of parchaaers thought that the soles of English boote were mads of English •ole leather, but that was not so. More English, leather was put into colonial goods than into the English boot. He' thought benefits had accrued from a .protective tariff in the Dominion. A reduction of the tariff, would be fatal to the industry. He advocated' the opening of co-operative boot etoree by the Boot Operative Federation,' which would purchase and sell only New Zealand goods. One big retail house in Wellington, had sold over 2000 pairs of boots m a three days' sale.