BOARD OF TRADE

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 47, 24 August 1923, Page 8

BOARD OF TRADE

POWERS REVIVED

CONFERRED UPON MINISTER OF INDUSTRIES AND COMMERCE.

The Board of Trado Amendment Bill, 1.923, which revives the powers of the Board of Trade and confers them upon the Minister of Industries and Com-' roerce, was introduced in the Legislative Council yesterday, and was put through its stages in about ten minutes.

The Bill confers upon the Minister all the powers, duties, authorities, and functions conferred by the Act of 1919 upon the Board of Trade. The Governorgeneral may appoint an advisory board, consisting of not n>ore than five persons, to advise the Minister in all matters in which he requires advice, ihe Minister may delegato his powers of judicial inquiry and investigation to any person or persona who in his opinion are possessed of expert knowledge, and such associates may be deemed for the purposes of the. inquiry to be members of the advisory Board. The Minister may also delegate to any members of the board or any officer of the Department the powers of judicial inquiry i and investigation. . .

The Leader of the Council (the Hon. Sir Francis Bell), who introduced tha measure, pointed out that the Board of Trade had been allowed to lapse, with the .consent of Parliament. It was now necessary that the machinery of the Board should be placed in the hands of the Minister of Industries and Commerce. It might be necessary on many occasions for the Minister to have at his disposal the honorary advice of experienced business men who were willing to give their services to the country. It was very necessary to safeguard the power of delegating authority, and he maintained that it would be better safeguarded by the Minister than by the board. It would be better to repeal the Board of Trade Act altogether, he concluded, than to continue the present conditions. . OUR INTERESTS NEGLECTED. The Hon. Sir Thomas Mackenzie agreed with the proposal to revivify the board for the board and Department had been largely a dead letter. Our commercial interests in America had been entirely neglected, and a good deal might have been done in regard to the tariff between that country and the Dominion.- He stressed the importance of an emcient commerce department, and pointed out that the Dominion was not up-to-date in not being properly represented abroad. If the Department had been up to date, much that was now being done in regard to produce pools would have been unnecessary. He hoped the Department would step out and fulfil the functions for which it was created.

The Hon. M. Cohen thought a competent commercial agent should represent the Dominion in New York and pointed out that a great deal of harm was done to our marketing in that country through the lack of representation. • The BUI was read a second time, put through all its stages, and passed.