PRIVATE TRADE

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 61, 15 March 1929, Page 6

PRIVATE TRADE

ACTION OF STATE

UNFAIRNESS ALLEGED

11)28 COMMITTEE

A meeting of those interested, called by tlio 1928 Committee, was held Just ovening in the Conference Hall, Dominion farmers' Institute. Thoro was an attendance of about 100, strongly representative of commercial, business, and professional interests. Mr. Strouaeh Paterson presided.

"The object of this meeting," said the chairman, "is to try and give commercial and professional men of Wellington a full and clear knowledge of the aims and objects of the 1928 Committee. Unfortunately, -whenever a body of men set for themselves the"-task, of doing some necessary work for the benefit of the community in general, it seems that they must always have to face unjust and unfair criticism from different angles. They are bound to be accused of being the instrument Of a political party. They are bouncj.to have their aims and objects distorted and "misrepresented. They are bound to be abused of being a body of self-soekingvaxe-grinders. The experience of the! 1928' Committee illustrates this.

"We were first accused of being in the pocket of. the Keform Party,' brought into being to ensure their success at the elections. Wo were then accused of being identified with Ihc United Party, and in some quarters were blamed for the defeat of .Reform at the polls. It is quite true that the leaders of both of these parties have emphatically approved our aims and objects, but in neither case have '.we allowed ourselves to be identified 'with either party. The only party that can be said to have repudiated us is the Labour Party, and if they had a little more knowledge of our aims and objects, and could take a broader ■view of our national requirements, I venture to suggest that they, like the other two parties, would endorse our policy. "STRICTLY NON-PARTY." "In fact, our organisation ia very strictly non-party. We must be concerned with politics, because the evils we seek to remedy can only bo cured politically—but we have no party whatever. Our business is to, try and convince politicians of all parties, and especially the Government of the Day, of the justice of our cause, and the necessity of remedying the evils we expose. "It has been publicly-suggested that wo are out to destroy ,and abolish great Departments of Stato—siich as State Fire Insurance,"' Public , Trust, Railways, etc.; and, again, that we are out to fight persons, the heads of such Departments. There is no truth in the suggestion.

... What we claim/is 1' that eyevy opportunity and encouragement;, possible should be given i: : tb .private | enterprise, and that where ;. §tate"VJ'aj.i(| public bodies compete infijrade with private enterprise, thijiyi ijttjtild compete on ■;^4ovel. terms —they should be subject to the same Jaws as, and should bear the same rates, taxes, and charges, as private enterprise, and should render in proper commercial form to their constituents separate arid true records of the results of their trading activities. ■ ■ ' .■' • "I have said that wo do not seek a change of Government, neither do wo seek a change of personnel in Government Departments. We only want to bee Government and public body trading departments conducted in- aecoidance with a p6liey that "provides full opportunity to private enterprise, and in accordance with a policy that makes them subject to the same laws and .rates," taxes, and' charges as" private traders with whom they compete. IMPORTANT TO WORKERS. "We are accused of seeking our own advantage while professing to seek tho advantage of the public. These two objects are not mutually exclusive, and we cannot gain advantage; for ourselves without public advantage, and vice versa. I put iit to you that the cure of the evils we seek to remedy is as important and necessary for the worker j who earns his Jiving in the service of private enterprise, as for the employer who draws dividends from the results] of private enterprise.

"There is abroad a fear that the 1928 Committee is taking up work that should and could be done better by others, and tbat_it will stilly further encroach on the ■legitimate' activities of others. The only reasons the 1928 Committee has come intorbcing; are the national necessity for-its work, and the fact that „ existing-organisation that would naturally be expected to undertake work of this kind (Associated Chambers of Commerce) has no' fulltime officer and no permanent executive located on th£ spot here in Wellington to satisfactorily prosecute this work. I think I speak fof all supporters of the movement when I say. that if and when the Associated Chambers of Commcrco equips itself with the necessary local executive and permanent staff, to effectively handle this work, we shall bo very glad to ally ourselves with the 1 Associated Chambersof Commerce, and even (if such seems to be the best course) to hand over our work and organisation completely to them." GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE WITH BUSINESS. Mr. C. A. li. Treadwell said .thero were three evils which ultimately accumulated with such force as to require definite public action to prevent their growth, and if possiblo eliminate them for" all time. They wer,e~ all comprehensively placed ' under • the class of Government interference with private enterprise. The first section of that was the competition by Government departments with private business on unequal terms —that was, witli all the advantages of no taxation, no rates, and with no necessity to show a profit. There was also the concealment of losses.

The second class was the gradual growth on the original statutes ■ that gave different departments the power to

trade. There also "the..insidious form oi! legislation known as legislation by regulations. •

Although the 1928 Committee canio into being when the last Government was in power, it must not bo under- j stood that the committee ascribed to j that Government evils which the com- i mittec set out to combat. There was i jio doubt the greatest impetus to this i class of .thing came during the war ov ! immediately after the war. It was not I surprising that Governments at that j time took these extraordinary powers. I Individuals readily subordinated their I business rights at that period of crisis. The difficulty was, however, that the Government, having got those powers, were loth to drop'them,, oven when'the necessity for the powers had ceased. Tho classic example of that was the Board of Trade Act. Mr. Treadwcli pointed out that the Act still remained on the Statute Book, lie sketched the history of what led up to we formation of the 1928 Committee, and stated what occurred during the prolonged interview with the then Prime Minister, who admitted that there should be adjustments, but such adjustments, he then urged, must be gradual. The speaker thought it fair to say that such adjustments had been gradually effected since the meeting in 1928. Sir Joseph Ward, the present Prime Minister, had given the committee an enthusiastic reception—"in. fact," said Mr. Treadwel], "1 think he should be sitting here as a member of the 1928 Committee.'' The cases submitted to tho Government were carefully prepared and checked, so much so, that the fact 3 stated were never challenged. There had been no real criticism of the motives of the committee; nobody had suggested that they had an axe to grind, money to gain, or material advantage to gain. The committee prided themselves on the fact that the 'dominant factor inducing them to go on was tho desire.to restore government to legitimate governing, and to prevent the evils to which he had referred. ' The third evil, he said, was what bad been called "Government by regulations." Tho Board of Trade Act was an example of that. That Act was arbitrary and unconstitutional, and repugnant to British people. SOME ACHIEVEMENTS. Mi 1. Troadwell then mentioned some of the objects which the committee had achieved, and alluded to others which they hoped to achieve. For instance, in response to a complaint of tho banks, the right of the Post Office Savings Bank to take deposits had been re-' duced from £5000 to £2000. It had also been agreed that there" should be no further issue of Post Office Savings Bank certificates. As to complaints of insurance companies, the Prime Minister told the committee that ho would instruct the various lending institutions that they were not to insist on preference to the State Fire Insurance Department as against private insurance companies. That change had had aii immediate effect on the business of private ' insuranco companies. The complaints of electrical traders wero taken up, and the Government had agreed that the holding of sole agencies for electrical appliances by State Departments and local bodies should be stopped; also that separate accounts should be kept by departments, of- their trading activities, and the accounts should be kept according to tKo 'business. Sir Joseph Ward admitted that it.was unreasonable that local bodies should compete on unequal terms against private cqneerns. A Motor Transport Commission had been set up, aud it was hoped that that .Commission would alleviate tho trouble which had beset the motor transport people. Absolute control of dairy export had been abandoned. The power to impose such control was, however, still on the Statute Book. Such power should be repealed. Nurserymen had complained.that the operations of the Forestry Department in connection with certain plants or seed • distribution had almost ruined their business. The position had been improved by the fixing of the department's charges; but there was still much to be done. : Kauri gum control had resulted iv great loss to the country, and bad hampered tho normal course of trading. It was to be rogrctted that in this matter nothing had been done in the way of reform. Certain unfair operations of tho Government Printing Office had been modified. The suggested abolition cr" the cash on delivery system (under which the New Zealand Post Office arranged with the British Post Office to collect payment on behalf of the senders of parcols from Great Britain) was now under review. AIMS TO BE PURSUED. Mr. Treadwcli said there would shortly come before the Government a somewhat lengthy scries of complaints against the Public Trust Office. A number of these complaints affected the legal profession only, but others affected various industries. He alluded to certain payments into what waft known as the Common Fund. The net result was that the Public Trust Office got about £12,500 annually- of what appeared to be money which should properly go to shareholders of various companies. That was only one of the complaints. As this matter had not yet come before the Prime Minister, he would not deal with it in more detail. He criticised certain action of tho Government in employing the High Commissioner's Office in connection with obtaining dental supplies, etc.

Mr. 1\ Nathan moved, Mr. J. M. Flaming seconded, and it was agreed: "That this meeting resolves it is of national importance that the aims of the 1028 Committee should be pursued with the utmost energy; and it is of opinion that every effort should be cis.de to enrol all those interested as members of tho organisation, tho annual subscription to -which is fixed at a, minimum of £2 25."

On the motion of Mr. C. B. Norwood, seconded by Mr. F. Campbell, a hearty vote of thanks was accorded to tliohe ■who had addressed the meeting.