'PRESSED FOR PAYMENT'
A STATEMENT REPUDIATED
Mr. John Myers statod'at a meeting of the council of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce last evening that Mi-. H. E. Holland, Leader of the Labour
Party, had made a" statement to the effect that business peoplo in Westport were being asked by wholesale h'rms for payment or their accounts, and in consequence they were pressing their customers for payment. Mr. Myers said he did not see how Mr. Holland's statement could be correct. In tho first place the earthquake took place about a month ago, and from inquiries ho had made he had not yet heard of any firm in Wellington pressing its clients in the earthquako area for payment. In fact, the position was quite the contrary; many firms had instructed their travellers to report any cases where customers wero much affected by the earthquake, and in all cases to give help where it was possible. The speaker said he was well acquainted with the West Coast and its people, and could affirm that they wore most honourable; and if they were able to pay ho was confident they would do so. Ho had been informed by Mr. Holland that he had heard of some cases of pressure, but would not disclose any names. Mr. Myers alluded to the liberal manner in which all classes had contributed to the Earthquako Belief Fund, and said he could hardly credit anyone acting as Mr. Holland had stated.
Mr. S. A. Longuet endorsed what Mr. Myers had said, and added that he had not heard of any firm pressing its clients in the stricken area for payment. Ho felt that Mr. Holland did not understand the character of the peoplo on the West Coast; if Mr. Holland road some of the letters which had been received from the Coast he would realise that the people there were a sturdy, independent people, and were determined to carry on and moot their obligations.
Mr. \V. Grcig also supported Mr. Myers's statement.
The president (Mr. Edwin Salmond) considered Mr. Holland's remarks exaggerated, and the council agreed that Mr. Holland should be asked to cive particulars or withdraw his statement
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19290717.2.76.2
Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 15, 17 July 1929, Page 10
Word Count
361'PRESSED FOR PAYMENT' Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 15, 17 July 1929, Page 10
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Evening Post. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in