FIXED PRICES

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 70, 20 September 1939, Page 7

FIXED PRICES

EMERGENCY LAWS

AMENDMENT WANTED

"MANY ANOMALIES"

"Price stabilisation is impossible without cost stabilisation," said Mr. P. E. Pattrick at the monthly meeting of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce last night, when moving the following motion: — "That the Associated Chambers of Commerce of New Zealand be requested to draw the attention of the Government to the fact that; the Price Stabilisation Emergency Regulations of September 1 have given rise to many serious anomalies and to ask that the regulations be amended so as to give effect to the principle of prevention of profiteering withoxit creating such anomalies as arise under the existing regulations." The motion was seconded by Mr. M. G. C. McCaul and carried after a brief discussion. Mr. Pattrick said that in common with many others he had had experience of circumstances where operation of the regulations had resulted in many very serious anomalies. "With every member of this chamber and every member of the community I realise that the special conditions under which we are all living at the present time called for emergency regulations," he added, "but I feel sure that the regulations to which I have referred did not contemplate justj what their implications would be." Referring to the operation of the| Price Investigation Tribunal established on June 2, Mr. Pattrick said that under that form of control merchants knew that if they could justify a price increase v they were safe in going ahead with it, but under the ' emergency regulations it was not competent for any person to increase prices in any circumstances without the prior consent of the Minister of Industries and Commerce. They had no wish to obviate the regulations, but they felt it was a matter of urgency that suitable representations should be made to the Government requesting ' amendment of the regula-j tions to make them practicable. i "HASTY AND ELL, CONCEIVED." "It is a recognised principle of gov-i ernment that the introduction of a law! *that is impossible of fulfilment brings the law into disrepute," said Mr. McCaul when seconding the motion. "1 feel that these regulations were draft- ■:.. Ed with the best of intentions," he '; added, "but that in common with much that the present Government has done they are hasty, ill conceived and for- : mulated by people who don't know very much about what they are doing. ' . "The principle of preventing profit- .... eering is one of which all good citizens approve. None of us approves of the ■people being taken advantage, of in times of difficulty. We know that apart from any rises that may take -.. place .in the,, .prices of - products overjjLfseas that the' value of sterling has """fallen by one-third, which .means a substantial increase in the price of all products overseas. There has been "the increase in insurance costs due to the addition of war risk. I have just been notified that the war risk on goods from Antwerp is £7 10s per cent, sterling, which means an increase by : that amount plus the 25 per cent, exchange in the cost of the goods concerned. Freights from Great Britain : have also risen 25 per cent. I received ; a cable from the British West Indies a few. days ago stating that the freight ' from, there is up 100 per cent. "With all these costs, on it is obviously absurd for any Minister of State to say that prices must not advance. It means simply that we must go without the goods; The whole position is so absurd that only a Gilbert and Sullivan could treat them adequately." Mr. H. O. Pittendrigh said he thought it should be made clear in order to avoid possible future argument that the increase of £7 10s mentioned by Mr. McCaul was for goods from the Continent. The war risk to New Zealand via Panama was £2 10s, and the advance in freights'by the same.route was up 25 per cent. "QUITE IMPRACTICABLE." "Of course, this new regulation is quite impracticable-and cannot work," said the president (Captain S. Holm). "If it were, practicable, it would mean that, no matter how much money a man might \ lose on his existing stock of goods, he could not put up his shutters and go out of business, but must continue to sell his goods at a loss until he had emptied his store. That is not practicable, nor. do I think it would be upheld in the courts. "The full enforcement of these regulations would mean an unnecessary disorganisation of business, an unnecessary curtailment of business, and the retrenchment of staffs of a great many retail mercantile houses. "If the regulations are impracticable and will not work, obviously they are not in the interests of New Zealand. What is wanted in New Zealand is a readjustment of all business to meet the war conditions, so designed as to ensure that the greatest possible volume of business will be done. The more business that is done, the more goods that are manufactured, the more foodstuffs there afe produced, the better for the country and for the other countries with which we are allied in the present war. "It is obvious that what we must do in New Zealand is to ensure the least possible disorganisation v of business. At the same time, it is necessary to prevent undue profiteering arising out of the war conditions. So that what this country needs is a set of regulations which will maintain to the fullest possible extent the volume of business in this country, and at the same time will ensure that no one makes an undue profit out of his fellow-men because of the war conditions."