BLACK MARKET EVIL

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 86, 8 October 1943, Page 4

BLACK MARKET EVIL

Further steps are being taken in Australia to stamp out black market operations, which, according to the "Sydney Morning Herald," "are evils so rampant today that the public, harassed by inescapable commodity shortages and bilked in many directions by unscrupulous traders, are being forced in many cases by sheer compulsion of competitive' demand to acquiesce in practices of barefaced illegality." On the whole, New Zealand has 'been fortunate in escaping the serious effects of black market operations which have been felt in many other countries. There have been exceptions, notably in sly-grogging. That is an evil, of course, that does not owe its origin to the war; to a greater or lesser extent, it has always been with us. There, are two main ways of preventing black market operations. The first is to ensure that all goods are handled through the ordinary trading channels. In this way the traders themselves provide an efficient safeguard against illegal transactions. Once the control of goods passes out of the hands of the established and recognised traders, the black market operator gets his johance, and, because of the shortages which result, the public are tempted to deal with him. Strictly, of course, that section of the public which encourages the illegal dealer is at fault, but human nature being what it is the advantage of the whole is often sacrificed for the advantage of the few. It is necessary, therefore, to provide for a second remedy against black marketing—power to impose heavy penalties for those who participate in illegal operations, whether as venders or as purchasers. In other words, there must be power to prove that black marketing, like any other c»ime, does not pay.