THE TEST OF QUALITY

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 63, 15 March 1945, Page 6

THE TEST OF QUALITY

Protests against the quality of electrical equipment being sold in New Zealand have been made by the New Zealand Institute of Electricians, which is taking the matter up with the authorities. If the use of inferior material constitutes a hazard to the public—and the evidence suggests that it does-—there is a case for the Government'prohibiting the manufacture and sale of such equipment. The public must be protected. There is, however, an even stronger case for correcting the trouble by allowing ordinary trading practices to operate. Under a system of licensing and import restriction the main safeguard from the consumer's point of view—the element of competition—tends to disappear. The choice for the consumer becomes very largely one of take it or leave it. If inferior material is being sold, then the best correction is to lift the restrictions that at present obtain, both in regard to manufacturing and importing. In other words, restore the element of competition -which, at the risk of being dubbed old-fashioned, we still believe to be the life of trade. Given a free choice, the public would naturally purchase the best-quality article, and the inferior article, whether locallymanufactured or imported, would very qaickly disappear"' from the market. And the hazards to public safety to which the electricians have drawn attention would probably also quickly disappear.