PRICE STABILISATION

Greymouth Evening Star, 7 September 1939, Page 5

PRICE STABILISATION

GENERAL WARNING ISSUED. WELLINGTON, September 6. A severb warning against* any breaches of the Price Stabilisation Emergency Regulations, and any suggestion of hoarding, was issued by tjie Minister fdr Supply (Mr D. G. Sullivan) in an interview‘to-night. The Minister drew attention to the provisions of the regulations, and stated that some traders did not seem to be aware of the conditions these imposed. “From the fact that the Price Investigation Tribunal .continues to receive notifications of price increases, it' appears that all traders are not aware of the provisions of the price Stabilisation Emergency Regulations gazetted on September 1, Mr Sullivan sajd. “Those regulations provide that no advances in the price or rate of any goods or services may be made after September 1, and it follows that any traders who have advanced prices since that date will be required immediately to revert to the former prices.” The regulations applied, in addition to thp prices of goods, to the rates or fees for the performance of any services in connection with any business or profession, the Minister added. They also provided that no person should purchase any goods for hoarding; whether for re-sale or personal consumption, or for any other reason, and that no person should sell any goods

if he thought they might be used for any of those purposes. It was also stipulated that, unless given authority no trader-should refuse to make goods available for sale if offered a price not below that ruling on September 1. Power was reserved to the Minister, however, to authorise the sale of any goods or the performance of any services in any particular locality at a higher rate or price. “It is most important,” said the Minister, “that the general public, in addition to traders, both wholesale and retail, should make themselves acquainted with the provisions of the emergency regulations which have been enacted in consequence of the present state of emergency, and for the good of the community as, a whole. The Price Investigation Tribunal, consisting of Mr Justice Hunter and Mr H. L. Wise, has been charged with the duty of administering them, and 1 will no doubt regard seriously, in view of the existing circlumstances, any cases of a breach of the regulations which might be brought to their notice.”