RUSH FOR PETROL

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20635, 10 December 1941, Page 8

RUSH FOR PETROL

MINISTER CRITICISED HANDLING OF EMERGENCY PANIC BUYING UNCHECKED (Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, this day. After the panic buying on Monday resulting from the outbreak of war in the Pacific and checked only by the Government’s announcement in the afternoon that coupons 12 and 13 would be cancelled in the meantime, petrol resellers in Wellington did little business yesterday, apart from supplying commercial vehicles. Apparently few motorists still hold redeemable coupons. The Government’s handling of the emergency was criticised by one service station proprietor. The Minister of Supply, the Hon, D. G. Sullivan, he said, had himself contributed in some measure to the creation of the panic by his statement last week that if the situation in the Pacific should deteriorate, the whole position in regard to petrol consumption would have to be reviewed. Having made that statement and knowing that, in previous crises, the public had rushed to fill up everything down to bathtubs, the Minister should have taken steps in advance to see that if the Pacific situation did deteriorate, rush buying could be stopped immediately. Telegrams prepared in advance and containing binding instructions might have been despatched to all resellers the first thing in the morning, he suggested. Resellers Penalised As it was, he added, many people who got in early and redeemed coupons 12 and 13 obtained an unfairadvantage over the others who, perhaps, out of patriotic motives, refrained from rushing to get all they could. In addition, some resellers who did not themselves hear the Government's broadcast announcement, continued to sell after 2 o’clock. Those who did hear the announcement and played fair by the Government were penalised. “For instance,” he said, “one of my competitors who has no radio, boastingly tells me that he got all business that I turned away on Monday and if I send business to a competitor I not only send the business but the goodwill as well.”

Referring to the rush by the public, a service station proprietor said that it was a “most disgusting and degrading spectacle.” In a time of national crisis, he felt that a broader and more patriotic view might have been taken.

“Though I get my living from selling petrol, if similar conditions arose again I would feel disposed to lock my pumps,” he said.