COMMERCIAL TRUSTS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXV, Issue 232, 17 September 1935, Page 8

COMMERCIAL TRUSTS

Amending Legislation CHAMBER OF COMMERCE VIEW A decision to ask Mr H. M. Campbell, M.P., to support the re-introduc-tion oi the Commercial Trusts Acts Amending Bill was made by the Hastings Chamber of Commerce at its monthly meeting last evening. Mr W. E. Bate, who acted as chairman of the meeting, said that so far as he had gathered from a perusal of circulars issued bv the Associated Chambers of Commerce the purport of the Bill was to leave the Commercial Trusts Act intact as it existed at present, excepting that any person prosecuted under the Act would be entitled to show as a defence that the action lor which he was prosecuted was in the public interest. That defence was denied to a defendant at present. Mr Duff said that apparently one ol the intentions of the Bill was to allo ' manufacturers to fix the prices of their goods, and to forbid retailers to sei' below the fixed price. The meeting went on to discuss nt some length the activities of chair stores, and decided to forward to Mr Campbell the circulars issued by thAssociated Chambers of Commerce, am: to support the re-introduction of th Bill so that the whole question involve! in it might be fully debated. Then was no resolution to the effect that t l- - Chamber was, or was nut, in iaveur of the Hill.