The Star. Delivered every evening by 5 o'clock in Hawera. Manaia. Normanby. Otaiawa, Eltham. Mangatoki. Kapoaga. Awatuna. Opunake. Otakeho. Manutahi, Alton. Hurleyville, Patea, Waverley. TUESDAY, AUGUST 11, 1914. MONOPOLIES AND PRICES.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue LXVIII, 11 August 1914, Page 4

The Star. Delivered every evening by 5 o'clock in Hawera. Manaia. Normanby. Otaiawa, Eltham. Mangatoki. Kapoaga. Awatuna. Opunake. Otakeho. Manutahi, Alton. Hurleyville, Patea, Waverley. TUESDAY, AUGUST 11, 1914. MONOPOLIES AND PRICES.

In the House of Representatives on the loth of last month, Mr Wilkinson, the member for Egmont, asked a question ooncerning a subject, the importance of which has since then shown up a .good deal in connection with the cosmopolitan crisis caused bj the'war in Europe. What Mr Wilkinson asked the Prime Minister was, whether the Government would consider the question of establishin New Zealand a Commercial Board akin to the Boards of Inter-State Commerce in the United States of America, and the Commonwealth of Australia. In putting his question Mr Wilkinson added that, at present in, New Zealand, the operations of monopolistic institutions were not subjected to regular State supervision, and that the people should be protected from the risk of being unduly exploited by such institutions. In replying to Mr Wilkinson, the Premier (Mr Massey) said that enquiries would be made regarding the operations of the Australian Board, and that the subject would receive careful consideration at the hands of the Government. As we have said, the need for such a Board has been shown in connection with the present crisis, and it is not unlikely that the plan just sanctioned by Parliament, at the instance of the Government, to prevent the artificial inflation of the prices of foodstuffs, may evolve into a permanent system equivalent to that advocated by Mr Wilkinson, who, it may be remembered, brought the subject forward twice last year, as well as on July 15 in thfi present session. It may be that all along Mr Wilkinson has had wholesale people more in view than retailers, but there would seem to be no reason why both sets should not, in the public interest, be carefully looked after by n permanent Board of Trade and Commerce. Anyway, Mr Wilkinson is not only now in business but has been in business fov many years, and he should therefore be in a position to speak with sufficient authority on the subject which ho has taken in hand. This being so, it ivill not be supposed that he exaggerates when he says that "there are great evils in t/he country that require attention," and that what is needed for the purpose is a Board of the kind suggested by him. "In the first place (he says), there is nothing to indicate to the pubhe a s to whether shipping companies trading to Xew Zealand were carrying out their functions in a proper manner —that was to say, were not unduly exploiting the public. In New Plymouth the other day they had had occasion to land a large shipment of fertilisers from the Old Country, and owing to the operations of the shipping ring the ship that curried the cargo was unable to carry general cargo from Great Britain to Taranaki. That was a loss to the district; and acted to the detriment of the merchants in that part of the Dominion. Then they wanted the various matters in connection with the freight charges looked into. At present it was a customary thing that goods could be shipped from various European countries to New Zealand direct at a much lower rate than they could be shipped from ports in Great a Britain. He considered that to be wrong. In addition, the working of the various commercial monopolistic institutions in New Zealand should be looked into carefully. There was no check on prices charged by such institutions as the Sugar Company, the Oil Company, and the tobacco monopoly. These institutions were practically monopolies, and he considered that in the int-erests *>f the public their actions and their work should be reviewed from time to time." When Mr Wilkinson spoke thus the present) crisis had not developed in Europe, and he had chiefly in view the Australian plan of working by means of a Board of Commerce, with a Chief Commissioner receiving £2500 a year, and two other Commissioners, each with yearly salaries of £2000. This Board has very wide powers, as it has to deal with matters of public interest in regard to commercial transactions. In fact, when Mr Hughes, the Com-1 monwealth Attorney-General of the day, was proposing the establishment of the Australian Board, he said: "It will be a Standing Commission of enquiry, with power to investigate, on reference by Parliament or of its own motion, practically all matters,, knowledge of which is directly necessary to Parliament and the public. It will be a Board of Trade —an independent critic not only of social, industrial, and commercial events and tendencies., but of the operation and administration of laws. It will be an acting-guardian of the Constitution, | with power to reach out and deal with violations of the Constitution with respect to trade and commerce." This is, as the saying goes, a large order, and it may be that the scheme is not reeded in all its details in New Zealand. Still it is assuredly needed in large measure, and there is no reason why it should not be used to prevent inflated prices in the retail trade, as well as monopoly on the part of large businesses or business combines. In the meantime, Mr Wilkinson is entitled to credit for what he has, so far, don© in the matter.