ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 1920. ANTI-PROFITEERING MEASURES

Marlborough Express, Volume LIIII, Issue 23, 28 January 1920, Page 4

ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 1920. ANTI-PROFITEERING MEASURES

The Prime Minister has announced that the Government is girding up its loins to deliver;the long-suffering public from th© Mammon that lias entrenched itself;; behind the"... shop counters and in the warehouses. The anti r profiteering measures oi the Board of Trade Bill passed last session are to be' enforced mercilessly, so it is said. Everyone —that is to say,; everyone apart from those who are working under the banner of Mammon the un- j scrupulous—will applaud; this decision most heartily. Even those in affluent circumstanqes,^- on, whom the cost of livingVhas hot been pressing hardly j' cannot but welcome: a consistent effort to ;\ protect; ! their less fortunate fellows-citizens^ .from distress and irritation. It jmust, necessarily appeal strongly to their patriotism and citizenship to see responsible. authority, v determinedly stamping out, or at least dis~ couraging, those noxious, conditions in the world of :buying and selling that make for general discontent, distrust, and general disorganisation. > Ideas of the ejjxtent to which profiteering prevails in New Zealand, and of its exact Ipcus in quo in different directions^vare very .vague. For one thing, the ;ipositioti in New Zealand ds considerably complicated !by the fact—* which was pointed out bvj v the Attorney-General •when the Board of Trade , Bill was under discussion in the Legislative;: Council —that the* necessaries , pp:~ life are largely the subject of import from abroad, with whiqh. the Government has no. pow.er of'(Jqaling- except to control the .retail, price here of the article in comparison with the wholesale price as landed, and after landing charges have been defrayed. Beyond that., stage,, however, there is a wide trading ; margin,., including. a substantial distribution of locallymanufactured woollen goods and boots, and this • margin adrnite of no small amount of elasticity for* tho deliberate inflation of prices. Public suspicion has been, .increasing that the everyday shopper is riot receiving honest. treatment all along J/he lineij an4^ apparently the Government h«J,s koin^ .to the conclusioti: that it? cari^citV afford to go oA ignoring that feeling. The action now being .taken is long ,' overdue. Mr Massey /has : Tbeen . threatening the profiteer behind the counter-for a- long tune, but-_ ;since ; hi^ discomfiture m the^ flannel case he has shown very little real disposition to :°uc^le on his armor again. It would Appear that what is now: proposed in the main is rigidly to enforce section 32, of the Board of Trade Act, which clause provides that "every person commits; an offence. who y j>either- as principal or agent, sells or supplies, ; or offers; to sell of supply, any ; goods at a: plaice' which is unreasonably high. " It is not intended'att present to set up, tribunals or .special officers to conduct preliminary investigations, but arrangements r have been made by which inspectors and officialis of; the Labor Department will cooperate with the' Board of Trade, and "any member of the public who has evidence that an offenqp against the statutory prohibition of excess profits has been committed should communicate with the nearest official of the Department of Labor." We must confess to some doubt as to whether such a >system willfully meet the problem; Even if it liais the effect of cheeking satisfactorily »whatever abuses are being perpetrated in the retail trades, does it go far enough • Hvith respect to . the wholesale supplies of goods, arid would it disclose in every instance the, real seat of the mischief, or. what we have called the locus in quo? We only hope that the Government is thoroughly sincere in the matter. Mr Massey. may take .it for granted that the public itseljF is very much in earnest.''; Indeed'it is in a really dangerous mood. ,