LESS COMPETITION

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 65, 14 February 1929, Page 3

LESS COMPETITION

ATTITUDE OF GOVERNMENT. EFFECT ON BUSINESS. “As this chamber represents the business communty of the town, the statements made by the Premier, Sir Joseph Ward, regarding less competition by the Government in business is of considerable interest,” remarked Mr M. A. Eliott at the Chamber of Commerce annual meeting. The opinion has been exj>ressed all over New Zealand that the tendency of the late Government since the war has been far too much in the direction of the Government entering into competition with private concerns in business and with too much interference in business generally . It is fully time that Acts passed as war measures should now be repealed. “Many of the large Government business departments do not pay any rates or taxes, rent, income tax, etc., such as has to be borne by business firms, and therefore the Government enters into unfair competition. “Generally speaking, last year showed an improvement upon the trading conditions of 1926-117, although business was not by any means as good as it might have been. There was a marked improvement in the turnover during the closing months of the year, particularly in the Christmas trade, the figures of many traders showing a substantial improvement over the previous Christmas.

“Unfortunately, -unemployment was still considerably in evidence througnout the year. These conditions applied to practically the whole of New Zealand and many other countries, including Great Britain, Canada, the United States, etc., and was the result of economic conditions generally and not of any local disturbance.” “The farming community with which the prosperity of Palmerston North is closely connected has had an exceptionally good season, both as regards weather, increased quantities of produce and exceptionally good prices. All our staple articles of export, viz., wool, frozen meat, butter, cheese, etc., have shown considerable expansion in quantity as well as maintaining a high value.”