COUPON SYSTEM

Manawatu Standard, Volume LI, Issue 6, 6 December 1930, Page 10

COUPON SYSTEM

FEILDING RETAILERS’ OBJECTION.

(Special to “Standard.”)

The Feilding retailers last night, by the unanimous vote of a largely attended and representative meeting, decided to join in the agitation to the Government to have the coupon system abolished and as a counter proposal, failing the successful issue of the representations to the Government, to form a local organisation and issue coupons of their own to be redeemable in Feilding only. The present system was generally denounced as leading to unsound trading methods and being parasitical with the certainty that m time it would increase the cost of living. , ~, , It was noteworthy that although there were several retailers present who are issuing coupons on behalf of the distributing companies not one word was raised in support of the svstem, one retailer in fact, asking if he could drop the issuing of a company s coupon and join the proposed local organisation. , Mr A. C. McCorkindale presided and in a brief survey of this latest system of giving discount declared it was a system that had been foisted on the retailers of Feilding. Some had accepted it while others had rejected it but generally many representations had been and were being made to the Government to stop the practice. Personally the speaker was against the system, one reason being that it played one retailer against another in an unfair manner. It meant that the discounts that the local retailers were prepared to give were not being enjoyed in Feilding, but were going outside the town and this was only another of the objections to the scheme. Mr A. J. Humphries said he was absolutely opposed to the system. He had turned the system down in although he had been one of the first approached in the town. The scheme had already been blocked by law in several of the Australian States, and m Mr Humphries’s opinion the New Zealand Government should have done the same before the scheme started, but apparently it had not been aware of tho iniquity of it. It now seemed that tlie Government was acting m the matter, but if it was found that the scheme could not be stopped by Order-in-Council but would have to be done by Parliament, the scheme would go on for a while yet. Mr Humphries proceeded to detail his experience of the scheme in Australia and also explained the method by which the scheme was worked by the coupon issuing company. One impossible situation that the coupon system brought about was that the company issuing the coupons in a sense fixed the course that trade should take merely because some retailers were not disposed to issue these coupons on the oompany’s behalf. Mr Humphries then moved that the Feilding retailers join in the agitation to the Government to have the coupon system abolished and further that, failing the Government’s ability to carry this into effect, the Feilding retailers form an association bo issue Feilding coupons that would be redeemable in Feilding. The speaker sixike at length on the motive behind the latter move which, he thought, would effectively abolish the collecting of the outside coupons in Feilding and would have a tendency to draw the trade here. The success of the scheme was .assured provided it was allowed by law and it would have the effect of “killing two birds with one stone ’ in that the coupons from outside sources would be abolished and trade would be kept in Feilding. These coupons were a parasite on legitimate trade and no steps taken coukl be too strong to put them out, he said. Mr Humphries’s first motion was seconded byMr J. Aitken and endorsed by Mr A. C. Buist and carried unanimously. Explaining his second motion, Mr Humphries said the launching of a local coupon system would not cost the retailers nny great sum, probably only £IOO to cover legal expenses, etc. The whole of the stocks of the Feilding retailers would be available for the redeeming of the coupons on a basis to be agreed" upon and Mr Humphries had no doubt about the success of tho project provided it was permissible. Mr G. Wells seconded the motion and complimented Mr Humphries on bringing the matter forward. In reply to a question regarding who would find the money to buy a wireless set for iustance if a person redeeming the coupons agreed upon this article, Mr Humphries stated that a wireless set retailer would provide the set and then redeem the coupons himself for spot cash from the local organisation. Replying to a further question Mr Humphries thought that if the Government had not Deen able to deal with the matter the middle of January next, the Feilding retailers immediately take steps Jo combat the scheme themselves. Mr Aitken suggested that a copv of the motion should be forwarded to Hon. P. A. de la Perrelle so as to let him know of the steps being taken locally. The motion was then carried unanimously and Mr Aitken’s suggestion voted for action.