ACTION NECESSARY

Northern Advocate, 26 October 1935, Page 2

ACTION NECESSARY

FIXATION OF PRICES REPORT TO PARLIAMENT. POSITION OF SMALL TRADERS. Telegraph—Parliamentary Reporter— WELLINGTON. This Day. A recommendation that the Commercial Trusts Bill, which aims at modifying a certain section in the principal Act in respect to price fixation, should not be allowed to proceed was made this morning by the Industries and Commerce Committee in a report to the House. The Hon. A. D. McLeod, chairman of the committee, said that valuable and complete evidence had been taken on the question, and that it should be 'available to members. The nature of the evidence was such that it would be invaluable to whatever Government might be in office in the next Parliament. It showed there was a demand for the fixation of minimum prices for many articles, and sooner or later Parliament would-have to decide whether it was going in for minimum price fixation or whether the industries themselves were to be allowed a reasonable amount of latitude to fix prices within the industry itself. ' Under the Act as it stood today that apparently was forbidden. Mr McLeod said that during the slump small traders had given yeoman service, and many of those in primary-producing districts were practically forced into a state of bankruptcy because of the amount of credit they had had to carry on their books. The advent of the chain store business, which carried none of that load, almost knocked those traders to pieces. “There are matters that must be considered by whatever Government may be in office after the coming election,” added Mr McLeod.

The bill has been the subject of numerous petitions this session protesting against it being passed. The report was tabled.