VEGETABLE PROBE Auckland Growers Want Auction Sales Abolished

Northern Advocate, 19 November 1941, Page 8

VEGETABLE PROBE Auckland Growers Want Auction Sales Abolished

TPer Press Association —Copyright.] . WELLINGTON, This Day. Abolition of the auction system of selling vegetables and fruit and the institution of a price-fixing scheme with direct deliveries to retailers were among recommendations made to the Price Tribunal yesterday by Auckland retailers as a means of correcting the present position regarding vegetable prices. The tribunal is enquiring into the price of vegetables. The retailers also suggested the licensing of all retail shops and the closing of all alien and Asiatic shops which had been opened since the war, except in cases where they w r ere shown to be ecohomic. It was also urged that merchant auctioneers should not bid at their own auctions, should not finance shops or grant extended credit, that all transactions should be on a cash basis, or on weekly accounts, and rents of shops and market gardens should be stabilised. Up 180 Per Cent. Mr. S. Coleman, on behalf of the Auckland retailers, submitted comparative prices for vegetables in Auckland on November 16, 1938, and November 15, 1941, showing an overall rise of 162 per cent. He also gave similar figures for November 2 last year and November 1 this year, show - ing that on 16 lines there was an average increase in price of 180 per cent. Mr. Coleman said fruiterers’ lines were so seasonable and perishable that at no time of the year could a standard for percentage of profit be obtained. In March, 100 per cent, could be made on pumpkins; in November, many shops would sell them at bare cost. Compete At Our Own Auctions There was 100 per cent, gross profit on cabbages at certain times; at others, principally spring and early autumn, retailers could not recoup the purchase price. On occasions the prices of similar lines halved or doubled between the start and finish of a day’s auction. Witness said that auctioneering firms had subsidiary companies, which accepted buying orders and then competed at their own auctions. Mr. Justice Hunter: Do you suggest that this is fraudulent or that it is legitimate for clients? Witness: I would say it is a most undesirable practice. Mr. H. L. Wise: Has this practice increased recently? Resell Own Goods -Witness: Yes. I understand that in Auckland the army and air force use this method of buying, in fact. Mr. L. Munro: If goods are bought at auction that way, can the firms resell them on other markets? Witness replied that some northern firms had branches where, he understood, vegetables which had been bought at auction by their own representatives at the principal markets, were sold again. The chairman congratulated Mr. Coleman, whose evidence lasted most of the day, on the-complete way he had presented his evidence. It was a remarkable piece of work. The inquiry is being continued today.