Hotel Men On New Tariffs

Northern Advocate, 24 September 1949, Page 5

Hotel Men On New Tariffs

GISBORNE, Sat. (P.A.). Forty delegates attended the annual conference of the New Zealand United Licensed Victuallers’ Association in Gisborne.

Discussions were not public, but information gathered indicated that the conference discussed the recent ruling of the Price Control Tribunal on the grading and tariffs of hotels. It was pointed out that this was the first known occasion when any authority had attempted to establish standardisation of the hotel-keeping business. The annual report of the association said it was too early to assess fully the results of the experiment. PROFIT UNLIKELY In its ruling the tribunal had admitted that the new tariffs fixed for graded hotels were not likely to yield a profit to hotel-keepers, and that they would do no more than enable hotels in the higher brackets to break, even on increasing costs. Public acceptance of the new tariff scale had been generally favourable, the increases being regarded as inevitable and reasonable. Delegates endorsed the view that had the tribunal permitted increases in the tariffs to take place step by step with increasing costs of hotel operations the public would have been spared the sudden impact of the substantial readjustment. OFFICERS ELECTED Officers elected were:— President, Mr F. H. Drewitt, Wellington; vice-president, Messrs J. M. MacKenzie, Canterbury, T. P. Smale, Gisborne, T. F. Mackie, Otago, D. Sloan, Wellington; treasurer, Mr S. Dunn, Wellington; executive, Messrs A. J. Empson, Canterbury, P. Ryan, Wellington, F. J. Fay, Otago, S. J. Istcd, Stratford, R. W. A. Lewis, Egmont, C. G. Rhimes, Wanganui, W, H. Steel, Wairarapa, H. T. Carey, Palmerston North, F. Boyle, Southland, H. Cowdery, Nelson, R. B. Watt. Gisborne, A. Mitchell, Timaru. A. N. Mathieson, Hawke's Bay, W. A. O'Connor, Waitaki, .A. Beban, Greymouth, E. C. Haddick, Rangitikei, J. P.McEnaney, Westport, A- Lulham, Inangahua.