MUNICIPAL STORES.
COMBINED BUYING SCHEME.
ARGUMENTS AGAINST SYSTEM.
The Mayor of Wellington, Mr. E. A. Wright, MP., does not view with favour any move to bring the various local bodies into line, and inaugurate a combined buying of stores. Such a scheme is embodied in a remit which stands in the name of Petone on the agenda paper of the Municipal Association, which is to meet shortly in Auckland. " I should be strongly against any such proposal, as far as Wellington is concerned," Mr. Wright stated when inter-
viewed. "In my experience, the venture could hardly prove a success." He considered that.it would be very difficult to ret the various local bodies to agree on the subject, or to co-operate effectively, should they endorse the principle. There would bfl many obstacles to be overcome before su.ch a state of affairs came about, and, eveii then, it would be by no means certain that the thing would be any more than an experiment. , To begin with, continued Mr, Wright, some centralised system would have to be adopted, and would need to be under the control pf experts. A new organisation would have to be created, and all fits machinery perfected And this would mean expense, so that the initial reason for establishing a buying house would be offset by the extra expenditure involved. In addition, supposing that the buying house were created, the first problem to be attacked would be that of redistribution, and it was no mean cne. In any case, Mr. Wright said, Wellington and the other metropolitan bodies would have little or nothing to gain from participation in such a scheme. They were strong enough to stand outside, and would be able to rely on their contract system, which had proved satisfactory, and which met theif individual needs. For the smaller bodies such an experiment might prove of financial benefit, but it was doubtful, not the least of the reasons for this being that control of the buying might be uncertain and lead to disagreement.
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Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18838, 13 October 1924, Page 9
Word Count
337MUNICIPAL STORES. New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18838, 13 October 1924, Page 9
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