TRADING STAMP COMPANY.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4132, 21 August 1900, Page 5

TRADING STAMP COMPANY.

STATEMENT BY THE MANAGER. In a letter to the Premier, Mr R. J. Parker, of Auckland, has enclosed the following detailed statement of the working of the Trading Stamp Company from December, 1898, to the 31st July, .1900, a period of nineteen months„ “Total receipts from sale of stamps, £16,425. “Disbursements. Salaries, £1359; general expenses, £1509; rent, £lOls. “Defalcations of cx-cinploycea.—Wel-lington, £2O 17s; Napier, £66 13s; Wanganui, £6B 17s; total, £156, “Total, purchases, £10,979; less goods afloat and at branches, £972; total, £10,007. or , say £IU,UOO. , ..“Not profit, ■'£l376.' *• “Tho. collections, £16,125, represent 16.442 books of 990 stamps - each. Wo hare redeemed 15,622 hookjj, or equal to 15,621,000 stamps, leaving iu the hands of thp, public, 820,000 stamps, equal to 826 books that have yet to be redeemed. The 15,622 hooks were redeemed by goods of the total value of £10,0,00, being 'practically at the average wholesale, .import price of 13s for each book, The money received by ns for each book was 19s 10d gross, which, after deducting: proportion of expenses, represents a. net profit of lOd on each book redeemed, ' hilt there will 'be stamps to the amount of 3 . pey cent, of ' 16,425.000 ' lost l or -destroyed, amounting to 46,800, leaving 352,000 yet to,be, provided for. The , highest price of any article cost 32s Od, of which wo gave 1113; the lowest 11s 6d, of which we gave 1941. An L exemployee' at Wellington purchased 1 without my knowledge or authority 27 pieces of goods at 4s lid each. Ho distributed 18 of them, before I discovered it; then no more wore given out, and after discovering some other irre-' gularities he was discharged.. The capital representing the vested interests amounts to £7820. Wc have nine , branches and about ten agencies. Wo give employment to about 70 hands, besides those employed in the company’s premises.”

In the course of his letter Mr Par-, ker says : —“The trading stamp _ system enables the small buyer to enjoy the benefit as his richer neighbour. The trading stamp system, is , also a great benefit to the jmall trader who cannot, like Ms,-.richer- neighbour, spend thousands of. pounds a year in . advertising, the consequences being that be has been gradually driven to the wall, until in desperation lie has" sought some, means, of saving himself from utter extinction in trade. The trading stamp system is also a boon ’to . him. It ,is at r present his -only salvation, which has enabled him to give to his customers something that : the ! large shops cannot - give.; And any opposition that, there, is against the* ; -trading stamp system has, had its origin in the overgrown general stores throughout the country, who have found, the small shopkeeper getting the trade that they had;"and perhaps filching a little . from them; I venture to say that, out of the .enormous quantity of people'in New Zealand-that have, been using trading stamps, in some form or other, you could not find one in a hundred but what will speak well of ... the fairness of the'system .and the promptitude and-honesty with which it is carried.'out. You will observe . by . :,thc accompanying sheet that the profit of the Trading Stamp Company during the nineteen months is almost nothing. In fact, taking into consideration interest on capital and' my salary,' which, is paid by the' home office, we have suffered a positive loss in (New Zealand,, anth. we would welcome ’ any legislation . that would enable us-to retire from - the country without loss. But to close up our nine branches without due time being given to. realise oh ‘the ’ investment, and fulfil our obligations to landlords, employees, newspapers and- , the general public, -would entail -a . serious loss, equal to the extent of close upon £10.000.”.: Iti another letter, dated the Bth August, Mr - Parker strongly protests againstia: statement.by an cx-employce of the company,' which the. Premier recently laid- ‘oft- the . table qf ' the House, and' concludes:—hT have 'declined numerous invitations to agitate in favour of our side of the case.' JVe don’t want to continue our ■'business in New Zealand, and shall be glad to get out of it. Then .rbii:mayi-.bu%l your Chinese wall as high as you like, and sit down until you find out that you will have to build mighty high to... keep your own population, in.” ,