HIGH PRICES

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 10210, 21 February 1919, Page 6

HIGH PRICES

FRUIT £KD VEGETABLES CITY MARKETS SUGGESTED BY HON. G. W. RUSSELL. The Minister for Internal Affairs, tho Hon. G. W. Russell, was waited upon yesterday by a deputation which drew "his attention to the necessity for better arrangements being made in the public interest in connection with tho sales of fruit,. vegetables, and other goods, in the city. Various complaints were made, and, in reply, the Minister stated that his opinion was that tho City Council should exercise the market powers vested in it by the Municipal Corporations Act, 190 S. Under the market system, he said, the grower and the vendor or the consumer wotild be-'brought into closer touch, and the city -council would secure to a very large extent the control of the retail trade, to the great benefit of the public. The Minister "also expressed the opinion that the relation iof auctioneers to the fruit supplies of the city should -be a matter more directly for the control of the city council. While the system* of administration of the Auctioneers Act in general was probably in every way suitablo, ho held that the more the control of tho sale of food to.: brought directly under the civic authorities the better it would be for the buyers, the retailers, and the public. Under seccion 312 of the Municipal Corporations 'Act, "the council may provide market places in the borough, and for such purposes may acquire land, erect thereon all such buildings, and provide all such things as are necessary or convenient - for holding markets thereon, and may make, all convenient approaches thereto/*