THE CASH-ON-DELIVERY SYSTEM.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19903, 24 September 1926, Page 12

THE CASH-ON-DELIVERY SYSTEM.

Sir,—ln your issue this morning you deal editorially with this subject, and incidentally give some prominence to the action taken in regard to it by the Dunedin Manufacturers’ Association. . As your article gives a very incomplete impression of the association’s attitude, and would almost indicate that you have failed to ascertain the full nature of the communications on the subject between the association and tho Dunedin Chamber of Commerce, I venture to trespass on your space for the purpose of placing the full position before your readers. The concluding sentence of your article asserts that “the Dunedin Chamber showed discretion in not committing itself to anything definite with respect to the communication from the Manufacturers’ Association.” Your readers may be pardoned it they regard this a-s a tail with a sting; for’it seems a fair inference to take from your remarks that tho Manufacturers Association showed a corresponding lack of discretion , Tho actual fact—which you could have ascertained quite easily by inquiry—is indicated by the following letter, dated August 23, 1926, from tho secretary of the Dunedin Chamber to the association: —

At a meeting of my council this afternoon it was unanimously agreed that the chamber would co-operate with your executive in action taken along the lines you suggest with a view to bringing tho facts before the Prime Minister prior to his departure for England. I shall bo glad to confer with you as to tho details of the joint action that should bo taken. So much, then, for the “discretion” which you so gratuitously attribute to the Dunedin Chamber “in not committing itself to anything definite.” Tho chamber forthwith co-operated with the association in endeavouring to arrange for a deputation to the Prime Minister m Wellington. This was found impracticable owing to tho extreme pressure upon the Prime Minister’s time prior to his departure, and the case was therefore placed before him by letter. The arguments advanced m support or the request that he should have considered tion given to the matter while in England were submitted to the Dunedin Chamber, and were part of tho “communication to which your article refers. Without wishing to take up too much of your space, 1 desire to draw on those arguments at least sufficiently to show that the attitude of > tho Manufacturers’ Association goes a little further than the question of pure selfinterest referred to in your editorial ■comments. The points stressed by the association include: — 1. The business transacted under the C.O.D. parcels system grew from 1278 parcels valued at £4217 in 1923 to 9129 parcels valued at £31,952 in 192,i. If the same rate rf increase is maintained in the future it must mean that the system will become a serious menace to established businesses throughout the Dominion. 2. The retailers and others affected are largely those who employ labour, pay rent, rates, and taxes, and generally contribute to the welfare of the community and to the commercial development of the Dominion. On the other hand, those who supply goods under this system entirely escape these obligations. In particular they pay no ncome tax in New Zealand, though the same volume of business transacted through ordinary channels would result in a substantial contribution to the Government in the form of income tax paid by local traders. 3. It is probable that the system is not always to the advantage of the consumer, especially as regards the quality of the goods supplied. It opens the door to tho evasion of reg lations which the Government itself has found it desirable to make in tho interests of the community. For instance, boots and shoes imported in the regular way of business must comply strictly with the regulation requiring the composition of the footwear to be clearly stamped thereon. Any footwear not so stamped would bo refused admission, or, if exposed for sale, would make the vendor subject to prosecution. From inquiries made, it appears that tills regulation is inoperative as regards footwear imported direct by the consumer under the C.O.D. system. He is deprived of the protection which the regulation is intended to give him, and might find himself at the mercy of unscrupulous people at the other end. 4. It has been urged in justification of the system that it is quite open to New Zealand firms, to use the system in respect of goods sent abroad by them. Inquiries show this to be nothing more than a red herring drawn across the trail. It is significant that the Dunedin postal officials are unable to instance even one parcel sent away from here under the system. This goes a long way to justify the conclusion that the system is conceived entirely in the interests of traders and others in Great Britain and Ireland, and operates to the serious disadvantage of traders established in the Dominion. There appear to bo no real advantages to tho Dominion to offset the disadvantages indicated above. The revenue collected from the system by the Postal Department is on a very low scale, while, as stated, the Government stands _to lose revenue in other directions. Even our Harbour Boards lose the port dues that would be payable on a similar volume of goods imported in the ordinary way. As for the argument used. Sir, in "our article —namely, that the system is obviously attended with advantages to the general public (hence its growth), it is surely reasonable to suggest, in addition to what has been already said, that those who enjoy the rights of citizenship in our midst should be expected to transact their business thorugh regular established channels within tho community in which they earn their own livelihood. In conclusion, let me say that the joint action taken by tho Manufacturers’ Association and the Duncdi-i Chamber was simply to ask the Government to give careful consideration to a system that has all tho appearances of being a most onesided arrangement.—l am, etc., Geo. W. Reid, Secretary, Dunedin Manufacturers’ Association. Dunedin, September 23.