PUBLIC VERSUS PRIVATE SERVICES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20704, 30 April 1929, Page 9

PUBLIC VERSUS PRIVATE SERVICES.

TO THE EDITOB. Sib,—l would like to point out to the' writer of the letter signed 1928 that taxaturn of Government and other public bodies’ enterprises means that the consumers or people using these services are unduly exploited to provide excessive profits. No government or other public body would pay income tax when by giving concessions to the consumer it could avoid doing so. What the 1928 Committee would Tike to do is to force the Government and other public bodies to charge the same price for their services as private enterprises do—in short, allow private enterprise, to choose the most profitable enterprises, and then dictate the price at which the service or commodity should be sold. It seems that they also advocate having each enterprise in a watertight compartment. Services that make profits.should be taxed instead of these profits being used to pay for services which are provided free or below cost. This brings us to _ the fundamental difference between private and public ownership of enterprises. Private enterprises are run to make profits; service to the public is seldom considered. Public enterprises are run to give service to the public; profits are only a secondary consideration. When we see private enterprises providing services free, or below cost for the public, then we will consider their claims for equal treatment when they are running more profitable enterprises.—l am. etc., A.E.B.W. Dunedin, April 29.