CUT-THROAT TACTICS AND UNEMPLOYMENT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21733, 26 August 1932, Page 5

CUT-THROAT TACTICS AND UNEMPLOYMENT

10 THE EDITOR.

Sir, —In Dunedin at present, and probably in other parts of the Dominion, there exists a state of affairs that can only be described as business chaos. Not only it spell bankruptcy for employers of labour, but it must inevitably add,, hundreds of names to unemployed lists.

Men who have put capital into retail trade and have been constant employers of.Jabour, find their businesses are being undermined through grossly unfair competition. It has often been said that “ competition is the life of trade,” but when competition reaches the stage of selling at cost, then there must be only one end for many —viz,, ruin and unemployment. To enable them to hold their present trade, many tobacconists, bakers, and grocers have been compelled to reduce their already too small'margins of profit, and there are numerous instances where the services of assistants have had to be dispensed with because profits were insufficient to justify their further employment.

The question arises: Is the public aware that every time a purchase is made at an unreasonably low price someone is losing, and the sum total of small losses must react to the detriment of employees, retail employers, wholesalers, and manufacturers?

With competition keen but fair there is little or no chance of the _ public _ being overcharged, and all fair-minded citizens will recognise that “ live and let live ” is a good motto to follow. But when patronage is unduly bestowed on “ cutting ” concerns, the aim of which . apparently is to induce the public to visit the store attracted by “cut” lines, then the legitimate’ trader finds his turnover shrinking and assistance has to be dispensed with. Unfortunately, there ate many whose aim is to seek out the cheapest, irrespective of the ultimate result of their unwise shopping. The quickest and surest way to end the depression is to use all .our endeavours to keep present employees in their positions and to bring business back as quickly as possible to the < state where more employment can be utilised. And the buying public can help considerably in these directions by spending money in such channels as will return the greatest benefit to the greatest number. —I am, etc., Fairplay.