DOMINION CURRENCY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23687, 20 December 1938, Page 12

DOMINION CURRENCY

REFUSED IN SYDNEY STORE BUSINESS MAN'S EXPERIENCE AUSTRALIANS APPREHENSIVE (Special to Daily Times) AUCKLAND, Dec. 19. One of the largest multiple stores in Sydney is refusing to accept New Zealand currency over the counter, said Mr G. C. W. Reid, managing director of Reid (New Zealand) Rubber Mills, Ltd., on his return by the Awatea from Sydney. He added that he had heard it mentioned that there was some fear among Australian business men of a depressed Dominion currency. " If one may judge from the attitude of shopkeepers in the Commonwealth," Mr Reid said, " it may be that, until the general situation here is more clearly defined, they will continue in their reluctance to accept New Zealand currency. There is no doubt of their uneasiness, possibly because they know very little about the import restrictions. I could discover in Australia practically no reliable information or information that was fully explanatory of the restrictions. " Many firms would not accept cheques on New Zealand banks," Mr Reid continued, " excepting for collection purposes through New Zealand banks. Two or three firms with which he had conducted business telephoned him to say that they were nervous about how they would be paid. Although his own firm recently bought £SOO worth of machinery from one Australian business house, a few hours before he was due to sail, he had to get a business friend to guarantee the payment of £'2o for an article he had ordered from the same house. "A Melbourne firm sent me a telegram an hour before I went to the boat," he said, "asking me whether, in view of the New Zealand Government's restrictions on the transfer of funds, they should proceed with the order. Those experiences made me feel very small. I am wondering how long it will be before this new governmental machinery will be running smoothly again so that there shall be no holdup, particularly in raw materials and special plant imported from overseas." Little difficulty was experienced by Mr Justice Ostler, who also returned by the Awatea after being away from New Zealand for six months. He was inclined to view his good fortune to the fact that he was well known as an established traveller and was used to making his arrangements through a bank. Mr W. Herrick, general secretary to the United Commercial Travellers' Association, Christchurch, who had returned from Sydney by the same boat, said the news of the imports and exports control system was a shock to the Australians. He agreed that they seemed to be apprehensive of the outcome, but he said that their disinclination to change New Zealand bank notes would disappear once they understood the position.