DEBTS OF WORKERS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19140, 8 October 1936, Page 14

DEBTS OF WORKERS

STOREKEEPERS' LOSSES * TRADERS WANT GUARANTEE SOUTH IS. MAIN TRUNK The opjnion is strongly held among shopkeepers .in Kaikpura and Parnassus that, the Government should guarantee' the accounts incurred by men working on the South Island Main Trunk railway, and an association of shopkeepers in the district is now considering whether it should approach the Minister of Public Works, the Hon. R. Semple, with such a request. Dissatisfaction is felt " with the present arrangement, by which the Government undertakes to reimburse' storekeepers for losses incurred through non-payment of accounts for goods supplied during the first fortnight of a man's employment on the construction of the line. MEMORY OF DIFFICULTIES Traders in the district fear a repetition of what they term as the serious trouble which arose during the .'construction of the line up to nearly the end of 1931, when the' National Government, acted on the recommendation of ( the Railways Board and ordered, the cessation of work. From the time work was commenced, it is said, considerable embarrassment was caused to storekeepers by the unwillingness of many of the men to meet their obligations within a reasonable time. Some traders in the district even claim that not a few of the men made no honest endeavour to dis: charge their liabilities for goods delivered to them on credit, and the memory of the difficulties in collecting accounts at that time is now making them very cautious indeed about extending credit. MEETINGS OF TRADERS Already since the recommencement of work on the line traders to whom the men will come for stores have met twice to consider what action they should take to safeguard themselves against any recurrence of their former difficulties, and the general opinion at those meetings has been that business should bo done only on a cash basis. It is realised, However, that rigid adherence to a ruel of this nature would probably cause' much "inconvenience and even hardship, and that every shopkeeper must be willing to agree to work on this basis.' :

The most satisfactory method of ensuring that justice is done to all, both trader and customer, is for the Government to agree to ensure that every man's account will be met out of his pay. This is the view of the shopkeepers most closely concerned with the problem, and the opinion has been expressed that as the Government is willing to guarantee payment of a man's account for the first fortnight of work there is no reason why it should not continue this guarantee for the whole period of his employment. Traders 4laim that they' have full justification for asking the Government to concede this. The proprietor of one general store said that the extension of credit had cost him about ' £6OO. Another storekeeper, he said, had lost about £ISOO, and yet another had been forced into bankruptcy, with. a deficiency of a little more than £IOOO. One of these men, it was said, had been so hard hit that he had lost the savings of a lifetime, and was still gradually working his way out of his financial difficulties.