The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. MONDAY, JUNE 8, 1925. THE TRUCK CONTRACT.

Southland Times, Issue 19571, 8 June 1925, Page 6

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. MONDAY, JUNE 8, 1925. THE TRUCK CONTRACT.

In another column there appears this morning a communication from the secretary of the New Zealand Association of British Manufacturers and Agents, who forwards a copy of a letter sent to the Southland County Council with reference to the Council’s decision to purchase an American motor-truck, despite the receipt of tenders from the agents of British cars at a much lower price. The interesting point about these letters is the disclosure that the representative of one British firm, before tenders were actually called, asked the Council to submit the particular firm’s truck to a test in competition with the trucks of any other make. This request, it would seem, was disregarded, but as the voting on the Council was extremely close and the incident has caused a fair amount of discussion, the Council would be well advised even at this stage to put the discontented tenderers to the test they propose. Statements made by the officers of the County Council in connection with the purchase of the motor trucks suggest that the White truck in the opinion of the investigating Committee had certain virtues not possessed by its rivals, but it would appear that the Committee did not make any searching inquiries concerning the British trucks. The Committee visited Taranaki and there saw the White truck in operation and presumably the Committee during its tour in the North Island was in touch with the agents

of that car. It was surprising, therefore, that the price of £l6OO mentioned in the Committee’s report was not based on any current quotation, but was, as the officers’ statements declare, based on a price list two or three years old. The officers state that this figure of £l6OO was not a price submitted by the agents of the White truck for a straightout sale to the Council, but was only an estimate based on an old price list. The County Council’s Committee was extraordinarily far out in its estimate and it seems to have been very slipshod in the manner in which it carried out this part of its duties. From the viewpoint of the British manufacturers, on whose behalf it is stated that tenders were called only after the agents of British trucks had protested against any sale being made without opportunities being given to them to demonstrate the qualities of British goods, the decision of the County Council is a serious matter because it is a serious criticism of goods of British origin which have established reputations in the Dominion, as well as in other parts of the world, for high general excellence. The ratepayers of the County, too, are vitally concerned because the decision to accept an American truck involved the acceptance of a tender much higher than many others submitted, and because the County Council’s action will .send money to America instead of to Britain, which is the principal market for the produce on which the ratepayers depend for their livelihood. So far no member of the County Council has made any answer to the. questions asked in connection with the purchase of the American trucks, but in the face of the letter sent to the County Council by the New Zealand Association of Briish Manufacturers and Agents, the members cannot remain silent. They must be prepared to dispose of the suggestion that it was after pressure had been applied by the representatives of the British trucks that the decision to call tenders was made and that although the desirability of competitive trials was mentioned the Council made its decision without any tests of the nature suggested being carried out. In the circumstances the Councillors who voted for the American article must be able to justify their action to the ratepayers because they rejected not one, but several tenders lower than the one which was accepted and that in spite of the special claims of the British manufacturers, to say nothing of the same operating features which, we understand, the British trucks possess and which are not to be found in the article accepted by

the public body. All these points can be disposed of best by the holding of actual trials and in the circumstances the Council was remiss in not putting the challenge issued by the agents of the British trucks to the test.