The Daily News. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1919. REPRESSING PROFITEERING.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 September 1919, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1919. REPRESSING PROFITEERING.

When Sir Auckland Geddes introduced the Profiteering Bill in the House, of Commons recently he said that the reduction of inflated prices was necessary economically in order to reduce imports and encourage exports, also socially, because profiteering was a serious source of popular unrest. Later, in reply to a complaint that the Bill did not touch wholesalers and speculators, he accepted an amendment empowering the Board of Trade to investigate prices at all stages, also a further amendment enabling the Board, without waiting for a complaint, to declare a price which would yield a reasonable profit, or fix the maximum wholesale and retail prices. Apparently the British authorities have at last been aroused to the iniquitous exploitation of the public by unscrupulous profiteers. In a similar way the New Zealand Government has opened its eyes and ears to the same evil, the result being a Board of Trade Bill which was explained by the Premier to the House on Friday. For about five years the public have been bled by profiteers with a growing voracity. For some two or three years there has existed in the Dominion sufficient legislative powers to break the neck of profiteering, but apparently there was either no inclination or no sufficient authority on the part of the Government to tackle the evil with the necessary force and firmness. In the course of his .statement on Friday,- Mr Massey advanced the theory that "prices always rose after a war, because too many producers went into the trenches and production went down." That may be a convincing argument as applied to a shortage, but it has no application to the matter of inflated prices due to combination, exploitation or speculation; nor does it have any bearing on the soaring prices of many articles during the war. The fact is that the belated legislation which is now under consideration should have been enacted as soon after the war broke out as was possible. Meanwhile enormous profits have been made at the expense of the public. It was a golden opportunity that was greedily seized. As the cost of necessaries rose so did the wages of the workers increase, each augmentation reacting on the people, so that those with fixed incomes and outside the sphere of war bonuses have found the struggle of making both ends meet very great indeed. Mr. Massey admits that the only remedy for the increased cost of living is to stop profiteering, and yet the evil has been allowed to run riot for three or four years without check or restraint. The parade of the paltry steps taken to keep down the cost of living is mere chamouflage and has had about the same effect as throwing to a dog the bare shin bone of an ox. No argument, whether ingenious or ingenuous, will excul-j pate the National Government from not. giving effect to the recommendations of the Cost of Living Commission, the real reason for which refusal was nothing but' petty jealousy as to parting with Ministerial control, although the exceptional circumstances demanded extraordinary measures. The approach of a general election has now opened the eyes of Ministers ta the syilfl from wjycl). the people

have been suffering—hence a Board of Trade Bill has been subiiaitted to Parliament, giving ample ! power to deal with '' situations likely to arise" which power had hitherto not been granted. This admission is a complete condemnation of the past policy of the National Government, for nearly the whole of the recommendations of the Cost of Living Commission are at last to be given effect to. Some idea of the peculiar process, of reasoning pervading the Cabinet is to be found in the Premier's statement as to shipping freights —which have been one of the most bare-faced extortions that have characterised the profiteering era we have been enduring. Mr Massy is averse to acquiring a fleet of State-owned ships, and the most he considers that can be done is "to endeavor to regulate freights.'' Nothing could be more Gilbertian. The shipping ring command the situation; they know their power and may be expected to continue to use it, until they are brought to reason by determined competition. The powers of the Board are, apparently, to be illimitable, inasmuch as they are to be carried out by "regulations," which means that Cabinet will act as a dictator. Everyone outside the coterie of exploiters will agree that it is high time drastic steps were taken to remove the burden of unfair profits from the shoulders of the community. ' The pity of it is the unjustifiable delay that has helped materially to foster dissatisfaction and unrest.