GROCERS IN CONFERENCE

Taranaki Daily News, 8 February 1934, Page 13

GROCERS IN CONFERENCE

CONSIDERATION OF REMITS. TAXATION ON MUTUAL TRADING. The New Zealand Master Grocers’ Federation continued its annual conference at Hawera yesterday. In the afternoon a visit was made to Dawson Falls. A remit from Otago that consideration should be given to the fact that no taxation was imposed on co-operative companies was withdrawn. Mr. R. Armit said that recently taxation had been imposed on the profits of mutual trading companies in England, placing the co-operative companies on the same basis as other businesses. In New Zealand there were no such concerns but there were municipal and semi-public bodies like power boards. The Associated Chambers had taken the stand that these bodies should be taxed. Mutual fire insurance companies did not pay the same taxation as their competitors while building societies did not pay taxation on profits. The Government thus lost a considerable amount in taxation. Mr. J. I. Chapman said that if dairy companies handling groceries did not pay taxation on profits something should be done about it.

Mr. J. H. Baker said that dairy companies did pay taxation on trading branches. Later the conference would discuss a mutual insurance scheme so he suggested that the remit be withdrawn.

The following Auckland remits were carried: That this conference strongly protests against the growth of Sunday trading, and would respectfully draw the attention of the Minister of Justice to what it regards as considerable laxity on the part of the Police Department in dealing with this growing evil; that this conference urges upon the Government the desirability of amending the Shops and Offices Act, 1921, by substituting for the present interpretation of an “occupier” the following: “Occupier” means the person or company owning the business, and in shops or offices occupied by a body of persons corporate or unincorporate, the manager shall be deemed to be included in the term “occupier,” so long,- however, as such term shall only apply to the manager in charge of the business, not to branch busmesses associated therewith. A demonstration on boning and rolling a side of bacon was given by Mr. P. Sower by (Hawera). Greater uniformity on the question of awards was advocated by Mr. Baker and eventually a motion was carried recommending affiliated associations to communicate with the federation before applying for a new award. The seeking of a Dominion award was suggested but. the Gisborne delegates opposed this. Mr. T. H. Shields said they had no award in Gisborne and did not want one. Mr. Barker said the Taranaki award was a good one. The overtime provisions were satisfactory, as was the rule that wages depended on length of service and not on age. Mr. Barker read a paper by Mr. E. Gray, Kaiapoi, on success in business. Mr. Gray contended that success was not measured only by the accumulation of wealth. There was much that could be done to help one’s fellow men and what one enjoyed was not really fruits of success but the feeling of having attained one’s object. It was the effort to attain that counted. Success in any business was vitally dependent upon cooperation. Sympathy, understanding and justice on the part of employers would go a long way towards securing cooperation.