BULK PURCHASE

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23260, 23 July 1945, Page 4

BULK PURCHASE

Ministry Of Supply Alleged Blunders Commissioner Makes Statement (Special) WELLINGTON, July in a statement issued to-day the Commissioner of Supply, Mr F. K. Picot, took strong exi“.-p»ion to the implications of an article in "The 'iimaru Herald" recently outlining certain details of some purchases by the .Ministry of Supply. "ki every case quoted in the article except tiiat relating to the molasses being sent to Dunedin instead of Wellington where a denude mistake was nmde. all the transactions will bear the i elimination. Any 'mishaps.' to use (lie term in the the "Herald" slatemint du not warrant blame on the Ministry of Supply but arise from unavoidable war conditions and not from errors of judgment. Brill, Tinplate and Nails "Take khaki driil for e: imple," continued Mr Picot. "New Zealand had a I.ii .e manuiael uring programme requiring lliis material, i was aware of the forecast world shortage of textiles and obtained from available overseas sources the vardage io see us through our programme. The Controller and Auditor-General sought, as he is entiiled to do. assurance that our stock lev: I was instilled. Subsequent experience lias fully supported the wisdom nf cur foresight. Notwithstanding a fate drastic revision of our tropical military requirements, many countries are clamouring for us to let them have some of our supplies. Then there is tinplate. We are accused of having bought too much. The demand for canned foodstuffs from New Zealand has called for the use of thousands of tons of tinplate, and to meet our programme we have bought huge quantities in addition to those alleged in the article to have been excessive. Had there been surplus stocks in 1944 why should we be buying in 1945? Then hobnails were quoted. What could be clearer than this transaction. The Ministry reqv'sit oned on an ovcr:-c: , supplier for a particular size. Tim written specification was supported by a draughtsman's diagram precisely setlii g out the type, measurements, and the rest. Tile supplier overseas S' nt the wrong size. He admitted it. lias any and every private bit; me.w-li‘)ii..e not had an cqu.v.'Wnt. expi"iencc? Yet readers arc invited to believe that experiences such as these are peculiar to the Minislrv of Supply. And so 1 could go on Io le'.ate the facts of the many transactions the article described as ■blunders.’ “Whi' the statement said that, in fairness to the Ministry of Supply, it was not wholly to blame for the ‘mishaps'.” said Mr Picot, “the statement would undoubtedly leave an impression that the history of the Ministry of Supply was little more than a list of serious purchasing blunders. The Other Side of the Picture “I think that the other side of the picture should be published if only in fairness to the officers of the Ministry of Supply whose work during- the war has been particularly onerous and has been performed both conscientiously and efficiently. Immense difficulties have had to be overcome to ensure an adequate flaw of essential supplies to the Dominion during this war when business and industry in the countries from which we have drawn our supplies have been mobilised in a manner which restricted to the utmost the normal export of plant and materials. “It is not true to say that the Controller and Auditor-General referred to the items which were mentioned in ‘scathing terms’ in his report to Parliament last year, or even at the Parliamentary Committee hearing. The examples'were quoted to the Committee by the Controller and Auditor-General not by way of strictures on the Ministry's operations but. rather as illustrations of matters with which he required to concern himself when examining the operations of the Ministry in the ordinary course of his duties. “I should like to point, out.” continued

Mr Picot, “that when criticism is levelled at purchases which the Ministry of Supply made, two and three '/ears ago particularly, it should be borne in mind that at that period our very security was directly menaced by the Japanese onslaught, and, in I addition, the world supply situation had seriously deteriorated. During that period it was the task of the Ministry I of Supply to endeavour to procure, on the best possible terms, adequate stocks of many essential materials. For obvious reasons it was often not possible to secure our normal types of materials from the United Kingdom and very frequently impossible to secure other than moderately satisfactory substitutes in the United States and other countries. The result was that some commodities arrived in this Dominion which were somewhat different from that which our trade and industry was accustomed to using, and in many cases at a cost far beyond prewar levels. At that time our main concern was not so much price but essential supplies and the statement could not be challenged that New Zealand has enjoyed a measure of supplies which. having regard to our geographical position and the position in other countries, have been extraordinarily high.” Mattress Ticking Mr Picot concluded by stating that the allegations of faulty buying of mattress ticking which appeared in the Press last week had been adequately disposed of by the reply of the Minister of Supply and 1 lunltions. “I would emphasise that the Ministry of Supply has handled hundreds of commodities during the war period and the efforts of its officers have met with a large degree of success. Supply problems in war time are extraordinarily fickle and the fact that we have heavy stocks of certain items on hand merely emphasises our foresight in preparing to meet difficulties, but does not mean that the Department has blundered. Incidentally many of the surpluses of a year ago mentioned in the article have how been entirely sold and in more than one case we are needing additional supplies. The war," said Mr Picot in conclusion, “is not yet over and it is quite probable that he shall more than need our present stocks before normal supplies are resumed."