GERMAN TENDER ACCEPTED

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 280, 26 November 1936, Page 6

GERMAN TENDER ACCEPTED

PURCHASE OF WIRE ROPE Al ( KLAN I) HARBOUR BOARD strong OPPOSITION TO MOVE ' AUCKLAND, Nov. 24. ■ in? acceptance oi a tender lor the | supply oi virc rope made in Germany [ w rt .s (ic< ided upon by the Auckland Harbour Loan., although the proposal I met with strong opposition from sev- I rial members who claimed that the I board should purchase Bri.i-h gcoas md also criticised the working condi- I lions in Germany. Tne report oi the Purchasing and Stoics Committee s.atcd that lhe| tenders had been reterred to the board's engineer. He had reported ! that the tender for ropes made ini Germany was 21.1 per cent lower i than the tender for Australian-made lopes and 21.7 per cent under the lowest tender lor ropes made in Great Britain. Ropes made by the German ! firm supplied under the last two con- I tracts had given excellent resaits. I Under the circumstances it was recommended that the tender for Ger-man-made ropes be accepted. Th? committee recommended that the engineer's report be approved. Mr A. S. Sutherland said he would move as an amendment that tne lowest British tender be accepted. He was a representative of the primary producers on the board, and at present the Minister of Marketing was in England trying to secure a greater market for our produce. The British market absorbed practically all ! New Zealand’s primary produce. Also the conditions in Britain where the I a ire rope was manufactured were far 1 above the conditions existing in Germany to-day. "I am opposed to the acceptance of ‘ the German tender because German I workers are not working under a free system of control,'' said the Hon. T. I Bloodworth, "and also because a man I s lying under sentence of death in I Germany because three \cars ago he opposed the Hitler regime.'’ Mr Bloodworth added that 20 oi the most influential men in Great Britain had signed a memoi ar.dun. asking that this man's case should be reconsidered because one of the witnesses had admitted perjury, but the } request had been refused. That the ' man’s only offence was to have different views from the present regime was against the acceptance of the German tender. Mr W. B. Darlow suggested that. I for tlie sake of the reputation of the board, it would be profitable to reinstate the British preference clause. "This is a very vital subject and 1 hope every member of the board realises the importance of the decision to be arrived at in regard to the acceptance of tenders,’’ said the chair- ! man, Mr C. G. Macindoe, who added j 1 hat there had been a lot of talk about conditions in Germany which he ’ did not dispute at ail, but if the board ! confined its purchases as a board and I in institution to Great Britain it ! would have to pay whatever prices I .vere demanded. Members should be i oyal to the committee appointed by he board. "The committee has brought forward a definite recommendation that the tender of Felten and Guilleaume should be accepted," added the chairman. The recommendation did take Into account the whole of the situation and to show their confidence in ihe committee members should support it. Mr Sutherland's amendment was defeated and the committee’s report was approved.