TODAY'S SYSTEM WRONG.

Wanganui Chronicle, 1 July 1948, Page 6

TODAY'S SYSTEM WRONG.

Mr. E. R. Neale (Opp., Nelson), said today’s system of issuing licences based on 1938 values was quite wrong, and it was no wonder there were delays when the administration of import control was placed in the hands of people who were not trained for that particular work. The delays were extremely distressing to businessmen. and very often, eyen after availability had been proved for certain goods, by the time decision had been reached the opportunity to get those goods had gone. Mr. W. H- Fortune (Opp.. Eden) said the answer to shortages was not more controls, vet the shackles were more firmly clamped on, prohibitions increased and the country was placed in bondage. A PAPER BATTLE. An army of bureaucrats were fighting a paper battle in Wellington, presuming to know more about the business than men who had been in business all their lives. The cost of all this useles administration must—as must the cost of the present Mount Park dispute in Auckland—be loaded onto the cost of the goods concerned. The whole system of import licensing was maladministered. Mr. J. T- Watts (Opp., St. Albans) said the importing community should know immediately of any change in the Government's import policy, and when lists were compiled of commodities considered essential by the Government thev should be advertised. “This particular department or State has failed—the administration is bad, planning is non-existent and they have been in a proper mess from I start to finish.” he said. “A more suitable system for import control must be devised for the future.”