PROFITEERING AND THE ARCHPROFITEERS.

Waikato Times, Volume 92, Issue 14368, 21 May 1920, Page 3

PROFITEERING AND THE ARCHPROFITEERS.

(To I lie Kdilor.) Sir, —With regard to this burning question of profiteering and I lie punishment of those guilty of Iho offonco, >t must 11five struck most of your Humorous readers who have followed up the question for some lime past that the Government seems to ho “hobbling tho wrong horse.” They would appear to lie using their whole forre-r-“horse, foot and artillery”—in running to earth the little culprit, while they allow the arch-offender to quietly get away with the “swag." Mow is this? Is there no law or no means of detection by which the big profiteer may be brought In book? Is our Government either not. strong enough or earnest enough to tackle the problem; otherwise why is it one never reads of the big profiteer being prosecuted? Shipping companies, manufacturers, wholesalers and others in high commercial places are notoriously the worst offenders, and seem to escape unwhipped. Take a sample or two at random. We rea l of ships having recouped their purchase price by one year's freight earnings. Reading' over the published balance-sheet of a New Zealand manufacturing fl'in two or three years ago, I was struck then by what appeared to me a glaring case, of profiteering, when on a capital of about £OO,OOO there was shown a profit of £OO.OOO on the year’s working, meaning that by (his time (tie firm will have probably ircbled its capital. Not bad going one would say: but things have happened since, by all accounts, which throws tho above completely in the shade—makes it look quite a modest profit alongside the present established standards—if the following instance is anything like correct (an item, by the, way, which is vouched for on good authority an.| sheds a further ray of light on the dark and devious methods of the predatory hand of profiteers). A draper in one of our country gave an order for blankets, to cost £2 las each. On examining the consignment on arrival this gentleman (who is also a returned “digger”) thought there was something familiar about the look and feel of the goods. The marks confirmed Ids suspicions. They were surrendered army bl-uikels! The conclusion arrived at was Hint || had seen some years’ service a I the front, and after faithfully "doing their hit” wore cleansed of their impurities

and sold by the War Department for probably the price of an aid snug, then fixed up onee more to lonic like new. But they were too crudely camouflage 1 to deceive the "digger" purchase.'. Xow, if the present Government is in earnest in tackling this profiteering scandal they will use the nulk of their detective forces following up the scent nf malodorous cases like !he above and bring to book the real profiteers, instead of using all their energies in tracking to his lair the poor little devil of a retailer who tries to overcharge us a penny nr two on. say, a stick of tobacco. It is a "straining at the gnat," etc. We plume ourselves on cur liberty lovin? and sane democracy, r.iii] abhor the thing called "Bolshevism," hut let us have a. care that we are not breeding bolshcvism at this very moment. The country seems to be run at the present time by tnese exalted predatory bands of profiteers who victimise the public and seem to snap their lingers at the law, ami incidentally are making out a splendid case fen- those amongst us imbued with communistic and. bolshej vistic sympathies. How long is this putrid state of affairs to last? Probably until the "birds of prey" have feathered their nests and gorged themselves nn their helpless victims, and until we cease using all our ammunition in the slaying of torn-tils whllo allowing the hawks to escape.—l am, etc., w. blennerhassett; Peria, Matamata, May i 7, 1820.