E. W. DE FENQ.]

H.—44 A.

188. Registered with your association, then ? —No. 189. Have you seen any of the circulars which are being sent out in the trade stating that prices have been registered with you ?—1 have not seen them. If that statement has been made it is wrong. 190. I produce here a circular letter addressed by Parfumerie L. T. Fiver [Exhibit Q] in which, after giving a list of prices at which their goods are for sale they say,— These prices are registered with the N.Z.P.A.T.A., and it is a condition of sale and purchase that the minimums as set from time to time must be maintained. Distributors are authorized to cease supplies when sold below these minimums. Is that statement, that the prices are registered with the N.Z.P.A.T.A., false ?—lt is not true. No lines are registered by the association. 191 Has it ever been registered in New Zealand ? —No. 192. Has it been considered ? —No. 193. Very well, I ask that you produce for the Committee the minutes of your proceedings, so that the members may peruse, them—-They are here. No applications have been dealt with. The Chairman : Do you accept that assurance, Mr. Kennedy ? Mr. Kennedy : No ; I would like the Committee to see the minutes. The Chairman : Mr. Kennedy presses to know whether that matter was dealt with in the minutes. Mr. de Fenq has said " No." Mr. Kennedy is not satisfied, and wouid like the Committee to see the minutes. 194. Mr. Rear Aon (to witness).] Who are the agents of that line ?—lt is not stated on the letter. 19-5. Mr. Kennedy.] Can you tell us how that letter came to be written ? —Middows Bros, and Taylor have applied for registration. We have their application here. But it has never been considered by the committee. 196. What reply was sent to their application ?—That it would be considered in due course. 197. The Chairman.'] How did you intimate that—by letter or what ?—I cannot say at the moment whether it was by telephone or letter. 198. Mr. Kennedy.] Have you seen the application before ? —No ; that is as it was attached by the girl in the office. There has been no occasion to consider applications yet. 199. Do you have nothing to do with the office organization ? —I am the organizer. The secretary and his assistant would get the correspondence and would acknowledge receipt of applications, which would be filed for consideration in due course. They are available, of course, for me to inspect at any time, but I have not gone through them. 200. Do you know anything about an application from in respect of Coty's perfumes ? —I know that they have applied for registration, but the prices they have submitted have not been considered yet. 201. I produce one of their circulars, to which is attached a slip bearing these words : " Enclosed we hand you new price-list, effective Ist November, which has been registered with the P.A.T.A." Is that statement untrue I—lt is untrue. 202. Are members of your association ? —They are ; they have paid their subscription, or, I should say, they have tendered their subscription, which is held in trust until such time as their application is considered. 203. Where is the money —in your ordinary bank account ? —Yes. 204. Have you since you commenced operations in August considered any cases of what were reported to you as price-cutting ? —No ; the association has not considered any case. 205. Do you say that so far you have no " stop list " ?—We have no stop list. 206. Why were these applications, which, I suppose, came in early in August, not considered ?— There has been no occasion to consider them, because the association is not ready to function, and until it is ready there is no occasion to consider them. 207. Why is it not ready to function ? —Owing to lack of funds and the necessity for organizing the traders. 208. Do you want to canvass further throughout the country to get more members before starting ? —Further subscriptions, yes. 209. It does not function, then, simply because of the lack of financial support ? —Yes. The association came into being late in August. In the beginning of November we discontinued organizing. Had we not discontinued organizing, those applications would have come up for consideration early in January. 210. Is it, then, a fact that without canvassing further you could not get sufficient support from manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers to justify you in functioning ? —No ; the support was there, but it had to be finalized. 211. When did you come over from New South Wales ?— -In October, 1925. 212. And I presume that since that time you have been actively canvassing ?—No. 213. When did you start your campaign ?—On the Ist September, 1926. 214. But your association was born in August '? —Yes ; I had convassed and organized to bring the association into being. 215. But even with that canvassing you had not received sufficient support to justify the association operating ? —There was no appeal to the manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers for funds prior to the Ist September, 1926. 216. Have you, since the association was brought into being, ever considered any cases of excessive prices being charged to the public ? —There has been no consideration of prices at all. We did not propose to function, at any rate, until January or February. 217. I suppose you have not received any complaints from any of your wholesale members about excessive prices being charged to the public ?—The association has not received any such complaints.

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