H.—44A.

[G. R. HORSBURGH.

19. Would you write down for the information of the Committee your turnover : take last year ? —Yes. [Figures written down on a piece of paper and handed to Mr. Myers ; who afterwards handed it to the Chairman.] 20. Mr. Hayward.] That is your sales ? —Yes. 21. Mr. Kennedy.] Have you found that your turnover for the period is increasing, on the whole " Yes ; and to be fair I must say that I have improved my position by having a very big shop there—that is, an up-to-date shop. That must be taken into consideration. 22. Will you tell the Committee how many other grocers there are in Hawera ? —I think at the moment there are eighteen, or perhaps twenty-two. 23. What is the population of Hawera ? —I think it is something under five thousand. 24. What are your sales, for example, of butter in the week ?- —I run well into a ton a week. 25. In regard to potatoes ? —That is a matter that is hard to calculate, because just now they are not selling very much. 26. Mr. Collins: We do not want to know that, Mr. Kennedy. 27. Mr. Kennedy (to witness).] The prices charged by you show an adequate profit ? —Yes. 28. Would you mind writing down on a piece of paper what was your last year's earnings ?— I was in a smaller shop then, but I will give my turnover. [Particulars written down on piece of paper and handed in.] 29. Mr. Collins.'] Does this include your salary ?-—That is without salary. 30. Mr. Kennedy.] You have taken out the proportion of your expenses to your overhead ? — Yes, on an allocation of about 8-5 of my present takings. 31. Do you reckon on 10 per cent, giving you a taxable income I—Yes,1 —Yes, 10 per cent, will give me a taxable income. I would like a little bit more. 32. Do you find that the public discriminate in the matter of prices ? —Yes. 33. Do you charge reasonable prices and lower prices than your competitors on your whole range of articles ? —Well, I would not say that, because I suppose they are meeting me in many things. 34. Are you called a price-cutter ?—I have been advertised in the newspaper as a cut-throat gone mad. 35. I want you to tell the Committee about your experience of Bell tea and Amber Tips tea. You have heard the evidence with respect to Amber Tips tea. What is the public demand in your town ?—Bell tea and Pyramid tea are the good sellers. I suppose we sell about eighty chests of Pyramid tea in a year. I think Bell tea has eclipsed it lately ; but Amber Tips is a poor third. 36. In the case of both those teas you are selling at reduced prices I—All1 —All three teas were sold at 3s. 37. You say that Bell tea has eclipsed Amber Tips ?■—Amber Tips does not count up there, due to intensive propaganda on the part of somebody. 38. We have heard a great deal about Kolynos : Do you find in your sales that there is strong objection to certain tooth-pastes ? —As soon as Florimel came on to the market I had to stop stocking because I wanted to clear my stocks of Kolynos. We were selling Florimel at lid., and Kolynos at Is. sd. 39. Take the well-established tooth-paste known as Euthymol ? —I have never stocked heavily in that article. The reason is that you do not want stocks to be left on your hands. At present some dentists are recommending the use of carbolic tooth-paste, and some are recommending the use of salt. 40. How long has salt been recommended ?—I heard it from one of my children, who said that it was better than tooth-paste. 41. Would it be possible in Hawera for any man to continue selling at less than cost ? —No. In the first place, he would be run out by the small shopkeepers. I think it would be lack of wisdom to do that; I would never attempt it. 42. You object to the fixation of prices by the P.A.T.A., do you not ? —Yes. I think it is entirely different from the Distributors' case, because they do not fix the retail selling-price ; and I think it will act contrary to the best interests of the people, and, moreover, it will compel me to put up my prices to the people. 43. Your opinion is that if the P.A.T.A. functions you must charge more to the consumer for the foodstuffs ?—Because I will not get the same amount of trade on proprietary articles. 44. If you have to charge a higher price for proprietary lines, that will reduce your sales on those lines ?—Quite so, because the people would not walk down to my shop if they could get it at the same price elsewhere, because there would be no advantage in coming to me. 45. To get the same profit you would have to get it by a higher price on foodstuffs ? —Exactly ; that is my opinion. 46. The price at which, you are selling proprietary articles is less than the tariff price ? —lnvariably so. There is one commodity that I sold below the fixed price, and they blacklisted me for two years. I will give them this credit: that they came and asked me to stock it, and lam now stocking that article—namely, aspros. 47. Do you stock aspirin tablets ? —Yes. 48. What do they cost you ? —I think they are in the neighbourhood of sd. 49. Are they sold by any firms in New Zealand wholesale ? —I think so. 50. What are Nicholls' aspros selling at: what is the control price ?• —Is. 6d. for twenty-five. 51. Do you handle ovaltine ?—Yes. It was advertised about two years ago as being essential for the welfare of the children. It costs ss. 10d., and it was advertised at Bs. 6d., and I sold it at 6s. lOd. and I showed a good margin. I was approached by representatives for about a year, and

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