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Although National Distributors Ltd. is not on the wholesale list, nevertheless, your Board has seen fit to place on that list retailers having no wholesale interest whatsoever such as Wardells who have only, a very small business in their three shops, but also wholesale firms directly owning or controlling stores such as : — Oswald M. Smith & Co. Ltd. (Star Stores), Goldingham & Beckett Ltd. (Community Stores), Hutchinson (W'sale) Ltd. (Hutchinson's stores), Burns Philp & Co. Ltd. (Yates' Stores), National Trading Co. (Wallace Stores), Farmers' Trading Company with headquarters in Auckland and numerous other organizations. We can see no reason for the infliction of the present injustice' done to us by the Commonwealth Dried Fruits Control Board and we, therefore, bring the matter up once more for your serious consideration. As stated in our former correspondence to you we are familiar with your methods of shipping and payments and we are prepared to give you our assurance that National Distributors Ltd. will at no time pass on any extra discount to any retailer nor indulge in any price cutting whatsoever. We are prepared to give an undertaking to abide by any scheme of price fixation which you or your agents or the merchants already on your list might decide upon. We are quite confident that our claims as to our requirements will be substantiated for such have not been made recklessly. Yours faithfully, National Distributors Limited. (Signed) A. F. H. Sutherland, Director.

Ilth May, 1933. The Chairman, Australian Dried Fruits Control Board, Melbourne. Dear Sir, — We wish to make application to be placed on the direct wholesale list of buyers of Australian dried fruits. We are strictly a wholesale organization having warehouses in Auckland Wellington Christchurch and Dunedin. In addition to many other stores we supply the whole of the requirements of the Self Help Co-op. Ltd. a Company which owns 145 retail stores throughout New Zealand. We have in the past been compelled to draw our vine fruit requirements from America and other sources and are most anxious that this business should go to a British Dominion and that our money should be kept within the Empire. We give this undertaking that our prices to the Self Help Co-op. and other stores will be the standard ruling rates fixed by the Board and in no case will these terms be broken. Our organization handles approximately 10% of the total dried fruit business in New Zealand. We have withheld placing our requirements for the coming season in the hope that you will make it possible for us to place this business with our sister Dominion. Yours faithfully, National Distributors Limited. (Signed) A. F. H. Sutherland, Director.

£nd March, 1934. . The Rt. Hon. F. H. Stewart, Minister for Commerce for the Commonwealth of Australia, Sydney. Dear Sir, — National Distributors Limited. We have been instructed by the above Company to write to you regarding its purchases of dried fruits from Australia. National Distributors Ltd. is a Company which does all the buying for the Self Help Stores Ltd. an organization with approximately 150 grocery shops throughout New Zealand. It also buys for other stores and wholesale merchants. The Company is a very large buyer, in fact the largest wholesale buyer of grocery lines in New Zealand. It takes from Australia yearly— 8,000 cases of tinned fruit, 6,500 boxes of prunes, 8,000 boxes of currants and sultanas and up to 10,000 boxes, 5,000 tons of sugar. For some considerable time past the Company has been endeavouring to obtain the best buying terms for Australian products and has applied on more than one occasion to be placed on the direct list of buyers. The effect of this would be that it would receive the best discounts given. Similar terms have been given to competitive companies and it is very difficult to understand why they have been refused in this case. It is not a question of payment, because all the goods can be paid for by demand draft at the time of shipment or delivery. So far as prunes and tinned fruit are concerned the Company already has granted to it the best buying terms. The Australian Dried Fruits Board however, which controls the sale of currants and sultanas has up to the present been unwilling to give our client company the same terms which it has granted to others. We enclose copies of letters written by our client company the Board dating back to the 10th November 1931 and shall be very much obliged if you will have an enquiry made into the position and ascertain whether anything can be done. We may say for your information that the writer discussed the matter with the managing director of one of the biggest New Zealand wholesale houses as we wanted to be certain that there were no facts which our clients had possibly overlooked which might militate against their being granted the concessions which they have been seeking. Our friend advised us that he knew the whole of the facts of the case, was well aware of National Distributors activities and affiliations, and he stated definitely that although as a wholesale house it was not in his company's interests that the request should be granted, yet he was of the opinion that our clients were entitled to it for two reasons, first of all owing to the magnitude of their operations and secondly because similar terms have to his knowledge been granted to other companies working on exactly the same lines as our client Company. As you will see from the correspondence our clients desire to trade within the Empire and preferably with Australia. They have recently placed extensive orders in Australia for dried fruits and such is their desire to do business in Australia for dried fruits and such is their desire to do business with the Commonwealth that they also placed orders there for dried apricots even though the prices were higher than for similar fruit from other parts of the Empire, notably South Africa. In view of the desire on both sides for closer trade relations between our country and the Commonwealth our client felt that they could expect the most favourable treatment from the Dried Fruits Board. So far they have not received it. Yours truly, 0. & R. Beere & Co.

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