OCCASIONAL NOTE

Capitalist combinations for the purpose of eliminating competition and controlling prices have become so common of late years in the United Kingdom that in many of the most important industries free trade has almost ceased to exist. This is the frank admission that has been made by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food at a meeting of the Consumers’ Council in London. These great trusts have their advantages, but their main object is to enhance the profits of the producer and distributor. Mr. McCurdy, the Parliamentary Secretary just referred to, reminds us that there used to be laws in England which made it a criminal offence to buy up large quantities of any article for the purpose of reselling it at an unreasonable price or to practice any device for enhancing the price of victuals, but that these laws were repealed in 1814. In recent years, however, Acts on the same lines have been passed in the United States and in our own colonies. In Australia laws against priceraising combinations have been in force since 1906 and in New Zealand a Monopoly Prevention Act was passed in 1908. Similar legislation exists in Canada. The Federal Trade Commission Act was passed in the United States in 1914, to protect the public against trusts. Even in China for a person to depress unduly or to raise prices to suit his own convenience entails a penalty of 80 blows, and undue profit arising therefrom is treated as a theft. The Profiteering Bill, therefore, is not without ample precedent.

SIR S.M. TAGORE S ESTATES

The four zamindaries in Backergunj belonging to the estate of the late Raja Sir Sourindra Mohan Tagore, Kt., were sold by the Registrar, Original Side, Calcutta High Court yesterday. These four lots were put up for sale on Tuesday but were withdrawn as the reserve price was not reached. Before the sale commenced the Registrar announced that the arrears of Government Revenue and Cesses on lots 1 and 2 amounted to Rs 72,212-10-4 and on lot 3 to Rs 13-1-3 while the amount due from tenants up to the 13th Jaista, 1926 (BS) came up to Rs 1,05,369. The bidding was confined exclusively to Marwaries and Bengalis. The opening bid was three lakhs of rupees and it gradually went up, first by thousands and then by hundreds to Rs 4,21,000 at which figure the zamindaries were purchased by Raja Kriso Dass Law and another gentleman.

BOMBAY NEIGHBOURS SQUABBLE

BOMBAY, AUG 20

Mr. Aston, Chief Presidency Magistrate, today delivered judgment in the case in which notice had been issued on Sir Cowasji Jehangir at the instance of Major Porter to show cause why an order should not be issued against him directing him to abstain from causing certain alleged nuisances. The judgment was a lengthy one. After reviewing the facts of the case and citing a number of previous legal decisions, His Worship held that the nuisances complained of did exist and issued an order on Sir Cowasji directing him to abstain from continuing the same for a period of two months from the date of the order, under section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

OCEANS AND CONTINENTS

From time immemorial the distribution of land and water, of continent and ocean, on the surface of the globe has been thought the primary factor for consideration in attempts to understand the configuration of the earth. According to Dr. Charles Keyes, a distinguished American geographer, recent research is throwing doubt on this view. The relation of sea and land is now regarded as only accidental and trivial. The earth must be considered as if it were in the waterless condition of the moon. Oceans obscure the real structure of the globe. On the older view, the continental masses were regarded as huge plateau with upturned rims and low-level interiors. Mountain ridges that fringe them contain the chief volcanoes of the world, and their presence was attributed to the pressure of the water and percolation into the crust of the earth.

TRAFFIC RESUMED ON DANUBE

After a month’s patient labour Admiral Troubridge’s Danube Commission has reopened navigation from Ratisbon to the Black Sea. The last great difficulty was the clearing of a minefield sown by Bela Kun between Pressburg and Baja. The Commission now controls Danube shipping and has forced the Rumanians to keep their hands off the Danube. The steamboat ser vice between Budapest and Pressburg has been reopened and five hundred tons of sugar are now going to Belgrade. Traffic is now normal on the Danube and this is bound to promote better relations amongst the seven countries bordering on the river.