5 JUNE 1947, Page 5

He is a most valuable member of the community, more

perhaps in the provinces than in London, and with the pressure of the multiple shops and the co-operative societies, his struggle to maintain a footing gets harder and harder. The organisation which fights his battles, the Council of Retail Distributors, is mobilising its members everywhere for an " Independent Traders' Week" beginning next Monday. Some temporary outbreak of posters and placards throughout the country, therefore, seems probable ; much as I normally dislike posters and placards, I feel that in this case the cause justifies the offence.