E Luce Luceillum
Mr. Peter Thorneycroft will have an important and not entirely easy decision to make on the recommendations of the Monopolies Commission on the electric lamp industry. That the Electric Lamp Manufacturers' Association (Elma) imposes a number of restrictive conditions (including a veto on lamps with more than a specified length of life) on its members and retailers of its products is not in question. The defence of Elma is that these provisions are a safeguard against cut-throat competition and make for stability of employment ; and it is a material fact that the lamps supplied are considerably cheaper (apart from purchase-tax) than they were in 1939. At the same time the allocation of markets is clearly not in the public interest ; nor is the fixation of a common price for all members of Elma ; nor is the embargo on the manufacture of any type of lamp which has not received the approval of Elma ; nor is the sales- quota system under which no manufacturer must sell more than a fixed proportion of the total output. The Monopolies Com- mission proposes the abolition of this last provision and makes various other suggestions calculated to create freer competition. The recommendations are by no means drastic, and if the matter is wisely handled Mr. Thorneycroft should be able to secure the acceptance of most or all of them by the trade by free agreement.
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