Post Office Purchases The evidence of Sir Henry Bunbury, Accountant-General
of the Post Office, before the Committee of Public Accounts has revealed not for the first time the unsatisfactory con- ditions under which the Post Office buys certain supplies. Sir Henry's evidence is admirably clear. In 1933 there was keen competition between manufacturers and prices were at their lowest ; in the next year, after the manufacturers had reached agreement among themselves, prices were 56 per cent. higher, and the manufacturers have been now able to reach an arrangement with the Post Office, by which they are to supply 90 per cent. of the Post Office's purchases. The members of the ring obtain what is a monopoly price, and though monopolies may sometimes be justified, it hardly appears that this one is. Sir Henry stated that the restrictions imposed on the Post Office involve considerable detriment to its customers, and the manufacturers have refused to justify their prices by disclosing their costs. Such a situation is clearly intolerable. The only question is to how to end it. State manufacture is an obvious alternative ; a better course might be to encourage competition and to purchase abroad. It is to be hoped that the matter will be seriously considered when Parliament meets.
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