Ste,—Mr. Bohn in his reply (September 15th) to my letter
of the 7th inst. fails to distinguish between a retailer of essential food commodities and a sale of property b3t, auction. The shopkeeper is compelled to sell any goods, not already sold, displayed in his shop at the price by law estab- lished, whereas the house-owner need not sell unless the reserved price he has fixed is reached and the house becomes " in the market." The point I desire to make is, it is not the house-owner that is responsible for exces- sive prices, but the public who force prices up. The public need not buy if the price asked is excessive, and the seller would then be obliged to lower his price to effect a sale. A vacant house can now be requisitioned by any local authority and a reasonable rent assessed. If the prices of houses have to be controlled the maximum prices would have to be fixed by the District Valuer, whose office in my district is 20 miles distant from this city. The area under the valuer's control is extensive and I should imagine he is already understaffed. If each house to be sold has to be inspected in order to fix the controlled price, an army of experienced valuers would have to be employed in what could only be a temporary capacity, and how are these to be obtained? Any attempt to control the price of houses would only result in fewer houses coming on the market. But why, Mr. Bohn, stop at houses and furniture, but control' the price of everything offered for sale! I wonder where we would get to then! No, the only remedy is to speed up the building of houses.—Youri, &c.,
W. H. GALLETLY, F.S.I.
Greenside, Walton, Wakefield.
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