Merchants' Association met in Manchester recently and afterwards issued a statement drawing attention to paragraph 4 of article 1 in the Piece Goods and Made-up Goods (Cotton Rayon and Linen) Order No. 5, 1940, which, it says, "permits buyers and sellers in certain circumstances to break without penalty contracts freely entered into with other parties. The council realizes," it continues, "that exceptional regulations are necessary to meet exceptional situations, but it holds strongly that although this order permits merchants to escape from their obligations by cancelling contracts with their suppliers, irreparable harm will be done to the trade and to the community if the sanctity of contracts, which is the basis of all sound trading, is violated by Government order.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.