HOSIERY SHORTAGE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 281, 9 September 1941, Page 7

HOSIERY SHORTAGE.

AN AUtHOmtATIVE ANALYSIS. In the hosiery situation one is apt to accept the fact of a shortage without giving full consideration as to whether that shortage is as real as at present it appears, or whether it is largely artificial—the result of panic (writes a Special correspondent). My conclusion is that it is largely a "panic” shortage. As people will rush to withdraw their money from a. hank upon a rumour that it is insecure and by their very rush "break” an otherwise sound bank, so they rushed the stores upon a rumour of hosiery shortage and "broke” the hosiery stocks of the country. The fact is that between and March last, New Zealand women bought roughly 1,000,000 pail's of stockings more than they needed, or had ever bought before in a similar period. These lovely hose are nestling in drawers and: boxes tc-day, doing no good whatever but without doubt a great consolation to their owners. The result, of course, is that through there being no stockings in the shops the fear is general and every woman now wants three or four pairs as a standby. That, frankly, is impossible at present, but the situation can be relieved, as manufacturers and retailers point out, if we women ourselves will take the first step. Here is the position : Between the ages of 15 and 70, there are roughly 500,000 -women in New Zealand The various hosiery manufacturers in New Zealand can produce approximately 3,000,000 pairs of stockings per year—that is, six pairs per woman per year! Surely there is no wartime hardship for sensible women in an allowance of six pairs per year. Admittedly, some are used to more, but on the average the peacetime consumption per woman was only slightly above the figure mentioned. But the painful part of the. present situation is that those least entitled to the inconvenience are bearing most of it—the mother of families who cannot get to town readily; girls who go daily to office, factory and shop and have therefore to shop at specified and restricted times. The women who have the opportunity or the leisure to purchase have had more than a fair innings and they, together with all women who have sufficient for their immediate needs, must cease buying. If this is done, the position will correct itself fairly soon. In the view of retailers and manufacturers, the position would gradually return to a, reasonable proportion of peacetime requirements. When women with ample hosiery realise that the wives, mothers and sweethearts of a great many of our boys overseas have no hose, then as a point of honour, they will cease buying. It rather shames our sex that in a more trifle, we could he panicked so easily while our menfolk are covering themselves with glory for their steadiness and courage in the most awful circumstances. _ It is not that the women who bought in excess of their needs are naturally selfish. They did something entirely human under tha circumstances. But they must now understand that continuing to buy is taking advantage of their means and circumstances in a manner that throws hardship on their sisters less favourably placed—particularly mothers tied to homos.

The facts are simple; it is ifi our own hands to correct this position. No woman who now has hosiery should buy more until it is absolutely necessary—it is up to us.