CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 201, 25 August 1919, Page 11

CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR.

CUTLOOS NOT HOPEPTJI,. PRICES .-TILL KISINU. 5..',:,\ ITY 0-F WOOLLEN GOOD?. Tin- lii'_h prices of olot-hin<: an.l foot\ie.ir Cs-tieraiiy i* a _erious matter., and mi fori una ti-iy inquiries malo do not leai! ;,> .mv ;i',<o for lower rates riiiinj; m the immediate future. Tiie head of one Auckland tiiin who went to Kiurland to !i;:V a- soon a.- tiiv armisti.-e wu_ signetl, !:_ 3 ~i-;<- I iTiit to hits representatives here tiiat he can only fiet very limited »u4ij>i;c_ of f.iiiiiiif*. and instructions have .'cen issnetl at th';t; end that only one suit length wu- to be sold to each itistomer. At another establishment tho |>ro.jirie:or advised an old customer ii -r to have a suit of t'ae cloth he usually bought, iiivinjr as his reason that he could not iniarantee the colour to hold. even though the price was close on £10 for tiie sii;t. In the South the head aC a _~f: :irm slated recently that Manchester and dress roods, as far as he c>i:ld !e_rn. were likely to rule high in price for the nevt fhree years. Simples of soft goods recently received from England are <|iioted very S'iir'.i in price. One particular Hue which before ihe war cost sixpence per yard, was now ijuoted at _ " wholesale, and another line which Used to .he retailed at 2/11 per yard, nou' cist four times that ri>rurc. Asnongst the i-auses contrrbnting to higher prices is naturally the shorter hours worked by operatives in Great Britain, and the ■hiiriier wziges that now have to tie paid for labour. These are also factors in the higher prices now charged for woollen ;ruods manufactured in New Zealand. At the annual meeting of a woollen company south of Auckland the chairman of directors mentioned as a contributing can.se of high prices, that fairly clean ■wnoi lost oO per cent, in scouring, thusf doubling the price of the article. He stated that average clean merino wool now co=t 4 per li>. There was waste in drying. wiKeying. i-.irding. combing, spinning, drawing, warping, weaving, milling, and inkhing. which a.ldcd to the prime cost. In addition every bought article used throughout the process of ■noo'len worsted and hosiery manufacture lrad advanced in price. Iv many <-!-e- expensive substitutes had to be Used. There were also increased trave'liug ex.peiises. and freights to be paid, not forgetting "extensive pillages in transit"' before tiie goods reached the buyer. Referring especially to the clothing branch, apart from the higher ccsrt of tweed, all other indispensable articles ■wanted, such as linings, thread, buttons. etc. are imported, and have risen in price enormously. The following instances were given as examples: — Italian cioth.'_otl per cent.: printed si esia. 400 per cent.: hessian. 400 per cent.; hymo, 2UO per cent.: buttons. 150 per cent.: tape. -">.">(> per cent.: calico, 400 per cent. It will be seen from tills statement of tae positron why ready-made suits have now readied the price formerly paid to a taiior for one to measure. The same conditions exist in respect to all cloths used for making ladies" costumes. Tin fact- the way prices are advancing it would seem as if the time is approaching when people will perforce have to get back to tiie simple life, and adopt somet !:ng on the lines of the <o_tume worn by our first' in Eden. Footwear ir> another line where there appears not the slightest hope of any reduction in prices for some time to came. Tiie keen buying of hides and leather in Australia for the United States, and the high prices paid, preclude the possibility of American footwear being reduced in pr.ee. A letter to a merchant in Xew Zealand from a» friend engaged in the boot and shrv industry hi the Vnited Stares mentions that there appears no end to the advances taking place in all kind- of materials required; for that industry. \\ tli rpgird to the price of hides in New Zealand, when the Board of Trade fixed the maximum at which they were :,, ,„■ sold to tanners in New Zealand, that naturally became the minimum when it was known shippers would pay more for lines to expo,-- iv tiie event of the embargo being lifted. It should be remembered in considering the price of leather, that a itOlb hide does not give the tanner more than a 401b side of leather. This means that for every penny advance in tiie cost of a hide Hd hn~ -n go on To the leather. The re-j moval of the embargo on export of hides would, it has wen stated, mean an advance of lid per lb in tiie price right I away, as American buyers are willing to' piy top prices. This Would mean an! advance in the price of locally tanned! leather of I'd per lb at least, and a corresponding increase in jlie cost of footwear.