LEATHER SHORTAGE ACUTE.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 37, 12 February 1920, Page 11

LEATHER SHORTAGE ACUTE.

BIG AMERICAN PURCHASES.

al - 5E S XF,W ZEALAXD SHORTAGE. (By Tel«'Eriir , D-—P ree * Association.) Wednesdar. According to a statement made by Mr. r 1 Ward, who acted afi expert adviser ■ to the Board of Trade in leather matters,: there is a -liortape of leather in the Dominion, and manufacturers are quite unable to .ope with the demand fori hoots and shoes. The reason for this 1. to a great extent that supplies oil Sides are not <>" m ' n P °n the market in | jhe quantity desired. If boot manutac- . turere could produce a surplus conditions would permit of an export to Australia., 1 ,s footwear in Sew Zealand is H to 15| p Sr rent, rlienper than the imported article from Australia, even after the addition of freight, duty and landing charges. Leather hero is 10 to 13 per cent, cheaper. Mr. Ward paid it was not jienerallyi Icnown how acute the shortage of leather really is. Except in one or two instances tanners are 'working at full capacity, hut are extremely anxioua concerning future supplies of hides, as hides are. not coming on the market. Tanners and boot manufacturers desire that hides should not he permitted to be shipped until the requirements of the country have heen fully met. Many looee statements are made hy producers to the effect that larje profits are being made by tanners and boot manufacturers. They say nothing about their own profits. Boots made in England ten ve»rs ago and sold recently as a job line have been used to compare ' with prices of poods made recently. '"The whole controversy could be authoritatively ended," added Mr. Ward, "if the Board of Trade would publish figures and information it has in its poseession. It hae taken evidence on the matter." Asked regarding Die standardised boot scheme, Mr. Ward eaid the railway employees are heinz supplied with 7000 pairs of boots a.t a low figure. The trouble is that many manufacturers axe withdrawing sample; for the reasons giTen above.

Mr. Ward has lately returned from a visit to the United States. He says the coet of manufacture of footwear hae risen there to such an extent, despite intensified methods of production, that it is very doubtful, even when conditionp are normal, whether America will be able to compete in any countries but those which do not manufacture boots and shoes.

On the vessel in which Mr. Ward returned there was a buyer of hides, wiiose instructions from his principals were that he could buy 5 per cent, above any quotations, or bid to this extent at auction, either in New Zealand or Australia. The total purchases of his principals in New Zealand exceeded 5,000,000 dollars, so that the whole of the output in the year of New Zealand hides would be considerably less than the total transactions of this "firm.