STATE CLOTHING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 281, 28 November 1938, Page 6

STATE CLOTHING.

As m hard-working man, permit m® to suggest that the State should embark on * scheme of providing cheap, strong trousers for the workers. Now that the Government ha» provided thousands of cheap houses for the workers, and although many small builders have been driven out of 'business, this is a trifle compared with the advantage of having an abundance of cheap houses for the workers. My proposal to provide the workers with cheap trousers made of strong material, but in three or four sizes, would lie a great boon to many ■workers. Not long ago I bought a pair from one of the large clothiers in the city. Having a wife and family to keep, 12/ was all I could afford to pay. The third day I had them on I had occasion to lift a large stone, and my pants burst in a place that made the rest of the day very uncomfortable. The idea is not a novel or impracticable one. Ihiring the slump relief workers were provided with boots lon the same lines. The princij>al difficulty would be the distribution of the garments. The local drapers would, of course, object, as it would look like unfair competition with their businesses, but depots could be established, or surely our members of Parliament —who will have little or nothing to do for the next six months —could find a war out. HALF-PIE SOCIALIST.