SHOE LEATHER.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 825, 25 May 1910, Page 8

SHOE LEATHER.

9 ■ PRICES RISING. BOOTMAKERS INTERVIEWED, The expected rise in the prices of boot* and shoes has already bcgiin, so far aft ' certain, lines are concerned. Speaking ■ to a Dominion reporter yesterday, Mr. A. Lindsay, the well-known boot mercliaut and manufacturer, said that imported boots and shoes usually sold at from 3s. 6d. to 15s. a pair had gone up in price, but the superior makes wore but little affected, and probably would not be so in the same proportion. New Zealand manufacturers had not notified a further rise in prices. Labour had something to do with tho matter, but the chief canse was the.high price of- hides. The price of hides bad i increased within . a few years from 3d. or 4d. .to 6d. or. Bd. There was no doubt in his.mind that the scarcity of leather w;as largely due to a diminised consumption of meat in different countries. If fewer . cattle. were killed, there were necessarily fewer hides for tho tanner. Competition in the purchase of tides had become intense, and the Americans in particular were scouring the world to obtain supplies. They had agents in Mel- . bourne and other places,, snapping up i all they, could get. > The introduction of chrome tannage, ■ and its use in Auckland, Christchnrca, and Dnnedin had created a large amount : of trade for New Zealand, but this had i not sufficed to counteract the effect of . the scarcity of hides in other countries. i Incidentally, Mr. Lindsay remarked , that people had of lato years become, in . his opinion, too extravagant in their , footwear. He well remembered the time . when he nsed te sell thousands of pain of copper-toed boots and shoes, but nowf- adays such things were hardly thought of, and the great demand was for glaca kid, box calf, and other delicate '. leathers. '. As an indication of the state of the ! trade at Home, Mr. Lindsay showed the • '. reporter a circular letter he had'jnst re- [ ceived from an English manuiacturrng . firm, stating that. they had to\ pay much more for hides now than they were -paying at the. same time last year. , They ' had not, however,. raised the prices of •' their boots, hut they reserved the'right/ 1 to withdraw their quotations. Mr. R. Hannah, who was also inter- ■ viewed, said that tho steady and abnor--1 mal rise in the price of hides was largely . |. caused by the fact that America lad ' taken the duty off raw material, and " green hides were literally pouring into ' that country. New Zealand grew enough for her own needs, but the inducements , to export were irresistible. Speaking as a manufacturer, he said that another' : increase in the price would have to bo . made in the very near future. At pre- ; sent, not a single boot manufacturer in ; the Dominion was making monoy.