STRONG PROTEST

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 108, 10 May 1933, Page 11

STRONG PROTEST

BOARD CALLS TENDEES

BOOTS FOR UNEMPLOYED

"THIN END OF WEDGE"

(By Telegraph.—Press Association. ) AUCKLAND, This Day. The Auckland boot manufacturers have been invited by the Unemployment Board to tender for the supply of 20,000 pairs' of boots and shoes, comprising £3000 pairs of boys' boata, 5000 pairs of girls' shoes, and 10,000 pairs of men's boots. Strong objqetion to the proposal was voiced today by both retailers and manufacturers, and the- Retailers' and Manufacturers' Associations, and ' the Chamber of Commerce is to bo asked to take the matter up. "It is a touch of Soviet Russia," said one shopkeeper. "It is the thin end of the, wedge,; and wi'l result in locking many of our doors." Another retailer said that the principle could be extended so that everything the people ate, wore, or used would be supplied in the same way. It was understood that the relief workers and families >would purchase footwear rft a few shillings a pair, and the main cost would be borne by the Unemployment Fund. The effect must necessarily bo a curtailment of the staffs in the shops, causing more unemployment. One manufacturer said that he was convinced that the principle was bad. The boots and shoes for which the board was inviting tenders were the retailers' bread and butter lines. Another manufacturer said that the manufacturers were placed in a very awkward position, for the board could go outside Auckland ywith its 'ordbv. The position was very serious, and required much consideration. Ho suggested that it would be better for the Government to subsidise the manufacturers to employ more men.