THE WOOLLEN TRADE

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXIII, Issue 13712, 1 April 1905, Page 8

THE WOOLLEN TRADE

COMPETITION OF IMPORTED GOODS. NEW ZEALANDERS’ DISLOYALTY. At last night’s meeting of the Industrial Association the president (Mr W. NY. Charters) brought up the matter of the importation of woollen goods into the colony. “There is no reason,” lie said, “ if our people would only be true to themselves, why a. single pound's worth of woollen goods should be imported into the colony. The imported article cannot compare with the local so far as quality and finish is concerned, but it is cheaper, and that, 1 am afraid, is whore the public; show want of discrimination. The rage tor cheap goods (in many cases quite shoddy compared witli our New Zealand makes) overrides every other consideration, and the public are a. long while learning the lesson that cheapness is a fallacy. *\Ve make a grave mistake in thinking that because an article is lowpriced„ it must necessarily be- cheap. There is a craze, to buy in what is termed the ‘ cheapest market.’ The term is a misleading one, for the, lowest price is not always the cheapest. His a craze that has been fostered by' unhealthy competition amongst manufacturers and importers. Many amongst. them have themselves suffered from it, the weaker going to the wall, and the very people who encourage it. in the belief that I hey effect a. saving thereby, gain nothing from il , while their support of it entails sutlering on the part of the workers in fhe form of absolute, loss. Let ns take the case of imported manufactured _ goods. It is because of the lower rate of wages and other conditions abroad that these goods can be' offered lor sale at- lower prices than those, at which the local manufactured articles can bo sold, in spite of i he Customs duty imposed, and it is in the, nature of mankind to purchase them because they cost the least, appearing cheaper, quality apparently not .entering into the. buyer s calculations. When one learns of the conditions under which the readymade clothing industry hr particular is carried on in England, if is no wonder that onr local manufacturers cannot compete in point of price. A recent writer in an English paper states: ‘ The competition tor employment amongst alien tailors is so keen, and has lowered the value of labour to such an extent as to drive, English labour out of thq market. The wages paid to these foreigners are such as no man could live upon with cleanliness, comfort, and respectability. To live in sordid surroundings, and half starved, the foreigner is content, because even this is better than what he has been used to in bis own country, and the foreign quarter, where families are herded together like cattle, becomes a disgrace to any civilised community and a menace to public health. ’ In the fore-going remarks I have dealt particularly with the woollen industry, but. it is needless to say that they apply with equal force to many other struggling industries. lam convinced that, generally speaking, local manufactures are not increasing as they should do, and 1 am afraid in some cases 'they are decreasing, and it behoves ns, as an association whose objects are primarily to foster and encourage local industries and productions, to go into the matter, and, having first ascertained what industries are showing decreases, to endeavour to find the cause, of such decrease, and, if possible, the. remedy.” Mr H. J. Weeks said that he thought the only remedy was to raise the, duties. Mr G. Hart said that he agreed that the only way to prevent the large importation of “shoddy” goods was to increase the duty, and he thought that the Association should make its voice hoard in the matter with no uncertain sound. Mr A. G. Howland said that he did not think the tariff should be altered, as it had worked well for twenty years. The New Zealand manufacturers had progressed with the existing duty, and the Government should be very careful not to tax the people unduly. Mr J. J. Dougall said that the New Zealand people had all the advantages of short hours of labour and good wages, and they should be prepared to support their own industries, and not buy goods made by cheap labour in the foreign countries. Tt was a matter the Trades and Labour Council should take up. Mr J. Mitchell said that little “ shoddy ” was really imported. What was required was to stop the importation of the better class of goods. Men who talked of supporting local industries asked for English goods when they went to order clothes, although the colonial fabrics were just as good. New Zealand could not make “ shoddy ” stuff, but it could make the better class articles, and there was no reason why New Zealanders should imagine that they got better goods by neglecting their own country and buying imported stuffs. Mr J. L. Scott said that he had seen imported tweeds priced at 9d and Is per yard. No colonial factories could compete with that. Mr Howland said that the colonials were receiving too high wages, and working too short home. Mr J. Hepburn said that if the Government would make it compulsory for every man to wear a badge showing what stuffs ho had on, then people would buy colonial manufactured goods. The workers were very inconsistent. They would not buy the goods they themselves made if they could get cheaper imported articles. Professor Bickerton said that it seemed to him no remedy could be effective under existing conditions. The whole system was basically wrong. • The president said that the committee would go thoroughly into the whole matter, and bring down a report to the next quarterly meeting.