"SHODDY" BOOTS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLV, Issue 57, 8 March 1911, Page 6

"SHODDY" BOOTS.

MR T. E. TAYLOR REPORTS HIS

ALLEGATIONS

CHRISTCHURCH, March 4. t In an interview, Mr T. E. Taylor, M.P., expresses astonishment at the motion passed by the Canterbury Industrial Association on February 21st regretting that he made general statements in the House.of Representatives in regard to the boot manufacturing industry,. "without due care aild without necessary qualification"—statements, which the motion says, "were riot borne out by facts in his possession." The motion also sets out that the facts as stated by Mr Taylor before the committee of the association point to ;"shpddy'' boots being manufactured by one majaufacturer /0n1y,., working on \a very sjhall scale in the North Island.- -Mr Taylor wSs in -the North' Island when the Association passed the motion* and dealt with a report mx the question. He informed .he interviewer that when he was as 1 d by. the Association's commriee to explain the class of goods to which He had referred he replied that he did not know the facts in his possession at the time he mentioned the matter in, the House of Representatives applied to only one factory and he did not consider that he was concerned to find the full extent of the evil to.^which he drew attention. He satisfied himself that his facts were reliable, and he now claimed that nothing which had been said since had lessened the importance of the subject. In the House he urged that the existence of "shoddy" work in boots should be revealed to the purchaser of inferior goods. Manufacturers ought to disclose the character of the materials used. He did not reflect upon the whole boot industry of the Dominion. It almost seemed that someone behind the motion passed by the Association was more concerned in discrediting a political opponent than in stopping the manufacture of a rotten class of boots, which "certainly had got a root in New Zealand.

Mr Taylor (added that some of his opponents stuted. that at a public meeting in Knox Church schoolroom he had tried to magnify the inferior quality of the materials he showed to the audience. He did nothing of the kind. He simply handed the material to the chairman, and asked him if the material was cardboard Or leather. Throughout the whole controversy he had spoken with moderation of an evil that manufacturers as well as the general public should keenly wish to see suppressed. Purchasers could not easily test the quality of the goods he referred to.

WELLINGTON PURCHASE

In Wellington this week he had purchased a pair of shoes of the class lie had condemned. He had stripped one and. had found the insole to be cardboard. The toe cap stiffening was of the same material and i:^yspaper composition, with a little scrim of poor quality. Cardboard also entered into the manufacture of other parts of the boot. At first glance the boots looked well enough, but a heavy shower of rain put them out o? shape, and practically pulped theni. The pair cost' 12s 6d., He believed that shoes of that class were bought largely by the very people who could least afford to have their earnings thrown away. On eveiy possible occasion he would repeat his demand that purchasers should be protected by law against attempts now being made to build up a trade in "shoddy" boots.

A case presenting unusual features came before Mr H. W. Bishop, S.M., at the Magistrate's Court, Christchurch last week. Frederick Hare, for whom Mr Leathern appeared, applied for a reduction of his maintenance order of 15s a week, towards the support of his illegitimate child. Mr Hunt appeared for the woman con-^ cerned. His Worship said he> knew the circumstances of the case perfectly well. The man had married the woman some years ago, when he had been already married. When the bigamy was found out, the child of the "marriage," of course, became illegitimate. Counsel said the boy was now selling papers, whilst the man now had to support his sister and her family. '*Whp has the greater claim on him?"' asked tEe Magistrate, "his sister, or the child begotten by him of the woman he wronged?" Continuing, his Worship said that under ordinary circumstances he might have considered a reduction in the order, but the man had w-itten an impertinent letter to the Minister for Justice, asking the Minister to bring pressure to bear in the case upon him (Mr Bishop) a Magistrate. As if the~Minister could ! Hare, of course, did not know he (Mr Bishop) would see the letter, which he had at that moment in his pocket. The application was dismissed.

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