APPEAL TO WOMEN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 5 December 1940, Page 2

APPEAL TO WOMEN

| BUY FEWER SILK STOCKINGS j IMPORTATIONS NOT BEING PERMITTED I [From Our Own Parliamentary ReporterJ WELLINGTON, This Day. ! “I would appeal to the patriotism of those who wear silk stockings not to buy so many pairs, because we have to have more money overseas to help buy j war material.” said the Minister of Customs (Mr Nash) in the House of ' Representatives yesterday afternoon in ! reply to an urgent question tabled by 1 j the Hon. W. E. Barnard (Democratic Labour, Napier), who asked if the Min- • ister would take immediate steps to j meet the impending acute shortage in i the Dominion of women’s silk and arti- i ficial silk hose. Mr Barnard said that because of present working hours and lack of labour, partly due to the calling up of men for military service, New Zealand hosiery manufacturers were unable to meet the demand. “The position in regard to imports is that 103.000 fewer dozen pairs were imported for the first nine months of the present year compared with the full year of 1939." said Mr Barnard. “If the present position is al- . lowed to continue. I am reliably ad- { vised that it will become increasingly difficult to supply the customary public demand, and that serious unemploy- ! , ment will also ensue.” The Minister said that those who were asking for more silk stockings would do something more advantageous if they wore fine woollen stockings. At i the moment munitions were much more i in reasonable demand for sterling funds than stockings. Mr Nash said that pro- j Auction in the Dominion during the j last two years had increased by 123.000 ' dozen pairs, and imports had gone down by 163,000 dozen pairs. Mr W. J. Poison (National. Stratford): How many pairs of stockings a year do women need? Mr Nash said that on the figures for lest year imports were 120.000 dozen pairs, and New Zealand production totalled 216,000 dozen. The Dominion estimates for this year were 289.500 1 I dozen pairs. < “Imports of silk and art silk hosiery.” : | continued the Minister, “are not at pre--1 sent being permitted. It is considered preferable to expend available funds on the production of hosiery in New Zealand factories, thereby creating employment. and at the same time effecting a • saving in foreign exchange, than on imports of hosiery. The reduction in im- . ports has been offset to a large extent t by increase in local production, alI though the figures available indicate ; that there is probably still a margin to be covered if the full demand is to be . met by local industry. “Production has been affected to . some extent by conditions arising from the war, particularly the depletion of staffs as a result of members joining 1 the armed forces. 1 understand that : arrangements are being made for the , manufacture of hosiery to be extended in 1941, and when these plans mate- j rialise it is expected that the supplies | available from local industry should be i 1 adequate to meet requirements.”