ADULTERATED FABRICS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13452, 31 May 1907, Page 6

ADULTERATED FABRICS.

MINERALISED SILK. - WOOL-BLOWN COTTON GOODS. : A short time ago a quantity of silk was . held up fry the Customs Department at Melbourne, for examination. On analysis being ; made it was found to contain about 50 : per . cent, of mineral matter. The Department ascertained that there was a considerable demand for this class of material, and that it would i have been a drastic ! step to have * stopped its being sold. : Thfe"' so-called silk was therefore allowed ;tc pass, but it was promised by the Acting-Minister (Mr. Chapman) . that a . most searching investigation Y , into the practice of making mixed or adul- . terated fabrics should bo instituted. The inquiry which has now been entered upon will probably take* a couple of years to complete (says the Sydney Morning Herald), ana will extend to several other countries. This has been, determined upon consequent on the disclosures that have followed minute inspections of other goods manufactured for wearing purposes. The silk stuffs already mentioned were represented as not being "actually silk, that is/to say, they were priced at a figure at which silk coulcl not be sold. They were expressly for use, to quote one representation m?de about them, for underskirts, and the mineral in them gave that swishing sound so dear ,to the heart of women. It was stated '.that it was wellknown that it was not the real thing. Some analyses of other similar fabrics, however, gave the result that there were goods imported under that name which contained not an atom of silk. Woollens also came under notice in the same regard. Some were found to be made of quite a foreign kind of fibre. Many were composed of cotton with wool ' blown on. In these cases it is put forward that although the goods look very much like what they are imitating, they are by no means worthless, and they are on the market at prices which cannot be called into account as showing that there is a misrepresentation of fraud. A fairly serviceable article ( is sold, and perhaps no more is received'for it than it is worth. Further, it has been made apparent to the Minister that if a true description of contents or composition of articles were given the public might come to believe that it was altogether inferior. Mr. Percy Wilkinson, Victorian Govern- ' ment analyst, has been at the service of the Federal Government on various occasions, and an arrangement is now being sought whereby bis assistance may be obtained for the purpose of investigation, which is to be earned out in the first place locally, not as to the methods of manufacture, but as to the method pursued by producers in other countries. So far it has been demonstrated that 1 ■ importation of adulterated goods is prevalent to a very large extent. Competition by German manufacturers and others in Europe •' 'in this way is stated to have caused British manufacturers to adopt similar means to cheapen. • the . cost. Large discretionary powers are vested in " the Minister for Customs under the Act, and the result of inquiries will be to determine how that discretion shall 'bo used with a view to laying down a definite policy.