EMBARGO ON HIDES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17381, 30 January 1920, Page 4

EMBARGO ON HIDES.

BOTH ..SIDES DISCUSSED VJEW 0? THE BOOT TRADE EXPORT SHOULD NOT RESUME?

[BY mEfIEAPH.—OWN COBMSPCNDEKT.} WELLINGTON. Thursday. The embargo or. bides wig the subject of interviews by two deputations which waited on the Prime Minister to-day. First came a deputation representative of the producers and freezing companies of the Wairarapa district, asking for the removal of the embargo, and then came a deputation representing the boot trade asking that on no account should the en., bargo be removed, Mr. H. Morrison, speaking for the Wairarapa deputation, said that the. producers ' felt that now that the war was over the embargo should be taken off. They •were informed, he said, thai there was no embargo in Australia, but the price of boots was just as high in New Zealand as in Australia, possibly higher here. Mr. Massey, in reply, said 'bat every, thing possible had been said about hides at the conference a few days previously. He intended to bring the matter before Cabinet and the Government would deal with the whole question. This might not be possible for a week or ten days. The. deputation of bootmakers urged that if the embargo on th« export of bides was removed, the price of boots would increase. Mr. J. A. Frostick (Christchurch) spoke of the shortage of leather. He said there was at present undoubtedly a shortage throughout the whole Dominion, more especially of sole leather. there was not a factory throughout the Dominion that had more* than a weeks 1 supply of sole leather in store. Mr Mapplebeck (Wellington) addressed himself to the question of how much the price of leather would bo affected by the increase in the price of hides. In 1906 the nrice of hides was front 6d to Old and feather was If. to U Id. Before the war hides were 8J;1 and leather sold at Is 5d and Is Sjd. Now best quality hides were selling at Is 2d and the leather made from them was sold at 2s 4d and 2s sd. Mr Rea (Dunedic) said there was confiiderable rkkof unemployment m the trad* owing to shortage of supplies. Mr. H. Nash (Wellington) said that the firei call' on the Dominion hides should be the Dominion industries. The alteraative to restriction of export, wag an advance fc the price of leather, and this would have to be- followed by an increase fa lb? price of boots. Mr. Massey, in reply, said the Government was anxious to do its duty by the producers, and also to the consumers. Every member of the deputation had said that the raising of the embargo would -mean a serious increase in the prica of boots, but what about the converse It seemed to be clear from the arguments •advanced that the producer was not getting the full value of the article he produced. He hoped the time would soon come when no raw materials would be exported from this country, but the whole of our raw.material utilised here. There was no embargo on the export of hides from Australia, but there was some arrangement by which the tanner in Australia had preference in the purchase of hides. The exporter, was not allowed to buy over the heads of the tanners, but the tanner was allowed to say with regard to any lot submitted at auction that he would take it at the last figure bid, whether that bid was his own or an exporter's. Whether we could do that here remained to be seen.

Mr. Massey added thai both sides of i'■ the question had been very fully threshed - out at the conference. He promised thai. |§; the Government would consider the matter ':U fully, and. he hoped that a conclusion' ;.' A would be reached which would be satis-J; factory to the whole cciramtnrity. The •$£ present position of things, was causing a : -.,R' great deal of agitation throughout the ,'% whole country. What the Government 'fit* would do he was not prepared to say, but *'0 he hoped to be able to announce the de- v?v cision of the Government within a week or two. '.'tjig