WOOL FOR FLAGS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22540, 3 October 1936, Page 16

WOOL FOR FLAGS

SHORTAGE IN ENGLAND CORONATION BUNTING COMPETITION FROM JAPAN [ritOM OUR OWN ('OK It KS I'ON 1 > KNT ] LONDON, Sept. (I Nearly 2,000,000 Union Jacks and other flags, ranging from the smallest toy to the largest standard, are to be manufactured for use in Britain during the Coronation celebrations, and it is estimated that £1,000,000 worth of (lags and bunting will be bought for Coronation displays. These orders are keeping the British manufacturer very busy and very pleased. Unfortunately, everything is not as rosy as it might he. for he is hindered by a shortage of labour and wool, and worried by the importation of Japanese lings for sale at prices below his cost of production. The unprecedented demand for flags has taken many British manufacturers hv surprise, and they are finding that the stocks of wool of the type from which bunting is made are running short. "Never during the last 20 years has there been such a shortage of wool of the quality required," a Bradford wool manufacturer is reported to have said this week. Enterprising Foreigners "This wool is grown in New Zealand, I South America, and, in small quantities. in Ireland," added the manufacturer, "but the finest is the English I wool from long-haired sheep bred ' chiefly in Lincolnshire. This type of | wool is very suitable for flags, as it is i coarse and hard-wearing. All stocks ; have been practically exhausted and it j is impossible to obtain more. The last | New Zealand and South American clips | were bought mainly by Germany and | the United States, who anticipated our I Coronation requirements before we did. | But there is nothing that can be done about it now." ! Another manufacturer said the price ■ ol hunting had been raised considori ably lately, and was likely to rise still j higher. "We bought our stocks of raw material very early," he stated, "and | we shall be able to cope with any de- ; mand made upon us. Already the | orders we have received have greatly : exceeded our most hopeful expeetaI tions. One great hindrance, however, ! is a general shortage of labour, as flag- | making is a comparatively specialised business." Cheap Japanese Flags Shortage of labour is also being experienced by manufacturers of small souvenirs which will be on sale at tho Coronation. In Birmingham, Manchester and many other towns there, is a demand for skilled men and women | workers. Manufacturers who are protesting against Japanese competition say that if that country continues to | Hood the market with cheap flags, over j £200.000 will be lost by British nianu- | facturers. "The Coronation will create tho big- | Rest demand for Hags in history," rel marked a manufacturer. "It will give I the whole of our industry the greatest j stimulus it has had for years. We are employing extra labour in our mills, but if the menace of Japanese competition continues a great proportion of the flags we are making will be unsaleable." The quality of imported flags, he said, was not as good as that of the British article. Colours wore not fast and would run after the first rain. Government's Assurance | Representations have already been ' made bv trade delegations and individual firms to the Board of Trade. An assurance was given that the Government would buy only British-made flags, but it was pointed out that the j public could not be compelled to buy British goods. "The real trouble is that the public j does not know what it is buying." j stated a director of a firm of calico J printers. "Although every bale of a j gross or even a dozen flags is marked as foreign, each flag is not marked separately. Trinkets, flags, bunting and all sorts of mementoes are sold to people who do not know, or do not take the trouble to find out, that they aro made abroad."