STOCKS RUN LOW

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23320, 13 April 1939, Page 13

STOCKS RUN LOW

BICYCLE SHORTAGE EFFECT OF RESTRICTIONS PROBLEM AT CHRISTCHURCH [BY TELEGRAPH PRESS ASSOCIATION] CHRISTCHURCH. Wednesday Famed as a city on wheels, Christchurch is short of bicycles. Within a lew months it may be impossible to buy a new bicyclo of reputable make in the city, so acute is the shortage. There is hardly a bicycle left in the warehouses, and by the end of the month stocks will bo exhausted.

There are not more than 100 bicycles of reliable and popular makes in the combined stocks of the retail cycle shops. Within three months, supplies of sports models will bo exhausted, and in six months there will bo no roadster machines left. This acute shortage is tho result of the Government's heavy cut in cycle importations. When tho customs authorities imposed a quota in January equal to 55 per cent of tho cycle imports in tho first half of 1938, the basis chosen was one that was abnormal, for purchases early in 1938 had been heavily > reduced following a large stocking up in the previous year. In effect, the quota has thus reduced supplies to about one-third of current requirements, and, unless imports can bq increased, stocks in Christchurch will soon be exhausted.

One importer said to-day that the alternative suggested by tha Government was to manufacture bicycles in New Zealand. This was not an economic propositioh. It would result in a big increase in the price of a machine. The present serious position had been put before the Government, and it was at present under * consideration, he added. Whatever was done, however, there would be a period of six months during which stocks would be exhausted with no imports coming in.

WHOLESALERS' CONCERN THE,, AUCKLAND SUPPLY SUFFICIENT FOR TWO MONTHS Stocks of bicycles in Auckland are sufficient to last only about two months, according to inquiries made among a number of leading wholesale firms yesterday. The shortage- was stated to be causing concern, as, even if further imports were permitted in the near future, it would bo some months before stocks could be replenished.

"The Government has been trying to force us to build bicycles in New Zealand, but it would not be an economic proposition," stated a member of ono firm. "If wo imported machines unassembled, the sterling exchange saved would amount to only about 4s 9d a bicycle. If we assembled them here, the selling price would have to be increased by about £1 a bicycle." The whole question had been taken up with the Government by the Wholesale Cycle Federation of New Zealand, he continued. He criticised the Government for delay in giving a decision. "There is definitely a shortage, and it is going to get worse," taid a member of the staff of another firm. "Wo cannot tell what is going to happen." The bicycle, he added, was the working man's chief means of conveyance, and it was the working class that would be affected most by tho shortage.