DISPUTES OVER SUITS

NZ Truth, Issue 973, 19 July 1924, Page 6

DISPUTES OVER SUITS

Were Th4y Tailor-Made ?

Scott Service Settles the Matter. (From "Truth's" Christchurch Rep.) -. The man who pays ten guineas or more for a suit consoles himself for the expenditure on his raiment - with ' the thought that it was tailor-made. There is balm m the thought; ' there would need to be. Sceptics who have doubted the existence: of tha!t quality ■ m the much maligned cheap suit have been put to rout by the decision of a Magistrate m Christchurch m, a case m which the Scott Service Tailoring Company was . proceeded against by : the Inspector of Awards on a charge of selling suits . as tailor-made, the labor m which was not paid for m accordance with the award. . .; Mr. Fielder, local Inspector of Awards, appeared In person, while the case for, the 'defence was conducted by Lawyer' Alpers. '■;■'■ A' ' ' The first witness brought was one Reynold Shanks, who produced a suit he had paid £6 10s for and which did not fit him. The suit had been, tried on twice. ' I Mr. Alpers declared the .case was a "trap" case, and Mr; Fielder had ..the , gult handed over to him within a week of its delivery. ! < Mr. Fielder: I had the suit within an hour of its delivery. Witness's sister, Florence Tapling, a married woman, who was with her brother at the time the suit was ordered, said she ascertained that it was made at Clapham's I factory aryl the side seams, were machined. The attendant had declared, to her that the suits were not factory-made. She i later found that the ; coat was packed with canvas. - |. Mr. Alpers: ; In some tailors' they use cardboard. <. ; Witness: Do they? Do yoiiy/brk there? : - ■'■•' '!- -•"'*■ The Magistrate (to witness): Don't be impertinent. The Magistrate: If these witnesses continue m this .way I shall have to dismiss the, case.. Mr. Fiqldei". I am very sorry that it has occurred,- your Worship. To the Magistrate:; Witness was not sure that Mr. Ramsay -was present at the first try-on. She discussed prices with him and he satd the suits were tailor-made. f • Mr. Alpers said that the evidence was not reliable. At the time the Bults were bought, Mr. Ramsay thought that he would taker oyer Clapham's factory, but this arrangement did not eventuate owing to the lease not being allowed to continue. Under the arrangement which was made, the business was conducted under the conditions laid down by thle award. Fitting on was not a guarantee of a tailormade suit. ; *■/,*■ i The Magistrate said that with regard to 1 the evidence, it was quite ' clear that' Mrs. Tapling, had gone into the Court .with her mind strongly made *.up. That. was quite. clear from her evidence and the way she had conducted herself m the box. She also - seemed to'thlnk that she had the right, not only. to ;do what she had done, but also to run the, Court and everything else. There were discrepancies m the evidence of the two witnesses,, and he was not disposed to hold that the evl- , dence was of any value. The complainant would be nonsuited. EXPERT EVIDENCE. Another suit came! up for consideration m the second count of the charge m relation , to a suit purchased by Albert Frank Salter, who sent m a selfmeasurement chart and later had a try-on. Witness took it that the suit was to be tailor.- made, but when he received it "lip was greatly disappointed. Cross-examined, witness said he was employed by a tailor m Lyttelton. Mr. Alpers: Was it at your employer's suggestion that you applied for this suit?— No. '„', F. R. Cooke, secretary of the Tailors' Union, explained that the buttonholes cost about 4d a hole< according to the award rate. Did you expect hand-made buttonholes m the suit for £3 7s 6d?— Not entirely.. < Witness said that he got a guarantee with the suit stating that his money would be returned if he' were dissatisfied. The Magistrate questioned witness as to what he thought was a tailormade suit. After some hesitation witness answered that a. hand-made suit would alone fulfil the requirements. If a suit were made hy talloresses witness would call it tailor-made. In the trade the women only did the small jobs like tests, while the men did tho , coats and trousers. i|* ■ Where a suit is mptde from start to . finish under ; the award conditions and , according to measure that would be ! n tailored-to-measure suit? — Yes. As the years go on there are more and more machines Introduced into the ! trade? — Yes. You wrote expressing your grievance, with the suit?— Yes. The letter stated thnt the suit was very disappointing and had been handed to "a mil tailor" for examination. Witness admitted that he was offered a refund of his money. ' Are you familiar with this phrase '' "tailored to measure?" — I have seen It several times since tho Scott Service Company started using the term. I understand that lt means made by v legitimate tailor. Are you not glad to soe people getting a suit for threo or four pounds Instead of fourteen? — They could get It without being deceived by advertisement. SUITS FOR THE WORKERS. Mr. Alpers said that thc public insisted on having suits within the moans of men of ; average earnings. The man who could not afford a costly suit nevertheless wantod a well-made suit and the Scott Sorvlce Tailoring Company had facilitated this. The clause concerning the trylng-on of suits had been cut out of the award with this m view. In, the presont award there was n6 reference .to try-ins-on Moreover the Court had given up tho difficult task; of doflnlng tailormade The Court had thrown all definitions away. The words, "no garments should bo sold as tailor-made unless mado by hand by tailors, meant that if any garment was sold as tailor-made it must be made on the premises bf thc employer. The wages Mild were over tho iiward rate m every

case. '.- The position was anomalous m the extreme. ' If Ramsay had actually owned the, premises on which the suit was knade, : there would have > been no .breach.. '"; However, it was only quibbling over* the. words, as" Ramsay, had. actually put .'in a tender, for the purchase o£~ th cve v premises, : and he was actually,the equitable owner. If the tryon had been at the factory m: Cashel Streeti.instead.bf at the shop., iri High Street, there would still have been no offence. .The,, words,; '"tailored-to-'measure," meant made by a tailor, or tailoress. The words "tailor-made" did not appear m any of the. Service's advertisements. A ROSE BY; ANY OTHER NAME. Peter Scott Ramsay, the defendant, said he copied "tailored-to-iheasure" frorh other firms, which were m business before he was. He considered that the term meant made to measure

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m a factory. Some used the term "tailored to order." All those engaged m making the suit called themselves tailors and talloresseß. They had all served their apprenticeship, and were being paid above the minimum'rates of pay.

In reply to the Magistrate, Mr. Fielder contended that , "tailor -made" meant made according to the tailors' award.

; Mr. Alpers: Mr. Fielder can't put some fancy definition on an English word. "Tailor-made" means made by tailors. ■ . ' i

Magistrate Widdowson said he believed that the garments had not been made m violation of a clause of the award. To his mind, "tailor-made" was quite clear — a garment or suit made by a. tailor. But they were only concerned whether the award had been violated. He had no expert evidence on the term, "tailored to measure," which was a synonymous term. Clapham was out of the premises when the suit had been made. After tracing the agreement with the liquidator, the Magistrate said that Ramsay, by entering into another. arrangemgnt, ultimately bought' the machinery and became tho proprietor. The question was, whoso workshop, was it at that time? The evidence was not sufficient that the award had been broken, and he would nonsuit the plaintiff.