RUSH TO BUY CLOTHES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24636, 18 June 1941, Page 6

RUSH TO BUY CLOTHES

MELBOURNE'S "ORGY OF SPENDING " MELBOURNE. June 7. . " Stampede buying " following recent Ministerial announcements of an early shortage of woollen goods has so depleted stocks held by Melbourne traders that blankets and other 'articles are now virtually unobtainable. "It is unfortunate that anything at all should have been said about a shortage," the manager of a large departmental store said to-day. "Ministers responsible for the statements have undone everything the Government had done previously to build up savings. The public has been stampeded into an orgy of spending which must have dissipated almost every penny saved since the war began.' -We held stocks of blankets and other goods that would normally have lasted for months. Now we have none - , • , -ii " Many who may be in real need will have to go without. There has also been a stampede for all kinds of household'goods, clothes, and dress materials. Many buyers cannot afford them and must be denying themselves things more necessary. "Traders have done what they could, but they have been helpless. We consider Ministers would be well advised to maintain strict silence about future •shortages."