The Patea County Press, With which is incorporated The Patea Mail. FRIDAY, FEB. 28, 1913. Taxing the Consumer.

Patea Mail, Volume XXXVII, 28 February 1913, Page 2

The Patea County Press, With which is incorporated The Patea Mail.

FRIDAY, FEB. 28, 1913. Taxing the Consumer.

“ Inherent Justice is Eternal Right.”

Owing to tho fact that enormous ciuantitioe of leather are now annually required for the upholstering of the large number of motor cars that are being built each year, and from various other reasons, the price of leather has reached what is fast becoming an almost prohibitive figure, and as a natural consequence tho public may expect a rise in the price of boots and leather goods in tho near future. As a matter of fact retailers have already received word from tho wholesale houses that they may expect a sharp rise at any time. If this is the case it would appaar to ba high time for the Commissioner of Oustoma to consider the advisability of remitting the duty on imported boots and shoes with a view to the pi ice of these necessities bein'* kept within reasonable limits. No doubt it would appear at first sight as if a hardship would bo inflicted on the manufacturers and the factory employees throughout the Dominion if such a course wore followed, but it should bo borne in mind that in this country there are at the outside some 72 factories employing about 2,200 workers all told. It is absurd to suggest that tho whota of the people of Now Zealand numbering over a million persons are to bo penalised to bolster up au industry employing barely 2200 souls. What makes the matter worse is tho fact that about 700 of these workers are women who without doubt would be bettor engaged in domestic duties, especial-^ 1 as there ia such a great demand t or this class of worker at the present i lime. Another feature of the case tfcrat is far from palatable to the average taxpayer is tho fact that the people of the Dominion are called upon to pay the sum of £416,000 annually in customs’ duties on boots to keep an ■ industry alive whose workers draw

loss than £172,000 annually in wages It would surely bo preferable to reduce the duty ou boots by one half so that the majority could have cheaper footwear and pay the boot, workers the balance as a pension. In any cato it seems absurd to penalise the majority for the sake of bonefitting a very email minority. So far as ono can gather from tha figure# available the boot manufacturers of the Domin ion are hardly justified in raising tho price of boots just now though they are paying more for their leather, than formerly. Even with an addition to the cost of manufacture there would appear to be still a fairly wide mai’gin of profit left for them to work upon. According to tho Year Book, the value of boots manufactured in 1912 was £619,843 whilst wages and materials made ujj £441,159, leaving a handsome margin of £178,684 to bo divided amongst the owners of the 72 factories. Under the circumstances we hardly think the time is ripe for an inornate, either in the price of baots or in the import duty "on the same article, let alone on export duty on hides as has been suggested.