A BRITISH TRADE TRIUMPH.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LV, Issue 14133, 12 February 1910, Page 3

A BRITISH TRADE TRIUMPH.

Last week says tbo Overseas Mail of December 18, five lorry’ loads of British made shoes were sent from England to the United States. The event is remarkable becauso.it affords striking evidence of how a British trade at one time sorely pressed by ; outside competition-can not only beat back its foreign rivals, but invade their own territory, despite high hostile tariffs.. Eight years ago American made , shoes were imported into England in large and growing quantities, and seemed, likely to sweep the market for better class footwear hero. The old-time British boot was uncomfortable until moulded by the pressure of the wearer’s foot, and was not elegant. It was taken for granted that the first few days of a new boot must be a time of agony for the wearer. The American shoes changed ail that. They were smart looking, and as.: easy when first mit on as when worn for a month. Tho British boot makers faced the situation manufully. They recognised that while their leather was the best, American manufacturing methods bad left them behind. They sent for American lasts, and some of them went as workmen to American factories to study the ways there. Before long thev had turned out a boot as elegant and comfortable ns the American, and cheaper and more durable. The American shoo invasion was sharply checked, and now has come the further stop, invasion of America. Even the great American tariff wall can not keep our products from the States. “We are going to sell large quantities of shoes to America,” snvs the Boot and Shoe Record. “Why? Because our shoes are hotter and cheaper.”