BARE ESSENTIALS ONLY

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23323, 5 October 1945, Page 4

BARE ESSENTIALS ONLY

Furniture Loan Inadequate Servicemen Express Dissatisfaction Punch’’ offered what it considered sound advice to those about to marry . . - don’t!” Nevertheless, this month s statistics supplied by the Registrar of Births. Deaths and Marriages show that marriages are on the increase in South Canterbury. A great percentage of these are returned servicemen, who are allowed a rehabilitation loan of £lOO to purchase furniture. With the object of finding just how 7 far the monev would go. a representative of "The Timaru Herald" visited several shops furniture factories and retailers yesterday and interviewed returned soldiers who had bought furniture for their homes. “Money Goes Nowhere” In nearly every case it was found that the loan would buy furniture oi a kind sufficient to set up any home with the bare essentials but when it came to quality over quantity, in the opinion of the returned men, the money went nowhere. “Frankly it is impossible to furnish even a small place like my own with the £100,” said one returned man. “By the time that I had bought a good bedroom suite, diningroom suite alid a kitchen table and chairs the whole lean had gone. And that left me without furnishings for any other rooms, coverings or minor accessories.”, A second soldier admitted that he had managed to furnish his house with the amount granted but he said that it gave him only the bare essentials and the furniture was not of very good quality. On inquiry from retailers it was the consensus of opinion that the returned man would do well to buy little at present, but to buy well. "If a returned man would cut out all the small accessories in the meantime and concentrate on getting the essential furniture then he would be better off.” said one businessman. “If he has not a house at present the firms will store it for him. As a suggestion, for the soldier, a diningroom suite, bedroom suite and a living room with easy chairs would be sufficient to start any man off in his home, and the rest could be bought in easy stages as the occasion demanded. Most firms are giving preference to the returned man but he would be well advised to buy reputable furniture from recognised dealers.” “Prices have risen in seme cases to 50 or 100 per cent, but to-day with modem machinery, the furniture is every bit as good as the pre-war article, and I cannot see a drop in prices for a long time,” commented a dealer. With regard to carpets and soft furnishings, one London buyer said that it would be some time before there would be any large increase in quantity for public purchase. New Zealand timbers were now being used to a great extent but beech and heart rimu treated properly were as good as imported timbers. Polished Floors Only "I do not think I am claiming too much when I say that I $m entitled to be able to live in frugal comfort.” said a prospective bridegroom just returned from overseas. "Having made ms’ plans for marriage overseas I had budgeted for the furnishing of five rooms, but when faced with reality I was forced to discount two rooms and mark beside them, polish floor only. I had expected costs to rise, but not to the extent seen in the price of furniture. It is unreasonable to expect a young wife to have a cheerful outlook on married life when one of her chief interests is impoverished by lack of funds to create decent surroundings. The least the Government can do for returned men is to waive the sales tax on furniture, and let the men get ahead with the important work of stocking the country in recent surroundings.” Some men were brutally frank in their opinion of the furniture which was on the market to-day, and were inclined to think that better articles could be bought second-hand. Others were convinced that second-hand furniture cost just as, much as new. One serviceman summed the matter up by stating that the £lOO loan went just about as far as the £25 clothing allowance. “It all depended on what you wished to buy," he said. “If you bought quality it -went no distance, but if you bought cheaply it would go as far as was necessary.” In many cases it was found that if the money was spent on essential furniture it would see the distance of the loan but left no margin for "soft" furnishings such as curtains and carpeting. Furniture Without House Questioned regarding his furniture, one serviceman appeared pleased that he had secured a fine oak suite, but added that it had cost him half his rehabilitation loan. "In any case." he added, "now that I have it I have to store it with the firm. I have the furniture but there is the little matter of a house to put it in. I am seriously considering pitching my 'bivvy' tent on the section which I have bought. ’ In most of the cases where furniture had been bought there were houses to put it in. One firm in Timaru is concentrating on turning out good furniture of the “cottage” type for the Borough Council houses and at a price well within the range of the returned man. and in every case dealers seemed to be going out of their way to make sure that the serviceman was getting a fair deal and all offered the same advice, that instead of trying to get three or four suites at once one or two rooms well furnished would he better. It was a case of quality rather than quantity.