BOOT REPAIRS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 809, 8 July 1933, Page 12

BOOT REPAIRS.

Work for Tradesmen in City. Claiming that the donation of approximately 10,000 pairs of boots and shoes was partially crippling the boot repairing industry in Christchurch, a deputation yesterday waited on the Businessmen’s Relief Committee. After an amicable discussion an agreement was reached whereby a large proportion of the repairs required at the relief depots will be given out for distribution among the city boot repairers at a price to be arranged between the parties. The deputation consisted of Messrs J. Hutchison (secretary-organiser of the Canterbury Footwear Repairers’ Association), W. Taylor, P. Tayler, J. P. Molloy and H. E. Barnsley. Mr Hutchison said this morning that the deputation placed concrete proposals before the committee and showed that unintentionally the drive for clothing and footwear had caused an injustice to boot repairers as it was submitted that people instead of having articles repaired had put them out for collection by the postmen and in many cases bought new boots or shoes, which would not need repairing for some time. It was further submitted that since repairers were deprived of i a good deal of work, numbers of them would eventually have to become a charge on the relief committee. It is understood that the point was also -made that the relief committee’s own repairers were kept busy with the boots and shoe? of those applying for relief and could not cope with the rush of the 10.000 articles from the colleci tion, so that it would be in the interI ests of speed>' distribution to hand j some of the. work out to tradesmen in | Cie city and suburb?