SHOE INDUSTRY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 249, 20 October 1937, Page 8

SHOE INDUSTRY

MINISTER’S INQUIRY VISIT TO FACTORIES [ Per Press Association. ] CHRISTCHURCH, Oct. 19. A depressing picture of the conditions in the boot manufacturing industry in Christchurch was presented to the Minister of Labour (Hon. H. T. Armstrong) this morning when he visited two of the leading factories. The object of the Minister's visit was to see first hand the difficulties confronting the industry in order to try and get at the root cause of the trouble. He explained that the Government wanted to be sure that any steps it took to assist the industry were the right ones. The present slackness in trade, the Minister was told by the principals of the firms, developed very suddenly. They were at a loss to account for such a sudden falling off in orders, but they did know that imports, particularly from Britain, had increased very substantially.

The manager of one factory said that he thought his concern would be able to weather the storm, but today 60 men and 15 women had been stood off for a day and to-morrow 20 men and 30 women would be off for the day. In another factory the amount paid out in weekly wages had dropped by £7O a week. “Our employees are losing their wages, and we are losing the value of their production,’’ the manager remarked. It was impressed on the Minister that the conditions to-day were much worse than they had been during the depression years, as orders were ’not coming in and stocks were accumulating. A manager mentioned the case of a man who asked to be dismissed because he would do better drawing sustenance than working such short time at the factory. The Minister was much impressed with what he saw and remarked that the Government had the problem under consideration. QUESTION IN HOUSE MINISTER’S RECENT STATEMENT [ Per Press Association. ] WELLINGTON, Oct. 19. In the House of Representatives this afternoon, Mr. S. G. Holland (Opp., Christchurch North) , gave notice to ask the Minister of Industries and Commerce whether the Minister of Labour’s recent statement that the New Zealand boot manufacturers were now at the peak of production and were employing the highest number of hands in their history was in accord with the information possessed by the Minister of Industries and Commerce and would the Minister of Industries and Commerce make a true public statement on the position?