PROFITEERING.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 46, Issue 14099, 16 April 1920, Page 4

PROFITEERING.

HIDES AND BOOTS. POINTED CRITICISM. “Something-coming down, at ;last:!??|§ ff will be a general comment oh' the ’fall in the price of' hides at Tuesday ’s sales (says the Auckland Star). It is qo rare for {anything to decline in price, that Tuesday’s figures are quite noteworthy. The fall is attributed by a local buyer partly to the rise in tho American exchange, and the dullness of the American market. With the exchange so heavily against us, ancl so greatly .in the American buyers’ favour, as it was until recently, American operators in hides were able, to bid high on the local market and make a profit. Soriie weeks ago the adviser to the Board of Trade in the matter of hides gave some startling figures as to the operations of an American firm in New Zealand, and stated that its representative had instructions po give 5 per cent more than any quotations or bids. Operations like 'ihese will bo checked by the improvement in tho exchange The public will be interested to see whether the prediction will be fulfilled that the; marketwill not,, ( return to the sensational prices of ! March. It ivill be especially interested to see the effect of the fall on tho price of boots. Advances In-the prices of hides and leather have been fol- • lowed by advances in the price of boots, and the public has,had a suspicion that the resultant increases hav© not always been justified by the first. After the rise in the price of raw T material in March, the bootmakers put up the' price of repairs to the same, extent as the advance in leather per pound. We -shall see now whether pfaces of goods and repairs follow rawmaterial on the down as well as on tho up grade.