FOOTWEAR PRICES.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16422, 16 January 1919, Page 6

FOOTWEAR PRICES.

STANDARDISATION OF BOOTS

The public generally are keenly interested at present, as has been tho casa for many months .past, in the question of the price of footwear. Prices soared during the war period, and liave now reached a very high figure. Relief was anticipated from the Board of Trade, which has had the matter under consideration for some considerable time, and which has drawn up a scheme for the standardisation of certain lines of footwear, the idea being to fix the profit which the boot manufacturers and retailers should receive, and the price at which standardised boots and 6hoes should, be sold to the public. The scheme has reached the point at which samples of standardised boots and shoes have been prepared ( and. these samples have been on exhibition in Wellington, Auckland, and Dunedin; they were to have besn on exhibition in Chiistchurch, but on the date fixed for the exhibition tho influenza epidemic was raging, and it was felt that it would be useless td expect boot manufacturers and others to inspect the samples under the conditions then ruling.. "Since then Kppare;itly nothing_ has been done in the matter of exhibiting the samples in Christchurch, arid the public is naturally enqtiiring as _to what has becomo of a schema which gave promise of providing some relief from the high prices ruling at present. In tho other centres it is stated that those who saw tho samples expressed their approval of them. At a meeting of the executive of the Cliristchurch branch of the New Zealand Boot Manufacturers' Association, held yesterdav afternoon and presided' over by Mr P. J. Delacour. the question was discussed at some length. .It> w;is the generally ' expressed opinion that an essential condition precedent to tho manufacture of standardised boots | and shoes was that tho Bnnrd of Tmde should fix the prices of hides and leather, as the manufacturers must have definite knowledge respecting the cost of production. Obviously, New Zealand' manufacturers would be. at a disadvantage if they had to pay 25 per cent, more for leather than the Australian; manufacturer had to pay. One member of the executive mentioned that he had been informed that a local tannery was prepared to guarantee a certain supply of leather to be used for the manufacture of standardised boots, but no price was quoted. It was considered that the Board of Trade should undertake to fix the price of leather, not at the present figure, but at a reasonable figure. In discussing the Board'of Trade's scheme, it was stated that the idea was to ensure to tho public that standardised boots should be made of a certain quality of leather, but that the characteristics of the individual manufacturer would be present as in ordinary lines. What the public did not appear to be aware of was that the scheme was not yet in operation and that, with the exception of the samples already referred to, no standardised boots have been made. It was resolved: ''That a letter be> written to the Board of Trade asking if the Board intends to fix the prico of leather to boot manufacturers before it fixes the price of standardised boots ancl shoes, and in the event of tho price oF leather being fixed, to acquaint boot manufacturers thereof; and , that the Board be informed that Cliristchurch as a boot manufacturing centre has nob .vet had an opportunity to inspect the samples of the proposed standardised boots and shoes."