SLIP ON THE MAIN TRUNK BOOT PROFITS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 62, 7 December 1918, Page 6

SLIP ON THE MAIN TRUNK

BOOT PROFITS

; By Telegraph-Press Association. Taihape, December ■G. A slip occurred. on the Itajn Trunk line on Thursday night at. G o'clock, a mile and a half jiorth of Mataroa, on the same spot as that, which occurred on November 8, when the.train ran into .an obstruction, with, -fatal.results, 'ihe present landslip is a t6ntin.ua.tion of.the previous one. .The line is covered , for 2o yards, to a depth of 10 feet;. ■~;... ' The express leaving. laihape .was,delayed until midnight. All trains Jiortli of Taihnj>6 have 'been., suspended,, except tho express, lien to clear away the obstruction were sent out the same evening, but the line Will not be cleared for two days* . < . .. It is said that there . are indications that the whole hillside is moving;

AUSTRALIAN HEVELATIONS. That the price of boots in Australia is unduly high, and that profits beyond a reasonable limit-have .been and are being secured, 1 is the finding of the Inter-State Commission. "This condition of things," Kays the commission, "is duo directly to the influence of,.war conditions, and the opportunities for profit which those conditions have created." The. commission'*! report suggests that the fixing of prices for named types of boots would-be a difficult task which could baldly be undertaken except in conjunction with the standardisation of boots, which might involve delay and undesirable administrative complexity. The'present'wholesale prices of footwear are, in the opinion of (lie commission, not justified by increased cost of production, and "the profits of both manufacturers and retailers aro undulyhigh, if pre-war returns 'are taken as a standard." The.' fanning 1 in-J duslry, the report slate?, is in,a.prosperous condition, and, "with hardly an exception." manufacturers' accounts examined showed considerable increases of business and profits; the'profits of wholesale distributors show (lie same features of increase, ami'.in some cases the rate of profit is so high "as to occasion surprise that the middleman can clfarge such lucrative prices" when manufacturers mi'.'ht be dealt with direct. ■'■ "Tho most striking feature in the profits of the. retail trade," says the report, "is that, retailers have consistently, added their habitual percentage to the Uiid-down co-t ol"boots, though that cost had advanced, according lo evidence, by from 2."i to TiO per cent." The' expenses of retailing have been practically (stationary,, so (hat, without any change in the character or value of their service, the retailers' lief profits, have been materially increased. In many instances profits in (lie boot industry have exceeded '-" per cent, on the net'capital; in some instances' 'drove exceeded 25 per cent., and in rare instances have exceeded 50 per cent., though "the profits in this industry were already high in 1!H4." The war has,' by checking imports, and in'■other ways,, provided the opportunity for unreason---ably high profits. '" ..;..'.-' .'.'' . .'.