HIDES EMBARGO

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 107, 30 January 1920, Page 8

HIDES EMBARGO

THE CONFLICTING INTERESTS

LEATHER AND BOOTS

DEPUTATION TO MR. MASSEY

Tho embargo on hides was the subject of interviews by two deputations which waited on the Prime Minister yesterday. First of all came a deputation representative of the producers and fretzing companies of the Wairarapa district, asking for the removal of the eniuargo, ana tnen tame a deputation representing the boot trade, asking that on no account should tho embargo ba removed. /

Sir. H. .Morrison,, speaking for the Wflirarapa deputation, Vaid that tho producers felt that now that the war was over tho embargo should bo taken off. They were informed, he said, thai. tliero was no embargo in Australia, bui the price oi' boots was just as high in New Zealand as in Australia, -possibly higher here. Mr. Massey, in reply, said that there was nothing more to he said about hides Everything possible had been said at the conference a few 'days previously.- He .intended to have the speeches made at the conference printed and circulated among the people concerned. When they were in such form that they could be submitted to Ministers, he would bring tho matter before Cabinet, and the Government would deal' with tlm whole question. This might not bo possible for a week or ton days. /ihe deputation of bootmakers iron introduced by Mr. B. A. Wright, 11.V. He said that if the embargo on rh< export of hides wero removed the price of boots would increase and this was a matter .deeply laffecting tho wholo community. "Indeed,'" ho said, "somn of us think that if the price of IrnoU and shoes goes up any moro we shall have to give up wearing boota altogether." Mr. B. A. Frostick (Christchurch) snM he wished to refer chiefly to tho shortage of leather, for there was at present undoubtedly a shortage throughout th« whole Dominion, more especially of sole leather. There was'' not a factory throughout" tho Dominion'that hnd more than- a week's supply of sole leather in store. Tho supply of leather to tho manufacturers depended, of course, on tho supply of hides to tho tanners, and some of the'tanners were without hide* with,'" which to continue their' tanning operations. In reply to Mr. Massey, ho said that one of these firms was a Wellington' one, the name of which he gave.' This, failure of the supply of hides must havo the effect of curtailing the supply of leather, to the boot factories, or on tho other hand, must lead to the use of imperfectlytanned leather, which would not give' good service to the consumer.

Mr. E. Mapplebeck (Wellington) addressed himself to the question of how much the price of leather would bo affected by the increase in the prico of hides. In 1906 the price of hides was from Cd. to GJd., and leather was Is. to Is. Id. Beforo the w;ar hides were 83d., and leather sold at Is. Ed. and Is. old. No)v best quality hides were felling at Is. 2d., and the leather made from them was sold at 2s. dd. and 2s. sd. These figures could be accepted as a basis of comparison between tho cost of hides and the cost of leather, and if the price of hides was. to bo raised the price of leather must also be raised.

Mr. J. D. Eea (Dunedin) said that there was considerable risk of unemployment in tho trade owing to shortage of supplies, and he anticipated that the shortage of leather would he, accentuated if a free export were allowed.

Mr. H. Clark (Auckland) said 'hat tho question of removal of the embargo had cropped up in Australia. The embargo had been removed, but the effect was to. serious that it had to be restored in some measure. .There was nqw a certain restriction on export, and some.control in price in Australia.

Mr. H. Nash (Wellington) said that unless some control was kept over the export of hides all the hides would go cut of tho Dominion, iml the Dominion would have to import boots made out of its own hides. The export demand for hides was almost unlimited, and unless the Dominion tanners could pay the prico offered by the export buyer there would bo no leather made in the country. Ho said that the first call on Dominion bides should he the Dominion industries, and expert should be controlled in order to support the local industries. The alternative to restriction of export was an advanco in the price of leather, and this would have to be followed by an increase in the price of boots. Mr. E. P. Pcarce (Wellington) spoko nn behalf of the retail trade, and ho urged chiefly that in future conferences to deal with such matters as the prico of hides the retail boot trade should bo represented, as that branch of the industry in closest touch with the public.

Mr. Massey, in reply, said that lie hud most of "the arguments advanced by the. deputation at Iho cf-nferenco of a few days before. The Government was anxious to do its duty by the ptoducers and also to tho consumers. If that had not been the ease there would not have been any embargo in the first instance. Every member of the deputation had said that tho raising of the embargo would mean a serious increase in tho price of boots. But what about the converse? It seemed to bo clear from the arguments advanced that the producer >was not getting the full value of tho article he produced. But he would pass over that point mennlime. He hoped the time, would soon come when no raw material would be exported from this country, but the whole of our raw material would bo converted into manufactured goods before being exported. "But," he said, "vou aro up against this position, and you may just as well face it. B Some of our hides are bought by Australia, at tho c.xoort prices. Australian boots are sent took to this country, they pay freight and duty, and I understand.that although they are of good quality they can compete with the New Zealand boots in our market hero. That is a very extraordinary staco of things, and it requires a deal of explanation. I dont like it, and 1 should like to remedy it in some way or other. There is no embargo on' tho export of hides from Australia, but there is some arrangement by which the tanner Hi Australia lias preference in the purchase of hides. Iho exporter is not allowed to buy over tho head of the tanner, but the tanner is allowed to say with regard to any lot submitted at auction that he will take it at the last figure bid, whether that bid be liis own or an exporter's. Whether we can do that here remains to be seen. Mr. Massey added that both sides of the question had been very fully thrashed out at tho conference. He promised that the Government would consider the matter fully, and he hoped that a conclusion would be reached which would lie satisfactory to the whole community. Rut he could tell them that the present position of things was cnus.ng a great deal o f agitation throughout the whole country, and was the cause of n great deal of aiiiHivance to the Government. What the Government would do he was not prepared to say, but he honed to be able to announce- the decision of the Government withi na week or two.