THE UPWARD FLIGHT

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 139, 8 March 1920, Page 7

THE UPWARD FLIGHT

PRICE OF MANCHESTER GOODS INCREASE OF 400 PER CENT • "Present conditions do not indicate that the top price has yet been reached in Manchester goods," said a Wellington business man interested in the trade, last week-end. "The supply at Home' to-day of all classes of goods falls millions of pounds' worth below the demand, and wo out here are asked not to look for new business, nor to attempt to sell to any but our regular customers. Times have changed. _ There was a time when wo used to sit on a man's doorstep and wait for his business. Now wo are great fellows. We sit solid, and our customers come to ufc, and' 6ny, after looking over the samples, 'I'll have twenty dozen of this!' and we say, 'Oh, no, Mr. Customer, you will get five dozen; that is your usual order and you can get no mere]' Any of us can remember that a farthing fluctuation in tho price ni calico or sheeting might mp.tn being turned down for an order. No* they pay five times as much and are glad to get it. Such is the magic of war!

"Long ago tliß world found out that no place or people could manufacture cotton goods like Manchester could. Cotton is, spun in Amerio*. and Japan and India, but it cannot be spun as Manchester ran spin it, and in the making of finer cotton fabrics, Manchester, with its humid climate, hn>i no riviils. Now all the world wants its goods, and Manchester, struggling with a shortage of expert labour, high wages, and shortei hours, cannot meet the enormous demand, so prices go up, and will continue to go up.

"How different it is to buy goods of anv kind in England is illustrated by the exoerience of a American buying agency in Egland. It deputed Mr. A. E. Robbins, manager of the London Joint Citv and Midland Bank, to be tho head of the new organisation, which was to buv linens, woollens, porcelain, toiletware, fancy goods, etc. Tho organisation was prepared to spend ',£IOO,OOO a day. One report stated that the buying committee had experienced difficulty in interesting manufacturers. One member of the. committee travelled England and Scotland trying to buy ,£IO,OOO worth of stockings—in vain. The association wanted immediately ,£IOO.OOO worth of linon eoods. It had to be satisfied with a fraction of that amount. " 'America has used its last damaslc cloth, and before tho winter is over will be down to its last linen shirt,' was the declaration of one American traveller ,in an English paper. Agents from the United States have been scouring Belfast and Belgium for fabrics, and American houses have warned their customers that 1920 is to he 'leap year' for pric&s. America might like to shut off cotton fiunulies from Manchester, but that would only place tho public in a worso nosition. as Manchester is the only place that can manufacture tho real Manchester cood6.

"A Mr. Charles W. Steinos, when recently in London on behalf of tho Hetail liosearcli Association/ predicted that within two or three years- 100 American firms would have headquarters in London for the sole purpose of buying goods for distribution through American shops, and open orders froii American firms aro held by nearly cv,en r mill in the north. This it Voiild bo seen that London threatens to maintain her position as the greatest distributing centre ip tho world. Manchester is certainly helping. "As to New Zealand, it might be. interesting to the public to review the increases which have occurred in tho chief 'bread-and-butter' lines since, or perhaps a few months after! war broke out. These me London (or indent), but show the jump in or about tho same propsrtion to the retail prices-.— 1911. 1920, Yard. Ynrd. Wr , . 6 ' d- s. (1. 'Horrocks s calico, A 1 035 111 j Tobralco 0 7 3ft Grey calico 0 3 1 6 Sheeting (72in.) 0 9 3 G Grey sheeting (herringbone) 0 6? 2 03 Damask cloths 1 03 G i Doz. Do? Brown Turkish towelling 611 £7 0 ' Yard. Yard. Hoyles. indigo prints 0 4 2 p Flannolettfs 0 5 19} _ . Doz. Doz. Lawn handkerchiefs (ladies) 0 8 4 0 "These prices," said The informant, "indicate that Manchester goods generally cost about five times as muc-h now as they did in 191-1 or, to nul it another way, what formerly cost "-is. now costs £\. I enn'assure tho public, when there is talk of profiteering, that many retail houses throughout this country nr.e selling Manchester (roods to-day cheaper than tli,ev could indent them for, nnd that means that Ihc day of tho highest prices has not dawned yet—not by a jugful!"