CLOTHING RATIONS ENLARGED IN BRITAIN

Grey River Argus, 4 June 1948, Page 3

CLOTHING RATIONS ENLARGED IN BRITAIN

LONDON, June 2. Reactions are mixed to the announcement of Mr Harold Wilson,\ president of the Board of Trade, tnat everyone in Britain is to receive 12 additional cloth.ng coupons between May 26 and September 30. Though the public generally is fairly satisfied with ' the extra coupons and the reductions in coupon value of many articles which will almost. double the clothing ration, clothing manufacturers still declare that they are disappointed and that the concessions will not help .much with the position of accumulated stocks. .There remains some confusion as to exactly how the clothing stocks accumulated. Mr Wilson has stated that the stocks are the result of higher textile production in me last months, but according to stat.st.es most of the stock was bui t ut: year because little was then being made for export. There is some uneasiness whether or not Britain’s textile export drive ,s faltering. On this point the Manchester Guardian observes that it seems that Britain is failing to sM cotton goods in hard currency countries or in places where they will help to pay for exports. Is this the reason, it asks, why the Government is now being liberal to the home market? and adds that Mr Wilson should be frank about it at once. “As things stand, he made it look doubtful whether we are donig everything we can to have more clothes, but we shall never stand on our own feet unless we soon begin to try.” Other opinions are that the Government’s clothes rationing svstem has broken down and that the situation is approaching where power to make goods is coming into line with the power to buy them. Many manufacturers have been urging abolition of rationing. It is widely felt that the Government has been ill-informed about the situation, but it is hoped that the establishment of advisory committees representing different branches of the trade will be a useful corrective .