BOOT INDUSTRY'S PLIGHT

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 19, 15 October 1937, Page 5

BOOT INDUSTRY'S PLIGHT

-Pre6« AsBociition.)

"Worse Than During the Depression" REPLY TO MINISTER

(By Telegraph-

DUNEDIN, Last Night. "If the Minister has been correctlj reported he should kuow that the position is very different from that evt lined by him in his statement and that boot factories in Ne,w Zealand are noi by any means employing as many hands as they would like to, ' ' said a promin ent xepresentative of the Dunedii trade group of the New Zealand. Feetwear Manufacturers' Association whei the statement made by the Minister oi Labour to-day was submitted for hii comment. "On the evidence that has been nuUk available to the Minister," the ^eakei continued, "he should he thoroughlj aware of the real position. The ful tacts of the situation have' heen pSaced before the Minister of Induetries nad Commerce and we can only* surmise after aeeing the statement made by Hon.%H. T. Armstrong that "there ia a surpristng laek of co-operation between the MinIsters. "The position to-day as far as boet cactory employees are concerned ii rf orse than at any time during the ie- * pression," the speaker continued^ "and jne faetory manager gave it aa his opinion that in over 30 years* experience he has never known the boot trade so bad as it is now. He has had owing to lack of orders to reduee his ateff by 25 per cent. since the middle of 3^tember and the remainder of his etaff is working only half time, Another faetory manager reports that he is working with less than half the ftefE he could employ under better conditions^ The prqspects fdr the immediate future offer nothing at all.'* Going on to deal with the Miniitir 's charge that manufacturers were impOxt* ing shoes instead of maMng them, a representative of the group stated that this could not be reconciled with the actual position. .The policy of his owa firm, which -was one. of the largest, was t© import only those classes of footwear whieh it could not manufacture itself. He described the contention : pf the manager of another business that "a man must buy in the cHeapest market'' as not being applicable. to the tradg generally, .