THE CUTLERY TRADE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1546, 4 May 1916, Page 4

THE CUTLERY TRADE.

EFFECT OF THE WAR. Advices received by :m Auckland linn last week indicate' an extraordinary state af a Hairs in the cutlery market in (he Old Country, consequent upon the {yenoral absorption of manufacturing: industries by the War Office (says the Herald). The following- extract from the Sheffield Daily Telegraph of .January Bth epitomises a situation which is> confirmed by the letters of trading firms : “The whole trade may be said to be under control, in effect it not nominally, as every manufacturer is under strict orders —or rather, a command—from the authorities to give first consideration to the needs of the military. There is no possibility of (his command being evaded without grave consequences to the offender. It has been calculated that the requirements of the next eight months equal the total output of Sheffield and Birmingham for the period named. Spoons, forks, knives and razors are being bought for the arn(ies from America and Sweden, but even with this relief, makers here will not be able to supply much to the public, indeed, a famine in ordinary cutlery is almost a certainty. Already makers are discontinuing the production of many familiar patterns of pocket knives, because (he men who put -them together are fully occupied on Government work. Scarcely any of the cheaper goods are now being made.

“With refill’d to the very small, if any, margin of output after the Government needs have been met, it is • suggested that for economic reasons this should he applied to the maintenance of the ordinary export trade. It seems, therefore, ill at so long as the war lasts the British public l will have to do without cutlery, or make shift with what they 'possess . Army tableknives are no longer confined to the solid handle variety. So vast is (he number required dial it is necessary to bring in every class of workpeople and plant, and consequently knives hal'ted in a librous substance are being accepted. These are quickly and cheaply made. Many millions of the above-men-tioned cutlery are on order at the present lime . Makers of spoons are hampered by a dearth of nickel, as well as by inadequate facilities for rolling, A considerable amount of machinery is being put down in the cutlery factories with the object of supplementing hand labour and expediting out put ." A letter from Messrs McDonald, Scales and Go., a leading London linn, dated March 11 lii, says “All makers are more or less in the same position. We understand that for 1010 the Government had an enquiry out for three million unplated spoons. The demand for knives, forks, and razors for the armies is naturally enormous. In addition to this, most of the works are under Government control, and there is the scarcity of labour, (he impossibility of getting more men, and (he probable depletion of the present numbers for the Army, to which must be added the ever-in-creasing cost of raw material. In consequence of the foregoing, most of the makers will only accept orders at prices current at the lime of the despatch of the goods. It is quite uselesy expecting orders for the above-mentioned goods to be executed under three 1 or four months at (he earliest.”