CLOTHING COSTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17690, 30 July 1919, Page 7

CLOTHING COSTS

SHORTAGE OF MATERIAL. NO IMMEDIATE PROSPECT OF DECLINE lis 1 PRICE. If the prioo of clothing soars much !v^? Cr . ,1° to tw n reasonable pros-I-ct ot Mr r v. Eraser's remarks irom Uia magisterial Jiench iu reject to the class oi oloUim g a man will bo compelled to wear couuug Uuo (romy*, lllu i%ow Zea . IjjiU liinesj. During mo iiearing oi a recent 01 viJ casa it was pointed uui that a fauu ot clonics tnat cc«t ixi 10 £i 12 months ago now costs JJI'J iOo, and there was oveiy prospect oi tii c price advancmg stii. ngnt-r. i'liis led Mr jbYazer, 6.M., to say that jieoplo might have to go about clothed m a fiUJD oi blue paint. Kogarcling- trio prwe of suitings, a Times lepurtcr interviewed jsomo oi tne \Vc-llui'r-toll wholesale imporiers of tweeds with tne object of learning tho cause of the present position. 1 J.aero is_ our stock of tweeds/' observed one importer, " and I think you will agree Wl .,- >, lilo , nl at tha position speaks lor lt«?it. iho stock referred to consisted of three rolls of twoed, the quality ot whicli would not have ploased tlio critical eye o« the " knut." it was of New Zealand manufacture, and prior to tho war could be purchased from the mills at 3s 6d per yard. J-his quality of tweed," said the manager ot tho department, "was not sold bv the firm by the yard, but was used in the" making up of.ready-made clothing. It is now. however, too expensive for that purpose. wholesale pneo is 16s per yard, arid commands a ready sale." When questioned lcgardmg oilier articles of clothing, tho warehouseman stated that he did not anticipate a uecjuno in prices for a long way ahead. It was impossible to procure adequate stocks to fill requirements and the ad\ice received from tho English markets was not of a very hopeful nature. Portions ot the goods ordered prior to the war had lecently been landed, but the prices had advanced tremendously. The raw material market was unstable, and one week advice was received that the price of cotton had declined, and tho next that it had risen again. Until the world's trade got back to normal ana the depleted stocks were replenIS ; le( i clothing material would remain at a high figure, and probably never would be as low in price as it was in tho early part of 1914. HUNGERING FOR MATERIAL. "The trade is simply hungering . for material," remarked the manager of ono of ™® _ largest wholesale clothing departments in Wellington. "Look at the fixtures, they are absolutely bare, and I have not the slightest idea, when they will be filled agyiu. _j iUO ex P Gcti '!S a f ew parcels of ready-

mado clothing in. the shape of rainproof and other classes of overcoats, but' thev are all sold bafore they arrive. The quality of these goods, compared with the price, is disappointing, and cotton plays an important part in their manufacture. It is a case, however, of take them or leave them, and beggars cannot be choosers. I know the publio are apt to blame the wholesales forthe high price of material, but if they were fully seized with the facts thoy would change their opinion. The warehouses are simply starving for stocks, and every endeavour is being mado to procure them." MILLS CANNOT COPE WITIi THE DEMAND. "We are in touch with practically every woollen manufacturing firm in Great Britain," said the manager of another wholesale house. "Just read some of these communications and it will give you some idea as to the state of the English market." One of the communications read: " Will accept a limited number of orders for serges, &>ut for no other woollen materials. 11 1-his was followed a week later by advice stating that no orders would be accc-pted for any class c f material, and advice of a similar nature was received from other manufacturers. Continuing, the manager said: " Fortunately we iiave been able to obtain fair stocks of linings, but if the suitings cannot bo procured the demand for linings cannot be jrreat. All the stock we have at present is three or four bolts of serges, the value of which is over £1000. and a small quantity of costume material. Here are a few yards of silk-finished worsted suiting. It cost 3s 9d per yard in England prior to the war, and now costs 19s per yard and is unprocurable at that price. The "New Zealand mills

turn out a fine class of material. In fact it is too good, as_ it is all wool. A little cotton mixed with it would harden it up and improve its wearing quality. The mills are either liojt able to prooure the cotton or have not the special machinery necc-ssary for weaving the material No doubt this defect, if it can bo called such, will be remedied, but in tho past it was not considered necessary to introduce cotton, as the" New Zealand mills prided themselves on the ' all wool' quality of their goods, but tho time is surely coming .when it will be I compulsory to mix cotton with certain classes of material in order to keep pace with outside competitors. No! the New Zealand mills cannot supply anything like the demand for stocks received from tiie warehouses, and the output is distributed pro rata to the various firms. When parcels are received the tailors are supplied in the only way possible, in the circumstances —that is, by cutting tho material up into suit lengths. After tho receipt of a shipment the warehouse is depleted of stocks within a day or two, and the orders now in hand cannot be filled, even by reducing the quantities to a minimum, before the end of December. The position is such that it has got.beyond a questoin of price. If an improvement is not brought about there will bo no work (or travellers. The work in tho warehouses is only of a spasmodic nature. The other day we received an order for a suit length of cloth from a client in the South Island. Two years ago the material inquired for was sold at 15s per yard, and £2 10s per yard was offered for it without success. It was anticipated that prices would decline in England when the arnpstico was signed, hut those hopes have notbeen realised. Instead the prices have advanced, and, as someone said, ' there is always a lise before a fall.' I Fully anticipate that ;by the end of the year t-he cost of clothing material will drop considerably. When that is brought about tho New Zealand manufactured article will also fall in price, as the English market controls that of tho dominion."