THE LINEN KING.

Taihape Daily Times, 8 July 1919, Page 3

THE LINEN KING.

LONDON, June 16. N In View of ‘the world sca.rc.ity Of linen many people feared that there would be greatproflteering monopoly when it wasannounwced that the Gov—‘ ernmentfilnad sol-d to Leonard Martin,‘ a young business man of Llmd!on','~, ' 40,000,000 yards of surplus linen to}; £4,000,000. 4 _ Mr Martin, ‘whose frankness and accessibility :t‘o interviewers, has disarmed critieisim, and said, “There won-’t be any profiteering ai; far as I am concerned. The bulk of the linens made in Belfast since the armistice ,‘were intended mainly for the construction of aeroplanes. The manufacturers, who were not allowed to cancel the orders lilaced with them, offered to buy the goods at 1/ a yard. I paid .2/ a yard. The Belfast manufacturers awaited a sacrifice ‘bargain; I jumped the position offering a fair deal. I will now probably undersell Belfast. ‘lf I make M £1,000,000 the Government will ‘take £650,000 in taxatoin.” '