COST OF FURNITURE.

Taihape Daily Times, 8 October 1919, Page 3

COST OF FURNITURE.

REASONS FOR INCREASE.

DUNEDIN, Oct, 6.

Inquiiy. was ma-cle to~da_v concerning l the remarkable increases whi'e.h have] taken place in the cost of all classes of 1 house furnissliings. One of the causes] is the Shol't'%ltge of labour. Before the war there was a shortage of labour inlthe furniture trade throughout the Do-‘ minion. In years gone by the employers offered little or no Objection to the limiting of the nu.mbei- of apprentices, because they could always ucbtzzsin the services of t.ra.ined men .t'roln Home, and it was, ll1.1!0l'f()2'C, unnecessary to train apfirentiees, who,| moreover, were 'l'egal'(led. as unprofit~‘i able. They virtually gave away the position without realising what they were doing. Then came the war, and the shortage of faotory ste.fi's in com.l_mon with those of many other industries was further acceiitliated. On the termin:l,tion of the war some of the men who went abroad did not return, others came back incapacitated. and not a few showed a preference for outdoor occupation. The employers have alm. had to meet. increases in the direc-

iion of a. rise in wages, an incrnnsc of E'»‘_;(l an hour having been granted since 1914, representing an advance of 33 1-3 per cent on the wages bill of five years ago.

“I do not know how -many men could be absorbel in the furinture trade in Dunedin 'to—d.'.>.y,” said the speaker. “but as the result ofacensus taken in Chl'istc}nlljc.ll recently it was ascertain ed that permanent. employment could be found for 64: men in the various factories. The same nuln‘bel' could prob ably be zabsofbcd in Dunedin. Al the present time mos": of HlO houses cannot fulfil uny’rlling in the way of large or Inodem’m orders in less than a Inont‘h’s t'mle.” Information was supplied showing the gl'e_at increases in the l.an‘do.d cost of Ina'tel'i.alS.

The v<=enon»iv, aspect of the n'm‘rt‘-31‘ was r:\fel'red, to by one Inanufaeturer. “There is too much -money about,” he said, “and even :it the greatly increasev.l'pl'ices which are prev.ai.ling‘ vthe demand is greater than we can supply. Money possesses an inflated value» at the present time, as compared with goods, and in the last analysis the people have thenlse]ves -to blame. For a long time I tried to ward off the ino.l'e.ases in the prices of our goods. but in view of the demand I found it quite impossible to I'estl'ic*t them. Notwithstanding the, prices, young people setting up homes insist on having furniture as good as the next person, and the bill often would have staggered _their parents.”