CLOTHING PRICES CUT.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3479, 6 May 1920, Page 4

CLOTHING PRICES CUT.

In connection with Government pretensions to keep down the cost. of living it will prove interesting to watch what influence the announcement of Mr Mallaby-Dceley, M.P., will have upon Profitcering Committees and Boards of Trade, _This British Member of Parliament, disgusted with the extortion and dissombling of traders, has purchased the entire output of three large clothing factories, and is advertising suits at from half to one—quartcr what is being charged by profiteers. He is sending out ranges of patterns to customers for suits costing from £2 17/6 to £4 17/6, the latter being the maximum. price. Mr Mallaby-Deeley is not giving anything away, he is out for profit, and he is anxious to book all the business he can secure at. the prices named. It should be noticed that the usual middleman, ring or corribine is not being dispensed with, for Mr .Deel-3;; is himself the middleman, takizig a profit between the manufacturer and the consumer. It would be il1J!)llI1Rting to know what iiianufaotzxrers could sell mcn’s suits at if they dealt directly with their customers by dcl-.:t-ing Mr Deeley, M.P. Anyway, it is somewhat gratifying to discover :1 middleman with some pretence of having a conscience. It is revolting to one’s commonsense and judgm»:-nt';lD to be told that good quality of worsted cannot be bought from Inanuf.actarel's in New Zealand at less than five or six pounds the suit length, when really good quality worsted suits are made and rctailed at £4 17/6 in England. Wool is, if anything, much cheaper in this Dominion than it. is in Britain, and yet a. suit of (-lofihcs costing £lO here is retailed for about £3 10/ in England. It is appa.:en‘.: that if 3300 per cent is being made out of wool in Britain, the -saine profit is being made from wool in; New Zealand, and, for the goo._-1-narnc‘ of Dominion".traders, it, -is about flme something really earnest and honest

was attempted tlivé-“lfilthorities to stop price and profit ~whirling ~.';-mt threatens the very foundations of society. No doubt. an .efi'ort will be made to persuade workers in this Dominion that Mr Mallaby--Dooley is a clothing manufacturer, vir'tua.lly making 5000 suits and 5000 overcoacs a week to sell at, less than the nltl.to:'ial cost him. But Mr Mallaby-Deelcy, M.P., is not a clothing manufacturer at :..11. He saw an opportunity to make money by selling nlen"s'suifs, and he‘ went and bought‘up the entire output of three large factories; he is at middleman pure and simple. The only difference bet-wen him and the other kind is that audacious lying about cost of material is no part of his stock-in--trade, and he is probably satisfied with 50»or 100 per cent profit for goods rings and combines squeeze 1000 per cent from. The :Lll-i1np01'l:-ant aspect of Mr Mallaby-D‘eeley’s announcement to New Zealanders is that they are being exploited by lying and cheating of an alrno::‘;. unbelievable clmracter, for the story that a suit length cannot be nianui-ac~ tured for less than four or five pounds is no longer tenable. Twceds and worsteds can be made and marketed in New Zealand at as low a prize as they can in Britain, and there is no longer any just cause for Government to assist in exploitation by :e‘.ai:.ing a duty on woollens that produces such vicious results, It seems that woollen mil} owners are making the workers reap'tllc result of their folly in consenting to allow such people to grow rich on protective 4 duties which tend towards making woollen goods so costly that they cannot buy them. If Mr Mallaby-Deeley, M..P., can act as middleman, buying llnisheil clothing from factory owners who have’ to purchase tweeds and worsreds from woollen mill owners, why is It middleman in New Zealand, uulcr similar trarling conditions, cannot sell suits at :1 maximum price retziil of £4 17/6, or at a nliniln.u;n of £2 17/6‘? This British Meinber cf Parliament has stepped into the tra<l~— ing arena against the proiitccr, and has succeeded in cutting the profiteer’s prices in half, who will lune the courage in this Dominion to do likewise? The cost lie bubble has been pricked by a Member of Parliament; it is now beyond dispute that tweeds and wol'sterls~ can be bought at a reasonable price, made into suits and sold retail at a reasonable price in Britain; will the Board of Trade, Government or Profiteering Committees in this Dominion take steps to ascertain how prices here become so dispp:oportion‘atc with those adyertised by Mr Mall:lbyDeeley, M.P.i‘ ’