The Daily News. FRIDAY, JULY 4, 1919. THE PRICE OF CLOTHING.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 July 1919, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, JULY 4, 1919. THE PRICE OF CLOTHING.

It would seem that the time has arrived for a searching inquiry into the cost of production as compared with the charge to the consumer. According to Mr. "W. D, Lysnar, there is not more than half a crown's worth of wool in a yard of cloth. The High Commissioner has forcibly condemned the exploitation of woollen goods in Britain, and pointed out that while New Zealand is only charging Britain fifty-five per cent, over prewar prices for wool, British manufacturers are selling at four times pre-war prices. From one point of view this profiteering is a question for the British Government to deal with effectively, but from another point of view it affects New Zealand very materially, inasmuch as the raw material is in part produced in the Dominion, and the wool growers naturally feel aggrieved at such a price as six shillings a pound being obtained at an auction of wool in Britain, while the price obtained in New Zealand on sale to the Imperial Government would hardly average one shilling and sixpence per pound, the storage and other charges not exceeding an additional sixpence per pound. Admitting that the commandeer during the war proved advantageous to the wool growers, it is only a fair proposition that whatever profits arose from placing any of the commandeered wool on the market should be divided between the producers and the Imperial Government, and not allowed to be grabbed by middlemen. According to the Dominion Year Book, the value of yarns, apparel, hosiery, drapery, woollen and textile piece goods imported from Britain in 1916 was £2,609,210, and" the question arises whether most of this money should be kept in the Dominion, instead of being «ent away. Mew Zealand needs.

more industries, and wherever it | is possible to utilise raw materials instead of exporting them to be manufactured and returned for distribution, this course should be adopted. It is a wasteful and unjustifiable policy to send so much money out of the country every year. This is only one of the many economic questions that need examination with a view to practical remedies being evolved. The most urgent need, however, is for a businesslike, practical and progressive Government, able and willing to initiate and carry through an enlightened policy of reconstruction, so that the public may at least obtain some relief from the present oppressive cost of living, and that the industries of the Dominion be placed on a satisfactory footing.