PRICES FOR DRAPERY.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 October 1920, Page 6

PRICES FOR DRAPERY.

j NO HELP FROM WOOL SLUMP. I , | TARANAKI PRICES STILL HIGH. i When women read reports from Home \ declaring that the zenith of higli prices has been reached, thai economy by pur- ; chasers is helping to bring prices down, and that there is a large surplus of ! wool, they naturally have visions oi cheaper clothes and bargains in drapery. , - But enquiries made in New Plymouth : by a Daily News reporter destroy all ; their hopes, and drapers tell another ■ '.-.i.'.iry in this way.— While the fall in the price of raw mat- : erial must eventually effect the manufactured article, it must be remembered that for the present tho increase in wages more than counter-balances the slump in raw materials. Although the demand for wool at Home has been ex- : eei'ded to date by something like 2,- : 000,000 bales with a consequent fall in ( : prices, quotations for manufactured wool--1 lens are higher to-day thtyj ever be- : fore, and this is attributable to the fact : that the only element contributing to a i' decrease in the cost of the production of ' manufactured woollens is the small drop in the price of raw wool. : Another factor that must be considered is that certain grades of wool such j us coarse crossbreds, in which the slump | is most appreciable, are now receiving j little attention from buyers, ihe greatest i demand being for line merinos. The pubj lie seem to have cultivated the habit of : purchasing only the finer and more exj pensive classes of woollens, and while ; this practice obtains the manufacturers must produce to satisfy the popular ile- ; mand, so that, even if the cost of pr-.- : ducing the coarser fabri-s i< redmed, I they must, by the'r s rcily, remain al ; hiVs prices. j The cry a:, all sides is for a reduction, • in the price of necessities, but as far an | wearing apparel is concerned there is I .little likelihood of a marked reduction for j some considerable time. Even when the ; prices fall at Home if will be at leas 1 . ; twelve months before tlicy can be re- | duced to any extent in New Zealand, un- ' less it becomes necessary for dealers to | sell their old stocks for no profit, n i perhaps at a loss. A New Plymouth draper is at, present ' exhibiting a lone of woollen blanket manufactured in New Zealand, which an of incomparably superior quality to tin I article imported from Home, and wi ! are selling at prices up to 30 per cent. 1 below the imported goods. As it is to I expected there is no" sale for the English j goods, while the New Zealand made arti- : cle is procurable. This, of course, has i & very desirable effect in encouraging I local manufacture, and at the same time, means a considerable saving to the pub lie. As for cotton goods, it is impossible to predict the trend of prices, but it would seem to be ever upward. Quotations from Home point to prohibitive prices in many lines, and consequently impoverished stocks in all draperies.