CHILDREN’S FOOTWEAR.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 December 1921, Page 5

CHILDREN’S FOOTWEAR.

MASSED PRODUCTION PROPOSED. LOWER PRICES POSSIBLE. By Telegraph—Press Association. Wellington, Night.. A deputation representing the Boot Manufacturers’ Federated Industrial Corporation of New Zealand submitted to the Prime Minister to-day a proposal fpr the establishment of specialised factories for the massed production cf children's footwear. It was explained that there was much material used in the industry not in sizes suitable for men's and women’s boots and shoes, and such material would be sent to a. central factory for making children’s footwear. The profits of the undertaking could be regulated by the Department of Industries and Commerce on the samp lines as those which applied to the woollen industry. It was proposed that the first specialised factory, with a capacity for 150,000 pairs a year, should be established in the South Island, and later on a factory of similar capacity could be set up in the North Island. Manufacturers asked that a duty sufficient to protect the special industry should be guaranteed for two years, but as a compromise the period for the guarantee was reduced to twelve months. The deputation gave assurances that if manufacturers received reasonable consideration specialisation in children’s footwear in massed production would necessarily make for lower prices.