TROUBLE IN THE CHAIRMAKING TRADE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8556, 15 October 1907, Page 3

TROUBLE IN THE CHAIRMAKING TRADE.

(Prom Our London Correspondent.) LONDON, August 29. More chairs are made in High Wycombe than in any other place in the United Kingdom. Just now, this Buckinghamshire town is awaiting with interest the result of a conflict between the manufacturers and the War Office. Some months ago the Whitehall authorities invited tenders for 30,000 chairs required for the married men's quarters in milibarracks, and twenty tenders "were duly received from High Wycombe. It was noticed, however, that the price was the same in each case, and the military authorities came to the conclusion that there muat be a "ring 1 ," and consequently refused to accept any of these offers. That a "ring" of employers exists no one connected with tne chair-making industry in High Wycombe would deny, but it is maintained that this particular combine differs from others in that it is the outcome of an arrangement between masters and men to prevent sweating. For years past this particular contract has gone to High Wycombe, but so keen has been the competition that prices were cut down to a starvation minimum, and wages got lower and lower. The National Amalgamated Furnishing Trades' Association took the first move in the matter by suggesting that the masters .should come to some arrangement to prevent under-cutting. A meeting of the chief manufacturers in the town was accordingly held, and it was agreed that a fair price for the chairs would be 10s for the large wooden "smok-ing-room" chair, and 4s 6d for the small ordinary chair. It was admitted that these goods had been made for 7a and 3s 2d, respectively, but at that price there could be no margin of profit whatever; the workmen had to suffer accordingly, while the master did not see why he should lay out his capital for the British taxpayer for nothing. Certainly, no arrangement was made between the masters and the men as to whether the addi ■ r tional profit should be divided be--•-tween them, but the question of wages was the chief factor that led to the action of the masters in fixing what are cosidered to be fair prices. One of the leading makers was interviewed on the subject and stated . that "in deciding upon the price, the very first question we considered was ■ that of wages. We found out what rate of pay the men would be satisfied with, and on this we based our tenders. The work-people in the trade have had a bad time of it, owing to the continuous under-cutting. The union is not very strong in High Wycombe—some of us who pay trade union rates wish it were—and consequently some of the masters, by holding out the inducement that such work is better than none at all, were able to get their men into the • shop? for small wages, and consequently tenders were low. The workmen have had to suffer, too, over the question of rejections which are very numerous under this contract, amounting to between 12 and 15 per cent, even with the best firms in the trade. The Admiralty and the Education Department of the London County Council, two very large customers of the town, now send down inspectors, who see the goods in the factories and stamp and pass them on the spot. The War Office does not do that, but the chairs have to be sent to Woolwich, where it is from six to twelve weeks before they are parsed. All this time the chairs are stored in large sheds with latticed sides, and consequently more or less exposed to wind and weather, with the result that the wood often bends. "Under the sweating system which ! has been in vogue up to the present, all these rejected chairs have to be repaired and replaced by the men without extra pay, and in their own time, and the chair-maker and polisher of course.loses money." The local branch ot the me-.'s union have held a meeting, and yesterday copies nf the resolution passed were sent to the Prime Minister and to Mr Arnold Herbert, the local M.P. It expresses strong disagreement with the action of the Government in withholding these contracts, in consequence of a movement to 3top the sweating system, not only with the men, but also the masters, and urges that the lenders be • reconsidered and given out at once. A prominent manufacturer expressed tho opinion that it would not be easy for the War Office to obtain the chairs anywhere except at High Wycombe. "They might get them from Canada," he said, "but I do not know of any place in the United Kingdom where they could be obtained. High Wycombe is the centre of the industry, and it is near London, while the freight charges elsewhere would make the price work out at higher than 4s Gd, our figure ■ here. This, we consider is the only price at which we can pay good wages, use good material, and have a fair margin of profit. The War Office could probably get Austrian bentwood chairs, but in my opinion they would not be as serviceable and as suitable for the purpose for which they are required as the chairs we have tendered for." So we have the fact before us that while in New Zealand the Government jdo everything possible to prevent sweating, and to keep the trade in the country, in the Old Country it is the Government which, if not actually advocating it are at all events winking at it, and profiting by it. and if the goods cannot be had at tie price required the orders must go abroad to help the foreigner to build up his business, and outown countrymen must go to the workhouse, or emigrate!