INDUSTRIAL FIGURES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVII, Issue 8, 7 December 1926, Page 6

INDUSTRIAL FIGURES.

TANNERIES AND WOOLSCOURING.

[By Telegraph.—Special to Standard.] WELLINGTON, Dec. 7. Tho gradual decline in the demand for leather in the saddlery and harness business, duo to the increasing use of motors in preference to the horse, is one of the reasons given by-the Government Statistician in explanation of the constant drop in the activities of the tanning industry of the Dominion. The year ended March 31st last was regarded by tanners as a particularly trying period in their business, and they are unanimously of opinion that a continuance of present conditions would see a serious decline in a very few years. Other reasons given for slackness are the increased importation of boots and shoes, and also leather goods and bags, and the displacement of cheaper lines of bags by articles' in which leather substitutes are used. There are sixteen tanneries in the country, and their employees, 495 in number, have dropped by 12 per cent, in three years. This industry utilised materials valued at £443,372 during the year, and the finished value added £173,224. This represented an added value per employee of £350, though this figure was £370 in 1923-24. “These figures are very significant,” remarks the Government Statistician, “as they substantiate the statements by many tanners that their works have been working at far below normal capacity, and that -many employees have not been fully engaged.” The wool-scouring industry varies with the condition of the market, and it seems to have encountered conditions similar to those in the tanning industry, for its employees have dropped from 732 to 460 in three years. There are 41 of those establishments in the country, and they dealt with material valued at £1,797,000. the added value per employee being assessed at £740. the statistician commenting that the industry has, so far as its employees are concerned, quickly adapted itself to the changing conditions brought about by tho fall in wool prices.