COTTON INDUSTRY.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16426, 21 January 1919, Page 7

COTTON INDUSTRY.

FUTURE PROSPECTS

Considering the stupendous scale ol which the great war was waged, it ap pears, on the surface of it, extraordinary that we in New Zealand, durinj the four long years which it lasted have been &o well supplied with th< necessities of life at quite approachablt pricos. However, it is "quite possibl< that wo are not yet "through th< wood," and this would certainly appeal to be tho case as regards cotton goods according to facts which a representa tivo of "The Press" gleaned from £ business man of wide experience, whe is visiting the Dominion on behalf o. one of Lancashire's largest cottoi manufacturing firms. 1-4., This gentleman, ono of the object, of whose visit is to find out the bes way to supplv tho local market witl cotton goods of English pijqduction said that there had been a certain sys tern of trade in this lino worked upoi hitherto that was rather cumbersome All patterns had come out throug London, and all orders had gone Hoim through London. There was no desin to disturb the order part of tho business, but it was hoped to get into touch with Now Zealand concerns, anc have samples here more quickly heretofore. Knowledge of exactly th< best means of organising the local mar ket economically was wanted. "The present and immodiate pros pects of the cotton trade would sur prise most New Zealanders, said o informant. "The prices we .are requir in" for all classes of cotton goods an high. Tho raw material is scarce, anc four times pre-war rates. ages 11 Lancashire are very much'higher tha they usod to be, and there is no pros pect of these being brought to a loivei scale. Fully 75 per cent, of the laboui omployed in the cotton industry i! female—" „ , "Will not the release of thousands o women munition workers create compe tition- and reduce wages?' interjectet tho reporter. . , . "No," he roplied. "The industry 1. an expert one, and competition enter: but little into the wages question. Ih< unions are strongly organised, .and 1 reduction of wages is unlikely. xi< went on to say that when tho presen stock of cotton goods held in New Zea land (was exhausted, similar goods woulc not be procurable at anything like tn< samo prices. As an illustration of tin point, ho mentioned that a suit whicr was worth about four guineas coulc now command eleven guineas in Eng Touching upon the muctydiscussec question of trade with Germany, h< said that the prospects of any suet thing as regards the cotton trade wert very remote. Germany had no rav materials, and when she at length became re-organised as a manufacturing nation, she would be on a differeni footing with regard to the wages prop lem. The old stylo of competition ir German industry had been very largely neutralised. "As regards America, n< continued, "she will, of course, bo ar element for our consideration, but speaking from what I learned from £ visit to the cotton manufacturing districts there after the armistice was signed, I can say that American cottor goods were on a higher level as regard: prices than Lancashire cotton goods ai the present time." ■ The question of preferential trade with tho dominions would, of course remain unsettled until after the Peac< Conference, he continued, but he founc in New Zealand very heavy stocks, ol cotton goods of all classes. They hac been purchased for much lower prices than those which obtained to-day,_ anc they wore being sold on the basis _01 1916-17 prices. Thus the local positior ivas temporarily good, but at the sourc* jf supply, Lancashire, stocks were low, and a big world demand was being Faced. It was not practicable now t< 3-veicise preferonce as regards supplies flie man who "got in first" would hav< tho best chance Immodiate require tnents would be very difficult to satisfy, [t would be at least nine months befor< the scarcity of raw materials was al all relieved, and when the new c'oi jame forward there would "bo a rush foi it by the world's manufacturing con serns, which would tend to keep price* up. If the crop was a poor one th( position would be most unfortunate. A the present time all cotton in Englanc was under the control of the Cottor Control Board, and it would probabl] remain so until the supply of cottoi squalled the demand. Asked about the possibilities of competition from America and Japan, «ui informant stated that he believed thai buyers in New Zealand were patriotic snough to prefer the British article s< long as it was on about the same basis jf price as the others. He did not re ?ard Japan's competition as a bi f factor. "I think that the re-organisa-tiori of business ideas in America will be very similar to our own at Home, ind that, with the higher cost of proiuction and the high price of raw materials, Britain will be to the forefront ;n this market. Of course, one of the results of tho war will be that the price Of labour will come to a more lommon level internationally than ever jefore, and this should result in more liability of value.''