Page 16 Advertisements Column 3

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18410, 17 June 1925, Page 16

AUCTIONS, H. MATSON AND CO. THE FOLLOWING- IS REPRODUCED BY H MATSON and CO. in their desire to • maintain the popularity o£ the LOCAL WOOL SALES, which has taken over 6<) years id establish and luring to tho state of efficiency and confidence that is ho* so weU recognised throughout tho whole of the universe, thd wi> have pleasure in reproducing ihb following letter and articlo from an Australian paper, dated 29th May, 1925:-^ THE WOOL POSITION. SOUND SENSE imoil A GROWER. "A 6QTTEALING- MINORITY." Sir,—Tho interesting article in your last week's iisiio camo very aptly as a> warning against tbo present degenerating tendency tj rush the Government for help when any adverso situation arises. It is disturbing to think that any section of Australian pastoraliat*—whoso name as a whole has hithcito been synonymous with self-reliance and courage—should ally itself with these suppliants for alms. .Fortunately, however, it ;s well known thnt the general body of woolgrowera aro not in sympathy with the present engineered agitation for Control of the Australian wool-selling industry, with Ihb avowed purpose of stabilisation, or, in other words, fixation of prices. It is hard to believe that any man of ordinary brain capacity could fci- one moment believe in tho efficacy of fixation of prices. Professedly it is propesed to take such action as will prevent pricta going too high or too low. Now, docs any sane man propose to call a halt when prices are on the up-grade and say to buyers; Thus far, and rio further? Did any grower last year feci that prices he . received were too high, nnd would the prtWiiit small noisy Section, [comprising' part of these who, unfortuntaely, did not sell, have been squealing if they, too, had been paid at the high rates? I trow not. DdC3 the disgruntled gTower, led by the nose by opportun'sts who have no real interest as pastoraKsts, ever reflect on the hound"_es3 good fortune he has enjoyed throughout the war, and subsequent troubled years—high average prices for all his produce over a long period, notwithstanding the travail and misery of msny of the countries who havo been our best customers? Does he recognise that, even how, prices are milch higher lhari he evfcr knsw thera before the war? Does he ever at'.cmpt to understand the stern> inexorable laws of economics which govern all trade, _ or to know that buyers call billy operate at prices which will enable th-sm to turn over their purchases at t, profit? Herein lies the crtix of the recent fall in values—prices were forced to .ft point beyond which manufacturers coii'd work tip the raw wool snaterial and sell their products at a profit. They had miscalculated the power or willingness to buy on the part Of the cohsuining public, wR6 lcoked for Bub?tittito fibrics at cheaper prices—aM found them. I havo before me tho monthly trade rc-j----view of England, issued by the M'dland Bank; DHL, LWkloh> at the end 6f March, and it is a sad story generally, except whtre it records increasing trade in various classes of goods where artificial silk is used. The position was misjudged hy all concerned) including tho .manufacturers of .all countries' who 1 bought our wool—arid their lpsrcs ihut-t ( be stupendous: There is ho need for hysteria en bur part, however.

The manufacturers must have time to adjust their affair's*. It is well-known that supplies of wool .'.re nob large. Wool is it necessary commodity, and will ho bought at rates) which it can' he converted into apparel, etc., and sold profitab'.y, and thorn is every ieafebh tc ijt* confident, that thdss rates will be remunerative to .growers.. Already thorfc dro indications of a better enquiry. I/et lis not losb oiir heads ahcl bo carried away with tho idea that.a ■ptbphtit has arisen among us who can fix prices. In that"-, delusion lies disaster and IoS3 to all except, the prophet. From thd days of ancient Eomo tho same chimera' has occurred to d variety of visionaries. Are there still some of us simple enough to be gtillea by siich visiShi of a promised land? If the proposals were practicable it would be logical to app'.y it to thing we produce, arid surely any thinking person,- by taking a .broad vieiw .of the position, must inevitably realise the absurdity of applying the theory to the marketing of wool. A grower might just as icasonably eUdesttftfur by. proclamation to stem tho ocean's rising tide, or by taking thought to raise his stature, as to fix thd price of wdol by ießolutidrifij supported or not by Government regulation. As a woolgrower. I, like Mr Ben Chaffey; object to the marketing of my wool being handled by unpractical theorists, and I warn the . Prints' Minister thatj before being stampeded, into action; he should discuss rnatters with ,th6s6 majit. deeply interested. Bctorc' even thirlJSng. of taking any drastic stet» in such difeetiorb tH6 Government sltotild ascttrtaiii th£ wished of those xesponSibils for th« building ujj Ht the industry, and' not listen to' a comparatively noisy iriiriorittr, wfib*6' interests its owners are negligtlilc.—Yfiijirsj .etc., ißpl&EHtf A. STATJGHTOX. Guniieaah, N/S/W.,- May 23rd. The above letter reviewed: NO 1 TIME FOR EXPBHIME-NTS. oMMoif-SEtfJ-lE Seeded. The fdregoiri* fetter 1 or? tlia Wool position by Mr Staugriton will bo thoroughly endorsed by WprfefiShtßtise woolgrowersi tbidaghdut tl» State. The wcOlgrowirie industry td w'fiich Atistfali* otf« fet> touch ms had many vici&sihides'. in the past; Wit growers have never lacked in self-reliahcoj and have" ei/er' Set trieriis'elves against otitj Side' interferejlce; They accepted "control" during the dark days 61 war. and every section was .called uTJort to sink, its indtvidualitj? jtnd.pull- in unison, arid on thai spirit of ..loyally tile success of the scheme' stood. .-'When, those who had tasted power arid pride of place sought to perpetuate] war-time methods in dayfe of peace; tho voice of the woolgrowing industry was heard in no uncertain tone; The bard-headed woolgrower, born and bred. in a spirit of self-reHifice, would have nothing to do with theoretical sclietaes to override tho inexorable law* of stipplv and demand. He wad fully sehsib'.e of what had been achieved under' the wool appraisement scheme in the war ydftis, but by ari overwhelming rndjority growers declared for normal methods, in ridrrM time's. ' Sound cbrnmori-sense' fiuidsd the'to iri re'f rising to accept any gilded pill to work miracles.' To-day the position stands unchanged. A noisy minority in the Sou thorn States' may have developed hysteria and panic because' it has been necessary, to suspend sales, but the same overwhelming majority of rcpresehiativo' growers would turn down any proposal for artificial interference' with the, market. Possibly the explanation of tlio Victorian arfitation lies in the tact that a greate'i- proportion ot crossbred wool ..is in store, arid these descriptions have, as usual, received the hardest bltiw. arid growers' ftre naturally susceptible 10 the p'rbpigaiidd of opportunists wliO' are a forlorn hofJd to secure extension Of office and power. As Our correspondent vary .aptly piita it, wool- ' growers have enjoyed boundless' good fortune driring the years of war and post-war dislocation, and a happy immunity from the troubles which have beset our best customers. As events have proved, the growers reoe'ived too much money—the prices paid have led to* n reaction and a crumbling away of the position, and in that unhappy process our wool customers > have lost immense su'iha of money. The" money they have lost is in the pockets of flic w'oolgrowers. Tho •position is unfortunate, but moro or less inevitable, and by no mean 3 Hopeless. A breathing spaco is called for to allow users to adjust their, position, but that is not all. What woolgrowtrs ato- iccruired to" do now iS ,to follow the course that has proved the <mly effective one in past periods of trial—meet the niattet. and by encouraging the free resump'tiofi of business inspire confidence in consuming centres. Prices, though" a. long way b'6.6w the pe»k level, are* still relatively high, and wool must find ifa own lovel—-a, level which w-ill permit uwSb to Kindl'9 aM w6ffc ths raw materiftl with a fail margin of profit. Efforts to fix prices at an artificial level cannot but lead to ultimate disaster, thoy must inevitably delay the return of coirfidenoe and encour»fee the us©, of substitntee,. and tho sooner thd tfoorief tfiil ifie> gate*ay« of pxospenty again, swing open to tn« woolgrowing industij^ MESSES Bt. MATROX aifd CO. art at present booking orders for wool pacts for the coming season, and ihake direct application to you, if you are a woolgrower for the handKßg of Jour" wool for the ' coming season.- Our buarnesa ia a direct and personal one, and we keep .closely irl touch with all tho Centres, and are more than efficiently pested as regards the various markets throughout tie \Worid. In fact, wo honestly believe that there is no Firm is New Zealand that makes a closer stndy of it than -mi, d 6. As heretofore, wo want ell producerg to took to ue as of old as their wiivteti their counsellor,' and their friend. "tVe •waii their business', but first and forer*»rt We iraat to he able" to give them the I eSfriee it ie possible, ind the idnoe" is lo hfiWj and where fd reaHio their product*. I. itATSON and CO.