YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1258, 13 October 1911, Page 8

YORKSHIRE LETTER.

GERMANY'S LARGE TRADE IN WOOL AND TEXTILES. (From Our Special Correspondent.* Bradford, August 25, 1911. Tho figure Germany cuts in (he wool and textile world is n. very important one, and'this is well-known by not only Australian wool-growers, but by everyone frequenting the sale room of cither Coleman Street, or any selling centre in the Commonwealth. It may lie said witli considerable truth that the principal buyers of colonial wools are England, ]• ranee, and Germany, ('lie last-named country being tho second largest, purchaser ot Austra-lasian-grown wool?. 1 am only sorry that I. cannot' lay my hands upon the official German statistics showing the quantities of wool imported in English pounds lrom pll quarters, vuv figures only relating to I lie exports of "wool direct from Australia and the ports of Great Britain. These no doubt are valuable as far as they go, but to gain a comprehensive view of tho whole facts, out w,ants tho official returns of tho British Board of Trade, and these are not. available. However, sufficient data is to hand to give the reader some idea of tho consumptive capacity of tho latherland, and the facts and figures prove conclusively the important part German spinners and manufacturers play in consuming wool. These thoughts are the direct outcome of a few items which have come to hand from Germany during the past' few days, the following paragraph appearing in (he Yorkshire "Observer' last Wednesday, and coming from Berlin:— "The sheep-rearing industry has for a number of years been steadily decreasing in Germany. Some twenty years ago the number of sheep on German farms reached 25,000,000; it has gradually melted away to 5.000,000. This decrease in the head of sheep has proceeded simultan- - eously with a rapid growth of the German consumption of wool, the number of worsted spinning spindles being practically quadrupled within twenty years, and the consumption of wool rising from roughlv 50,000 tens in 1873 io 200.000 tons to feed about 2,500,000 spindles. In other words, Germany is now the second largest wool" consumer, and absorbs onefourth of ' the total world's ■ production. These facts have engaged for some time the attention of German-colonial circles, who are at present redoubling their efforts to '• promote, wool I'rowine in their own country 111 order—as thev put it—to protect the German woollen trn!le froiii a highly dangerous dependanee upon foreign suuplies of raw material. "The German-Moroccan wool-sheep growing syndicate, which has been in existence for a year or so, states in its annual report that it had entered into relations with the Mannosmann Brothers from the beginning of its existence, and with them had founded an experimenting concern- - the Morocco* Sheep-growing Company, Ltd. The purpose was to utilise the large tracts 1 of laud acquired by Mannesman!! Bros, in ; Southern Morocco for sheep-growing, as , soon as politics had settled down, the | syndicate bslicves that in this it will be i successful, especially as most natives are ; already growing sheep tot wool on a small ! scale. ' The activity o£ the syndicate will be directed chiefly in tho improvement 01 the sheep, to the forming of large flocks, and to a more business-liko handling of the wool. The Mr.nuesmanh Brothers are the people whosa operations in. Morocco have led.to the interference of Germany in Agadir." ' It will bo seen from the above that there has-been a great reduction in tht number of sheen depastured in Germany, and although oitlv five million are spoken nt as existing to-dav, yet. the latest ojficial'figures I find give a return of 7,703,710 sheep. However, even that number is small, and considering that the geographical'area of Germany is larger than Great Britain, there ought to be depastured at least 20 million sheep. Ope cannot but hope that if an effort is made to increase its sheep stocks, it will receive support of its own agricultural authorities, for the world wants raoro wool-producing animals. / GREAT BRITAIN'S TRADE WITH GERMANY. That this country conducts weekly a big trade in wool, tops aud yarns, goes without saying, aud 1 will try. in this letter to give the reader an intelligent idea of tho extent of that trade. At tho same time, let no one' suppose that wo take nothing from Germany, for a "certain quantity o£ raw wool is imported overy year. This, indeed, docs seem ftran»c when so little is produced, but I lake it that tho bulk of the imports • will lie Australian wool that is offered at 1 the Bremen sales, or a few lines of imports which aro sent on to' London for resale. I give the latest available particulars showing • tho imports of the sheep and lambs' wool during tho past four years:— IMPORTS OF WOOL FROM GERMANY. ■ Year. Its. Year. lbs. 100G 4,080,000 190S 1.627.C00 ! 1907 3,8011,000 1009 2,918,000 It will bo seen from tho above that tho quantity is not large, and less is sent to i this country when holders in Germany 1 can make a profit at home. i Great Britain's trade with Germany ! consists of large shipments of tops, noils, anil yarns. In fact, Germany is one of I England's best customers, and it will bo > a dark day for many firms in Bradford 1 when The Fatherland ceases to take the j items already mentioned. I do not know anv more important contributing force to j the prosperity of Worstcdopolis than the , immense trade which is done weekly with ) Geruianv. Tho reader may not know, but '■ the pres'ent Lord Mayor of Bradford is a 1 German, and the heads of some of the largest and wealthiest business houses aro really Germans, but nationalised Englishmen. I am only sorry that official figures are not availablo to the ,end of 1010, but I give them below to the latest dates obtain- ' able. Tho following.are particulars showin" what Great Britain has exported to The Fatherland during tho past few years :— EXPORTS OF BRITISH-GROWN WOOL TO GEKMANY 1907. 1008. ' 1909. 1010. : lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. 0,387,000 2,960,000 , S.KHi.OOO ■ 5,«0,UC0 COLONIAL AND FOREIGN WOOL RE-EXPORTED TO GERMANY. • 1907. 100 S. 1909. 1010. lb*. lbs. lbs. lbs. 3 89,136,000 91,210,000 90,509,000 02,512,003 It •will be seen from the above that Germany is'a large buyer of colonial and foreign wool in England, and tho figures . can be taken to represent principally purchases in Loudon. What English wool i is shipped all goes through Bradford, and is mostly represented by clean scoured descriptions, it being futile to export greasy iieeces when all raw material goes in free. , ,r> l 3 The most important branch of Great ! Britain's trade with The Fatherland is I in'semi-manufactured materials, and here 6 wo have 'some sterling figures. The fcls lowing shows tho' quantities and values :, which have been sent during the past ■■ thrcs years:— 5 Export of Shoddv, Mungo, etc.-lOOS: • 2,138.7001b., JE59.135. 1909: 2,l)81,3C01b„ 0 ,£61,780. 1910: Return not furnished. Wool - Wn4e.-100S: 1,741,3001b.. JCBS.G7O. 1909: 1 ».5.V'.2001b.. £W,m. 1010: Return not fur--0 niched. Wool Flocks.—l9oß: : 892,0001b., ' .£9295. l!)0fl.:'fl.T:,n0Olb.. ,89192. 1910: Re--1 turn not furnished., Wool. Noil?.—1908: ' 5.835,9001b.. .£312,219. 1909: 7,401,5001b., f X41G.691. 1910: Return not furnished. 11 Exports of Combed or Carded Wool and 1 ll,t)fi2,OO01b„ X 727..207. 1909: S M,535,fi991b., .£925,810. 1910: Return not '" furnished. 1 Export of Warded Yarn.-1908: -31,847,- ; 1001b.,'.£2,785 1 8fi5. 190 , J:-3fi,()52,5001b,-.£2,912-, 0 819. 1910: 39,2-15.000, .£3,(517,689. 1 Export of Mohair and Alpaca Yarn.— 0 1008: 9,1(i1,G00!b., .£1,211,229. 1909: 10.592,0 1001b., .£1,308,598. 1910: 11.953,500, .£1,503,5 155. . 1 Export of Woollen Yarn.—l9oß: -151,£O01b„ J.-33.12G. 1909: 851i,0991b. JCso,fio-l. : 1910: Return not furnished. Yarn of Hair or Wool (not enumeratJ,8U,3001b., "X 156.028. 1909: '• 5,31G,5001b., X185.G55. 1910: Return not furnished. Exports of Woollen Tissues.—l9oß: 4,259-, 700 yds., 411,100,250. 1909: 4.307,900yd5., .£1.190,255. 1910: G,157,700vd5„ ,£1,655,101. Exports of Worsted Tissues.—l9oß: 1,G41',700yd5., .£376,997. 1909: 1.731,000yd5., ■ .£421,839.. 1910: 1,870,400yd5.. X41G.47G. I say tho above provides food for _ thought to every reader of this issue, and it shows from a commercial standpoint the close relationship that exists between this country and our friends on tho Continent, j