YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2386, 16 February 1915, Page 9

YORKSHIRE LETTER

CROSSBREDS IN DEMAND

AMERICA SENDING WOOLS TO

GERMANY

(From Our Bpccial Correspondent ) Bradford, Januajy 1, 1915. The year is just opening, and naturally with .the recent holidays, business caJ) hardly be said to have assumed normal dimensions. Stock-taking is general, and wo lind that on the whole people have not had ft very bad year. Of course, the last five months have largely compensated for the lean months Been earlier in 1911, the war having brought about conditions which are certainly of no mean order. Everybody has had to look at things in a very unexpected way on account of the war, and we certainly think things cannot go on many months longer, as they have been doing. Still the duration of the war will be the all-determining factor, and so long as we have millions of men engaged in fighting, there cannot be any material alterations in tho standing of merinos and crossbreds. The boom in the latter continues, and there is no change to note in (the standing of merinos, which, to use a sporting term, are riding /very easy, all because of adquate supplies being in prospect, and because the Home trade \is altogether unable to deal with the wools available. The writer this week visited a laige mill just on the outskirts of Bradford, the principal calling him in to see the wool bought at the recent London 6ales. - Nothing bint merino wools are used in normal times, bat to-day seventy-five per cent, of the spindles and looms are busily engaged on khaki, which means that merinos have been pushed to one side, and New Zealand- 6lipes dominate everything. The merino wools bought in December in London looked cheap to what one has been accustomed to paying, but the slipes are "stinking dear." That is really the situation, and explains the comparative weakness of merinos. Consumption of crossbred scannot piocced nt the present rate without materially crippling merinos, and although prices of fine wools have come down very considerably, we shall be greatly surprised if they do not move to a still lower level.

The Embargo. The continuance of the embargo is giving rise to considerable feeling in some quarters, and the difficulty of obtaining licenses for shipment is a matter which is of serious concern to shipping houses, part cularly in Bradford. There are several firms in this city who have important connections with Norway, Sweden, Russia, Spain, and Italy, and not only is their business lost in Germany, Belgium, and France, but they cannot do trade with neutral countries. 11 hat amazes us most is that partly manufactured articles which are not suitable for array fabrics ..cannot be shipped, especially when Norway has given a Government guarantee that nothing of a woollen nature will be allowed to be re-exported to any country. It is not for us to question the voracity of. such a guarantee, but one might argue that the goods can he sold from Norway to Sweden and go overland, and we believe that bweden also has placed an embargo upon ttte export of wool and its products, this only helping to make a difficult situation worse. That is really the crux of the whole question, and it is a pity that the Board of Trade cannot .see its way to allow shipments a little more freely tnan has hitherto been the case. Of course, tne difficulty is in providing the trado.with raw material, 1 this alone being, the reason for the continuance of a strict embargo. A few licenses have heen granted to shipping houses, and we understand that some merino yarns as well as wastes have been shipped to Prance, but in view of the fact that Germany has comandeered all the wool in such towns as Roubaix, Tourcoino-, Reims, and Lille, one has to be careful that further supplies are not allowed to be sent to those districts. No doubt the Board of Trade is up against a very serious problem, and it is wise lor them' to err on the side of Btrictness. .

American Woolj for Germany. The question which is commanding most attention this week is undoubtedly the Tenor,t that Boston has shipped something like 1000 bags of American torntory wools to Bremen, and tvo contend that this has put the clock back very considerably in regard to shipments of merinos from this country to. the United States. This one act alone has shown clearly the desire of at least one important party to sell wool to England s greatest enemy, and that has certainly for the time being made matters worse. It is generally reported on this side that the shipment has been made by a German firm in New England, bnt it.shows clearly that they are 'going to stick at nothing which will help Germany. We believe that wool is contraband of war, and although the material has been shipped there is no absolute certainty that it will reach its destination. TVe have maintained all along tnat the Government at Washington could havo helped very matetially to lift the embargo in favour of the United States if they had' givi!n guarantees that no wool, tops, yarns, or piece goods would be sent to Europe with the exception of Russia and France, but no'doubt there are difficulties in the way of thiu being done, particularly when the United States is a neutral" country. The shipment of this wool to Bremen has opened the eyes of the whole of the textile trade of Great Britain, showing them the intention of some of the American wool houses, and as already said u:e. certainly think that it has further delayed the raising of the embargo. Wh?n wool from South America begins to enter Boston and New York, one wonders if big weights will be shipped to Germany, and that _is what many are fearing after the incident referred to above. News has come to hand from an important centre that German soldiers wherever possible are stripping their dead, and so trying to save all the clothing they can, a proof that they are feeling the pinch of war materials.

Rainproofs, Jiwt before the. holidays manufacturers in the Leeds distriot received a very ur'gent visit from the Government authorities who were seeking tliin Taiuproof cloths for making into gloves for the soldiers at the front. One mill, to which we know a visit was paid-lato on'a Saturday afternoon, sold all they possessed, and could havo sold a few thousand more pieces had tliey been in stock, (lie price paid being about 2s. 6d. a yard, 55 inches wide. It may be said' tiiat there cannot be a great deal about cloths at such a price, but tho reader would be surprisad with the values there is. in them. They are mostly made from cotton twist and' a shoddy woollen weft, and when rain-proofed they do very nicely for mantle or overcoating purposes. For soldiers at the, front who require to have their hands well covered, and yet not with too thick material, so as to bo able to use their fingers, these rainproofs will do admirably. Out of a yard of cloth of the width mentioned a fair number of good gloves may be made, and it appears that all these thin rainproof clothk have been commandeered for tho purpose named. A few weeks before that all the gabardine cloths were bought up for making overalls for the troops at the front, and' no doubt they will serve a very good purpose, being very useful when made into capes or large overcoats. It is really amazing what clearances manufacturers have been able to affect on account of the war, all well-made thick heavy cloths having been bought, the result being that when the war terminates stocks of practically everything will be about exhausted, and if the war. continues well into next summer, wholesale ..clothiers and woollen merchants itili be hard put to it to meet their usual season's trade, becanse manufacturers at the moment are unable to copo with their regular trade.

Market Slow. The market has been largely attended by a holiday influence, and not much change can lie reported. Some think that merinos are a little firmer than they were, but to be candid the writer can buy G4't> tops quite as cheap as at any time before the holidays, and after all an actual market value is the test of everything. For spot delivery good fil's can now be bought at 25d., and for a short fine top evon 2s. will purchase considerable quantities. There have been

I big weights sold for February-March and April delivery at 24d. for a good top. Crossbreds aro receiving as much attention as anything. _ The question of shipments and deliveries of wool is the allabsorbing topic, and business is still being; put through, though not in_ big weights. It is hard to say what is an actual buying basis, that depending upon the position of the topmaker. Shipments from New Zealand and Buenos Ayres are tlio problem of tho hour, while delay in English cargoos is outrageous. A good 50's top is worth to-day 24d., though 23d. will buy for February-March delivery. 'l'hat is tho scarcest quality on the market to-day, but all things considered the position is sound in so far as crossbrcds are concerned. As already indicated, no cannot see merinos making any more money, and think that we shall still see a trifle lower price.