OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2772, 16 May 1916, Page 8

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER

WHY WOOL SELLS SO ItEAD'ILY

By Telegraph- Special Correspondent. _. Bradford, March 23, 1910. Ihe registering of such high prices as we havo seeu this year cannot but make one wonder in a moment of quiotness what users are going to do with the wools they have purchased, and it certainly raises a very interesting topic, i-ho writer has heard many a man say that dearer wool must necessarily mean dearer clothes, and no doubt that is so. SSo one need be surprised at having to pay 10s. to 15s. more per suit than tliey did two years ago for a similar 'article, and no one ..must grumble, liven shoddy has risen 30(1 to 400 per cent. A manufacturer remarked to the writer only ten days ago that lie was paying lid. per lb. for miuigo which cost him 3d. in 191-1, the article at the latter price beinu better than what is being delivered today. It is a fact that rags, niungo, and shoddy have risen anywhere from 200 to G N OO per cent., whereas merino wool has not risen on an average more than 75 per cent. This may look strange on the surface, but the fact is there, and after all although wool is certainly dear, yet, relatively speaking, it is a cheaper- article than the bye-products of the trade. The difference seems to come in when greasy wool shrinking half-weight is selling at Is. 6d. per lb. instead of half the price, and after all it is in an article like a solid worsted sorgo made from pure new wool where the increased cost is seen the most. A great many woollen manufacturers buy, say, a bale of merino wool to about every five or six bales of shoddy, and it- is not so much here where tho increased price of wool in felt as in the larger quantity of material which is used in the making tf fabrics. ,

; Is Wool Really Dear? ' . Discussing this question with an outsider, he said that-while no doubt tho raw material is to-day bringing higher figures than he had ever known, yet taking value tor value it was no dearer than other things, his point being that the rise in other commodities had been equally as pronounced as that in wool. At the same time,. one cannot always draw an analogy like this, and wool certainly is making fairly stiff figures. We have all known it otherwise. For instance, the late bir Isaac Holden oiiea said that the day would come when wool would be as cheap as cotton, and when good medium crossbred wool- would be selling at 4|d. per ib:, which was. the case at tho | Aoveinbor-December series of London sales in-1901. A.good deal of water has gone under London Bridge since that day, and far more blood has been spilt than one- dares to contemplate since the grand ■t m; 7n i the w ° ol trado was laid to rest, 10-day a similar parcel of woolis well worth Is. Cd., and in January was readily fetching ls _ S j d> It looks aj ~ the days of cheap wool are very distant, notwithstanding the wails of.the pessimists who are already forecasting depress, mg times when the war finishes. Tho wool trade and the textile industry in general is m no humour for going out to meet those troublesome times; let them come, and to a man we ; will deal with them when they arrive. It is the writer's h ™ conviction that, like tho Lcvitc of old, these troublesome times will pass by on tho other side, and while no reasonab e man can expect to.-day's boomina values to continue for /ever, it is very unlikely that wool- will fall to anything like, the level that we saw in WOO for merinos and in 1901 for crossbreds. If the reader calls to mind 1908, which saw a slump after tho American • financial crisis, the decline in no sense paralysed the textile industry of Great Britain or the • i Continent, although ' wool values sensibly fell. .Wool may . bo dear, but it is not by any means out in the cold as an unusenblc article at tho price, for although 10-day we have seen a little set-back, yet the general impression prevails that it is only temuorary, and when markets hare ■ recovered and users ■realise that there is going Jbp-be no. surplus wo: shall see nlill .higher values.

The Usability of Wool. Closely allied with the views already expressed, is the general suitability of .wool to weet to-day's world-requirements. Up think the world wants wool ami is going to want it. Tho writer had an inquiry a good fortnight ngo resocctiii" ramie and it raises the question respecting the shout of two or three years £■■•,> re-ijiu-djng the luamifaoturing proposals of Australian seaweed and. other ve-et-blo »mie and riiea ■Bias*. At the time wo siudthat it would •hzzle out, ior the simple reason that these \egetabe fibres, while no doubt showiii" some, staple, yet they have no 'life or elasticity; in other words, the fibres are not flexible, and while cotton -will c.vd and spin and serve a good purpose when used in conjunction with Wool in producing the cheaper styles'of woollen cloth, cotton and ramie nre very'different .-r----hcles, and.as long as the world lasts nothing, will bo found, .not even paper, to equal wool as a 'manufacturing raw material out of which "to make the -clothm" •required ly man. It is the writer's firm .conation that Science has already spent itself 111 discovering something to substitute for the fleece of the sheep, 1 that .atone being the God-given product re?£h } y h T !ux IS" in wl "°h to clothe themselves. Tho world nev.er realised that wool really was as a clothing material as it is. doing to-day, for the vast armies on tho-Continent" are to-day standing in something good; at least 'this can 1» said for those defending the interests of Great Britain and her Allies In a word, it is the general utility of the fleece of the sheep which to-day is appealing to all, and. with it standing hiVhcr m the estimation of man it deserves to hnd its-corresponding reward-in thoso responsible for growing the wool receiving good, paying prices .'for it. '

Imnort Wools. . General surprise seems to bo expressed m many qimi-Ki-s nt the excellent figures paid 111 Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney during January and early February, the catalogues now'coming to hand.' It is recognised that there is nothing left in' the wools, and with -.the recent fall in Coleman btreet .many lots undoubtedly look dear. Of course, buyers can still ~<»t' .back their own, but that is cold comfortfor those who have" bought with a- view ot reselling,' and they feel that all tliov ll °- is n to k< *» back tho. wools until later in tho year, when there will ho 110 big quantity available. That is really the position to-day. In a "ood weeks lime the third series of Ltt°lon sales will begin, and among buyers there is not altogether that strong note of ontimisin expressed that one saw in January. Ihe fact is, the trado seems to i-o suffering a little from, financial pressure and with everybody being well supplied with raw material, and workmen gettin" fewer, many feel that there is just a possibility of a further decline, thoiHi nobody wants to sco it. Even ouvcrs themselves otato that cheaper wool will do more harm .than good, a statement which tho writer fully endorses. I

Market Conditions. , The Bradford market seems to bo naming through a testing period. Buyers are back from Colem.lll Street, and they have not found a particularly buoyant market things being wth'er on the quiet side. lhe only hope of bringing price's down lies in tho wholesale refusal of licenses for the oxpbrt of fops and yarns ' Crossbreds cannot be exported in 'any shapo or form, and licenses for. shipninc merinos aro by no means plentiful It is understood that a deputation from the export department of Bradford trade [ will wait upon tho War Office this week and it is. hoped that some impression will bo made upon tlio authorities. Hcrinos may bo called steady, but topmakers apparently aro open to consider business Alqst business is being done in (W combed tops, and during tho past' week considerable amounts have been contracted for. The whole business seems to be <u considerable dimensions, and it is hoped that reasonable facilities will bo granted for export purposes. In the course of a few weeks there should be fair weights of crossbred tons available, aud to-day, while 56's ami 58 s are apparently very firm, 50's and below are, if anything,- slightly in buyers favour. It is reported" that sG's niivo Treon sold to-day at 35.. ljd. r n j n \ 58's are available anywhere from 3s 3d to 3s. -id. Fifties arc offering at 2s B>.d ' 4fi's carded- 2s. 4d. to 2s. 4J<I., and ill's prepared 2s. 24d. to 2s. ,Id. T.i the case

of merinos, a good Ill's can bo boiHit anywhere from Bs. Gd. to ,3s. 7d., but some of. tho larger makers, who are apparently heavily sold forward, are very indifferent about quoting this sido of next July delivery.

English wools a're quieter, but continue steady and firm. It is remarkable what confidence is felt in regard to English and crossbreds, but in the absence of shipping facilities it will take tho home trade all its time to maintain prices. There js nothing now to say in regard to mohair, but since last Thurs day about 233 bales of alpaca inferiors have been sold at Liverpool at full recent prices. Spinners nre in. a very strong position, and very few are prepared to take any Jess. Hosiery requirements continue to be very large, and apparent v there is considerable new busi ness oSeriiiK in Leicester, as spinner* here can sell and make excellent price* ""