LONDON WOOL SALES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3060, 23 April 1917, Page 8

LONDON WOOL SALES

••; GOVERNMENT METHODS- ::■' SEVERE CRITICISM - : (From' Our Special Correspondent.) : ; London, February 22, 1917. W<3 are living m very stirring times, and, what with Parliamentary debates, Government -control of; tho entire trade, : the publljmtion ofvjiew , lists of prices and other.' things , appertaining.':to tho great ' pcheme/ one" hardly knows where tilings .stand or what to say. Wo axo faced with .various matters of interest, all of '.•which .are : exercising an influence upon iinarket values, and possibly determining .the end of tho war.-Upon that point there can be no division of opinion, for -Adi Europe is to-day at death grips in a manner which no one 'ever , conceived could take place, The outstanding feature undoubtedly is the debate that has ■jtaken place in the Houee of Commons •over tins great Government scheme, and lit is bound to do good. We hardly think the Government officials responsible for working the sohem© have done ;;very troll, and the three-West Hiding of iiTorkshire members of Parliament who '.ventilated the view; of the entiro trade :ehowcd clearly the disatisfaction which ■;at present prevails. Whatever criticism ■has .been levelled at the officials of tho 'Government has been done with'the very l)est-of motives, ovorybody being desirous of doing their utmost' to'see tho business tbTQiigh successfully. Throughout the -«ntire trado there has been, and still js, every desire, to put patriotism first, •everybody too is prepared'to make sacrifices of no mean order,, but the military .spirit has entered too deeply into the very essentials of tho wool trade to cause anyone to bo lulled, to sleep, and to-day there aro feelings of strong resentmont in tho breast of everyone. It seems'to . the writer, as if colonial pastoralists have the greatest reason for satisfaction at their recent deal, and h.nd everything gono forward in tho same manner, thero would Lave been no cause-for complaint, •but the whole trade is completely upset by the threatened annihilation, of many important businesses, and tho muddling has been sufficient to disturb evea the most pliilosophical mind. .

.The Parliamentary. Debate ' Oue of the most important debates concerning the wool and textile industry that has ever been known took placo in the British House of Commons at the end of last week, and tho thanks of ' the entire trade, both London, Yorkshire, as we'll as Scotland and Ireland, aro due to the three Yorkshiro members for tak-. 3ng the bull by tho horns and giving ■utter'aiico to some plain, statements. Wo liavo no spaco to go into details of •what took place, but tbo Government was exposed in a merciless way, and the three members gave expression to views whiehhave been uppermost in tho minds of the entire trade ever since any, epecies of control was mentioned. Wo know that both public and private criticism has been very much resented by the officials of the Government, but whatever has h?on 6aid has not been inspired 'by any feelings of bitterness to the scheme of con-' ■".tfol," but is an expression of dislike for the lack of application of business-prin-ciples, and tlio threatened destruction of •important business machinery. ■ The trade has -been told publicly by tlip authorities tliat they are- determined to eliminate merchants and dealers, men who haTe been in business from ten to fifty years,-nnd who to-day are an, lnleg- • ral part of the wool textile trade. Such istatements were bound to create distrust, and coupled witir'what' nas' been done, liavo certainly disfarbed tlio entire.trade. The writer takes up strongly tho position .that the Government need not have interfered with business at all,

for the less officialdom tliero is, the better for everybody.' No oiio found fault with the purchase of the English, , Now Zoaland, aud Australian clips. The first and foremost reason for this purchase is to provide for all the military requirements of tho British Empire and Allies. Toa man there is loyalty so far as that-principle is ■.concerned. If tho authorities, had simply stated' that all wool not wanted for military, purposes would bo offered for public competition, and the destruction of no busi- , ness attempted, there would have boen whole-hearted acquicscenoe to.any scheme of control; but right from the importer to the. manufacturer the strongest feelings of dissatisfaction are felt, and but for the war thero would bo a revolt. We say these things without the least desire to wound the feelings of anyone, but the strong things said in Parliament last Thursday proclaim to the world tho sentiments cherished throughout the entire trade, and~it Is to be hoped that those in charge will have, regard to the feelings of the trado.

New Basis for Valuing Colonials. ■■..It is well known among, members of tho London importing trade that the basis of values in January has not turned out to be altogether in.harmony with the 6ame principles of valuable in. Australia, and the wools consigned for sale in Coleman Street- are being revalued- on a better basis, which all means moro for the Australian growers. We are now able to give the new basis of values for Now Zealand wools, and without committing oiiraelves too definitely, we are strongly inclined to think that the name principles apply to Australian wools also. The following is the new basis of values of Australian wools consigned to Coleman Street for sale on growers' account: — ■ ■ ' 1916-17 CLIPS. Super- • Me- Infer- ' Quality. Extra.'wr. Good. dium. ior. d. d. d. u. d. 70's 41 ■#> 3!) 33 '37 ■ 61's 3!) 38 37 36 35 60's 38 37 3G 35 34, sS's ......;.. 35 34 -33 32 31 56' a .....'.... 3t 30 2!) 28 27 sO's .-. 20' 25 21 23 22 «'s ..: 24 23 22 21 20 -46's ......... 22 21 20 1? 18 44's* 2H 20i W M «i 40's* / 20\ m 181 17it '6J . 36V 134 M W4 161 Mi Combing Piece—Medium, and inferior grade of quality to which they belong:— Lainbs:, Superior, 18d. to 20d., net greasy price, warehouse, *N.Z, Lambs: Medium to good, 15d. to 17Jd., net greasy price, warehouse, N./i. Lambs: Inferior, IOJd. to Hid. not greasy price, warehouse, N.Z. Scourods to bo. valued on the clean basis given above; plus 15d. per lb. cost of scouring. Greasy locks, lid. pet , lb., to be deducted from pre-war price in London, and 55 per cont. added. Better Prices for Merinos.

Tho Bales havo beon continued this week under favourable conditions. Last week the Government issued, an order commandeering all free croesbTeds, the results being that anything suitable for tlie making of tbaki "is valued by tho. Government valuere, and ia then appropriated by the Army Contracts Depart- | inent without the wool being offered for , public eale.' This means that the catalogues each day- are entirely composed of merinos, and full justice is being' dono to the woolfl. There was a good show last Tuesday of Government merinos, tho Anny Contracts Department k determined to havo the very last fraction for overy parcel, arid if the., trade purchases tho merinos at the Government valuation, no man can mako merino tops at the Government selling price-list. Tho trade at present does not feel very much disposed to accept the Government price, hence withdrawals havo been numerous. On'other days when entirely free wools have been catalogued, there lias been an abundance of competition, and excellent prices are forthcoming. It is no exaggeration to say that'fully 7J to Iβ per cent, advance is being paid on all merinos, and big prices are again the order of the day.. . The tone, of the Tooni' is i distinctly better than the majority expected, and if the outlook was at all good and ueers knew where they actually stood, they would bid still more .Teadily. No fault what3ver can be ' found with the range of values which is being paid. Good merinos ere easily fetching tho top side of is. 6d. j and even good average wools are making in the .neighbourhood of 4s. and over. Some very sensible/advances have been paid this week on wools that were withdrawn in January and Tecatalogued, a clear proof that the trade has, still confidence ■iir free w0015../ Wo cannot help saying that the Tess Government interference there is, the better pleased the trade will be, besides helping trade both on Home and export account: The market is 6ound and wool is selling • readily.