YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 24, 23 October 1917, Page 8

YORKSHIRE LETTER

BETTER REPRESENTATION WANTED BY TRADE

(From Our Special Correspondent.) Bradford, August 25. A large and important meeting of the West Biding Spinners' Federation has been held in Bradford this week, its objeot being to decide what course of action should be pursued in relation to the proposed new Board of Control..- Some very strong things ware said, and the meeting was unanimous in deciding that tho sugSested Board of Control as at present outned do& not command the confidence of the West Biding spinners, who cannot gee Aheir "way to 00-operate in the soheme "unless it he fundamentally altered in points of vital principle. It was somewhat regrettable to notice that the meeting did Dot show a very strong desire to go tho 'whole hog, and had it not been for tho .'determination of one or'two nothing more "would have been done than to have pass;ed the resolution jußt given. Mr. J. W. Buhner, however, suggested that a rider ! fce added to the resolution to the effect :> that in view of the more favourable wool \*itnation . revealod by reoent official i«y 'ports the priority rationing scheme' be • abolished forthwith. The bringing forward of this rider raised some discussion, 'one speaker suggesting that a few words I might be inserted to modify its meaning, land to suggest that a more reasonable ;<and practical soheme might be introduced. :lTr. J. W. Balmer, who has taken Buch an iactire part in preparing tho statistics rwhtoh have disproved the soundness of "the Government figures, and in opposing jtha Government throughout, stated that it ;??a8 not within the province of that meeting to suggest any modification -whatever. iHe urged that the vital point was that ; Ihe Board of Control proposed by the •'Government, if acoopted, would not be 'made up of a sufficiently large number of. «inen with practical experience of the trade, and that, therefore, they would not under any circumstances accept its rulings.or recommen datlo ns. He further urged that the great thing for that meeting to do j •was to object strongly-to the constitution | of the proposed board, and to insist upon , • a, proper and adequate trade representation. Having achieved that, he affirmed that no one in tho trade would object if .the men who represented them proposed to introduce a ten hours' -week. Of course, ;Mj. Bulmer knew that such a proposal as this would never ho brought forward, hut he spoke in extreme terms in*order to emphasise what measure of confidence tho trade would feel in their • representatives if they were known to be men of the rigffl Kind. Tho inspiration thus given by Jlr. Bulmer resulted in tho rider already quoied being passed unanimously. It now. remains to be Been what results follow. "It is hoped by many that the ..West Biding Spinners' Federation' wll cooperate heartily with the Wool Textile •Association of the United Kingdom. This is not the time for disjointed action. The future of the whole trade is at_ stake, and if a right move is mado now it call reasonably be hoped that an end will be "brought, to the dissatisfaction which ii aow so 'prevalent.

<• Further Steps In Wool Economy. " • One' otlier fact brought to light by thft committee appointed to investigate the Government statistics is that wool nas been used in a most wastehil manner. New-wool has been put. into, manufacture , lor purpose!!, -winch '' if t'na . trade had 4 boen , left to fSDow tneir ovra devices and put Into practice Uieir own experience, it |WOUl<l not havo been used. For long years substitution of a certain kind has been practised and well understood, but tho authors ties in their zeal for the production or good sound military fabricß have insisted on tho use of v virgin • wool -when it was not really necessary. We aro thus brought face to faoe with the anomaly that wu.ie •the Government statisticians havc i been making aji outcry about the. scarcity of •wool, tho uncertainty of bringing it for ward from growing areas and the need of eoonomy in ■ every way, most Eerious wastage has been going on. If no other good were to be accomplished by those who have been the prime movers in convincing 11]e Government authorities of some of the mistakes they havo made, real assistance woidd havo been given to tho industry by this one act- of showing that wool was "being used with greater freodom than was really recessary.

The writer has been informed during the j»aet ferw days that orders for khaki serge nave been placed, the woollen weft of which is to bo composed of 60 per cent, virgin wool and 50 per cent, shoddy. This 'term shoddy, or mungo, to give the trade name of the manufacturing article actually used, has often been misunderstood, imd tho materials so termed are really worthy of a better .na.mo. Perhaps readers may'need to bo reminded that large quantities of military fabrics can be no ground: up as to become a very useful manufacturing article. Fabrics which contain a large proportion of wool can be no handled as ib render thoni adapted for remaniifacturc. The fibres are certainly short, but this does not render them unsuitable for manipulation in the woollen trades, and when they are blended with good wool cf decent stanle they Co a very lonir way towards making sunplien of raw material laßt out much longer.

The Use of Real Wool Substitutes. The wonderful results which are being achieved by manufacturers in this country directs attention to what is being done in the way of wool substitutes. Headers know that Germany to some extent has taken the lead in the manipulation of such materials a3 it has been

thought possible to use in place of wool. Probably there has been more blowing or trumpets in this-matter than actual achievement. At any rate, some good k* i i7 c been accomplished by the noiso vrhioh has been made, for as readers have previously been told,' the officials of onr oyrn Government have urged manufacturers, technical colleges, and all interested m wool consumption and manipulation to make as much use as possible of substitutes. Here again wo are brought in contact with the old question of wool supplies, and it 1b doubtful whether if greater confidence had been felt in the adequacy of these in Government circles a« fre* Quent appeals would have been mad© to use tho said substitutes. British manufacturers oannot be said to bo behindhand in the art of using wool substitutes wherover it iB possible to do so. In the same establishment where the writer saw all cotton goods being woven which will be pub on to the market, and thus take tho place of the Gorman pro* shell cloths.' the uee of which has been explained in a proviouu letter, fabrics were toing woven from what is called artificial silk, but which in reality is .wood pulp. .This wood jiulp, after being put. through the preliminary proceSflCH. appears on the bobbins jeady for being put into Ihe loom in exaotly the same form as any yarn warp or weft, made from pure wool. It. is actually th* of trees which has been taken and after being nulipcd spun into a yarn. Th<» artificial «iilk which tho writer saw was beini? woven* into linings for ladies' dress fabrics. The warp and weft on the bobbins presented a most attractive silvery appearance, .and the result in the woven piece was the production of an equally ail-Tery-lockinir and comparatively x soft handling fabric. s

Working Hours. It is now delinitely known that from the beginning of September mills will be allowed to go back practically to their old working week. Before tho coming into operation of the Government ban. tho normal working week was jnado no of j>ss hours. A return will be made on the date named to 50 hours per week. This ought to be satisfactory, not only to employers but also to employees. It is very doubtful, indeed whether the extreme Socialistic party will welcome it. They l7 8 B * ran K© ideas about the relation*hlp between employer and employees. xh€lr attitude seems to be that workipg hours ought to be cut down as much as possible, and pushed up indefinitely. The actual experience of reduction of vbrking has shown that it has aomething in its favour. It must be said, however, that we cannot get away from , the fact that increased wages and bonuses have helped to make up what employees have lost otherwise. If this had not happened, there is no douht that much more "noise" would have been made than has actually been tho ease.' On# cannot resist saying, however, tnat tho Socialists may say, there is an inherent relationship between production and wages which no amount o£ theorising about the need for better oonditions and higher wages will destroy. "Practically spealmig, tne only Teal advantage which woul3" come as a result of a permanently shortened working day is that the employees wonld be able to nut into it somewhat more energy than if they had to heep at it longer. The writor has no desfre lo encourage anything in the way of tyranny on the part of employers over employees, or to Buggest that if he could he would keep them with their noses to fhe grindstone as much as possible, but he cannot resist saying that not a little both mental and nhysical laziness eiistß. The immediate significance of tho present return to a 60 hours' working week is that the trade hag quite enough wool to do so. It is a plain evidence that' from the very first, the Government officials have cither j been wrongly informed, or have not had a | proper grasp of the information placed', at their The probability is that I the truth is contained in a combination of I these two circumstances.