YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 64, 8 December 1917, Page 2

YORKSHIRE LETTER

POSITION OF ENGLISH WOOLS (Prom Our Special Correspondent.) Bradford October 11. A vary interesting note was published last week-end by tUo Wool Department of the War Office, showing the position of English wools. Tho last census taken has evidently revealod ' soino useful details which tho trado has iiovor previously known. In order to allooato every woolgrower iu the United Kingdom to an authorised merchant to whom his clip was to bo invoiced it was necessary to tako a census, and tho returns have shown that there are in tho British Isles 140,355 growers of wool, and of these 81 per cent. havo already received final payment for their lnet clip. Of ooureo, this is tho second clip which has been marketed under tho present system of State control, and no doubt both growers and authorised merchants havo learnt a great deal out of the previous Bcason'a work.. In fifteen weeks 69 million pounds of wool have been bought and payment mado to growers, which is an increaso rf no less tjjan 19 million pounds, compared with tho corresponding period in 1916. This certainly reflects .considerable credit upon both growers and offloials, and no doubt tho former havo been very keen to deliver their wool at tho warehouses of tho authorised merchants, seeing that prices, wero fixed, and tho sooner delivery was made the Booner tho grower got his cash. It is a remarkable fact that the Department is offering to sull no class of doinestio wool whatever, and even an application for the export of Scotch. blackfaced to Canada haß brought no response. Wo daresay if the United States Government wanted a fow million pouude of Scotch oarpot wools, then cur Department would consider tho application favourably, heoanso it is well known in tho trado that there is moro of this staple on the market than any other class of raw material. There is only a email proportion of Scotch suitable for military purposes, it being too coareo in quality. Tho fineet has been sorted and used chiefly for the production of heavy overcoatings fov the Russian troops, hut for,any other clnse or military fabric it is totally unsuitable. South Afrioan Clip. A very enlightening cablegram has como to hand this week from Capo Town, where It is evident negotiations are still prooeeding lor the purchaso of tho now Capo olip. Tho whole matter has received a good deal of consideration during tho past three monthß, and the Union Government of South 'Africa, has been very much upbraided for dealing in a very dilatory way with tho whole matter. The position there is very dillerent to that in Australia and New Zealand. Thero still remains, particularly in the Orango Freo State, a strong contingent of Boer farmers who have not forgottoa the war of fifteen years ago, and who are not very friendly !o Great Britainl notwithstanding the fapt that they aro better situated and • enjoying more liberties than ever, tjiey did before. They belong to what is known as the South African Party, led, wo believe, by General Hertzog. Last week, what is. known as the' Nationalists Freo State Congress was held at Pretoria, and passed a resolution protesting againet the aotiou of the Union Government advocating an open market. Its members seem to have totally forgotten tho freight position. It is all right having an open market, providing that sufficient shipping is offering to bring tho wool to England, tho United States, oi any other allied country. Bnt the shipping ia not there, and, therefore, it is a debatable question whether growers will be serving their own interests best by accepting the Imperial Government's offer or selling in a free market. It is generally understood that America will provide Uβ own freight, and bo will Japan, and if so the market will still be freo because quite a number of farmers will decide to retain their clip In their own hande and sell- it in a free market. On tho other hand, the Government has clearly stated that thero will be no commandeering, no one will be forced to coll unwillingly, but farmers are expected to offor their wool to the Imperial Government within thirty days. To the wool trade of Bradford this offer appears to be a most reasonable one. It is all right selling in a free market when'so much more money will be made, and it can bo. taken for granted that American and Japanese buyere will purchaee the lightest-conditioned and best twelve months' combing wools grown on good country. At the same time the Government offer will be most advantageous to those who grow heavy inferior wools. Cablegrams .received this week ohow clearly!..that very high-values are ruling, in fact priceß. out there are nenco per Id above those current here in Bradford. Mohair Not Included, Cables meseages distinctly- state that tho Government does not intend to purchase tho mohaif clip which will remain free. The Bradford trade seems a little nndecTueii what to eay on this head, though tho maJ9rjty think tho move rather a bad one. They intorpret this action to mean that with the Imperial Government not purchasing the. clip, they will be under no obligation to bring mohair to this country, and; thoreforo, growors will bo more or less stranded. ' That no doutjt ia on view, and is probably the correot one. Had tho Department bought tho mohair clip, a portion would have been brought home, but in any case we believe that some nioh,air will come to this country though tho quantity is certain to be very limited. It might be here mentioned to advantage that tho majority of the mohair spinners of tho West Biding havo for monthe been doing military work, not more than 10 per cent, of tho mohair frames to-day actually running on mohair, the balance all boing employed on worsted khaki yarns. As so little machinery ia engaged on mohair, no big weight is_ required to keep frames running, but in any case business has very largely stopped, and tho turnover is decidedly limited. Rationing tho Trade. Last Tuesday the Board of Control confirmed the new rationing scheme which was proposed a vceok ago, the trado having received the whole schemo in a very different tomper to the priority scheme which hitherto has been in operation. That soino system of ratibnins was bound 'to take place goes without saying, and •everybody-- is' glad that, tho new propbsale are to havo a reasonable trial. The whole scheme is to a large extent •rimplioity:. itsolf. ..Spinners will make application for-tho quantity.of tops Vrhlch their machinery will roqulro for tho ensuing three months, any balajaco not wanted lor military purposqj they yrtll then bo at liberty to sell where they like, and at what, price thoy like. Manufacturers naturally will apply to their, usual sources for yarn supplies, and epinnere will stand .by their old customero. lhe differenoe between tho old system and the now iB exactly horo Instead of cnlUiig upon manufacturers to issue sub-oortill-catos, and manufacturers in their turn asking tho wholesale fabric inoronante and export houses for their eub-ecrtifl-cates, tho latter are all abolished. It will be entirely a queetion now ot «pmners and manufacturers, the latter at tho ond of eacli month giving tho spinner particular* of the not weight of yain actually received. All that the spinner has then to do is to compilo a lwt of the variouß certificates he has received, and forward such list to the Department This is a far different nroposal to the old arrangement, for the manufacturer at once provides the spinner with a, certificate.for Ihn actual yarn delivered which Iβ a \ery dllTeren proportion to supplying him with a B ub certificate for tho yarn he hopoa to get, goodness knows when. Wi h these particulars before the , ?. 1 be a simple task to see if a, manufactuic is receiving what he is entitled to. ond whether "pinners are acting fairly by l is the knowledge that with so much worsted spinning mac n«y being at present engaged on in htarr wk, the output of yarns for the civilian trade will be inadequate to meet all the requirements of manufacturers, . hence Sing looms must inevitably confront the trade. However, it is to bo sincerely hoped that tho present arransements w>ll work and if so a qrreat source of annoyance will have been removed.