YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 218, 3 June 1918, Page 8

YORKSHIRE LETTER

BRITISH EMPIRE WOOL PRODUCTION

(Prom Our Special ■ Correspondent.) . Bradford, April i. The toxtilo world to-dtiy is somewhat agitated over the production of standard fabrics, which is regarded generally us an important war measure. Wo do not know if the thought has ever struck tho reader of this issue that the British Government is to-day by far tho largest wool broker and merchant in the world. Just for a moment let him consider that it is controlling the destiny of wool to the value of at least 70 to 80 million pounds sterling—by no means a despicable .amount—representing u big weight of raw material. If we put it on a reasonable estimate, this represents 120 million pounds of British-grown wool, while tho clips of Australia and New Zealand are estimated by Messrs. Dnlgeiy and Co., Ltd., for tho year 1916-17 to weigh 741,802,0001b. Then, there is also tho Cape clip, the Imperial Government recently' purchasing 1,16,539 bales, and if we reckon a Capo bale as averaging 3501b.. this gives the following total (if wool winch to-day is being con--1 rolled by the British Government: Lbs. Domestic . 120,000,000 Australia • 517,972,000 New Zealand' 193,830,000 South Africa 17,788,000

Total .' 909,590,000 The ifigures given for South Africa only represent about 30 per cent, of the anr.iial production of that part of Great .Britain's domains, being the quantity recently offered to the Union Government of South Africa on behalf of tho Imperial Government. Still, the table shows at once the. resources of Great Britain and her colonies. II is most difficult for anyone to form a reliable estimate of what proportion of tho above represents comb'ings and clothing descriptions, but wo should say, roughly, that 73 per cent, of tho above" could be combed, the balance being essentially clothing descriptions. The most important point of all to emphasise is that a big weight of raw material is to-day placed in .the hands of the Department for the purpose of producing cloths, and having eommandered this weight of wool, the Department has the power to decide what shall be done with it. If is too late in the day to say anything about the Department being solely a distributing body, the worst feature of State' control being the large number of firms which have /been connected with -the hade during* the past twenty-five to fifty years, and which to-day have nothing whatever to'do but simply act the part r,i' warehouse-keepers for the Government. The .remuneration arising therefrom is no more than adequate to pay current expenses. An attempt.is being made.to-day on the part of conntrv wool merchants who are handling the British clip to have their scale of remuneration' revised, all alike contending that they 'have been losing money ' at the job. Those who are doing the best under the Government scheme' are those who have machinery, topmakers, combers, and spinners handling Government work receiving remuneration 'which- leaves nofhing to be desired. Those with no machinery aro to a large extent on the tocks, the wool' merchanting end of the industry being by far the. worst off.

Purpose of. Standard Cloths. At the Board of Control meeting held lost week the miestion of standard cloths was again reviewed by/Sir Charles Sykes, Director of~ffool Textile Production, in whose hands this business largely lies. We certainly think that the object being aimed at by Sir Charles is a worthy one, although in certain influential fjuarters it is not regarded favourably. .Firms with 'machinery think that the civilian trade should have ibeen left untouched for spinners, and manufacturers, and that 'raw materials should have been forthcoming with which to "continue business on pre-war lines.. The Department thinks . otherwise—perhaps rightly so. There is no disguising the fact that both spinners and manufacturers have been able to do exceedingly well, oh' civilian trade, spinners' margins being particularly good. So many firms havo been \entirely employed on Government work, where conversion costs have been fixed, that where spinners have been able to offer, anything that was free, it has ■ naturally commanded big prices. The alpaca trade to-day shows clearly enough what raw materials are worth when they are free. Up' to two years ago, Arequipa fleece was worth about Is. 10} d., whereas last week it was actually sold in Liverpool at ss. lOd. in the raw state: Mohair is 'bi- far the cheapest article on the. market to-day, but is not forthcoming, the market is cleared, and freight unobtainable at tie Cape. It does seem a pity that the Shipping Controller cannot release a little freight; to ht'ms Home mohair when it-.mil go twice as far as greasy Cape wool, if a few thousand bales could be brought Home, it would provide a considerable amount of work, for whon used -in conjunction with English lustre wools an excellent fabric could be produced. Sir Charles Sykes is apparently determined to develop his scheme of standard cloths, and we now see that everything wanted by man in thev way of clothing is going to be made this vertr in considerable quantities. By Whitsuntide standard suits will be on the market at 575. Gd. per suit, ready to wear. There are Huddersfield manufacturers who are now making good worsted serges, both black and blue, which will be a. very decent article for the ordinary business man 'to wear, while the latest accession to standard fabrics is that of underwear goods. The production of all these lines means an abundance of work for woollen manufacturers throughout this year, and certainly that is very desirable'. What the trade feels most is the absence of good combing wools, and if machinery is not to stand, then merinos and crossbreds will have to 'be brought' from Australia and New Zealand. But the most important point of all is the provision of cloths at reasonable prices, and this should help to temper the views of both spinners and manufacturers who are catering especially for the civilian trade.

Tops, Laps, and Wastes Dearer, Last Monday a new schedule came into operation for combing wool, tops, laps, nnd wastes, the three former advancing 3d. per lb., and the latter «iibout 2a. This all helps to emphasise the importance and value of manufacturing raw materials of the by-products oi tho trade.* The entire textile industry is to-day so thoroughly organised that no material is lost, even the sweepings from under the looms, commonly known as "fly," being utilised in the production of the lower classes of fabrics. If we had space to-give a full list of wastes which.are known in the trade and the fixed prices, it would-amaze the outsider, tho waste list containing no less than 800 classes. Ail the laps aud wastes have been requisitioned by the Department, and nothing can now. foe disposed of without the consent of the officials in charge. No export is allowed even to our own overseas Dominions. No class of article can be regarded as free, the Department now prohibiting the free sale of even British oil' sorts, whicli comprise locks, daggiugs, and the real "muck" arising out of the handling of domestic tiepces! Of course all the off sorts both British and colonial, are to-day being used in the production of standard fabrics, and it is remarkable,-when they have been scoured and cleansed what excellent fabrics can bo produced from them. AVe are living in times when tho whole industry is passing through an evolutionary process, and the trndo is long removed from the conditions obtaining in. pre-war days, many being of tho opinion that the industry will be unable to + ,hrow off the present measure of State control for at least very many months after the termination of hostilities.