YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 309, 18 September 1918, Page 8

YORKSHIRE LETTER

\ FIXEDPBICESTOR !';.£.. -SHODDIES .; , I -(Fiijm Our Special Correspondent.) !■.-; : -'■'•' Bradford, August I.' [ The .event of. the,'Week'in'the wool i : .textile; world is, the,issuing of. a'long ;.'' list, of fixed prices for rags and l shod- '■■ tfies.- 1 ' fTliis has been 'forecasted for at ! leasptwpyniontlisyjmaiiy.'-. actually en " ' gagexl/anj'the tradejheipg. sceptical as } to 7 thMs'iniportant'ib'rrinch of the textile • industry'coming uhder,;the purview of i the: Department. The .'opinion' was 'general that the qualities'• and' sorts '..were too numerous to "lend themselves ■■ to'. Government control, but.' in' -. the [opinion of the writer'the possibility f of standardising rags aud_ shoddies and I issuing them at fixed p>iqes'.was ;well | within ' the range of possibility when [at.least, 800 descriptions oif wb.oLhnve [ been dealt wjth in like manner.^' /The |. extent of the list and the principles [ of Jcontrol "which have been brought to l' bear .upon:- the : rag trade are certainly : ; remarkable.-..The marvel to many is i'tli'at this' important section of tho'in-: ;,d'ustry has not been controlled; .much ; earlier, seeing that big quantities of i mungo and shoddy have been used in !•' the,production of military fabrics.'/ The ■ needs of the w;ar and the diminishing (.overseas supplies ■ have .all been a i mighty' factor. in pushing up, value.s,I; and it was high time that some me'a- •' 'sure of control should be instituted in yorder'to fix ' values.. .When we.ini form'' readers "that' best •' black': berlin ! stockings .which before the war were | obtainable at 70s. per cwt., wero quot- > ed a week>ago st 270s i( per cwt., the ; influence of the war upon all.classes of | lags even to old stockings is very ob- | vious. ~,.:... A Big Industry, *■'. The close connection existing beI twe'en tie-rag trade and the wool textile industry is of vital importance. ! In fact, 'the. former could not exist . without "the latter." Dewsb.ury will ; ever remain the home of the rag-and ' shoddy trades,/ and it shows what even Ja ,once-despised industry can do for a Ltown, leading to the'establishment of i- a >big- trade and the acquirement •. of I large fortunes. The history of the ; rag trade reads like a romance, and ; undoubtedly there is a. good deal oif ! ihe romantic connected with the industry. , Scores of mills in the'Dewsbury : district,*'large and, important, in pre- ; war days'/never used a single pound of : virgin., wool,--but employed thousands ; of hands,'the raw material worked up Vbethg entirely ■ mungo ,an'd, shoddy. One ;.lias only. to. glance down the.' iiu- , nierou's!.'."de"soriptions:'yof rags to show ;• how specialised' the'., industry is,' there being nq.fe'werAthan 181 qualities. Rag.. ' ..merchants:' have;' simply..taken a .leaf i out of: the book of thai.wbol merchants, i and, by sorting,into :the different qualii iie's,- the .merchant is, able to offer a , standardised collection'of rags to the ; woollen manufacturer.-'.' For instance, : the reader can see-.at once that the stockings worn by women are as a rule '< very different hr quality to those worn ' hy. men, although the.latter-are'largcly I wearing merino socks- during. the summer. _ Still,, the,bulk of the/'haflf-hose that is worn comprises .stockbgs made i cut of crossbred .wool, spun chiefly from i 46's to 50's qualities. In pre-war ;. days, the quantity., of rags imported jinfo this country was very consideri able, rags, from all over the world being !■ sold by' auction every week ;in Dewsi.'hury. ' Of -course, •the'.: war has 1 compelled': rag '-merchants to be:.come very largely dependent. upon . home production, and it is really 'amazing how this branch of the tex--1 tile-trade "has■ developed under war' conditions, stocks to-day being spoken, ! of in Dewsbury and Batley as still being, large. Of course the war has emphasised most the value:of crossbred rags, there being an important .depart- • anent of the Government to. which'., is :isent,the cast-off clothing from ,tho | ibattlefield, all discarded suits, under- :: iwear .'fabrics, including vests, pants, ;and. 'stockings, being carefully graded tan Dewsbury, and.' then"' sold at fixed J ! prices', to manufacturers engaged in the [production of khaki materials. -Supplies for the Civil Trade] ' ■•'■A;.,'new rationing period, begins, this j : jtveek and dates from, August 1 to November 30. During: the past fortnight the Rationing Committee Jias been very ■ ibusjy and last week-end spimwrs rc- ' ceived particulars''-'"of" the quantity of '• 'tops that they will be entitled to dur- \ ing the forthcoming rationing period, i lAni'miwrtant announcement Dccompaniies .the.allocations for the next period,' I j the. committee stating that "the folknvi Sng'.combing qualities of. wool—namely, ; '4ffs ! ,> 44's, ,46's; 48's, and' sS's, and |.'.the''same qualitie'g'of'carded and pre-,I tops, together with 64'a'tops, aro I not at present available. It may:.bo j.necessary for merino spinners to 'take | !25 per.cent, of crossbred qualities/and [crossbred .spinners .to, take 2o fer cent, j I of their allocation in. tops which are '• unsuitable for Government require- : meats'.' Tin's restriction does not apply s/to) tops' required for export yarn orders."- .'.-, '' s i. 1 .The above is a very significant state-" , inent; and shows ciearly. enbugh the ' effect of the huge new military orders I upon Government supplies. If the reader carefully observes the qualities ~-which are not to be available, ho will '• see that only tops of 50's, oG's, and 60 ! s are-to be available between the .-hulk standard qualities, ranging from '40s' to 64's. This is a very serious : affairs, to the majority of, spinners... For many mouths,, all medium crossbretl. tops" hayelbeen 'off- the list,. none has 1 been available for civilian i purposes, but to-day only 50's, 56's, '■ and 60's tops are procurable to meet ', civilian wb/k, the majority taking 1 these, and by blending them are able ' to produce a fairly fine count yarn, which they aro urged to spin. Still it ' serves to show how limited the supply : is. • The very fact of merino spinners i heing candidly told that it. may be neoossary for them to take 25 per cent. ! of their ration in. crossbred qualities [shows clearly enough the position of I supplies. During, the whole of the ; rationing period just finished, ?)! merino spinners have had to take .25 per ' cent, of their ration in shoddy tops, '• and some vory poor tops indeed have ': been given; out. However, the largo i volume of military work which has been '■ given out during the past three weeks (makes it imperative that spinners take '■ the best they can obtain, and procure j yarns spun to tho finest couut pos- ■' sil.ile. The above only serves to show \ low in these days no firm is free fo do \ as .'l' desires. "No matter what their j bulk trade may have been, thev will i simply li'avo' to adapt their production' j to the. spinning capacity of the tops ! although no ono likes ; altering ranges of clqtn.s, yet manufnn- ! turers know-full well that if they would fieep their looms running they must bo I prepared to accept tho yarns obtain•ablo and produce the cloths for -which ; the yarns are best suited. ■Big Stocks of Wool In the Colonies. A very.significant cablegram.has been '■ publisl/e'd'irom Melbourne; which states ; t.hat r 1,200,000 bales of are in ! store awaiting shipment. This; intelli- '< gence has calledforth considerable sur- ! prise, although it hijs been known to i those in the inner circles for some ;>eeks. It represents the carry over

last June 30 when the current statistical Australian wool year' finished. This repiwents a big amount oi wool, and it is bound to be a serious block upon the free movement of the new clip, now being shorn- It represents practically 7o per cent, of the last Australian, clip, and one can look forward to another 1,800,000 bales as being tho new clip of MB-19. _ One can consider tho present supplies in Australia as well as New Zealand and South Africa as being very valuable I proporty, and be assured that they ' will "stand the. manufacturers of Great and her Allies, in very good stead when the war finishes.' No one knows what line of action will be adopted at the cessation of hostilities, and how this huge-weight of wool will be. dealt with, but it can be safe'elv stated that Great Britain and her Allies will have the first lopnoftunity.of meeting all their needs and of running all the machinery available. It is well known; that'the mill property in northern France, has been veryseriously dismantled, and after standk.g four years it cannot.be in irood working condition. Germany will not he allowed to devour big weights of whatever stocks remain, unshipped in the. British colonies. There is bound to be a .scheme of rationing dpvised when' the .war finishes which will,last at least months, if not for a longer iperiod after the war terminates.