THE WOOL COMMANDEER

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 41, 12 November 1918, Page 6

THE WOOL COMMANDEER

Kir,—Mr. T. ft. lees, the honorary secretai'.i of the Sailors' Fund, to which woolgroivers arj asked to contribute tat unknown surplus, is. desirous of discrediting ami belittling my contention .in regard to the commandeer price for greasy wool. His statement in reference to the price of slipo wool differs from mine as to datej within which the average London price is arrived at, and covers a period of eighteen months from January 1, 1913, to June 30, 19H. I relied for my information upon the Gazette Extraordinary issued in June, 1918, and pub-, lishwl in the newspapers, and which purported to fix the price of stipes' between , November IG, 191G, alid November 30, 1918, "a I a price to bo determined by ths average gross price of each separate grade. in London between January 1 and December 31, 19U, less ono penny farthing per li> for shipping, and' other London charges" This lid., 1 may remark, approximately covers Londoit charges, inciudiiig freight at the pre-war rate of nVe-eignths.of a penny per lb. for dumped greasy. ' . ' The commandeer price for greasy is fixed by the Dominion average price of all. descriptions of wool of the 1913-11 clip, including bellies and pieces, sold at auction up to, I think, January, 19M, and is generally understood to be 9.i»d. per lb., and we are now told by Mr. Lees that the net average for the quantity sold was really l}d. less. If so 1., am really, sorry for the sellers, as those who, sliippul and sold in London before the war actually netted, after payment of freight and all other charges, from Is. Id.' to Is. 2d. per lb., including bellies and pieces. Halfbred fleece was selling up to Is. Gkl., July, 1911, and threetiuarterbred and cross Id. to 21d. less. Speculators ai these 1913-11 Dominion sales had therefore a rosy time, as they would have netted a profit of Id. per lb. if thev sola at are-war auctions m London and moic later, as prices increased between August and December, and have tended upwards ever since. I understand that the basic value under the commandeer was proportionately the same for slipe and greasy, and we aro told by Mr. Lees that under the new London average for slipe, the outturn is practically identical with, the schedule under which greasy wool is valued. Even if they are identical, which i very gravely doubt, but having no means of checking the current prices in London bctwen his period of January 1, 1913, to June 30, 19U, 1, of course, must accept his statement. I can, however, assert that between the period named in the June, 1918, Gazette, the slipe wool outturn is proportionately largely in excess of greasy, and the figures I have quoted for greasy as current in London in July, 1911, abundantly prove that tho 9.65 d. lias no relation to the real value of greasv wool, and that the Dominion has lost or will lose no less than Gd. per lb. on the value of its exports of greasy wool for the last two years, and is likely to lose it for other two. . I know nothing about the conference of woolgrbwers who agreed to accept this basis of purchase of greasy wool. All I havo asserted is that the valuation is on a wrong basis, and with- the very largely increased price of imports, the Dominion, to say nothing about the woolgrower, cannot afford to make such liberal concessions in the price of its exports. The British civilian is making no concession to us in the price of his exports, which are our imports, and I 6oe no reason why we should abate prices to him, nor do I see why we should relievo the shipowner of his obligations to his emplovees. We are now paying an excess of 300 per cent, on pre-war wool freights, and up to 700 per cent, on other, articles, and surely out of these enormous increases the shipowner can sufficiently remunerate the sailor for the risks h© runs.—l am., etc., WOOLGEOWEE.

P.S.—The wage-earner will be the first to feel any deficit in the value of our exports. What is-troubling him at present is not so much the high cost of living, but the cost of high money. W.G.