YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 85, 4 January 1919, Page 10

YORKSHIRE LETTER

DESIRED RECONSTRUCTION MEASURES . , (From Our Special Correspondent.) Bradford, October 31, 1918. The event of the week is the etepe which havo been'taken towards the formation of a "Wool Council, tho object being to ~creat>o an important-body to deal 1 with post-war problems affecting the wool : textile industry. This ia a Btep which ' canuot but meet with tho hearty ap- ' proval of everyone who deeires to eeo ' tho scheme of State control abandoned } with nil possible speed. It is now reoogfc ni6ed by practically all ]«it the cranks } of the trade that some measuro of- State control is absolutely necessary when the. ' war finishes, it being' impossible to revert 1 to pre-war methods of business until ehip- ' ping becomes more normal, and.even then ' methods of dealing with Germany and ' her Allies will have to be taken in hand. ' It has been mado perfectly clear by" lend--1 ing members of tho Government that the '. resources of the British Empire are to ;■ he drawn.upon first of all by Great-Bri-tain and her Allies, and there is no tex--1 tilo manuCacturing commodity'that can possibly be needed moro when the war : finishes than the fleece of tho sheep. The trade has felt somewhat oevcroly the ] 'burdensome measure of State control, but ' when all is said aftd done it is Laid to : bcliove that the industry could have ' been kept going as it has, with so little dislocation of business if the Imperial Government had' not purchased both the British and colonial clips. This was a Btep in the right direction, but if it had becci loft entirely to be administered by practical members of the trade, no doubt there would have J>Beh lose friction and fewer blunders made. However, the machinery* to-day for applying the principles of State control is fairly complete, and credit is due to thosa who eprved their apprenticeship in the wool textile industry and upon .whose shoulders largo-; ly rests the burden of controlling tho industry. However, it would be suicidal to leave post-war conditions until peace ■is declared, the Government having decided to take steps beforehand for unwinding,' as it were, State control, and getting back with all possible speed to pre-war -, conditions. ' < A Basis for Discussion. .* An important meeting was held in London last wesk-end presided over by Sir. W. H. Forster, Financial Seoretary to the War Office. There was nothing really doiio' at that meeting except to talk ahout the proposals of tho Government, the official report eirnply stating that the memoranda submitted to tho conference, "merely formed a baeis of discussion. ' It is-proposed that the Wool Council be a comprehensive "body consisting practic-ally-of 37 members—M. from the Board of Control, and 17' others, the latter to include four representatives- of labour, two representatives of consumers, and 11 distributed among the different employing trade organisations. There will also ba about 12 official representatives from the War Office, the Board of Trade, the Ministry of Labour, and the Ministry ot Reconstruction, but these • official representatives are not to bo, entitled to -rote. Although 37 members are mentioned in all it must be borne in mind that thore are several official members of the Department on the Board of Control, but that will be all round tho number constituting the "Wool Council. . Various proposals were* made regarding the 'work and operations of the council, but the practical * members •of the _trade, after bearing, the proposals of the membere of the Government, strongly urged that the various item's mentioned'-"should bo referred back to the trade organisations for" consideration, '•and;-this.:, weqk ,many private meetings have been held, representing all sections of the industry.. Ono important ronnd table conference of: all the representatiy.ee ■has been held, and a fnrthcr meeting of tho Wool Council- has been summoned, to take-place. , 'in London to-any. . Ihe steps which have boen taken for putting before the Imperial Government tho views ■of .theViiidußtry,, regarding future Stale control,'"and as, to 'what shall-be done ■%Tin»" : the transition period, hiiij given every, aftlisfactioii, and the fact that the -War Office hasi'deterniined that -a pro-'granime'yiair-bF.shaped by the traders also a ? .inove inj the*, Tight direction. The reader'should'hear.; in mind tbattnis Wool Council.is to advise the War Olhce, and 'although the -later does not pledge itself to caery out "the programme enunciated b~y "the Wool' Council, an important body" of this character cannot meet and define a programme without the War Office '.rijßpectine ■■ the wcommendatioiis which'are thus inade. Foiy after all,* who' aro more capable of advising the Government ; than thoso individuals who afoi elected to speak for-the entire industry, "and who have been the pioneers in■'■making 'the trade .what'it is to-day? A big effort has-been .made by all the (liffercntvinipbrtont association:) to come together and to speak as the voice of one man. ; This'really io the first time anything of thisiature has been attempted, and with' &■ full representation of both > employers and employees; we are confident that' tho deliberations' of the \Vool Council will be such that the War OMoe will bev wisely advised to ..adopt what it rccQniihende. It would be useless to e'et'outi-ia detail the memoranda of J the .Government, because in eeveral .important * piirticulars it will require amendment, but next week wo shall be : 'in""a.position-to'.'State clearly the pro-, poaals of the Wool Council,' and what "is\ likely to 'inke place when peace is declared./" • ■ . • -' * ■ Should. London Sales be Reopened? *".There is a strong feeling throughout the , trade that the present methods of distributing supplies.can be improved, al-,-ttemgh at the moment ,it is difficult to seo how tlie work- of the Board of Con■ti'ol and the Rationing Committee can ; be imniedtately auperco'ded when peace comes. If is not proposed to dispense "with tho present Board of Control, although possibly .there inhy be some modifications in its' operations. Still, supplies coniiug to hand for six months after the war aro bound to be limited, :altliou{;h with the relief of Boubaix and Toiircoing and tho other centres of tho tvbOllen find woreted industries in Northern' France, larger supplici of colonial wooi will be needed, because every effort will. t>e made to restore machinery and put it into working-order. It is some, eatisfacion* to know that the mills are intact, or at lenst so;far as the buildings are concerned, tho machinery only having either been removed; or the copper ana brass parts taken by-the Germans. The evacuation o£ Northern France presents a problem which tlie W,ool Council will havo to deal with.' -The point we want to: emphasise, .is: that throughout the trade-' there ; is a strong fooling that public sales at tho Wool Exchange in Coleman Street (mould , be restored with all. pc&iblo speed, but that cannot be expected for some time fo come. No doubt London sales will, be reopened as soon as they can, and 'some system ot rationing tho wool will havo to. be introduced the'samc as at tho East Indian eal«s in Liverpool, which has causad (lie least friction of any. No doubt buying will have to be permitted under licensee prices fixed, and other details settled as. circumstances at. the time dotermino. What gives satisfaction to tho industry is to know that very big supplies of raw wool aro stored in Australasia, and this Bhould prevent any panicky pricee being paid. In fact, higher values tliaji colonial wool is being distributed at to-day nro very undesirable. Nothing would do more harm than to seo prices puehed sky thigh only to fall Vapidly when supplies increase. A dobaclo in the wool market would do infinite harm, and tlie only * way to prevent this is for the Government to permit buying under license and to, fix prices. 'Ihero is need to-<liiy foi a million- bales! of colonial wool to be brought to Europo .with all possible «p?ed, but the shipping" 'difficulty is bound- to be uppermost in the trade for along*time to come, although when the war finishes considerable sluppiiiE is curtain to be releasnd on account of tho movement of m Bullions of war ceasing,