YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 116, 10 February 1919, Page 8

YORKSHIRE LETTER

;' rr .■::: » BETTER OUTLOOK FOB CIVILIAN ■ TRADE. . (Prom Onr Special Correspondent.) Bradford, December 5, 1918. Active steps have already* been taken with a view to the trade getting back ' to civil occupations, and the principle.? to be-employed'aro exactly what the . writer outlined a few days after tire armistice was signed. To those" with a practical knowledge of mill life, familiar with all the different processes of manufacture, particularly with iv knowledge of the principles of carding and spinning, the fact is well known that it is jio difficult i problem for any manufacturer ■ to alter either his blends or the /'length , ' he scribbles his roving or spins his yarn. Let us take the ordinary plain raw materials as the standard on which to work. Lot tho reader in imagination go through a woollen mill. On entering the willey house he stands before bales of raw material, either white or dyed, mungo, shoddy and cotton, and it is prqpose'd ,to make a blend for a khaki woollen weft, say, 11 skeins, millions of yards 'of. that count having been spun. .The khaki shade is got by making a judicious ' blend of the materials named. All tho wool used is not dyed on solid shade; it simply being a mixture of khaki with a little white, blue, together with khaki munga, noils, and if the manufacturer thinks fit. he can out in a small i>ercentage of cotton. .When the proper proportions have been' decided upon, the workmen proceed to lay the different descriptions on a bed in tho willev house floor, putting layer upon , layer. He puts down, say, one layer of wool, then a layer of mungo, next a layer of -noils, j then, perhaps, a sprinkling of cotton, and I when the bed is complete he sprinkles oil on the blend in order to facilitate its .passing through Hie machines. From this step onward the writer has maintained that directly manufacturers receivo in- • etructions to stop producing drab or! . tartan D.M. serge cloths., from that point I the War Office should ly> prepared to | -take in military fabrics. Of course, they j 'can be allowed to sto through the seri.b- | . Ming and spinning machines, the varns •can be woven and. tho pieces dyed any shade desired, but no, matter what U done with, the blended materials and woven fabrics, they should be the property of the Department. So long as the "job," which is the familiar name Jjiven to a "blend , ' in the woollen trade, has only been willeyed. tho cording engineer can easily' alter the length to make it more suitable for the civil trade. Fpr instance, instead of spinning -rants, finy. 11 skeins, it could '\m- easily spun to 13 or 14 skeins, nerhnns s little finer. Better still, leave to the discretion of the manufacturer the unblended raw materials, for by so doing a man can then put in more wool or'more munijo, to suit his purpose. Tt is n gcnernl verdict in the trade that devolution will not be Jl difficult problem providing the officials of tho Department will let manufacturers do (is .they lilep with the raw materials in the unblended state. Thosp can be invoiced at fixed charges without any loss whatever to the Irade, and in that way the transition from war to nonce production can be made with a minimum of disturbance to everyone. Dealing With Officers' Cloths. The-reader perhaps does not know Hint the production of ■.officers' cloths was a private-venture on the part of manufacturers: up to about .fifteen months ago, when a scheme was arranged by the Cloth Section of tho War Office for producing," these at' fixed prices, controlling values, all the waj'to.the tailor. This prevented, officers, being "fleeced." It ,ds generally understood that the scheme 'lias not been a success, but we need not , here any reasons. Last week a joint meeting-of the "P.A." and "0.E." "Committees were held in London, when tho following -resolutions '.were, passed:— . ;;(1) That the Departmental control be 'removed from all'"P.A." and "0.E." cloths from, this date, November 22, 1918. (2) That tho manufacturers shall deliver to merchants all goods that cannot be converted, in accordance with tho orders that have been placed. Of the convertible balance of material the merchant shall be advised of quantity available, and patterns shall be submitted by- manufacturers of suitable ,'cloths into which it can be converted, and the merchant must moke hie selection and advise the:manufacturer within fourteen days from, the receipt of patterns. , Merchants shall have the option of accepting this convertible balance of material in plain colours or fancy patterns toy mutual arrangement. It is -understood that manufacturers shall be content with the same basis of net profit in tho yarn converted into civil filoth that he would have had on •"p.E." and "P.A." cloths. .Manufacturers are also requested to note that no further orders for' "P.A." or "0.E." cloths as such inust now be accepted. ' Manufacturers receiving the above notice are agreed that the instructions are practical, and the writer takes it'that it is representative of what .will.be issued to every section of the trade producing military yarns and fabrics. Larger Supplies for the Civil Trade. -The question of slocks figures large in the wool world to-dny, and we mii3t consider this subject, in view of (he immediate future of the trade. During the week spinners hove received their allocation of top-, for the present rationing period, which begins on December 1. anil will terminate next March 111. There is practical agreement among spinners that the quantity they are entitled to is larger than' tho last period, and there is by no means the some pessimism among epinners that has been in evidence during the past three years. , Tt is generally understood I hat six and a half million pounds of tops is the civil ration Jier month; one anil a half million pounds is earmarked for the export yarn trade and nine million pounds monthly for military purposes. Nobody takes these figures very seriously. There are ■very few indeed who believe that nine million pounds .will be wanted monthly for Army purposes, and therefore any balance will be transferred under the regulations of tho Board of Control to the civil trade. The feeling generally favours a more adequate supply of raw materials for civil purposes, and therefore a much more optimistic feeling obtains throughout the entire trade. A. spirit of quietness has somehow befallen the textile industry, particularly among fabric buyers, and until (hoy know what the future has in store there is little disposition to buy i>xfravogantly, as has teen-the ense in scores of instnnces during the past three years. The market can lie summed up in h?o words, waiting ■ development*, nml I his U likelv lo olitain f(>T some time longer, until exports are allowed more freely to neutral countries. Wool Stocks. The Statistical Committee have submitted a- preliminary estimate nf tho stocks, production, and consumption of wool during the next two years, subject to correction as fuller and better infor-

mation comes to hand. The following is a summary of the figures presented in million pounds, avoirdupois, greasy weights:— Present world stock of w001... 1,205 Add production estimated for 1919 2,073 3,938 Less consumption estimated for 1919 2,020 Estimate stocks at end of 11)19 1,318 Add production estimated for 1920 2,7004.013 Less consumption estimated for 1920 '. 3,091 Estimated stocks at end of 1920 924 According to the official report no accurate information appeared to be available as to tho stocks of wool held in ordinary times, but so far as he could judge there was at present no excessive accumulation, taking tho world as a whole, though it was evident that the stocks, through war conditions, were now very badly distributed. If the (stimates of the committee were realised, tho world's stocks at the end of 1920 would be reduced to less than four months' consumption, which certainly could not be regarded as excessive. In this country we now hold five months' stocks, and there is general agreement that an addition to onr stocks of at least MO.fIOO bales is necessary to make the conditions safe and comfortable.