The Gisborne Herald. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED "THE TIMES." TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1939. MARKETING OF WOOL

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20088, 7 November 1939, Page 4

The Gisborne Herald. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED "THE TIMES." TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1939. MARKETING OF WOOL

The muddlement that has occurred in connection with the disposal of the Dominion’s wool under the commandeer provides striking evidence of the incapacity of the Government to deal with problems of this nature. The growers and brokers have been long suffering in the face of this attempt to create another State department where no such department is required, but the experience has been of value if for no other reason than that it has demonstrated the inefficiency of State control. It is now nearly a month since an agreement was reached with the British Government as to the price to be paid for wool, but even now neither growers nor brokers have been advised of many important details in connection with the valuing and handling of the produce. That the fault lies entirely with the New Zealand Government is apparent from the fact that there has been no similar delay in Australia, where the wool is being taken over in precisely the same way. In the Commonwealth, appraisements have been in progress for a month and growers whose shearing has been completed have already been advised of their returns. There was no hold-up while an interfering Government probed into unimportant details, but, instead, wool has moved in a steady stream through the stores and much of it is already on the way to the British market.

The position during the last commandeer presents a striking contrast. Then, without any prior experience as a guide, schedules of prices were prepared and approved within 24 hours, and a few hours later buyers were proceeding to the appraisement centres to value the clips. This time, 24 days after the average price has been agreed upon, not a single bale of wool has been valued and no instructions have been received from the Government as to the procedure to be followed. Until last Saturday it was not announced that the average price was to be the price in store, but this information was available to the Australian grower exactly three weeks earlier. The grower might be thankful for the prompt instruction that bales were to be branded on one end and one side only, but a good deal of trouble might have been saved had he been told which end and which side. Now, after a good deal of wool has already been baled comes the instruction that all fleece wool must be skirted. No advice has yet been given regarding the scouring of wool, and though this may not be important to the farmer it is a serious matter to those who obtain a livelihood from employment in scouring works. Instead of a complete scheme being produced at the outset, as could easily have been done, it would seem as .if the details are being allowed to work themselves out in a most haphazard and unsatisfactory manner.

This district would appear to be particularly seriously affected by the absence of any businesslike procedure. Eleven days ago, the Minister announced that Tokornaru Bay would be an appraisement centre if the growers concerned would agree to meet the extra cost involved. The growers met on Saturday to consider the question only to find that no one could tell them what the extra cost would be. Within a few hours of the meeting being held it was reported that Coast farmers would have to bear the cost of transhipment to main ports, but this was later denied and it was then stated that even Gisborne wool might have to be transhipped in the event of shipping becoming abnormal. What this means no one can possibly tell, but since ships will have to call at Tokornaru Bay and Gisborne for meat it seems absurd to suggest that there will be any difficulty in clearing wool. In any case, as the farmer has been assured that the price quoted is in store, what have the shipping arrangements to do with him? On Saturday, it was belatedly announced that Tolaga Bay was to be an appraisement centre, this decision having been delayed until some farmers had already sent their wool overland to Gisborne at their own cost. Since Tolaga wool will have to be transhipped in any circumstances doubts must still exist as to whether farmers in that area will have to bear the extra cost, in which case there may be no benefit in having local valuations.

A far more serious aspect of the whole question is the effect of this entirely unnecessary delay on shipping arrangements generally. Both the Minister and the Meat Board have been appealing to farmers to proceed with the early killing of lambs—although under the arrangement made by the Government this would mean a direct loss to the producers—in order that there should be no congestion of shipping space later in tlie season. The dilatoriness of the Government itself, however, is creating a similar problem in regard to wool. The congestion in the wool stores is probably a minor problem, although at places like Tokornaru Bay it threatens to become serious, but what is of vital importance is that overseas ships are leaving New Zealand with empty space that could have been filled with wool had it not been for the delay in making the valuations. This does not apply only to the current season’s wool, of which thousands of bales arc already in store, but also to more than 50,000 bales of old wool that had been carried over. Had the valuation been

started a month ago, as in Australia, | much of this could already have been I cleared and the danger of congestion ' at least minimised. There is no con- j ceivable excuse for tho bungling and mismanagement that has attended the | taking over of the wool and the only j apparent explanation is the ineompet- j ence of bureaucratic methods to deal j With problems that should be left in J the hands of experts.