The Chronicle LEVIN. FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 1916. WOOL.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 18 August 1916, Page 2

The Chronicle LEVIN. FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 1916. WOOL.

! A cumpeiiUjuin of great value is Dalgcty'b Annual W 00l Uevicw, to which 1 V.l' mini- ivioiv.i.r ill I previous issue ol j j iii. I ~rimirie. in Hie -vutu-co <>i a 11:11 tor r~ca 1 -cli through this publication ,ve hiM'u note.l further items ol interest i»t .-j.'tth'rs 111 those parts and l«»i" their li .ie!it u,' make additional extracts. 11.0 Koview comments upon tlic linn ami profitable market still obtainable for merino wool. an<l observes that "the .strong ami sustained demand for merino uool las bi■ i• 11 0110 of the greatest surprises of tlic war to the English trade. At one. time it .looked as if a glut of merino wool would take pi ace, and but

for tin l regulation <1! the Australian market 3, and the holding over last season of something like 200.000 bales, it would have been inevitable. The poj sitinii was relieved by the keen buying of America, but the most important factor was the enormously increased consumption of merino wool in England, rendievd possible bv the phenomenal demand for thick varus. Instead of the slump in prices, which >vas looked for as inevitable, owing to the abundance of supplies, came a further upward movement, which soon took prices to heights never previously attained 1 iiue the pioneering days. Moreover, the margin between wool and tops, although showing much fluctuation. has been larger than usual; 111 fact, some of the leading reviewers have described the market as "staggering." Thus topinakers. although surrounded with far more difficulties than are usually crowded into one season, Itave had a very profitable year, nor does it appear that early future business is likoly to be much less satisfactory. A suggestion that an export tax should be placed on wool is referred !to by the Ueview in the following i terms: —'the recent proposals oi' Mr £1. Dawson, principal of the linn oi -Messrs 11. Dun-soil and Co., that an export tax .should be imposed on wool in England has naturally caused a great- deal of discussion. Mr "Dawson, who is seeking .Parliamentary honours at tin* next election in the Old Country, addressing tlic constituency for which lie is standing, took up the attitude that both neutral and enemy countries should be called upon after the war to pay a tax 011 coal and wool, which lie claimed were the capital of the British Empire,, and which the work! could ' not do without. With no knowledge yet of any details of the scheme, it is Kelf-cvideut that such a, tax to be,effective must be 1111 empire one. To impose one in Great Britain alone would simply amount to driving away trade. It must necessarily be imposed in NW Zeala-nd, Australia, and South Africa simultaneously with Great Britain. The I proposal thus becomes a wide one. and ' conflicts with the general policy of all j producing countries, which .1r that noI thing shall be done, to hamper or restrict the world's competition. It is I questionable whether such n scheme

will come to fruition. It is altogether a different proposal from thai ol placing an embargo 011 any cla«s oi wool required for tlie empire's needs in time of war. The States and Dominions. have willingly gone that lar, but whether' the.y would agree to give such y, preference to British buyers on the lines suggested is another matter. Generall v export taxes are 110b favored in Australia, because they necessarily mean iu tlio long r.uu that the producer pays the tax. The Review quotes from the Ameri- ! can Sbeepfarmer a United States' view jof the commercial aftermath of the war so far as it will affect the wool market. The American journal says:

• ; A brooding, dreadful calamity hovers over our sheep industry according to some of our sheep prophets. After the war they see wool tumbling dow'ii by the shilling. No such thing will happen. Europe will cry for more wool. Hundreds of factories now idle ■will gobble up the supply, llemombur tint Germany, France, Italy. Austria and other nations are using little wooi to- lay. They cannot, in the vorv ratine of tilings. Vet there is no surplus. There alO no idle stocks, .save a v small quantity Germany lias bou.tlit in South America, which cannot )>:: .shipped ; and considerable of this is b'-ing offered by tho Germans themsehe.s, who seem quite willing to take the prose-lit fine margin of prolit. The world's clip is reduced. I'-Slieep stock iii most every country has declined, 'liccnristrnction in [Onrope me.ins busy spindles. Whoever heard of cheap anvt'iing after a war'" 1 T lhe rost. of living is higher in every land. Willi millions of workers killed, how can I'.'un.pean labor be cheaper? Wages will Miai. They must. Tariff or no tariff, this awful slump in wool will not happen."