WELLINGTON NEWS

Hokitika Guardian, 30 December 1925, Page 4

WELLINGTON NEWS

WOOL FIGURES AND FACTS. <()ui- Commercial Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, December 28. The! prices obtained for wool at the London sales arc relatively the same as at other selling centres, It London juices were higher than those in New Zealand or Australia, growers Vould oass the local markets and send till their wool to London sales, lly selling locally the. grower obtains London parity. that is the equivalent of the price obtainable in London less the charges, with the added advantage that he is

■■■aid for the wool a fortnight after it is sold. Thus if we take the prices obtained at the sixth and final series ol the London sales, which closed on December Hi, with the prices obtained at ihe first sale in .January it will be found that at the former fine crossbreds averaged 2lid and at the December sale the average was 1 Ijjd. there was thus a drop of 10;!d during the year or more than -12 per cent. .Medium crossbreds made 2 111 in January and 11. pi in December, a fall of 9:,‘d, equal to 111 per cent. Coarse .crossbreds which in January averaged 23d failed to make more than l.'LJd in Deeemer, a drop of Sj|d equal to nearly 10 per cent. It was merino wools which suffered the most because they showed t,c greatest amount of inflation. )u IO2J buyers would not look at crossbred wools and it was only when the line wools got beyond a reasonable price that the cheaper wools were sought after. Taking the quotations lor Bradford tops for the two periods til’s quality dropjied from 7(i.td in January to -I9d in December, that is 2/.'d but the percentage fall was only 38 per cent. Sixties in January were quoted at 72d and in December at Hid. a drill) of 2iid also equal to J(> per cent. Fifty-sixes 101 l from 52d to Hod. equal to 17d or 32.70 per cent. Fifties show lid and 26d, a drop of Ud, equal to 31.15 per cent. Forty-sixes 33}d and 23d. a decline of lO.’d. equal to 31.3-1 and -10's 32d and 22d a tail ol 10d. equal to 31.25 per cent. Thus it will be seen that while growers have had to submit to reductions ranging from 10 per cent upwards, fho combers have been reduced only by 3(5 i>or cent at the most, ft is apparent that the trade expects the grower to hear the chief burden of the reductions, which does not seem fair or just. Current j,rices are low in comparison with wlint they were hut they are nevertheless good prices and if the market could he stabilised now there would he lilrle cause for complaint, lint there is little chance of bringing about this stabilisation. Ever since .May last the market has been supjiorted by Continental buyers, the Home trade being more or less passive, waiting for prices to come down. The Continent has shown wonderful buying capacity hut cannot lie expected to carry on indefinitely. France is already exhausted and the others must drop out as finances jiress. For tliis reason it is certain that wool has not seen the limit of the decline. It will stabilise when Bradford and America operate freely. SALE OF .MEAT WORKS,

Mr IV. D. L.vsnar has not wasted much time in entering a protest against the sale of the Wellington Meat Export Company's works to Borthwiek and Son, Ltd., for 9200,000. When the -Moat Board gave its anjwoval to the sale of the Poverty Bay Meat Works Mr Lysnar’s protests were loud and continuous and eventually a Royal Commission was ajitiointed which cost file country over C3.00J. The circumstances of the sales oiler no parallel. In the ease of the Poverty Bay Works it was virtually I lie principal creditor who forced the sale and everything was put through in a perfectly legal wav, and the .Meat Board was quite able to justify (lie action it took. In the care of the Wellington Meat ExjioiT Company (he shareholders have voluntarily agreed to the sale as the cheapest ami easiest way out of a very

.serious (liHiciilly. Mr l.ysnar Mitosis thnl the Government should refuse the purchaser :i license. If I lie Ooverniiient refuses the license then the sale must full Uimu,eh for it is ineoneeivnhie I Ini! llotlnvicks Mould he willing lo |my L‘2(!l).U!)d for the privilepco of closing down Ihe works. If the sale falls through because of the refusal of a license then surely the shareholders of the Company non Id hare a claim for compensation against the Government or the .Meat Hoard or whatever authority may he responsible for the issuing of a license. The shareholders of the company cannot he penalised and they must have some action at law. Rut supposing the sale is cancelled that does nol eliminate the competition of Rorthwicks. They can still hu.v fat .stock on the hoof and have the same pet through any works. The projected

sale is likely to give rise to some interesting political and legal problems.