WELLINGTON NEWS

Hokitika Guardian, 18 December 1928, Page 2

WELLINGTON NEWS

WOOL BEBORTS

[Special To The Guardian.]

WELLINGTON. Dec. II

It seems desirable llmt there .should be ;i radical change in the manner of issuing reports nt tho close of a wool sole. At present the brokers meet und fix the official rji of prices, and j 1 liis they do alter the sale of a sufii- ! eient fjtiitutity of wool, tiud a sufficient J variety of the staple to admit of a lair view being taken ol the position, and the official range of prices is taken by everyone as correct, and they form very valuable records. When it comes to a report ol' the sale itself then one Inis to read through six or seven reports of individual linns to get some idea of the trend of the market. Tim report would ho much more valuable, at till events considerably more autlio'ritivc if the brokers would meet and frame a report just as they do the official ranee of prices: this would he considerably more satisfactory to all concerned, and would he received by the public' its a reliable report, because it would embody the collated informal ion that. the several firms possess and would eons.ist of the considered opinion of the several soilin': brokers. As it is the.newspapers are called upon to publish six or more reports or varying length, but all containing, more or less, the same information, it is time the wool-growers generally gave this matter consideration for it is clue to the wool-growers as well as to other sections of the trade and to the general public 1 that market reports should be official and reliable.

The system of marketing wool is the best known, and the seller gets the full market value of his wool having regard to the economic law of supply and demand, and there does not appear to he any sound reason why our dairy produce should not he marketed in the same way and on the same conditions. Hitt tor and cheese are officially graded and sales are based on the grades. A factory can estimate fairly closely what; the output will be of the various grades for say the month of January. Sales could he held at the various producing centres. Supposing the Wharepuni factory expects an output of-'2oa tons of butter in January and say 555 per.ceiit..’ of first grade, 9 per cent imper! grade and 8 per cent, second grade. The buyers bid for the several grades ancl.cpiantities, take delivery fortnightly and pay. lor deliveries at. the end of the week. The factories will know exactly what they are to receive each fortnight and they will he relieved of all risks. Consignments with the attendant risks would rapidly decrease just as they have done in respect to coal. Practically the v\ 1 1 ole of the wool produced in N.Z. is marketed in the Dominion and why should not butter and' cheese be treated the same way? There will be no need 1 for a Dairy,. Board under such a scheme. There is. no Wool Board to worry woolbroker. 1 ?, hut there is a Wool Committee to fix the limits of the offerings and the existence of this committee is not a credit to the woolbrokers of the Dominion for it is a clear indication that I there is no co-operation among them and that the govering association is. powerless in the matter.

GROUP INSURANCE

In order to cope more effectively with group life insurance the Life Offices’ Association in England has drawn up a scheme by which in future standard conditions and rates will h-A quoted hy practically all offices engaging in this form tif insurance. The Association lias issued a statement in which its ' says 'that group insurance has been successfully carried out for many years by several leading British companies. It was feared that the competition of a number of foreign companies which have recently established themselves in Britain might lead to serious ratecutting which would cause heavy losses, and prejudice insurance business in general. Bate cutting was cunent at one time in the "United States and Canada, where group insurance is much more extensively developed than in Great Britain. To put an end to it standard rates an dconditions were adopted there many years ago. The Association says that the action on the part of the British offices is not in any way antagonistic to foreign offices and has not been taken to counter the efforts of tho American and Canadian offices which have opened branches m the United Kingdom to transact group insurance. Intimation has been given to the foreign offices operating in the United Kingdom that their co-operat-ion in the British tariff would be welcomed. Tho Association adds that healthy competition is all to the good, hut that no true benefit could result to any interests from competition involving business at unreinunerative rates. Group insurance has not been established in N.Z., and it is time tho leading liio offices gave the mattei some attention.