The Flax Scare.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 28 March 1890, Page 2

The Flax Scare.

. <*^S That there has. been a yery serious scare in this district amongst the hemp millers goes without son tradicfcion, but we are pleased to find that it is only local, and the causes eaay |of explanation. We do not desire to appear wise alter we find there is no cause for fear, as the nimnirs afloat were enough to frighten even another fifty millers, but now we can see how the v scare " has been caused. In this district nearly every mill was engaged in preparing fibre for the American market, and, though they held only time contracts, yet the owners appeared to thiuk the buying be continuous. As the Americans chose not only to stop buying, but also cabled desponding news to their agents, the merchants, loan companies, and mi'lers, believed all was lost. We hold it to be a very strange thing, viewed by the light we are now able to use* to discern a reason for all this flutter. The account sales of hemp sold in December never warranted the des* pondency, and we are now, by the courtesy of Messrs McMillan Rhodes & Co., in receipt of account sales for hemp sold in London on the sth or 6th of February, for parcels shipped home because they were rejected for the American market, yet the prices are extremely satisfactory, a3 these lo s soil for £24 to £26 a ton. By the process of classification adopted at Wellington these would not be even " fair average quality" so that had t-ie American shipments gone to London, they would have realised from £28 to £82 a ton. It is evident that our Yankee cousins have unier stool the market a great deal better than we have, and the hempmiller made no great catch when he seized at a sale from £18 (to £20 a ton in Wellington. It is for the millers and the Association to find out how the trade has been knocked about for some one to make money oat of, but it is more than curious, that after the American cables, instruct* ing agents to get out of all contracts that were possib'e, to learn i:iat there are still some Americans desir* ing to purchase N. Z. hemp, who however find it better to employ a local company to make bargains for them, than to buy openly. The whole past emphasizes the advisa. bility of eack hemp miller hardening his business up with increased capital so that he can ship direct to London and avoid the snares and pit* fallsjspread for his dispoliment.