Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, SEPT. 26, 1898. Flax.

Manawatu Herald, 26 September 1893, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, SEPT. 26, 1898. Flax.

Without doubt the flaxmillers of the district have been experiencing an unpleasant time, with bad weather, bad roads, and low prices. Still we cannot believe that times will continue bad in any of the past respects, i It ia clearly on evidence that more than one-half of the output of the dressed flax goes to America, and just now, for excellent reasons, Americans are not buying. This does not in any way prove that the fibre is not needed and that the Americans will not buy, and therefore though excessively inconvenient it should not be disheartening. We are aware that all the past production of all our mills have sold at a paying price, and as yet we have heard of no fall in any other fibre that should affect the value of flax. We have lately published an able letter from a well-known business firm in Amerioa which explained the stagnation of trade in that country j having arisen from the reduced I price of silver and the pecuniary straits the various banks had thus been placed in. The letter wound up with an exceedingly cheering . statement for the flax "trade inasmuch as that the crops were the finest that had been seen. Prices were bound to fall in London, as they would in any market where it I was known that the production was | as usual with only half the numbers ,of buyers for it. To send flax to London would appear therefore to be rather risky just at present, though as a means of obtaining advances it might be necessary. As the .time . would be three months before it ' would be on the market for sale, it ! would stand a very good chance of ; reaching a high market, if, and that •is very important, there is the likelihood of America needing supplies. Previously orders have reached millers before, this time of j year from America; but why they

have nofc done so appears to be from the difficulty experienced in obtaining the cash to pay for it, as the American correspondent-, previously referred to, explained that rnarmfactvtrer3 hod trouble in getting their cheques cashed to pay wages with, no bank cashing a higher cheque for one firm, than £100 in a day, and therefore labour was being pnid in short <kttd bills. All this must soo.i be righted, crops must be harvested and the material to do so must bo obtained, and therefore orders must arrive sooner or later, and the later tbey are, the higher Uie prices are likely to rule, as the same quantity will" be required, to be delivered within a i-hoTfcer period. We have no means for ascertaining how the manila crop is likely to turn out, but we would draw attention that some short time ago cable news was published that there had been a revolution, and from it It would appear as though the inhabitants were employed in dressing one another down to dressing their fibre, which may be of advantage to themselves but is distinctly so to the flaxmiller. Under these cit'eumstancea we are unable to agree with those who are feeling slightly disheartened with the industry, that millers are unfortunate in having their business disturbed by the American silver question, is not to be gainsaid, but a temporary slackness in a demand is no proof of an absence of need of the material.