The Times TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 1944. What Future For Wool

Manawatu Times, Volume 69, Issue 54, 7 March 1944, Page 4

The Times TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 1944. What Future For Wool

For over 100 years New Zealand lias been exporting wool, a product which has throughout the century contributed persistently and most valuably to the national income. Wool has had its ups and downs, fluctuating more widely than any other of our major products, but over the long period good and satisfactory returns have come from this source. What the wool clip means to the Dominion will be appreciated from the fact that it will this season return about £19,000,000 — almost a-quartep of our export wealth. The sheep industry ranks an eq-nal first with the dairy industry as the largest in the Dominion. Wool provides close upon one-half the income of the sheep industry, the returns on various classes of farms ranging up to 80 per cent., and in few cases being less than 30 per cent, of the total farm income. It is obviously of the utmost conseq-Uence, not only to sheep farmers themselves but to every citizen, that the wool trade should continue to be satisfactory. - A current production of wool from all sources in the region of 330,000,0001b5., approximately 1,000,000 hales, does provide most satisfactory returns under an Imperial purchase agreement giving a price of just over 14d lb. But what of post-war wool marketing? A leading authority, Dol’d Barnby, informed the New Zealand editors at Home that there was a likelihood of an accumulation in various countries of up to 8,000,000 bales by the end of 1944. This represents almost a year’s supply from world production. That is but one of the clouds on the horizon that darken the prospect for wool, an even graver one being the development of artificial fibres, several of which are classed as “artificial wool.” Yet a third complication must arise in the post-war period from the poverty of the peoples of Europe and Japan which will make it difficult for them to purchase raw wool at a reasonable price, no matter how much they wish to do so. Widely varying opinions have been given as to the competition wool will meet from artificial products. Certain it is that these have through the war years improved in quality, gained enormously in output, doubtless improved in efficiency of production, with a possibility also of 4 gaining in public favour. Certainly in the aggregate these conclusions project a dark shadow across tfie future for wool. On the other hand the opinion is given from several authorities that the threat of artificials should not be exaggerated, that the special qualities of wool, its warmth, lightness, wearing quality and damp resistance, should be truly appraised. Furthermore, the war has brought appreciation of these qualities to many millions of people, notably in U.S.A. The liquidation of surplus wool stocks and the financing of liard-up customers may be considered as a joint problem. All interested in the woollen business, whether as producers or manufacturers, are practically united in their desire to see established after this war an international committee—on the lines of the B.A.W.R.A. which functioned so successfully after the last war—to handle the disposal of the great surplus stock. That same organisation might well sell wool on long-term credits to the Continent and Japan. Be it realised that these two areas purchased about half the world’s outprxt in 1938. The fortunes of any industry are seldom decided solely by forces outside its own control—that is by Fate. Rather experience teaches that “the Lord helps those who help themselves.” So it is Urged on the wool producers of this country that they employ all possible means of modern research and marketing technique so as to offer the world the best possible product at a most reasonable payable price. The International Wool Secretariat made an admirable start in the overseas field amongst manufacturers and designers just prior to the war. The one fault with this organisation was its starvation for funds. A levy of 6d per bale really is a joke and would be regarded as such by any experienced tr ader in the world. Wool-growers would be wise to raise the figure to 2s 6d a bale, and that would be very modest indeed. The State also has a responsibility in that it should maintain the level of internal costs at a reasonable rate so as not to put our exporting industry out of business. A crisis indeed would hit New Zealand were its wool exports to suffer a market collapse.