WOOL EXPORT TO CHINA.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5034, 2 May 1878, Page 3

WOOL EXPORT TO CHINA.

The subjoined,letter from Messrs. Olyphant and °* Shanghai, respecting the progress made in opening np a trade in wool with ..I 0 ?’ considerable interest. It wilhbe seen.that the progess made hitherto has been less rapid than the promoters ol the movement had, hoped; but the letter holds • Pf olo ™ of;, ultimate success.. ; It is well known that it is a difficult matter to perauade the Chinese to accept any novelty. and to induce them to change n £ othing t 0 an J considerable extent weuld be a reform of so great moment that one would bo very sanguine indeed to -expect rapid success: in such a rnove--s“*' m China, a* In all other places rested interests, and those engaged in manufacturing the cotton goods are sure to fight hard against any change. Messrs. Olyphant and Co. lay great stress bn tho question of the pneo at which woollen or mixed cloths could be manufactured ; but', it' would seem that the wool from these colonies ought to be available at a rate that should efiable it to bo used largely, provided that the .establishment of large factories could bring the cost of manufacture to a minimum. -Mr,’ Monekton Synnot continues energetically to-push the matter, and ho really, deserves the thanks and . 1 Co '°P® ra fc* o & : ' of woolgrowera. ’ Our Chamber of Commerce; has given him their support/ ami perhaps will bo prepared to render further ( aid* Messrs Olyphant * and Co. write to Monekton Synnot■ , ' ;* Shanghai, 14th February, 1878. : year Sir*r-rWe have now to acknowledge receipt of your Bevoralvalued favors of dates to the 26th December last, all of which with

newspaper extracts we have read with much interest.-* We are sorry you should have" felt disappointed in not having heard from' us on the subject of the woollen yarn experiment. We fully appreciate your anxiety with regard to the subject, and we ourselves have continued to take the steadiest interest, in the matte.-; but we have refrained from writing or going into a lengthened correspondence in hopes of being able to send you further samples of cloth, as we are most anxious to avoid creating impressions or raising expectations which might not be realised. Had we written repeatedly our letters too would merely have been repetitions of the assurance that there was no special development to report, as we have been try ing for months to get some further pieces- of cloth of different descriptions made, and have not yet been successful, and our present letter is more to assure you ! of our unflagging interest in your experiment than to report special progress or give you ihfoi-rna-' tiou likeiy to be of particular importance to yon. l As you may readily understand it is not an easy matter to get the Chinese to take proper interest in an experiment of this nature, where the chances of a practical result are rather remote, and we have found it necessary to make efforts in’more than one direction, which will require time* to develop. The remarks upon weavinghanded us with your letter of 27th October we think will be particularly useful, and if necessary we shall go to the expense of having them translated into Chinese character, to serve as a guide in manufacturing. In the meantime we ai’o explaining orally to the natives, and as soon as we can get any further samples made we shrill send them to yon •at once. Wo -see that you are very hopeful as to the future of this business, but we must ask you not to ha oyer sanguine of an immediate demand, as a trade of this kmd cannot be developed in a country so conservative to old ideas as China, except by patient effort and slow degrees! If a cloth from woollen yarn, or mixed cotton and woollen yarns, can eventually be made at low enough cost, then there is little doubt that it will find its way, and in time be accepted by the masses of this country; but a cheap cost will be essential to enable it to ooine within the means of the laboring clas es, who are now almost entirely clad in cotton fabrics. We had hoped ere; this to-be able to distribute some samples of cloth in the provinces to the northward of this, but the exceptionally hard and severe winter we have - had, aud the distressing famine in those districts,'have forced us to defer our intention, even if we had specimens of cloth for distribution. - - 1 >

“To give you an idea of the state of affairs brought i about by this famine, we enclose an extract from one of our daily! papers, which will show you how thoroughly trade and all industries have been paralysed in; the northern districts referred to. Please feel, assured that we are doing all we can to ’ further the object you have in view, for apart from the pecuniary result which may be ex-! pected ; to follow :the successful issue of an! undertaking of this kind, we shall have a certain amount of pride in being the first firm in this country instrumental in developing here a ’ trade of this nature. The notices in the Australian papers of your experiment have, attracted the attention of some large woollen 1 manufacturers in Scotland, who have written to us, making enquiries, and offering to send us consignments of yarns, but we have taken, and shall take, no notice of their communications. "7 .

“ The small parcel of skins by the Bowen came to hand in doe course, but the packages of skins and yarns by the Somerset have not yet arrived, and seem to have gone astray. Our friends in Hongkong have made the necessary enquiries there, but nothing can be heard of these packages. We can hope for no good result from the sale of the 'skins when they reach us, for we have been-unable to get’an offer of any kind for the samples which we now have on hand, none of the skins being at all suited to the-Chinese trade and; demand! Judging by the sariiples you have sent us, the Australian skins would never .be able to compete with native furs and skins, or those that come down from Kussia, and we cannotTecommend shipments in this direction.—We are, &0., --••■■■ ' . : Olyphant and Co.,