A CONTINENTAL VIEW

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 700, 28 November 1933, Page 6

A CONTINENTAL VIEW

PRICES SHOULD CONTINUE Auckland, Monday. Mr. Alfred Kummerle, of the Kummerle spinning mills, Brandenburg, Germany, is visiting Auckland. "There is no doubt that business is improving and that more wool is wanted in Europe and nearly all over the world," he said. "You can be sure of continued high prices. At the same time, I do not like very sudden rises, there is always the risk of a relapse. On the whole, I think that prices will settle down somewhere about pre-war level, but not above it." Germany was likely to require fully as much wool this season as last, Mr. Kummerle said, but if prices went too high she would have to buy less, for the reason that expenditure on imports was restricted in order to sustain the mark, which had only a 20 per cent gold backing. In his own business, which was in knittingyarns, trade was good because in hard times -women were inclined to buy fewer made-up garments and to knit more themselves. "I do not believe that the political charges in Germany are having any efreT.fon trade," he said, in reply to a question, "except that the thousands of Nazi uniforms call for a great dea! of extra wool. Generally speaking, economic depression tended to give wool an advantage over its new rival, artiftcial silk, woollen goods being on the whole cheaper for the amount of warmth they provided. Improved Methods The outlook for increased wool consumption in th East was promising and on the whole there seemed little likelihood of world over-produc-tion for a considerable time to come. Speaking of New Zealand woolgrowing, Mr. Kummerle said there seemed to be a good deal of scope for pasture development. He was struck by the very large areas of land still under fern in the North Island. After seeing Taranaki he was driven to wonder whether that province would not see a considerable turnover from dairying to intensive sheep-raising before very j many years. Speaking as an outpp wou1d hazard the opinion ■ V Z". '"Ti'"1 finp v'ool fier