THE MYSTERIOUS WOOL COMMITTEE

Shannon News, 23 January 1925, Page 3

THE MYSTERIOUS WOOL COMMITTEE

LIMITATION OF CATALOGUES CRITICISED. After a long silence (says the Auckland "Star") the Wool Committee ha» come to light and has fixed the limits for the January sales. At the outset it would be interesting to know who constitutes he Wool Committee. The committee that functioned last year was requested to continue in office, but the Minister of Agriculture promised that a new.committee would be appointed and that the Government nominees would be withdrawn, there being no need now for the Government to be represented on the committee. Apparently that promise has not been kept and if it has been kept there has been no public intimation of who constitute the committee. The probability is that the old committee is still acting, and the Government still has a finger in the pie, and both the Agricultural Department and the Meat Control Board appear to have a big voice in the committee. However, the committee, whether old or new, has fixed the limits for the January sales, and, apparently in justification of its work, it is stated on behalf of the committee that "to those who have had an opportunity ot observing the trend of the sales as they progressed, it wa3 evident that the quantities offered were proving to be too great, and that in consequence, com- ; petition latterly was restricted and lacked the eagerness of the earlier sales." At the November sales, when very little wool was available, prices were high, but in December, when about 110,000 bales were offered, the market eased. The setback began at Napier, which was the second sale in December, and continued right up to the sale at Dunedin, when there was a slight recovery. 11, with only five sales and an offering of about 110,000 bales in December, "the quantities offered proved to be too great." what is likely to be the position in January, when there are to be seven sales and an offering of 142,500 bales? There is to be an increased offering of over 31,000 bales in January and if we are to accept the argument of the committee, this should stimulate competition. It would have been better if the committee had said nothing than to indulge in such silly sentiments. Prices were easier at the December sales because buyers' limits were reduced in some cases, and in others had been exhausted. Buyers on American account bought very little wool in December, and the absence of their competition was felt. It is doubtful whether the quantity offered in December had any real influence on the market.