THE WOOL REQUISITION.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3382, 10 January 1920, Page 6

THE WOOL REQUISITION.

PROSPECTS OF SHIPMENT. . GROWERS’ SHARE or PROFITSThe question of arrangements for handling Australian wool after the expiry of the contracfon June 30, 1920; has been engaging the attention of wool-growers and wool-brokers in Alls‘ Vtralia, with the result ‘that a Natioll2tl V Wool Council has been f°l'mod- It is evident, says the Australasian Insurance Record, that '3. transition period, extending over at least $2 »or 18 It lrlontlis will have to be faced after Ethe 0 contract comes to ancnd, and. that many questions of greater or less importance are bound -to arise, calling for concerted action on the part of all in- » terestedf I 7 The British Government purchase» as a war measure, has proved of great value to the Australian wool-growers, not merely by the gu'3.l'antee of a. high " average price, 159_Ed per lb, with participation of whatever profit is obtainablepn re-sales, but also by the favourable solution which it furnished of the financial problem, since payment: was made after -appraisement without regard to time of shipment. As regards the future, there is. a confident feeling with regard to the market, taking supply and demand as a whole. into account, though it is plain that careful: management will be required in order ‘to obtain proper results for the growers." ‘One of the problems will be that of securing tonnage for next season’si clip. A further consider_atio.n is that,‘ the financial position of the Continentl will not be the same as before the War,. and ‘therefore buying i, cannot be expected to proceed with complete facility. ' » I THE SHIPPING OUTLOOK. I Some important information was -given‘ to a deputation by’ Sir John Higgins, ‘the chairman of the Central Wool Committee. He said arrangements had been made to lift: from Australian 'ports every bale of British Governmentwool purchased‘ at 1 5-8 d per Ib, which is a cheap rate, considering the ruling charges on other commodities; and materially help to swell the ' profit ‘over the iflat rate of requisition. The quan-tinles of m_.'»pl*aise(l wool in the Ce:.:'"onwe:1ltl1 mg faT;'»vc;n»ber 22‘ ‘Were as follows|’;;- « A _ ‘ '7 Season M Bales. ‘K . ‘ n 1917318 -. ... . . 58,037 ‘V’ 1913-19 ‘ ‘1919-20 .... .._ 550,035 ' I The bulk of the current season’s'§ ,wool will be appraised. by the. middle of April, and ‘it does not appear possible on June .30, 1920., to -have less than 1,000,000 bales of appraised, wool unshipped in the Commonwealth while there may easily be-as much as 1,500,000 bales. *

Referring to a report that all the Wool purchased by the British Government will be lifted by the end of’ September, Sir John Higgins said he did not think it posiblc for the wool to'be lifted before the end of Decem- ‘ bet. The problem is not anerely shipping the wool from Australia to Eng-1 land or elsewhere, but getting it into consumption as manufactured goods) and paying for it. The Central Woo! Committee is ‘now storing, wool in Australia for practicalllty -one-third of the cost for storage plus handling -' charges in England. The Port of London is inadequate to handle all ‘the wool, and flair-1y large quantities are being sent to Antwerp to be sold there by the British Government. Wooliis also being sent to France, Italy, and Swtzerland, as well as the! United States and Japan. Allowing} for exchange, the 15§d paynient in Australia, Sir John Higgins -points put, is equal to 18d per lb payment in Boston. PROFITS AND LOSSES. The question of the final dividend is still uncertain, and while the credits are running into large figures, no indication as to the final results can be given until the wool is sold. On the other hand, the debits for interest and storage chlarges ‘Oz; wool in Australia since February, 1.919, have beenat the rate of £SOOO a day, or practically £2,000,000 a year. There was also the debits for loss of wool and sheepskins by submarining. An interim statement shows that the losses through enemyi action to March 31. 1913, Were 33,961_bafbs of wool, valued at appraised prices £1,156,244 and sheepskins/co the. value of , £195,348_ In connection with insurance, Sir “‘ John Higgins stated that when Great ‘Britiain was manufacturing woollen goods forlmilitary pul'poS'€S: 3 oh3l‘g° ?Was debited towards the c6§t' of the wool to cover war risk and marine in's'urance."’ So far the accounts indicate that the arrangement has 'bcen‘very profitable to the British _C‘vovernmen-t and the Austr-‘a‘li:,lri xuololgrowers ,there being", a substantial credit to that account. ,- ‘ ' ‘ ' The‘ Storage sheds erected. in AusM, h'3‘li'3_'l"h3V"3 Pl-"oVed a profitable‘ investment-’: ‘They were built to hold 1,000,000 bales of wool, and the cost of erectlon, including interest” at 5 per con-t.,. V 9“ the calfiial’ outlay, lzazs lamounted

to approximately £368,000, If the Wool Committee had had to obtain storage accommodation at the general‘ charge ‘of lg-d per bale a week the cost of stoxfing. the wool would have been approximately £825,000, and after allowing for the salxfage value of fhe sheds the result. at: tFe- end of three fears is that -through building the sheds the _commit~tee has saved approximately £623,000. . .