The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE. THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 1920. A WOOL-MARKETING PROBLEM.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3508, 10 June 1920, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE.

THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 1920. A WOOL-MARKETING PROBLEM.

With which is incorporated “The Taihape Post and Waimarino News.”

A few days ago the cable men in England sent out to this Dominion the remarkable statement that Bradford woolmon-gers knew ‘how to control the price of wool. Producers in New Zealand may well mark and digest that significant little item’ -of news, for it conveys ‘to them the truth about the handling of their woolafter it leaves them. ‘ The wool market was experiencing a decline -and it was suggested that spinners and nianuf.a.eturers would lose -heavily on purchases made when wool was at its" price zenith, but the Bradford men were equal to the occasion; they were not going to permit a market which they could and did control wander about to their disadvantage. Nothing further need be said about this] incident than that it is the best of corroboration of the fact. that there is no market value of wool other tlnui that the Bradford wool clique are pleased to allow. What niutter.< to New Zealand farmers is the i’:lc.t that the outritges of Cominereialisni in Britain during, and since, the war have brouglitaabont a condition by which clique manipulation of wool may be readily put an end to. By sheer robbery of producers and consumers in an orgy of profiteering woollen initinufaeturers have forced up wages to such a level in Britain that it is no longer neeess_:ll'y for New Zeiilziiitlers to send their '\i'ool to Britain in order to have it elieziply mamli'ar:tnred for it can now be more cheaply turned into elotliing in the Dominion. It’ \\'ool—gl'ower.~' will take the trouble to szilisfy tliemse-l'/es about the new wool eon(l.itionL~;. 'the§' will find that the time is ‘past when they need trouble about sliipping to take their wool to a foreign market; anxiety may be trans.l’erre<.l to manufac-tlll'<:-i':~:, and it undoul)tedl_\f will be. because the aclv:liit:lg_,r<-s are so great mm; farniers cannot afford to miss their opportunity. New Zealand must provide the market for itslown wool; in fact farmers should own the faetorie.<‘us] well as grow the wool; eliminate Ship-i ping charges, foreign nnirketing costs] and above all keep <:~.]e;lr of HIOSO Bradt'ord symlicates who openly boast| of their power to manipul:i.te the Honm I WOOI mflTl<<‘.fS. it is undeniable that‘ the Bradford eoterie have been taking upwards of 3000 per cent. out of New | Zenland wool. the fact is testified tel by a Commission of Enquiry set up; by the British Government. If there are per eentages amounting to ‘upwards of 3000 to be fairly earned, as they contend, let them be earned by the me" “'l'o 9.11'0“’ the wool, in their own i7'fl<‘tories. withn their own sliores. Let a demand for wool be estal)li.~*.hed internally that will compel British pro-

fliteers to cut out at least 2950 per cent. of the profits they have been m::kin;__';; that will tend to increase the world dcnnmid for wool, nml so onsnre for -.111 time a 11nii’or1u. and highly renlunol'ativo' price. Wool ulunuf:Lét;n'i'ing labour is no more costly in New Zcalzmd than in Britain, a fact it: will be hard for wool growers to realise, and, no doubt Shipping interest. will lose no opportunity of trying to keep them blinded to the changes in the labour situation. VVithout. going into details it

may be said that there is a .nlarkol;‘ for woollen goods developing in the, Pacific that could not be supplied by; Britain if factories were kept working‘ perpetually, but those newly developing markets are much more easily supplied from l.\Tew Zealand than they‘ could be fl'om.Britaill. All that is needful is the erection of a sufficiency! of most. modernly equipped .t‘actories‘,l and to export finished goods, shippedi away instead of the raw wool. It is: beyond question that woollen manu-| tiacture is going to be one of the most profitable industries this Dominion can! boast -of; the dema.nd for Wooilens is} rapidly outpacing the supply, and when i it is a real shortage and not a mani-I pulated one prices for raw materials are stabilised on .a. highly remunerative level. If alh woolgrowers only contribute in a very moderate way to the establishment of their -own woollen mills they will secure returns by a. multiciplity of avenues. They will cut out first of all" the machinations of the Bradford men “who know how to cont"-ro‘l raw Pwool prices”; they will cut down marketing cost to the irreducible nlinimum_:- they wilL elimkinate shipping for carrying the raw product Home and the manufactured ;article back; they will add immensely {to the value of all property in the area of country from which wool is F drawn; the influx of labour will benefit all town businesses, rendering centres of population more prosperous, enabling people to be-‘better fed, clothed and housed; woolemay be marketed just as easily as mutton, one is taken to the freezing works, the other to the woollen mills, and payment has not to he waited for. By the establishment. of modern woollen mills in their midst farmers have everything to gain and nothing .to‘ lose: It" is v ‘doubtful whether money could. be more profitably invested by farmers than‘ by putting it into their ..own- woollen mills, for it must beobvious, undeniable, that case and rapidity of marketing tends always to highest and most uniform remuneration- Farmers will thereby -furnish their own market for , the wool they grow, and they will supI ply the manufactured article direct t-o those who distribute it_ to consumers inside and outside of their territory and country. We arenot dwelling on the value to the Dominiori of the establishment of a larger woollen manufacturing business, because it is as clear as day that an industry that is going to be a great profit-earner to the producers who 'plaee«-‘capital in it is going to be largely advantageous to New Zealand as a whole. We hope to see this territory of farmers become enthusiastic in putting the projected Wanganui Woollen Mills in the foret'roht of such >lllS'CllZllllo_llS in this country, if only for the fact that every pound they invest tlrerein will be got back in increased value of their properties which denser population will contribute. This is a most casual survey of the Wanganui Woollen Mill project. for to attempt exhaustive study of advantages to acerfie would require a book of not inconsiderable l volume. We know that the'first quesition asked is, where is the labour to icome from But lies it not already been impressed upon the various Do» minions that there are hundreds of thousands of women in Britain waiting for an opportunity to leave acutely <'ongestell Britain to seek. onlployment in the Colonies’? And are there not jjust about as many men anxious for the New Zezlland Governnient to secure lpzrssrlges for them to this count-:_\?‘:’ l'l‘he very finest and mést profitable iuon::nmlil’y this country can import is {.labour, for it is something that is not <-onsumrwl at once, it goes on p1‘0<l110iI1{_" other‘ conlmodities. and more important still, ropro<lu(:iug ‘itself. Reckoning a human being at the nlinimllln yvalixe to the State, say £-‘-100, it is not ‘ msy to find :3. bel‘t:(‘l' or a. swifler way sol’ iln':re:lsing the l)ominion’s wealth. it‘ we were n.\'l<(‘{l to say \\'ll=ll' in‘ «ln.<iry would remain most porln:lnmll'ly and rmiformly pro{it:ll)le in V.'\‘e-.\' VA(\:1]“ll(] we should certainly select: the woollen indus’rr_v. I 1“ is common knowlml;;‘e that sliaros in old \\'00ll(‘ll Colll’

pnnies are not pxm-.})a.<:Lble at fwicn Hmir f.‘ur=o \*nllm. and now Hmia <-lwfixp Inhnllr is :1 thing" of‘ the past in Brimin flw last. and only unl’n.v(ml':l.ble :>.spr>cl‘ has mympktely v.'nlishml. To Podllae flu? snppl_v 04'' wool in Rl'il’:l'|n is to hnrdon the Gennmd and ilwroase won) v:lTu<>.<. then Inf f'arnwrs m2mu~ I'-.'wt.uro thoir ‘wool in Nmv Zr‘:fl:mfl.