Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1895. THE FUTURE OF WOOL.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 5107, 31 October 1895, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1895. THE FUTURE OF WOOL.

( Wool, is unquestionably tlio staple 1 production of Australasia, and anything affecting wool, affects the Colonies for good or evil. The advance in the price of wool, which 1 has been recorded with almost all the series of London sales already held, has practically given the Australasian Colonies a fresh start. A new Ica'so of life, is the result, to not a few wool-growers who depend upon their wool to pay rent, interest, and other charges. The prospect is | decidedly promising, and this is | increased by tho fact that the 1895- ; 9G wool clip is virtually in the bale. If the Australasian clip realises equal to the last series of London sales, the revival in the Colonies will be pronounced and permanent, i The advance that has taken place in the price of wool has not boen a matter of chance; facts and figures are against any such theory. The causo may be easily ascertained; i the world's output of wool is stationi ary, while tho wool-consuming population is steadily increasing. The following figures will demonstrate this point:— Supplies of Australasian, Cape, Hirer Plate and 4 " other Boris" of wool available for Euro* peati and North American consumption.

Tho increase in tho number of bales is extremely small, but takeu > in connection with the fact that the wool-consumingpopulationof Europe t and North America is increasing at the rate of from '1,000,000 to 5,000,000 per annum, the wool-production shows a substantial reduction per, , head. Anolhor point that requires ) to bo taken into account, is the fact that America admits wool duty free. Under the M'Kinley tariff, the United States were paying eight million dollars in taxation for importing wool that could not be grown in the Republic. The removal of this burden has had a remarkable effect on tho wool market, and we owe the improved state of the [ market to tho operations of the s Yankees, The New Zealand Loan ' and Mercantile Agency Company 1 havo placed at our disposal some , very interesting figures culled from i the Board of Trade returns, and sent ) to the Company by its Loudon correspondents. These figures will show , to what extent American opera--1 tions havo affected the wool trade, r For the eight months ending 31st August, 1895, the total exports from the United Kingdom to all countries, of worsted and woollen tissues and < yarns, compared with tho correspond- , ing period of 1894 stand as follows:

I The total increase amounts toj

£3,605,794 and of this sum the | United States are. responsible for £3,463,623, The figures for the States are made up as follows; 1895 1801 Increase IVorstod tissues ~ 3,134,000 704,403 2,630,402 Woollen tissues .. 1,040,700 220,699 820,091 }»rns .. .. 114,289 7,159 107,130 lotal .. 4,395,070 032,350 3,403,623 America has thus helped to revive Australasia, and if the present prices of wool are to continue we must look to the States for help. Provided no crushing and prohibitive duty is placed upon wool, there is every reason to believe that wool v. ill continuo te fetch a fair price. The American production of wool is far below the home consumption, and with an increasingpopulation this will be aggravated ; furthermore, coarse wools of the third class cannot be grown in America to advantage, and a very small amount of combing-wools required to make the finest goods, and few wools fitted for the manufacture of broadcloth, are raised in tho United States, Moreover it seems they never will be raised to any extent, climate and soil being against their production. To sum up tho points, the world's produc- ■ lion of wool is practically at a standstill ; the wool-consuming population is steadily increasing; the abolition of tho American wool duty, is ■ equivalent to a yearly bonus of two millions sterling to the wool-growers; the States, besides being unable to | glow sufficient wool for home con- , sumption, is unablo to produce certain classes of wool. All these points lead to the conclusion that, though there may be fluctuations more or less pronounced, in certain classes, tho general tendency will be for wool to maintain the present price level; if we aro correct in our deductions, another wool season should make the Australasian Colonics commercially sound and highly prosperous,

1891 Imports ol Hales Australasia and Capo 2,128,000 River Plato .. 416,000 Other sorts .. 497,000 Miili production.. 050,000 United Slates .. 823,000 1S93 2,074,000 414,000 476,000 038,000 000,000 1891 2,152,000 •113,000 407,000 000,000 826,000 4,511,000 4,502,000 1,618,000

Worsted tisauof! , Wogllou tlwucs . Yarns .. . 1895 1804 Increase ii £, £, 7,001,400 4,(86,210 2,318,103 4,255,650 3,204,054 990,690 3,170,327 3,182,392 290,035 Total .. 14,739,380 11,133,502 3,605,781