Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 1925. THE PRICE OF WOOL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLV, Issue 10350, 14 March 1925, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 1925. THE PRICE OF WOOL.

The cabled information that success has been achieved in London with experiments for the manufacture of synthetic wool should be accepted with caution by the grower until the method in regard to which the claim is made has been fully tested. There is many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip, and announcements of a similar character have in the past often demonstrated nothing but the unbounded optimism of those making- them. One thing," however, is certain, that the high prices ruling for wool in recent years have caused experimenters to direct their ingenuity toward evolving such a process, and it is quite on the cards that a substi-

tute article will sooner or later be placed on the market. What is of more immediate concern to the producer, nevertheless, is the present state of the London market. The latest reports show that merinoes have declined from 10 to 15 per cent., fine crossbreds 7£ per cent., and medium crossbreds 5 per cent:, compared with the last sales. In other words, merinoes are cheaper by 4d per lb., . (fine and medium crossbreds by -

Ifd. In this connection the comment by Mr H. Dawson, one of I

the leading Bradford authorities, is of interest. He says it has long been obvious that the decline in prices was much overdue and that it had to come. Further, he is of opinion that there is a probability of a reaction and that the decline is unlikely to be fully recoverable. This view of the position will be accepted by all keen observers of the markets, for the recent extraordinary high rates could not be expected to continue for long. As a matter of fact, they constituted a distinct menace to the in-

I dustry. Wool is admittedly j short of the consumptive demand all the world oyer, but even so there is a limit to which prices can rise. Any movement above that brings the inevitable swingof the pendulum, consumers turning" to the use of substitutes. So far as the general body of New Zealand wool growers is concerned the recent decline will not affect them as the bulk of our product has already been sold in this country. The man who will

suffer—and then only comparatively—will be who who ship-

ped to London on his own

account and the buyer who worked on a margin based

on the assumption that the high level would be maintained.

Even at the present rates the industry would remain profitable, and it is to the common benefit that stability of prices and consequently healthier trade should prevail rather than a feverish activity the collapse of which might well entail losses compared with which the gains would be insignificant.