THE FALL IN WOOL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 283, 30 November 1931, Page 6

THE FALL IN WOOL.

Not even the most confirmed optimist could regard with any satisfaction the prices recorded at Saturday's avool sale. The bidding was anything but vigorous or enthusiastic. Bradford was .apparently not interested, and Japan, which helped to save the situation last season, is wholly non-committal to-day. All this means a grievous disappointment to our woolgrowers, and a heavy loss to the Dominion in general and Auckland district in particular. Of course, there are many ways of explaining the failure of the Auckland market to follow the upward tendencies recently manifested in Australia and elsewhere. At the London sales on Friday prices generally declined, and on Saturday Bradford buyers had to follow their cabled instructions. Then a fair proportion, of the bales offered consisted of wool held over from last season, and stained and discoloured by keeping. Further, we may point out that, as the Southern wools are on the average of better quality than ours, the subsequent sales, later in the season, will very probably register a substantial recovery, to the general benefit of the Dominion. In any case, there is nothing to be gained by dwelling too persistently on the gloomy side of the picture. We must remember that the prospects for wool are regarded by experts as better to-day than they have been since the market was first exposed to the competition of artificial substitutes, and we must look hopefully to the future. At the same time, the electors recording their next Wednesday should bear in mind the sudden "slump" in wool and ask themselves whether at such a time as this New Zealand could safely be committed to the care of a party Avhose ideas of public finance are apparently limited to the vague promises, the empty rhetoric and the visionary and hazardous projects of Labour's manifesto.