MERINO EXPORTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 160, 8 July 1937, Page 4

MERINO EXPORTS.

AUSTRALIANS PERTURBED. NEW ZEALAND'S DUTY. CO-OL'ERATiUN SOUGHT. (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, July 3. The determination ot the Australian wool men to protect thu -Merino against I possible exploitation by outsiders still I resists the allurement 01 temporary gain. I Occasionally a movement prompted by .1 i lew settlers or small farmers who arc I hard-pressed lor cash and are prepared lu I sacrifice the future ot Australia's jjreatwt ! industry for their own immediate gam I indicates a desire 111 certain quarter.-; to not I the embargo luted at least temporarily. I l'""- such shoit-sighted and selfish manoeuvres have always been countered Ihitheito by the more iuiliieutial and responsible ura/iers and ruiihulders. But there is one feature of thu present ,-wstein that leaven a loophole for attack. I he law ordaiilH that 110 .Merinos can l>e expoi ted from Australia without the approval of the .M ini.-tcr ~f Cunimerc. It has been the regular jirai-lii-i.- to witlihislil such permission, except 111 the case ot New Zealand, which raises crossbred*. and has no direct interest in .Merinos as wool bearers. Jsut the Dominion has 1.1 Hive an assurance that this imported stock will not be re-c.\poi led to other coiimtrics and the .New Zealand Coveriiinent has (iiven that guarantee. I'nloi tiiuatciy there is reason to believe that, tins pledge has not always been rigorously kept. Report From Dominion. At the last annual conference of the New South Wales Graziers.' Association, the opinion wan expressed that to some extent the effectiveness ot the embargo 111 the export 111 .Meiinos was endangered by the .sale of sheep to New Zealand. It' wa.s . therefore resolved that "the export of stud Merinos to New Zealand be investigated." 1 he results of these inquiries have not \et been published. But some extremely opportune, intoimation on the subject has just, been to the μ^azieiis , association by u New Zealand eOllespoiulelit who Mgns linu.-elt ■■A.J!..'' in a letter to tin: editor ot the "Sidney Morning Herald."' 1 he writer, who is a resident of Wellington I New Zealand I, warns Australian sheepmen that "the. purpose of tin: embargo is jeopardised b.s the export of .Merinos lloui New Zealand to countries to which I he. Australian embargo applies." The writer asserts that, in spite of the tiovei nliieiils a:-Miraiice, New Zealand is sending .Merinos not. only to .Japan, but to any oilier country that will take them. "Keccntly a .lapanese buyer bought -4H stud Merinoewes and 11 rams in the South island." i give this informal i<lll for γ-hat i-. is worth, just as it is supplied lo the ■"Herald." It sounds improbable, but the writer is extremely positive about it all. "1 am just writing this.' , he sajs, "as a warning to Australian sheepmen apainst what is taking place over here. J appreciate what Australia is doing in trying to protect her Merino wool industry, and 1 would be sorry .to see New Zealand Merino breeders jeopardising it in any way.' . He concludes by suggesting that it"may become advisable for the Commonwealth' Government Jo prohibit tile export of Merinos to Xew Zealand altogether. Collective Assurance Suggested. Whether these charges be true or not. they are certain to produce some impression here, and it lilitfht be well for those interested in the use of Merinos for breeding and crossing purposes in the Dominion to offer some sort of collective assurance to the Australian sheepmen that their interests will be carefully protected in accordance with the agreement between the two countries. There is 110 doubt that the export of Merinos from Australia to NewZealand under special permit from the Minister is rapidly inerensini:. Between 1020 and 1034 only 622 were shipped in an averape of loss than 12.") a year. But in 1!)3.), the number shipped was 2:i;5. and in 1030 it had risen to 4.i0. I need not enter into any of the collateral questions—what the Japanese do with the Merinos, whether Mongolia is tit for the renniip of sheep of this type, or whether the Coniedales and al! similar crosses which the Japanese have purchased in large numbers of late, may serve their purposes equally well. The point at issue, so far as Australia is conecrned. is the preservation ot' the monopoly in Merino wool that her craziers now hold, and it would be most, unfortunate for the ' Dominion to do anything that might even i indirectly injure the interests of the Com- ! monwealth in this important respect. !