A THREAT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 71, 25 March 1940, Page 6

A THREAT.

The Statist's warning that Dominion wool growers may permanently lose markets unless the British Government does more than it is doing to-day to supply foreign manufacturers is of grave import to this Dominion. Britain has taken our whole clip and that arrangement has much to commend it, both from the point of view of stability here and of supplying the needs of the forces. But in the past foreign manufacturers, have relied upon this country and Australia for large quantities of their special requirements. They can get nothing now, except through Britain, and if the Wool Controller cannot supply at reasonable rates they will have to look to other sources of supply. These sources may be in other countries, or they may be among the synthetic fibres in which great advances have been effected in the past year or two. In either event adaptation of machinery will be necessary, and when that process has gone on for some time it may be impossible to revert to present milling methods and such markets may be entirely lost. It is imperative that stocks should not be built up at Home at the expense of complete loss of valuable markets and the simultaneous creation of a surplus. The disaster of that surplus in 191S I is an unforgettable lesson.