ACCUMULATION OF WOOL.

Clutha Leader, Volume XLVII, Issue 52, 31 December 1920, Page 3

ACCUMULATION OF WOOL.

THE SLUMP IN ENGLAND. POLICY OP GOVERNMENT. CRITICISM FROM BRADFORD. The Bradford correspondent of the Yorkshire Post refers to the accumulation of stocks of crossbred' wool, and the fact that tlhe new clips from South America fed New Zealaiid and Australia 'Will soon 'be on the market. "The position is made .more complex, '' t'hof writer states, '' and the outlook more uncertain by the attitude adopted by our Gevernment Wool Department in ,maintaining its reserves at the 'Londom wool saleis on so high a 'basis. On-ce again large quantities o'f crossbred wool have been withdrawn at the present series of' sales, adding to 'their cost to tihe Government as owner, by charges for handling, offering them at the sales, and by a further period of warehousing. The policy of the Wool Depart roent is criticised as not being sufficiently elastic to- meet present conditions. Traders are being compelled' to meet their customers by accepting less .prices in order to secure new business, yet our Government Wool Department is more or less rigidly adhering to its fixed scale of prices, thus making .more apprehensive those tvHio fear a not far distant rush on t'he part of wool-holders to liquidate their stocks, ■whiclh. .will still further disorganise industry.

TIME FOR, FIXED PRICES PASSED. "The time for rigid maintenance of fixed prices lias passed. Those who decide the policy of the Government Wool 'Department in these days can sujjply appreciate the risk thev arp running by declining to meet the" market with a •definite quantity of raw material at stated periods, thus- .'helping to establish "a finm 'basis and gradually liquidating their holding. The prices which tlhe department has 'been insisting on for merino wools at the London' auctions just dosing have provoked much irritation where sales of of good warp 'wofils have 'been effected. Complaint is also made that even' for the Shorter wools, of whic'h there is no scarcity, the department has withdrawn the raw material at prices at which a private trader would have sold. It is urged that the department should adapt its poliey to ordinary business iiffcthofis, and sell the wool where good prices are bid rather than prolong their existence and pile up tnrther expense by carrying it over to some future sale 'when, the odds are a lower price will have to be accepted."

I! X SATISFACTORY SERIES. "The 'Q' series of wool sales just closed,'' says the special correspondent of the Daily Telegraph, has been one of the worst experienced since wool values took a downward course, there bciiig hardly a single redeeming feature. A few good prices have been paid for really excellent 'Australian. greasy merino comibing wools, but even here values have only 'been albout half what, would have ibeen realised last IMai'ch. At- that time ]o9d was paid for West Victorian merinos, while at the recent auctions 56d waS the top price paid for Culy one lot. The bulk of the greasy wools, even really good parcels, are now selling at 45d to 50d, and the demand lias Ibeen anything but satisfactory. Not more than half the offerings have been sold, and the decline, compared with the close of the previous auctions, is anywhere from 15 to 20 per cent. Had selling brokers been prepared to sell the crosfftreds, the decline, would have been the same, 'but Government reserves are still sensibly above the market, and 'before colonial crossbreds can ibe cleared there will have to Ibe a radical downward revision of limits. We certainly think it is high time the Imperial Government decided to meet the market and get rid of its big stocks whenever the trade shows any real desire to buy.''

DISAPPEAR A N T €' E OF COMPETITION. France has been a 'fairly li'beraV purchaser of short, "ourry parcels, which have sold quite as well as could have 'been expected, lmt one has misled ac> tive American competition, while the home trade 'has only bought very sparingly. The "free" Wools offered 'have also suffered very marked declines; in fact, the attitude of tho eutire industry shows that it is considered to be' the 'best policy to let the bulk of the wools remain in the hands of the Government. There is no doubt that- had present stocks Ibeen held by the trade the consequences would have been more serious tha'n they are- now likely to 'be. ami perhaps after all the tlovernment is well advised to feed the trade judiciously, and so. save the industry from financial catastrophe.