MR. FOWLDS ON WOOL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 613, 16 September 1909, Page 4

MR. FOWLDS ON WOOL.

■V°;."<> ] d«i'ply'-indebted to Mr. for giving wider publicity than fecfbM. tt° * : ¥ r ?? larks «*» the cf" !? ct P',?,' 0 -" in wool. I'am-so glad to' seo thorn widely circulated' that I am going to' publish, them again, so" tfamy analysis may not ,be- doomed • unfair. Real?/ you ought to print.them every day The Gov' eminent boycott liberates..theVccekry space!- .'•• •.'•'lt.isi true that some of. the prioes of , year : than they were- previously; but you ; have got to bear,in mind that in one par- ; Hnl S „f T?, a . dlI y reflect itself on the condition of the people (ts do tomo other items ■■■of .our.produots-flax, for instance. The' ;• larger proportion of the wool revenue goes' ' h t f o£ , who . h "e 'been , spoken, of as. the- 'wool: kings'-Weal thy : people who, even in a bad year' have -moro '' , money than they can spend in the ordinary '•'■ : course of .business.. A.dron in tho price of wool simply means tha'f they have so : much less money for investment. A fall in the price of wool does not 60 directly as does a depreciation in the price of flax ■because'in the latter.-case the money: is- , passing almost directly into the hands : of a-large number of. workers whoso income ' mainly .depends upon the returns from that particular product/' . " .Now, curiously enough,:l have a theory that the.vcry.fact of wool, kings,'or any one else for investment .has consid Sftf*?'' ST "'• pU - Anv .business firm will tell jou.that.every.year certain men have been.good for certain sumsto be lent on- inertgage.Tjut that last .year they had less than usual ?M„Vl ot f^ e ' F « r ? ont - WW. for "- :Mr.Fowlds thinks this affects no one but the lender; If he.would only engage in some farming or landusing venture, instead,of.posing as the last authority, on all questions .arising but of such enterprise, ho would learn much that would astonish hira. -- ■'.•■-. ....... . uu " wfJnTi 3 of . last year's Sheep Heturns may bo found some figures of much interest to anv.o,?i?fnL 6 ?' W h apl ? d;U P ia \> sense-of,infnlfi. bility »so bo above consulting them. Krom them we find that 20,693 owners held 22,449,053 sheep.. I do not know, what Mr, Fowlds would call a wool kin". Personally, I'wouldmake a start with royalty at fivo; figures,' but everv man can fornl liis own opinion, and ni'ake his own calculations. Assuming,'however, that a wool king is-.c-no who "even in «"bod year has more money than ho can spend," I do not JWrSnn'H 1 evcn Mr - Fow ' cls ■» 01|1 'I doim that 5000 sheep constitutes a wool kin". I using the tables, I am bound to assume that persons owning from 500 to 1000 sheep n'veraee O" 1 ftt ■'? 1 0 -'.'. L ?' .»s ml then what"fte; tables show. liKvo were• 0003-Hooks from -1 to'"01 equalling C 60,500 ,: 5183 ,frbm £01-50(1, fotallin* 1,8.15,800, m frotii 501-1000, or 2,040 000 ,12 4 ft r I 0^ 00 '5,077,000. These hggrev gato 18,905 owners of 11,030,000 sheep-If to add , 9i4 oWDei, s of from 2501-5000,- or 3,040,000, we have 19,812 perrons owning 14,630. JOO gbjoap, oyerj ojwj of whom fc doubly a}.

fecled by a fall in wool. Your readers can take their own figures from tlio abov'o according to their .respective, ideas' of what constitute a wool .kingi But let. them remember this: It is not only the loss on each flceco that has to bo reckoned, but the loss on every head sold in the nutuiun. Between these.two amounts, not counting any loss accruing from drought, I -'believe every sheep depreciated fivo shillings. Hero again all can make'their own calculations. If I am right there was a loss on the sheep! mentioned abovo of 2f or 3! millions according to which totals vbu take. But in wool alone, at 2s. a', sheep, ilicro was a loss of .£1,109,000, or J!1,4(a,9G0, and-these sums were distributed, over 18,968 or 19,912 owners, representing an individual loss . di sixty or seventy pounds to each owner.' In the face of thisi Mr. Fowlds asserts that a fall in tho price of ilax would more rcadilv "reflect itself on tho condition of.-the people.".'The total value of all the IJax exported iii 190/ was .£832,068 (Year Bool:, p. 436). In 1900 (lost available returns) tho number of hands em. ployed in flaxmills was 1076 (p. 382). and tl-ei earned .£227,460. Thus tho obliteration' ortht ilax trado. altogether would only affect one. fourth tho number ot. people/and show a losof nothing like tho monoy represented by'the effect of tho fall :in wool in flocks of 2500 and under, putting tho effects on-larger owners wholly out of tho question. Mr- Fowlds has so often, and so loudly,, as. sertcd his right to be regarded as the one shining light on all questions' arising out ol land and. ; its occupation that such complete and conspicuous ignorance would be comica in tho extreme did we not find it ossociaicc with 'Ministerial -position. Small, wonder i: farmers aro hard put to it to borrow monoy when, tho. management of our affairs and tin .regulation: of our taxation is entrusted to sucl as Mr. Powlds. Men who havo tho ability U amass tho money that is lent out on mort gags aro not idiots, and wo know just: what wi may expect as long as wo place at the- head o affairs our Towldses,. our Findlays, and oiirI am sorely tempted to.; continue ' the allitera tiou.—l am, etc., •' ■ '•'.. :'.-.: V 'PASTOR.