TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 15, 19 January 1911, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

'While it would be premature to venture on any forecast as to the Methodist issue of the renewed moveUnion, nient for the completion of Methodist union in New Zealand, it is not too much to saythat the indications are more promising than they have been for over a quarter of a century. The Primitive Methodist Conference, as we have already fully reported, appointed a committee to consider the conditions of union, with instructions to print and circulate a proposed basis to be considered at next year's conference. No time was lost, for the first meeting of the committee, which the members regard as oL historic impcrtance, was held last night, Mr. Bellringer being appointed secretary. Those opposed to the union have 'been a Bteadily-decreasing group; but the committee, that it may be as fully representative as possible, include the most prominent oi those who were among the opposition in past years. A similar committee, _ appointed by the Methodist body, will, of course, be necessary. As long ago as 1884 the subject was first seriously discussed, and the question was simplified by the acceptance of a basis of union. But the arrangement required the sanction of the Church m Australia, with which the New Zealand Church has be9n united from the first i until the different conditions, as well as tha varying ideas, of the New Zealand j and Australian, conferences necessitated ! self-government and independent control. While the other branches of Methodism in New Zealand united ten years ago, the draft basis was vetoed by Australia, which has consistently imposed restrictions which the more democratic Church in New Zealand could not accept. Therefore, though the subject has come up repeatedly, it was recognised that no progress could be made while the- union with Australia was maintained, and in 1908, at Dunedin, the conference placed on record a minute to that effect. Now that Methodism in these islands has secured self-govern-ment, the sole remaining serious obstacle to union has bean removed, and the fact being generally realised that union is highly desirable the settlement of details should not involve any insuperable difficulties. Hence, the committee has gone to work ni a hopeful spirit, expecting -great thigjja. '

The time of depression in the Lancashire cotton trade has The ended, and there is now Cotton Trade more employment than Revival. there are operatives. Of all the great staple trades of Great Britain cotton is the greatest and at the same time the most sensitive. Of all industries it is essentially the free-trade industry. It depends for its existence on free imports of the raw material and on free manufacture, unimpeded by any artificial rise in the cost of living. Lancashire is the home of the cotton industry and the home- of free trade— for really the two things are inseparable. That is why Lancashire never goes, and never will go, tariff reform. The production of cotton fabrics and allied materials is simply enormous, and the margin of profit exceedingly small. Therefore, the least touch to the balance of contingent factors upsets the equilibrium of this unique industry. Should the cotton crop fail, or partially fail, in the Southern. States of America, or should it become the prey of manipulators and "cornermen," the result is short time and temporary poverty for the cotton operatives and their dependents in Lancashire. A' tenth of the population of the British isles is affected. Hence the cotton manufacturers, realising how much they are at the mercy of the United States, have made strenuous efforts to promote the cultivation of cotton within the Empire. Nigeria, Uganda, British East Africa, Egypt, and the West Indies have been laid under contribution, and really there is not the least reason why Queensland and the Northern Territory of Australia should not grow cottbn. The soil and climate are certainly suited, and during the American Civil War in the "sixties Queensland dfd actually grow a good deal of cotton for Lancashire. That is the problem of the cotton Industry. Give Lancashire a regular supply of the raw material, and her manufacturers, operatives, and merchants will do the rest. As it stands, Lancashire has during the last ten years installed more spindles than there are in Germany altogether, and there is every prospect of the improvement being permanent. I The decline in the price of wool at the i January London sale The London was not unexpected by WooJ Sales, those who have been discerning the signs of the times. So far back as the beginning of December it was seen that the price of wool was easing when, at the close of the November-December London series of sales, there was repoited a drop of 5 per cent, on all but the highest quality wools. Much depended upon I American buying. This, if up to its former strength, would re-establish the market. At the last London sales American purchases showed a reduction of 54,000 bales, and at the sales now in progress United States buyers are re- ! ported as giving but slight support. In December it was foreseen that there would a large quantity of short "burry" and heavy wool offering at the Jaiiuary sales, and so the- factor of quality had to be reckoned in with that of a quieter market. At the recent Wellington sales buyers' limits were £d to |d below growers' notions of the wool. Subsequent events have shown that the former had a better idea of the value of wool, i.e., what the users will give for it, than the producers. But there are two consolatory tacts that must not be lost sight of : The past high prices have put pastoralists on then* feet (especially in New Zealand), and the present rates are remunerative. It is made clear by the cablegrams that lh& inferior wools have been the hardest hit. They would naturally be the first to suffer. It only remains for growers to exercise the same caution as the wool users have been displaying for the past six months, and not to be led into extravagance as a result of the hitherto long price for the staple, nor into despondency because of the check to values. Wool is still marketable at a price allowing a handsome margin to the prudent and experienced grower. The day of bank reclamations is past.