AN ENLIGHTENING REVIEW.

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 139, 10 December 1923, Page 8

AN ENLIGHTENING REVIEW.

■; '* j(dmt» him"juMijunw.^-wrauan.) T^iWIBAU«-mW. iiAUHD CAlil AJSOCUiIOII.) gp^, /^O]SiiP^, : 'BtK;,December. "Reviewing the-wodr.positibny^Mesßrs. •H^Pawson and CoVJsay- the^market i'as a great ■Bentimentaivchange, iaiidvthe confidenjcey::Bo;:'ibngf;iacking has ietiirned, ' probably.;.;due^'chiefly to', the Ssigid depletion of ,:Bawra^ stocks, also .ffie-.i growing demand for goods' 3<W the export trade to th'epoorer countries: of Europe. Food and '.'cheap, warm plotting are prime necessities, and the Jg^ter is now being called for. Coarser itfoods have not been popular; for those Swjtahcould afford fine goods, but the longj«xpe'cted spurt in the cheapei', durable •ipaterials seems to be developing. Happily, the West Riding of Yorkshire can Ripply them, and crossbred wools along ■with- the wastes are likely to find a bet-ter-demand. The position of merinos is ifcor€> difficult to define, as it varies greatly at various consuming centres. s"he' Home trade cannot follow the colon'ialJruling 'prices.. At 'present tops in Bradford are still neglected, and the ■jjiice's offered by spinners and manufacifcUrers are considerably below colonial jfites, which makes forward business imjjracticahle. The • accumulation 'of old .^tocks, however, is being!sensibly reducedj'and a slightly more hopeful tone preyails. •

•> Activity in Yorkshire is almost entirely confined to crossbreds, while the merino xombing mills are still mostly idle. Jti fact, raw material alone, ~at present, Tfl^enjoying appreciation in values. The ■aanger is lest there should be over-specu-lation, and rapid advances in crossbreds jhbuld prove untenable.

' tWith the heavy catalogue of nearly 27,000 ;bTales to dispose of,! it was evident that ite' Wellington December offering could not be disposed of immediately, hence the opening of the sale on Friday night and .its continuance until after "The Post" had gone to press on Saturday. H- Bidding was as keen at the end of the sale as at the- beginning. As comjwed with the quantities offered at the December sale, 1922, there were 10,000 more /bales put under the hammer on the'--present occasion. The quantities in b6th, cases .were regulated by the New Zealand Wool Committee, which body yt&s .evidently satisfied that the market ■can '. absorb far more wool to-day than ifrcould a year ago, and it increased the limits of offerings accordingly, with the satisfactory double:barrelled result of a (greater quittance, and greater, prices. :"iiln some cases woolgrowers were conyjnc'ed of their better knowledge of values than were the buyers and brokers, Mid .some excellent prices were refused, Jgit, in general, brokers, effected a splenjdid^clearance- of wool, and the result will.be a very substantial amount coming / Sp.ihe credit of woolgrowers when the day, a fortnight hence, ajrives. '<-Reference to the above review of the iiiarket by the well-known authorities, 'DawßOn and Co., as cabled, will show Ij6w;;and why crossbred, wools have come into their owrt. There was very little •merino wool offering at the Wellington '«alesr^there::rflrely"is 'niuch;, the 4 greater, part'bfjthos^e.wools going into tie Christ- , church* and Diinedin s"alerooms. The official range of average prices was not jorapiled-m-time for inclusion in Satur•^ayu "Post." It is as under, and it .plainly shows how the, price of wool has 'advanced during .the past three weeks -.—.