WOOL WEIGHTS

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 76, 31 March 1934, Page 14

WOOL WEIGHTS

AN OLD GRIEVANCE

For many years the term "draft allowance has been the cause of much controversy in the wool trade. It has been the custom from the commencement of wool sales in Australia to allow buyers a sort of weights discount, known as the drnit allowance. The custom indeed is much older than the Australian wool trade. Throughout the Commonwealth and New Zealand the discount is lib for every 1121b. purchased. On British wools m England an allowance of 21b a ewt is made, and in South Africa there is an allowance of 131b a bale to cover both tare and draft. Nor is the custom confined to raw wool. In some form it goes through the various stages, to tops and yarns, and on to manufactured goods. This custom is admitted to be an anomaly, and should, if possible, be abolished, but the difficulty is to find means of getting rid of it. Buyers take the socalled concession into account -when valuing wool, andeontend that the grower makes no allowance actually. Many growers, on the other hand, imagine that they are giving away a pound of wool with every cwt sold, but there are some growers who acknowledge that the concession is more imaginary than real. All growers and, their selling brokers, however, would,like to have the anomaly removed, and they have been.persistent with their attacks upon it.

Mr. G. L. Aitken, chairman of the National Council of Wool-selling Brokers of Australia, has been in correspondence with the Australian Woolgrowers' Council .and the British Wool Federation of> Bradford. Throughout the controversy it has always been recognised that any alteration in the custom must come from the buying section of the trade. In consequence the Australian authorities sought to convince the British federation in the first place that the allowance should be abolished. The federation appointed a committee, which has now reported. It referred to the antiquity of the custom and added: "We can assure you that all the buyers allow for the.draft in valuing wool. Competition is so keen that the buyer who did not allow for the draft in his calculations would buy very little wool. Different trade allowances are made throughout air sections of the trade, and in all cases aye allowed for in calculating the cost.

"The prices buyers pay are based on the assumption that they receive 1121b and Jpay for 1111b. We feel, therefore, there [can be no justification for upsettiug the present system, when the only result of the change would be to make great difficulties for the buyer, who would have to readjust all his ideas of yields, which are the result of many years' practical ■ experience. .

"The' principal argument, and the one which we -wish to emphasise, is that the withdrawal of the draft would not put the grower in a better position, and.. would also seriously embarrass the buyer in his calculations. We feel' convinced that if [this argument could be communicated to I the growers throughout Australia it would do much to allay the agitation and unrest which appears to exist." .