WELFARE OF WOOL

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 83, 10 April 1939, Page 3

WELFARE OF WOOL

SECRETARIAT'S WORK

SEIZING OF OPPORTUNITIES

(By Air Mai', from "The Post's" London

Representative.)

LONDON, March 16,

Gifts of woollen dresses are to be exchanged by the Queen and Mrs. Roosevelt during the Royal visit to Washington. The Queen's dressmaker has been busy designing a model for her Majesty from American material, at Mrs. Roosevelt's request. It has been woven from the finest American

wools,

Her Majesty's gift to Mrs. Roosevelt will be a dress made in America. The material is composed of the best wool from New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa.

The exchange of these gifts will take place at a ceremony for which the International Wool Secretariat in London has been responsible.

"The Secretariat conducted negotiations to arrange for the occasion with officials at the Dominions Office and the White House," Mr. F. S. Arthur, the New Zealand representative, said. "There have also been talks with officials at the Foreign Office and Buckingham Palace. I think that it speaks very well for the standing of the Secretariat that its proposals should have met with such a favourable reception."

Mr. Arthur also said that the importance of the wool industry had been appreciated, both at Buckingham Palace and at the Dominions Office. It was felt that the incident in Washington would be regarded as a gesture of good will between Great Britain and the Dominions and America. It would also emphasise the importance of the wool industries and the value of a free interchange of trade, opportunities for which had been increased by the Anglo-American Trade Treaty.

INFLUENCE ON THE CONTINENT.

Wool propaganda committees have now been formed in France and Belgium by wool manufacturers and the woollen retail trade. This action has been taken following Mr. Arthur's visit to those countries recently. The committees will work inclose co-operation with the Secretariat with the objective of stimulating the- sale of wool. One of the methods favoured is the organisation of regular "wool weeks" at large stores in the chief cities.

A start was made this week by the French Committee, collaborating with the Secretariat, when a show of French wool furnishing fabrics was held in Paris. Mannequins also demonstrated new lingerie fashions, together with the latest modes in woollen evening dresses, now successfully established by the Secretariat as a feature of the modern fashion wardrobe.

Leaders of the French textile, wholesale, and retail trades were present and French and foreign Press representatives. Also there were the British Ambassador in Paris (Sir Eric Phipps), the South African Minister, and leading French Government officials.

Later this month, there will be a display of colour printed wool fabrics. To it will be invited manufacturers, the wholesale and retail trade, and the Press. It is hoped that these printed woollen fabrics will compete successfully with printed rayons and cottons, now so largely used for women's dress materials.

EXHIBIT AT LEIPZIG

Woollen materials were displayed by th- Secretariat at the Leipzig Fair this spring. Possibly by design of the German officials, the section allotted was immediately next to the Zellwolle exhibit of the staple fibre industry.

The Secretariat's stand certainly did not suffer by comparison. Committees representing all the textile industries in Europe were invited to contribute woollen fabrics, and they were displayed in national groups. There was also a selection of -fabrics from Great Britain,1 Belgium, Holland, France, Poland, Estonia, Germany, and Czechoslovakia.

Judging by the great interest taken in the display, it was shown that, despite the enforced use of staple fibre in Germany, wool still retains a vast popularity.