WOOL FOR WAR PURPOSES

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 64, 13 September 1939, Page 8

WOOL FOR WAR PURPOSES

No time was lost by the Imperial Government in co-operation with the Federal Government of Australia in

securing wool supplies for the duration of the war. Presumably some such arrangement will be come to with the Government of New Zea-

land with the same object. If the wools most suitable for uniforms are crossbreds, as is generally understood to be the case, then New Zealand will be able to meet that demand, inasmuch as its wool is crossbred or strong wools to the extent of 97 per cent, of production. New Zealand wool was previously purchased by the Imperial Government at the end of 1916, sixteen months after hostilities had begun. No such delay is noticeable this time, at any rate in the completion of arrangements for acquiring the Australian clip, which is 87 per cent, fine wools, as distinguished from New Zealand preponderance of wools suitable for active service requirements. The entry into the wool market of one purchaser, the Imperial Government —in so far as Australian production is at present concerned—will have the effect of changing the course of trade. While the grower will receive a fixed price for his wool — whatever it may be, or how near to or far from cost of production—he will be protected from irregularities of the market during the war period; and the broking, shipping, and insurance of the wool from its country of origin to its ultimate destination will be the affair of the Imperial Government. On the whole, the wool grower will be relieved of considerable anxiety as to the effect of the war upon his produce.