WOOL PROSPECTS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20638, 19 August 1941, Page 9

WOOL PROSPECTS

“NO NEED FOR ALARM” POSITION FAIRLY SAFE “Although it is impossible to predict the situation in the Pacific from one week to another, there is no need for the alarm which has been expressed with regard to the wool industry,” said Mr. H. M. C. Christie, chairman of the New Zealand Wool Council, during an address to woolgrowers in Hamilton. The meeting was sponsored by the New Zealand Farmers’ Union and the Auckland branch of the New Zealand Sheepowners’ Federation. “Britain has undertaken to buy all New Zealand wool for the duration of the war and also one clip after the cessation of hostilities, and it. can be confidently stated that the position to-day is fairly safe,” added Mr Christie. The need for an organised Empire body to control the wool markets was stressed by Mr. Christie, who stated that after the present war there would not be the same carry-over as after the last war, while the problem of getting back to normal conditions again would be a serious one. The importance of the publicity work being carried out in London by the wool secretariat was stressed by Mr. Christie. While the war had resulted in the breaking down of the organisation in European countries, the secretariat had obtained the cooperation of .representatives of the woollen trad6 in preparation of wool propaganda. Through effective publicity, the woolgrowers in America had become interested in the movement to create greater public demand for wool, and at present the work of the secretariat in the United States was expanding rapidly. The meeting recommended that the New Zealand Wool Council should closely co-operate with other wool councils throughout the Empire with a view to stabilising wool prices after the war.