The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY. SATURDAY, APRIL 24. 1920. THE ARRIVAL OF THE PRINCE.

Gisborne Times, Volume LII, Issue 5462, 24 April 1920, Page 4

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY. SATURDAY, APRIL 24. 1920. THE ARRIVAL OF THE PRINCE.

To-day will bo a red-letter day in the annals of this Dominion, marking, as it will, the arrival on his initial visit, of the present heir to | the British Throne. The Prince of i Wales is the third male represents-1 live of British Royalty to honor this j Dominion with a visit. It is 51 ] years ago this montfi since the Duke ] of Edinburgh, the second son of the late Queen Victoria, visited Xew Zealand, the vessel on which lie jour- I ncycd to this distant outpost of Em- j pire* being H.M.S. Galatea. Not un- • til June 1901 was a second Royal visit made—that of King George and j Queen Mary, then the Duke and j Duchess of Cornwall and York. But f few of the residents who participated • in the great welcome to the Duke of Edinburgh now remain. The visit of ■ the present King and Queen will, J however, he remembered by a great majority of the people who to-dav! form this very patriotic young Bri- j tish nation. It is not unlikely—in- j deed most probable—that the wel- j come which will be accorded Prince I Edward of Wales will be even on a ! grander scale than that which was given his illustrious mother and father and previously to the King’s late uncle. Xo young member of the British Royal family ever achieved ! such widespread popularity as that in which the present Roval visitor is held. Xor is his popularity restricted to the goodwill of the people oyer whom he will one day rule. During the war he leapt into popularity in

tries, besides becoming a great Royal favorite amongst the soldiers of, and the people of, the Overseas Dominions. What has appealed most of all to the overseas people of Anglo-Saxon stock—and this applies eg uni ly to the Americans as well ' as to Canadians. South Africans and Australasians—is that His Royal Highness is strongly imbued with democratic principles. Truly he is : ‘a prince of the people.” In the course of his tour through the Dominion the Prince will receive a hearty welcome from all classes and none will he more pleased to greet him than the men who represented Xew Zealand in the Great War. Xow that the Prince is on the eve of landing in this Dominion increasing regret will he felt in this district that it lias had to he omitted from his itinerary. Put for all that the people of the East Coast are glad that the Prince has been able to visit Xew Zealand so early in life and will trust not only that lie will thoroughly enjoy his brief stay in this Dominion but also that in the near future he may pay another visit, in which Poverty Bav will be included.

FRIGHTENING THE 'WOOL | GROWERS! ; fc The communication which Mr Mas*ey has just rectivid from tic- Dive-; ] tor-G Hicra i of li;uv Materials at Home with reference to the wool , \ market and the question of shipment ' of wool from New Zealand to the i \ Motherland is calculated to occasion i - alarm on the part of every wool- j "rower in this Dominion. Its con- | b tents are corlainiy tar from satis- ifactoiw, and may properly be vie'-'.etl T with tin- utmost, suspicion. We have :i not the slightest doiU.t but that the ' ' communication is. as Mr Lysnar 1 * says, simply parr oi a system of pro- j juiganda aiming at coercing the wool- ; growers of this country into accept- i 1 mg an extension of the period of the j ' wooi commandeer, in an article the j 1 other day this journal, it may be re- ; J called, pointed out that the Home i'l wool iratio might be expected to g > j ’ to any length;, with a view to forcing • : the Colonial wool-grower* into the i • belief that it would be in their in- J * tercsts to agree to a continuation of j tile commandeer system. Reference j i was made, in particular, to the frail- | tic efforts that are being made Ip i ; the wool growers in the Mother I 1 Country to dissuade the growers in ! Australia from insisting upon the I ' re-opening of auctions in that conn- I 1 try as soon as is expedient after the j close of tile term of the existing | commandeer. As far as can lie j gathered it is intended again to j adopt the system of public wool sales j m the. Commonwealth about next October, and nobody who understands how shabbily Colonial woolgrowers have been treated under the commandeer system will do other than applaud that decision. We are ft: ally surprised, however, that the Home authorities should have given their services as propagandists in the attempts to frighten the Government- into the belief, that, if tli e wool commandeer is not extended, growers will find that- they will have to face a slumping market for most of the classes of wool produced in this Dominion. It is true that, in the portion of tlie letter in question I which lias been released for publication, no reference is actually made to the matter of the commandeer. But it is practically certain that that was the real subject-matter of the communication. Some of the comments made by the Director-General of Raw Materials <m the wool situation at Home are certaiuly farfetched, and trill not bear close investigation. As regards tho position in connection with shipping there was. it is true, much congestion in the Thames at the time of the writ■)ui>- of his letter: but later official information is to the effect that the situation in this respect _is now much improved. Tile decision to reduce shipments of wool from New Zealand is. however, not warranted seeing that a distinct undertaking was given that the whole of the Im-perially-owned wool in this Dominion would he taken away before the end of the present year. Whether or not it will prove the case that the Home Government will have on hand 200,000 bales of New Zealand wool—<’a quantity erroneously estimated as a full year’s clip—when next season’s clip comes to be put into .store, will depend on the limits fixed at. the London wool sales by the Home authorities. In this connection it may be mentioned that on the occasion of last month’s sales withdrawals of lower-class crossbreds occurred because the limits arranged were not reached. The Homo Government is certainly not encouraging tilt., purchase of New Zealand grown wool* at the present juncture, r.nd enquiry should be made to see if this is portion of the propaganda in favor of the extension of the commandeer. What is also interesting is the suggestion by tho Director-General of Raw Materials that sooner or later tho question must be faced whether or not too much coarse cross-bred woo! is being grown in this Dominion in view of the infinitely hotter prices which are now being paid for fine crossbreds. It need only . lie pointed out, in answer to this remarkable statement, that, prior to tin war. there was not anything like the s ame ratio of increased price for fine wools as against coarse wool that obtains to-day. And the explanation for the present state of affairs does not lie in the fact that fine wools are really worth as much moro a.s they are now fetching, as compared with coarse wools. Mr Massey, we trust, fully appreciates the fact that manufacturers are rushing fine wools simply because the higher the cost of production of their manufactures the higher the percentage of profits they can demand! In strict fact, although there is such a disparity in present day values a.s between merinos and cross-breds. the cross-bred wool grown in. say. this district is to-day fetching undreamt-of prices on the London market. Many Poverty Bay growers, besides Mr Lysnar, have ascertained that their wool—for which a year or two before the war they had to he content to receive from 9d to lOd per lh—is now wanted at over three times that figure! As to the ridiculous suggestion by the 1 Director-General of Raw Materials j that too much coarse cross -bred is , being grown, let us just mention ’ j that Dalgot.vs Review for 1912 j , stated as to the New Zealand clip: j j "There seems to ho a levelling-up in ] ■ | the quality of the clip; fewer and ; j fewer merinos and. more really coarse J long-wools are to ho seen each year ' j etc.” We can only trust that the ' j wool growers in this Dominion will not listen to the propagandists. In j earlier articles on the subject this j journal suggested that Now Zeai land should follow Australia’s example and insist on the re-starting j of the system of domestic public wool i sales. There is certain to he an ; influx of overseas buyers in such an ' event and little will then b e heard ! of the alleged dearth of shipping. j I - =* i