THE SYSTEM OF SELLING COLONIAL WOOL IN LONDON.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 13, Issue 1103, 23 November 1869, Page 3

THE SYSTEM OF SELLING COLONIAL WOOL IN LONDON.

To the editor of the "Australasian." Sir, — While on my way from England to New Zealand, and being connected with sheep-fanning, I was much pleased to notice in the Sydney Herald, which I obtained at King George's Sound, that a meeting had lately been held of the Sydney Chamber of Commerce in reference to the colonial wool sales in London, and charges in connexion therewith. During my stay in London I visited the wool sales almost every night, and am sorry to say I was very much displeased and disappointed with the whole system on which they are conducted. The sales commence every day at 4 p.m,, and generally the number of lots to be sold are above 600, more or less ; they* finish by half-past 6 o'clock, or at latest 7, averaging from three to four lots a minute.- I skull allow any one to fudge whether justice can be done to squatters by such a system. That is certainly one drawback j but in my opinion there are, in connexion with the whole affair, a great many worse grievances; and it. is no wonder that so many squatters of our different colonies have of late been swept off the. stage, and should a reform of the above system not take place very soon, a great many more must follow in the same channel. I had an interview with a gentleman an London who. I have no doubt, iis , an individual, holds about the largest amount of property in the colonies, and he [is both able, willing, and determined to go '" into : the \ whole matter in such a way, by another ./ear^ as will bring about a complete reform in the sale and charges of colonial wools. So far as my experience goes^ the wool of each colony should bo ! consigned to one person, who would warehouse the whole at one place in London, a man that would, interest himself, and devote; hie whole time and energy to the sales and management of the wools, instead of going away fishing and shooting, and leaving the wholo charge in the hands of other men. Have monthly sales, and when' any lot did not come to its value, withdraw it until the next monthly sales. Were this system adopted, I have no doulpt we would very soon see a change for the better. The expense, after landing, warehouse charges, classing,. valuing, and selling, &c, the whole not to exceed 10 per cent., which is less than half the present charges., Any person fortunate enough to get the sales of a colony would very soon make a large , fortune. I , am satisfied that if the right man were got; we would be safer in his brands than by the present system, which is a downright monopoly, and must be broken down. I am writing in the ship* and have neither time' nor convenience to go further into the matter at present, but should any one want any further information from me, they can have it by addressing a letter to " Taps. C. £ow, of Low spid M'Gregor, . Squatters, Post-office, Ihvercargil), New ZctA'fmd." ' Tiros. C. Low. ;S.B. i^oea, Opt. 21. '." ; ;\

directing the attention of the trade to the beet methods for realising its-full value, as well as minimising the. expenses incident to its disposal; An action is in progress which will probably issue in some modification of the present mode of carrying on the sales.. In addition to the correspondence on the subject, in last month's papers, several fresh letters have since appeared in The Times. "An Anglo- 1 Australian " complains of the evils of the present arbitrary system of " alternate glut and short supply;" and says that wool, by arriving a day or two too late for one series of sales, often has to wait in warehouse for three months before* it can be offered. He advocates monthly sales, which would insure a steady, sufficient, and not excessive supply. This plan, top, he thinks, would prevent the great variations in price which now occur ; and he appeals to that mysterious body, the committee r , t p{ merchants, to inaugurate . a speedy reform. An Australianmerchantandwoolgrower, writing on the 19th ult., says: — "Being much interested in, and having carefully considered the .present mode of selling colonial-wool, I have arrived at the conclusion entirely opposed to that of ' ApgloAustralian.' Undoubtedly, the individual grower is occasionally a loser from the effect of the present regulation of the trade, which may compel him to warehouse his wool for three mouths when he would prefer to offer it for immediate sale; but I believe that the general interests of .the wool-producers are best promoted by the system now in operation. The whole of the colonial w. °ol sold in this market is, purchased by buyers who come from the manufacturing districts of England, Scotland, and the Continent expressly to be present at the London wool sales. These gentlemen already : complain of the duration of the sales, which are in progress for nearly six months of the year, and .were these held more frequently, it would be simply impossible for them to attend, and their business must be dele* gated to agents Resident on the spot. The result would be, that in place of some hundreds of foreign and provincial buy era who purchase for their own- consumption, the tradfe would bo left in the hands of a few large buying brokers,. to the great decrease of competition, and consequently reduction in price." This elicited? the following letter from " A Member of the Trade," who remarks : — " Tho views of your correspondent, 'An Australian Merchant and Wool-grower," will hardly. find acceptance with the great majority of Australian importers. Arcvision of the method hitherto in practice of marketing the great staple of our woolproducing colonies would, having regard to the enormous development which has been witnessed dnring tho last few years in this section of the import trade, probably not be unattended with advantage, but it may not be inopportune to point out to those who are agitating a reform; that ib is absolutely essential that the principle of the existing system should be maintained, and that the effect of any modification which may be eventually adopted, can under no circumstances exceed certain limits. "1. London is the central market for French, German, Belgian, Scotch, Yorkshire, Lancashire, and West of England manufacturers^ and tho mere fact of its distance from the various points of ultimate consumption renders it to the interest of all parties concerned that the sales should be, as far as possible, held at jjxed periodical intervals, and should embrace a sufficient quantity to command adequate competition. The supposed analogy pf.tth.e .'•pjea'^liiyerppol cotton-market does- not apply, because; in the first place, in that instance the market is closely contiguous to the principal seat of consumption ; and, . secondly, the gradations of quality, &c, in tho article are not such as to compel personal attendance for the inspection of bulk. " 2. The causes which have led to the disastrous depreciation in the value of wool during the past two or three years are too well known and too generally recognised to render it necessary to show that they are wholly independent of any question of management or manipulation. A constantly cheapening tendency over a long period naturally induced a policy of the strictest caution on the part of consumers, and compelled consignees and importers to face the alternative either of becoming the principal holders of stock, or of submitting at times to a more or less forced sale. , As long as sheep are shorn at one period of tho year, so long will the bulk of the clip come to market within a comparatively limited time, and, although an alteration in the distribution of tho salos over a larger portion of the year may tend in some degree, perhaps, to modify extreme depression caused by expessive accumulations of stock in times of great commercial despondency, and bring the producer and consumer to some extent in closer contact, it can only very partially mitigate ■ the alternate glut and short supply' which aye the inevitable results of natural oauses." But whatever the imperfections of our present system of periodical public sales, it 'appears, we are already far. in advance of our neighbours over the Channel. A French woolbrokor established many years at London, M. Fierrard, has published a pamplet on the means of reviving the pro- | spenty of the wool trade in France : and j 'as it arrived . in Paris at a moment when, wool producers are complaining loudly of .English competition, it is exciting attention. M. Pierrard advises not the roestablishment of protective dufcies, but the adoption ,9 f English system k>! public auctions at fixed intervals and with the greatest publicity possible, , the adoption to be accompanied by facilities for warehousing and obtaining credit. Heretofore, tho custom in France has been and still is for buyers to go among producers, and, as M. Pierrard puts it, " higgle sou by sou and glass in hand" for the wool to be sold. But this causes a great loss of time to tho purchasers, and as naturally they avoid each other as much as possible, the sellers lose the advantage to be gained by their competition. The Belgians, ho snys, have imitated the English plan, and it has succeeded so well that they hay© j been able to reduce their purchases in England and to augment their direct imports from La Plata. It has also been tried at Havre, and on a smaller scale at Marseilles, and has answered. 'It would give wool growers a large and regular murket, and that is all they want.