AATOOL TO CHINA.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XX, Issue 3914, 24 May 1877, Page 2

AA T OOL TO CHINA.

TO THB EDITOR OF THE " ARGUS." Sir, — Some time towards the end of last January yon were kind enough to publish a letter for me in which I made a public appeal for co-operation and pecuniary assistance in carrying out an enterprise having for its object the ultimate relief of the European wool market of the enormous surplus which at present has to be withdrawn and carried forward to the next series of sales, to the manifest up- • setting of the Avisest prognostications, and unsettling all the calculations of the - V trade. .'■ To this public appeal, chiefly intended for the sheepoAvners of Victoria, I have received _a\'o spontaneous replies only, one from Mr H. Goldsbrough, and the other I received this morning from Mr Douglas M'Lean, of Napier, New Zealand. I enclose a copy, A\*hich I request you will be kind enough to print along Avith this. I may say that I know offers of co-operation have been made to Mr Goldsbrough by some firms in the trade, but none have 1 come to me from any squatter whatever, 1 except the two I mention. In my letter I stated the cost would be about £70 sterling, but on the completion of the shipment, delivered at the Hobson's Bay Railway shed, I found it • amounted to £106 9s ld sterling, railway • freight account not yet sent in. < The result sought was to induce the ! Chinese to use up some portion of our '<■ wool by presenting it to them first in the shape of a yarn ready for the loom, to effect which I have the promise of the ■ assistance of an old-established English firm in Shanghai. The scheme was not v so utterly wild but that it had the sympathy of a large section of the country papers, which repeatedly advised it having a trial. The trial is being made under the circumstances above stated, and I now invite the press of the colonies generally to make such comments upon the above -L facts as may seem good in their OAvn eyes. 9 — Yours, &c. , Monokton Synnot. • Flinders AVool AA T arehouse, April 5. ;

; Napier, March 24. i Sir, — I observe in a letter from you in > the Australasian on the subject " China ' as a Market for Australian "Wool," an in- ' vdtation to any person Avilling to take a '*■ share of the expense likely to be incurred i in sending a trial shipment of yarns to ' China to communicate Avith you. Though, > I fear, rather late in the day, owing to my - not having seen your letter till a few days t ago, I Avrite this with a view at any rate 5 of expressing my Avillingness to have - subscribed, or to do so still if called upon, • taking, as I do, the liveliest interest in - your labor in this direction, and hoping it - may prove successful. The subject, I 5 may say, is one Avhich I have also en- - deavored to draw attention to in the press i here on more than one occasion. > It Avoulcl seem that the great point is to ' r overcome the prejudices of the Chinese, * Avhich once accomplished, Avould pave the way to the establishment of a splendid 3 market for our avxjols, a market which in - the light of the present enormous and i ever increasing supply, seemingly groAving out of proportion to demand, it may yet t prove a matter of necessity for our wool- ■ groAvers to establish. — I remain, &c, f Douglas M'Lean". i To Mr Monckton Synnot, Melbourne. ■ AYe are gratified to find that Mr Monck-N^J > ton Synnot has succeeded in inducing ■ some other gentlemen to join him in > making a trial shipment of woollen yarn ! to China, and also in securing the assistance of an old-established English firm in 1 Shanghai in making the experiment. The cost is very trifling, barely exceeding £100 ; and should it be the means of opening a trade Avith the two or three hundred million people Avho inhabit the Chinese Empire, every one will admit that the expenditure of a very diminutive sprat has led to the capture of a very large herring. AYe must confess that, for reasons which we stated in July last, we - do not regard the venture Avith any very sanguine anticqmtions. As Mr Synnot himself informed us, the avool produced 1 in Cliina is brought doAvn from long distances to Shanghai, sold there at from s£d to 6|d per lb. , and then shipped to other countries. Noav, it appears to us that if the Chinese Avere desirous of mixing wool Avith their cotton or silk manufactures, or of clothing themselves altogether in Avoollen goods, then* first step would be to take the home-grown article into consumption. AYe must admit, however, thatthe price at which it sells would lead tothe presumption that its quality is very inferior ; so perhaps there may be an opening for our fine yarns Avhich does not exist for anything that could be produced from Chinese avool. AA r e trust that all our misgivings may be falsified by the result, that the prejudices of the most conservative nation under the sun may be successfully overcome, and that the humble shipment may be the commencement of a large trade. There cannot be a doubt as to the desirability of seeking a fresh outlet for Australian clips, and the gentlemen Avho haA r e subscribed towards the object have exhibited at once an enlightened liberality and a sensible regard for their own interests. The avool supply of the world appears certain- to increase, and unless the demand can be stimulated or additional . markets found, prices must come doAvn. Year by year fresh country will be stocked in Australia, South America, at the Cape, and elseAvhere, and if things remain as they are, a glut must be the consequence. Under the circumstances, growers and othors interested in the trade do well to seek neAV consumers. No matter Avhether the present experiment pi*OA*e successful or not, Mi* Synnot deserves the thanks of sheepoAvners throughout the Avorld for the energy and enterprise he has shown hi an attempt to maintain, if not to enhance, the value of their property. — Melbonrne Argus.