THE WOOL OUTLOOK.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVIII, Issue 18571, 25 November 1920, Page 6

THE WOOL OUTLOOK.

FARMERS' UNION ANXIOUS. ] POOLING SUOGEOEE©. That the hoHlng ol croWbrrf ircwl" nntil the market improved might he desirable was urged at the earners Union executive meeting yeatttany. It waa agr-ed in addition thai if *ucJt a step were held to be advisabivit waac necessary to assist the email producers in some way to prevent saiee being forced at low prices. After durcnjMion, it was agreed to, communicate' the executive's views to the Dominion Advisory Committee, in Wellington,the hope being expressed the committee would make a pomr of interviewing, the Prime Minister on the matter. " ' ■'< ';, '- There was a small attendance at the meeting over which Mr W. Mulholand presided, in the absence of/the president, Mr W. A. Banks. ' ' In introducing the subject, Mr Mulholland said that he had hoped for larger meeting, in order that moire,* views might be obtained upon the worn situation. Personally, be was rather disappointed with the statement which had come from the Board of Agriculture. There was nothing constructive in it* as it generally advised farmers to hold their wool if possible, and to request, wooibrokers to make advance* on the wool so held. Whether the outcome of the Christchurch /sales had altered this opinion he did not know, but there was a possibility that something might now be done •in the matter. , The position was that if the wool was held for several months, then it was going \ to pass the time of .gjihe local sales, when the only outlet for the small man would be by exporting. The drawback to that outlet was the heavy overhead charges entailed on small lots. If holding was to be possible for the «anall man, it would be advisable to combine, and handle the wool in larger quantities. In Canada, he believed, as much as fifty per cent of the wool had been pooled, and sold on a co-operative basis, the system being by locaf pools, still larger pools, and finally a national pool- The idea had been communicated to the United States, where it had materially assisted in the handling of the raw wool which had arrived on the : market at a time when the hanks were, chary, and the market practically dead. Then the question would be what was going to happen when the wool was released P The wool had been heH too long already—but for the accumulated last season's clips on the overseas markets, the present difficulty would be less. Judging by the recent/London sales, the Values here should be about equal to the commandeer price for halfbred wools, minus the shipping charges. If that rate was going to rule, as ai stable value, there would not be mucli to complain of. Growers, he said. h:*l the London prices of a year ago firmly fixed in their mind's eye, hut it must be remembered that those prices were f. very high, and resulted in woollen goods being put beyond the reach of the ordinary consumer —which must result in the end in defeating, the lush price owing to lack of demand for the goods. Coming down to the position locally, Mr Mulholland said that tho policy of the Imperial Government had been to dispose of the wool gradually, keeping the market moving without forcing it, and he thought something the same should be done in New Zealand. He did not quite see how it was to be accomplished, however, but he thought that individual growers should act as best they could in the matter. There would, of course, be the difficulty of financing, and the difficulty of avoiding premature sales- Some would feel the situation very keenly, particularly m those who had boijght land at his-hy, prices, and sheep at high price*; and now found that half their returns had vanished into the ,air. It might be as well to suggest to the Board of Agriculture, _ and* tothe Dominion Advisory Committee that they Bhould endeavour to organise the small clips and enable growers to hold beyond the New Zealand sales, or as an) alternative, to have the New Zealand sales postponed, perhaps into May, so that overseas buyers might be present later on. . ;

Mr Q. Sheat said he thought! the situation was beyond remedy... It wai quite evident that London buyers had been present at the last sales not tc buy, but to nibble. The* position had been forced upon the growers, and ha thought they would have to face the musio and accept the lower prices. The price was now regulated by< the world's market for wool, which was properThey must remember that they had been dealing on a fictitious basis, and that prices must inevitably come down. He thought IE was inadvisable and im- ! possible to counsel anything. The aftermath of the war washing felt in all lines of merchandise. "With a situation like that," he said, " woujd it be wise to send out a manifesto a«V vising farmers to hold their "wool? No. Leave it to each to do as he thinks best. I remember once keeping; iny wool for twelve months, when at the end of that time I got extra. . (Laughter). I got the experience, but I don't know about The profit." Concluding, Mr Sheat stated that England and America had plenty of coarse wool, and the price waß not coing up. The only thing to do would 'be to ask Queen Mary to set the fashion by wearing coarse wool, and that would get rid of the accumulated supplies (Laughter). A manufacturer had said to him that if wool was obtainable for nothing, the price of cloth would alter by only 2s a yard. They must Justice Stringer's bqnuses, and get the wages dnwiu They had been bolstered up, and the sovereign had fallen until a man with £5 a week was living at the rate of £2 10s, and the re-action was being felt first of all in the wool market. Another member remarket! that the position evidently had to be faced. The small man had to sell his wool because he was pressed for the money, and the big_ man sold to turn over his money, which he could invest at good rates. It was not reasonable to suppose that the big man, instead of selling his woo), would store it to help the small man do better. , _Mr Mulholland said tbat:a down« ward market had a tendency *to gG down further than was warranted, andthere was a possibility of the small man being forced to sell just at a time when the pendulum had swung right back. The market in London recently was 23 per cent below that of a week before, and no doubt the drop would have been more marked but for the judicious feeding of the market by - the Imperial Government, who were refusing to accept bottom prices. The question waji, had the bottom of the market been reached, or was the process still in operation P Growers would have .to docide upon that before determining t«__ sell or to hold. "Can we make it possible for the small man to hold, if sirable, and sell later P" he concluded™ " A number will be.forced to sell, un« less some arrangement can be made, and it is impossible to say ■; whether . their action will demoralise the market . or not." :';■■_ ■■■".■ '.[: Mr Sheat said he thought it might ba unwise to counsel growers te holdThey had been on a false footing—-the pendulum, had swung, mit,; he'believed*, was re-adjusting. That being the case, they could leave the question of wool to the" individual growers, his agent, and the next wool salte, when he thought conditions might 'he improved. "Personally," he said, "I feel inclined to gamble on ray cross-bred, and sell halfbred." .' ' Mr MulhoHand: That's what I tlvutk, Mr Sheat _ .-

Mr Sheai then moved that a letter should be sent to the Advisory C’omimttee, asking whsther they thought anything could be done to improve" the position by the farmers pooling cross- , bred wool, and getting Government as- f sistanco. “ Tlie committee may wait upon the Prime Minister, and get the situation—what his plansare, etc—personally, and that, I think, ta what; we want,” he concluded. The motion was put to the meeting’ and carried unanimously.