MR BEAUCHAMP'S VIEWS

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIV, Issue 1, 3 January 1910, Page 6

MR BEAUCHAMP'S VIEWS

Mr Harold Beauchamp, chairman of directors of the Bank of New Zealand, pointed out to the. interviewer that an entirely new situation had been created by the immense popularity the Wellington sales had reached—a situation that formerly had mot to be faced when there was no Such great concentration of shipments on this port. Yet it seemed to him, from a bfiness standpoint, an extraordinary thing that wool should he detained in the country through" the inability of merchants and brokers of this city to find proper accommodation for it. # "ft has been pointed out, he said, "that farmers are not reasonable^ in rushing their wool on to the_market all atone time; in other words, that they ought to spread it over. Neither the Wellington JHarbour Board nor private firms would be justified m erecting huge stores to accommodate all the wool which is delivered in Wellington within a period of two months, with "the prospect of those stores being practically empty for the remaining eight or ten months of the year. The conditions in the South Island are dissimilar in this respect; after they have dealt with wool they commence to receive in their large warehouses enormous quantities of grain, so that the storage accommodation can be utilised for the greater portion of the year. It seems humiliating that we can't find this storage, yet there's the position. "If this wool came down for direct shipment it could, of course, be dealt with straight away, but now the local sales and prices are so attractive that igrowers prefer the. local market. For example, next Monday about 23,000 bales, will be offered. At present prices each bale represents, say, £18. There you have £500,000 worth of wool offered at one sale. Another cause ■of the rush on to the local market is the fact that growers are anxious to take advantage of the abnormally high prices that are now being realised for wool. There is no assurance that such prices will be maintained. Consequently growers are desirous of harvesting a splendid profit which they can now secure at current values.

"Of course,- we have to admit that within the last two or three years a very large amount of extra 'aocommo- j dation has been provided, as shown by the erection of the large warehouses on Thprndon Quay, which has become quite a wool centre. In addition to this, the Wellington. Harbour Board has just let a contract for the erection of a much larger shed to replace the .1 shed, besides • the . temporary building some distance from the old site of the J shed, so that it would appear that.all the wool brokers and the Harbour Board are doing what they can to meet the demands that are being made on them for storage accommodation." •