WOOL REQUISITION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17360, 6 January 1920, Page 6

WOOL REQUISITION.

STOCKS' IN AUSTRALIA,

.PROSPECTS;,OF, SHIPMENT.

GROWERS' SHARE OF PROFITS ;;, lie question ;of arrangements for , handling 'Australian wool after the expiry of the contract with the British Government on June 30, 1920.' has' been engaging the attention of , woolgrowera and woolbrokers in Australia, with \. the result that a National Wool Council' has been formed. It is evident, says the Australasian Insurance Record, that a transition period, extending ( over at least 12 or 18 months, will have to be faced after the contract comes to an end, and that many, questions of greater or less importance are bound to arise, calling for concerted, action on the part of all interested.

; The British Government purchase, as a war measure, has proved of groat value to the, Australian wool growers, not merely by the guarantee of a hiph average price, 15£ d par lb, with participation in whatever profit is . obtained on resales, but also by the favourable solution which it furnished of the financial problem, since paym.'it was made after appraisement without regard to timo of shipment. . As regards .the future, there is a confident feeling with regard to the market, taking supply and demand as a whole into account) though it is plain that careful management will be required in order to obtain proper results for the growers. One of the problems will be th&t of securing tonnage for next season's clip. A further consideration is that the financial position of the Continent will not be the same as before the war, and therefore buying cannot be expected to proceed with complete facility, The Shipping Outlook. Some important information was given to a deputation by? Sir John Higgins, the chairman of tho Central Wool Committee. He said arrangements had been made to lift from Australian ports every bale of the British Government's wool purchase at lid per lb, which is a cheap rate, considering the ruling charges on other commodities, and materially help to swell the profit aver the flat rate of re-; quisition. The quantities of appraised wool in the Commonwealth on November 22, were its follows:-—

Season 1317-18 .. 58.307 bales. „ 1818-19 - .. 678,373 „ 1919-20 .. 550.035 „

The bulk of the current season's wool will be appraised by the middle of April, and it does not appear possible on June 50, 1923, to have Jess than 1,000,000 bales of appraised wool,unshipped.in the Commonwealth while there may easily be as much a s 1.500,000 balesT Referring to a report that all tho Wool purchased l>y the British Government will be lifted by the end of September, Sir John Higgins said he did not think it possible for tho wool to be lifted before the end of December. The problem is not merely shipping the wool from Australia) to England or elsewhere, but getting it into consumption as manufactured goods and paying for it. The Central Wool Committee-is now storing wool in Australia for practically one-third of the cost for storage plus handling charges in England. . The Port of London is inadequate to handle all the wool, and fairly large quantities are being sent to Antwerp to be sold there by the British Government. Wool is also being sent to France, Italy, and Switzerland, as well ag tho United States and Japan. Allowing for exchange, the 15Jd payment in Australia, Sir Joint Higgins points out, is equal to 18d per lb payment in Boston. Profits and Losses. The question of the final dividend is still uncertain, and while the credits are running into large figures, no indication as to the final result can bo given untiK all the wool is sold. On the other hand, the debits for interest and storage charges on wool in Australia since February, 1919, have been at the rate of £5000 a day, or practically £2.000,000 'a year. There are also the debits for loss of wool and sheepskins by submarining. An interim statement shows that the losses through enemy action to March 31,1918, were 33,961 bales of wool, valued at appraised prices £1,156,244 and sheepskins to the value of £195,348. In connection with insurance, Sir John Higgins stated that when Great Britain was manufacturing woollen goods for military purposes, a ch?.rgo was debited towards the cost of the wool to cover war risk and marine insurance. So far the accounts indicate that that arrangement has been very profitable to the British Government and the Australian woolgrowers, there being a substantial credit to that account.

The storage sheds erected in Australia have proved a profitable investment. They were built to hold 1,000,000 bales of wool, and tho cost of erection, including interest at 5 per cent, on the capital outlay, has amounted to approximately £368,000. If the Wool Committee hud had to obtain storage accommodation at the general charge of ljd per bale a week the cost of storing the wool would have been approximately £925,000, and after allow, ing for the salvage value of the sheds the result at the end of tfiree years is that through building the sheds the committee has saved approximately £683,000.