WOOL TEXTILES TRADE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19809, 2 December 1927, Page 9

WOOL TEXTILES TRADE.

FAILURE OF MANY FIRMS. EFFECT OF FOREIGN COMPETITION Recent cable messages have reported that difficulties have arisen in', the wool textiles industry In England regarding to the framing of wages Jigrfeements to operate on the expiry of those;,terrain ated by the employers. Notice, of theii decision was given several weeks ago and reasons for it were explained at H meeting of the Wool Textile Industrial Conn • ■il in October. Nothing more strikingly indicates the position than the statistics as to the number of firms which are being forced out of existence because of present-day foreign competition, says the Bradford correspondent of the Times. Since 1920'it. is definitely known that 194 firnis have gone out of business, and, the employers stated, there is good reason to believe that the list is being continuously ex 'ended. _ Records are available relating to 129 of these 194 firms, and it iii found that they included 31 worsted spinning firms, with a spindleage of 166,900 : 39 worsted manufacturing firms witH 6556 looms: and. 59 woollen' manufacturing firms with 2041 looms: in addition, they possessed orrespondirif. quantities ot carding, spinning and finish'ug machinery. It ip not surprising therefore, to learn that if .January there were 31,416 insured persons unemployed and 10,110 fewer persons on the register than ,n 1923. making a total -il unemployment and loss of employees of 11.526 persons, or 15 3 per cent, of the total number of insured persons employed ■Ti the industry m 1923. In August this year there were 23,455 persons unemployed, together with "a reduction of 16,250 insured persons on the register, making a total number of unemployed and non-employed of 39,705, or 14.7 per cent-t of the total number of insured persons era ployed in the industry in 1923. No wonder the trade union officials now have doubts about the wisdom of the opposition they made to the application for a duty a couple of years ago, and that they are now prepared to reconsider their attitude. An effort is being made to confine the suggested application to the Government for a safeguarding duty to the section most seriously a:lfected—the Bradford dress goods trade. At the time of the last 1 application by the Bradford and District Manufacturers Federation employers' organisations in the woollen industry and those connected with worsted cloths for men's wear agreed to adopt a neutral attitude as a duty oh lightweight goods fabrics only was sought. It is urged that present-day conditions justify like action now. for not only have im ports of woollen and worsted tissues eon - tinned to increase, but exports of worsted tissues have decreased Mann-, faeturers of cloths for men's wear have not nearly the" same degree of foreign competition to face as those engaged in the production of cloths for ladies' wear, and, as export statistics show, business with the woollen section has improved to an appreciable extent. While the wages question is under consideration steps are being taken to meet foreign- competition, bv making greater use of plant and machinery, .as is done on the Continent, and so reduce the present heaw overhead charges. In all countries on the Continent wool textile machinerv is worked two shifts a dav bv some firms, and in some instances three shifts a dav. The ice having Keen broken hv one firm in the Bradford dis trict there is ho doubt .tKat'fthe two shift svstem will be. adopted hv enter nrising firms. > There are plenty of operatives readv to work on this svstem esnedallv as they work less than eight hours a dav. and vet; are -naid on the basis of a full eight hours dav, the employers getting compensation, of course, hv a greater output from their plant and machinery. " * nelson ntiirrmtowEßS. POOL SCHEME NOSF&VOURED : [BY TELEGBAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION. 1 NELSON. Thursday A conference of Nelson fruitgrowers, while recognising the possibilities of a comprehensive provincial pool, decided that the time is not opportune to introduce a radical change in the system of marketing fruit overseas. It was considered that the existing system had already placed the growers in a premier •position. LOAN FOR PALESTINE. - . • MONEY OVER-SUBSCRIBED. (Received December 1, 6.45 p.m.) (British Official Wireless.) A. and N.Z. ' RUGBY, Nov.-30. The subscription list of the Palestine Government loan of £4,475,000, which will bear interest at 5 per cent, and was offered at 100£ per cent., wes opened this morning, and closed in about two hours. It is understood that the loan has been many times oversubscribed. •* Part of the money wil) be spent on the construction of a harbour at Haifa, on the improvement of the port , of Jaffa, and on railway capital improvements and public works. Of the remainder, £1,000,000 will be paid to the British < Government, and other assets taken over and the balance will go on in repaying money temporarily advanced. • r AUSTRALIAN PRODUCE. (Received December 2, 12.5 a.m.) A. and N.Z. SYDNEY. Dec. 1. The following are to-day's' quotation's on the Sydney produce market :~r Wheat.—At country stations. 4s lOd to 4s lid; ex truck, Sydney, 5s s£d fc> 5s 6^d. Flour.—Local, £l3 15s; export, £l2 7s 6d. Bran.—£6. • w Pollard.—£7. Oats. —Tasmanian Algerian, 5s 3d;, white, 4s 9d. ! .. Maize —4s 9d Potatoes.—Tasmanian, £3 to £5; lociil, new £6 to £7. - ■ On.ons.—Victorian, £5 to £6. Quotations at Adelaide are:— Wheat. —Growers' lots, oldi 5s 3cii to 5s 4d; new 5s 2£d to 5s Flour. —Bakers' lots. £l3 12s 6d. Bran. —£7 ss. Pollard.—£7 7s 6d. Oats.—3s 7d to 3s Bd. MACARTHY TRUST FUND. . In the last issue of the Trust Companies' Magazine, a monthly journal published m New York and devoted to financial interests m the United States, an interesting article appears in connec tion with the 1 G. Macarthy Trust. It states, intoi alia:—"One of the largest trust funds dedicated to charitable and educational objects and which compares favourably with some of the. most gen. erous lands m the United States, is tije T G. Macarthy Trust, administered by the Public Trustee of New Zealand as sole executor and trustee. There is a striking analogy in the administration and distribution of income of the Macarthy 1 rust to the operation ot the Community Trust or Foundation con ceived su this country by the late Judge Gof'i. of Cleveland, and this year em bodied in ovet 50 community trusts in American cities During the 14 years the trust has been in existence • the sum of £109,027 has been distributed Dun: mg the current year the record sum of £13,000 is available for distribution. The Public Trust Office of New Zealand, which, as executor and trustee, administers the Macarthy Estate.* has heen established since 1872 and is guaranteed by the State. On March 3I P 1927, the Public Trustee had estates and fnnds under admunstratiou , valued at. 205,217,615 dollars. • The fine rehord made by the office ts attributable in; a - large measure to capable conduct by W. Macdonald, the Public Trustee, afcd ; his efficient executive associated." j