SUPPLY OF WOOL

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4425, 3 August 1901, Page 8 (Supplement)

SUPPLY OF WOOL

The present uncertain condition of the world’s wool marxet would be perfectly inexplicable were w# not forced to view it througu the light 01 the unprecedented losses lately sustained, and the consequent disorganisation. The supply of the staple from Australasia and the Cape has been dwindling down ever since 1895. In that year the Australasian clip totalled 2,001,000 bales and that of the Cape 269,000, together 2,270,000 bales. In 190(1 the Ana. tralasian output, through droughts, had come down to 1,456,000, and that of tb* Cape, through the disorganisation caused by the war. to 140,000. or, together, 1,596,. 006 bales. This means that these supplies had been reduced trom the year 1895 to last year by no fewer than 674,000 balea. In other words, the combined Australasian and Cape clip of last year was 405,000 boles smaller than the Australasian clip alone of 1895. During these years the increase of the River 'Plate, though important, was not abnormal. It reached its highest point in 1898, but lost ground in 1900 by about 87.000 bales. The total output from the three sources reached high-water mark in 1895, viz.. 2,783.000 bales, but was reduced last year to 2,064,000 bales. This forcibly shows, if figures are of any value at all, how the volume of this textile has been diminished. In fact,, we have to go back to the year 1890 to find a smaller production. Bearing in mind that the population of the using world has been largely augmented, the problem can only lie solved by taking into regard the factors of substitutes, such a** cotton and shoddy. As the age advances the ingenuity of man seems to bo turned towards cheapening textures. Some of the cheapest sorts are fearfully and wonderfully made. The giant of adulteration is gaining strength every day. and food and clothing are alike coming under his powerful sway. The present abnormally low values of cross breds must however, be puzzling him. and their laree consumption must be having a serious effect upon the substitutes.