SHEEPOWNERS AT BRADFORD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19311, 24 October 1924, Page 13

SHEEPOWNERS AT BRADFORD.

THE EXCHANGE POSITION. SHORTAGE OF WORLD SUPPLIES, OTHER WOOL TOPICS. (From Oub Own Correspondent;! LONDON, September I.L At the dinner given by the Bradford Chamber of Commerce to the visiting sheepbreeders of Australia. New Zealand, and South Africa, the speeches were much to the point. There was no time at the conference in the afternoon for all the subject ol the agenda to be dealt with, so the after-dinner speeches were really the continuation of the conference. “Rates of Exchange Between Great Britain and the Dominions” was the subject introduced by Mr Harry Dawson. He pointed out that since the unfortunate abolition of the gold standard the machinery of financing our colonial products had broken down. They knew the causes and they realised too well the effects. The difficulty was to find the remedy—the general desideration was that in our Empire the pound sterling should be of the same value everywhere, minus, of course, the commission for remittance. The first phase of the exchange position was, naturally, the existing high rate of charges, which were not only serious, and irritating, but somewhat of a surprise compared with the old facilities. These high charges could not be justified by any undue risks carried by the business. There had been no sounder banking business in the whole realm of commerce than that which was done in. handling wool from our dominions. There had been a minimum ol default, wool was a good collateral, and it prices declined marginal cover was generally available, while houses which required facilities were on the whole wealthy and trustworthy. , , It was granted, said Mr Dawson, that there was a scarcity of money and that the trade, rightly or wrongly, had often' suspected that the banks had stabilised the rate too high. Personally, he did not blame the banks, which were largely the victims of these adverse conditions, and especially of the effects of large borrowings. Nobody in the wool trade can fail to reo ®B>* nise with deep appreciation the wonderful help afforded to us by the banks m past years,” he said, “but the only section which at present derives benefit is the money merchant.” Mentioning the present rates of exchange, Mr Dawson pointed out that for a sight draft which, by mail meant some 32 days, there was paid for accommodation on equivalent a little more than ou per cent. For ordinary business requirements 60 and 90 days’ drafts were mostly used, and this was equivalent to an export tax on all the wool produced of 3 5-d per cent, to 4 1-8 per cent from Australia, 21 per cent, to H per cent from New Zealand, and worse from the Gape. •‘SAFETY FIRST.” He appealed for earnest consideration to this question. It was imperative to the interest of producer and consumer alike that the present dip should be lifted and financed with the least restriction possible with security. They all agreed that the policy must be one of “safety first ’ with ergard to the preservation of credit and the avoidance of the inflation of currency. He thought that the Commonwealth Government policy should be a little less optimistic with regard to borrowing moneys for extensive developments, all undoubtedly necessary, but which did not much chance of paying interest for some time to come. These borrowings were really invisible exports, and naturally were liable to overweight the . value of imports. It might be a safe and feasible plan for the Note Issue Board to make a seasonal issue against securities which were held on either Side, provided that there was a strong policy maintained to prevent misuse or inflation, and that the issue was made for seasonal requirements only, and the notes withdrawn at the end of the season. , “One often feels,” said Mr Dawson, That the Commonwealth Bank might with great advantage to the trade of the whole country function more fully. It seems to many of us that it would be the proper authority to control the financial movements—in some similar manner to the functioning of the Bank of England in this country—and to have the power to standardise rates. There is a wonderful outlook for wool if it can be financed without a break of- credit-facilities this season.” . WORLD’S WOOL SUPPLY. Speaking of “The increase in wool production and the shortage of world’s supplies,” Mr Dawson said they all knew how the shortage of raw materials was seriously hampering the woollen industry. Ihe increased production of wool was necessarily one of the big problems of the world. Sheep-growing areas had seriously diminished chiefly owing to the encroachment of the population. In North America this was particularly obvious, and with the increase of peculation they had both a loss of sheep-grazing land and more people for whom to provide food and clothing. inis advance of population was not only found in North America, but also m South America and in Europe. ... , 0 Consumption, it was estimated, was per cent, more than the production, and from figures supplied by the American Statistical Bureau it appeared that there was a. shortage of 1,000,000 bales of wool. These were serious statements. Even supposing the population was stationary, there was something else —the standard of living was higher and more luxurious to-day, and it was not going back Eastern and Oriental people were adopting v\ e stern customs, and everywhere there was a demand for woollen goods, which meant that there should have to be increased production. There was plenty of room for expansion in Australia, South Australia, in Western Australia—which was producing some of the finest 64’s merinos that had ever been produced—and that m Queenslal‘‘Wo want to concentrate on production within the Empire,” urged Mr Dawson. “In my opinion, there is capital available to back sound schemes and good men. We do not want to turn to Russia to increase our wool production. Let ns back up wool production in the dominions for there is no safer industry in the world than the wool industry.” SUITABLE TIME FOR LAND DBY ELOPMENT. Mr John Hay pointed out that in the Argentine the production of wool was less than one-half what it was at one time. The shortage of the supplies of wool was a vital question for the manufacturers ol Great Britain, for what wool there was in the world was being comoeted for by other manufacturing nations such as the Unitea States France, and Belgium- How could supplies b e increased? To increase flocks to-day required a groat deal of capital, and it appeared to him that if supplies of wool wore to bo increased much more money would have to be put into the sheep-farming business. There were several large tracts of land suitable for sheep farming in Australia and New Zealand which wore merely wanting capital and development on modern lines. The present time was highly suitable for these developments. HIGH PRICES. Mr E. H. Gatos asked that the wool growers should not think that the grievance with regard to the exchange was entirely on their side. He rather thought that the grievance was there*in Bradford and in England. One thing had not been touched upon by other speakers, and that was the extraordinary position that wool held to-day. Those who grow the wool were certainly entitled to their profit. The manufacturers in Bradford felt the advance in the price of wool very keenly for many reasons. The purchasing power of this country had diminished. 'ibis had been brought about by the extraordinary taxation in this country. Therefore the position of the manufacturer to-day was difficult. He thought they might appeal to the growers in view of the difficulties of the manufacturer of this country; they would look with sympathy and interest upon any suggestion they could make to them to minimise the manufacturing cost, reduce their expenses, and permit them to make a similar profit in manufacturing the wool as they made in producing it. The Hon. G. Fairbairn replied to the various speeches already made. Referring to the question of exchange, he pointed out that immense capital was required for tho development of Australia. The suggestion that the English pound note should be legal tender in every part of tho Empire merited, in his opinion, a great deal of attention. He had no idea that the cost of extracting deleterious matter from the wool had increased to such formidable proportions. Ho would like to assure the Bradford business men that in Australia they wanted only to be told how they could produce better wool, and then, if possible, they would do it. “Get together here first of all,” he said, “then send a deputation out to Australia and toll us what you want done. I can assure you that it will be done to tho host of tho ability of Australian woolgrowers. We want to produce the best wool in the world in the best way in the

world. Do not let us turn back,_ Let us bring these things to a successful issue, and let us have these meetings every year. Sir Thomas Mackenzie noped that a concentrated report of the proceedings and the decisions of the conferences would bo widely circulated through the press both in this country and in the dominions. But something more than that was required in order that the most valuable information should bo made known throughout the dominions Some of those who came from the dominions really wondered what was going to bo the future of the British Empire. There were many troubles both abroad and within the country. Was this country going to carry on? Would the great wool market be able to maintain itself and continue to 'purchase their wool? Great Britain had the control of the wool of the world, and in that respect they ought to be able to do some concentration. The work people in France were receiving bid per hour, whereas the English workman was receiving Is 8d per hour. Anybody with common sense could see that they could hardly make their industry successful with such a difference in wages. “'These handicaps are most serious,” said Sir Thomas, “and I think it is time you were endeavouring to meet the situation and get full value for the money you pay, and not pay people a considerable sum in order to do notfiing. “On the other side you possess enormous advantages; you are competing against densely-populated countries which have no outlet, while you have nearly the whole of the unpopulated countries of the world under your control. You have to look to these overseas possessions of yours, (treat as has been the development in our life time the future development is to be enormously greater. BLACK HAIR IN DOWN SHEEP. Another subject dealt with during the conference was the prevalence of “grey” hair in Down sheep. Mr C. V. Collins, who introduced the subject, said that all breeds of Down sheep were not subject to the same defect, and he urged breeders to select sheep with the greatest possible care. The same car© was needed in looking ut the fleece as was exercised with regard to the carcase. Grey hairs were difficult, and, indeed, sometimes impossible to detect until the wool had been scoured. Mr H. B. Booth mentioned that Southdown sheep were practically free from “grey,” and were excellent mutton. Coming close to that were Dorset Horns, and Cheviot Downs were also good. He thought it would be quite possible to grow Downs or crossbreds from Southdowna without “grey.” _ Mr Aykroyd pointed out that the term ” grey ” applied to the black hairs which made it impossible to use the wool in the manufacture of high-class goods. There were black hairs in the fin© crossbred wool from Australia that had don© a lot of harm, and he hoped that some means would bo devised whereby these black hairs could be eliminated. Mr Adams pointed out that the bigger flocks of Southdown sheep were practically tree form “ grey.” Mr J. Knight (New Zealand), a breeder of Southdowns, expressed the opinion that much of the trouble with regard to dark hair could be traced to faulty shearing. With the machine shearing the legs were often cleared, and_ that was where most of the hair complained of came from. Several times during the conference a hope was expressed that an association might bo formed so that wool growers and manufacturers might meet annually and discuss those questions which vitally affected them both. It was even suggested that a conference should bo held alternately in Bradford and in some part of Australia. It is rather doubtful whether so many overseas breeders will be got together in England again for some years to come, but it would seem that something will be done to bring similar meetings, perhaps with a smaller number of sheep owners, in future years. One of the most pleasing functions during the two days’ visit to Bradford was the luncheon given by the Lord Mayor in the Town Hall. At this the speeches touched only occasonally on the serious problems of the conference. Daring the lunch the Bradford City Police Yocal Union gave a programme of songs. North of England glee singers is famous, and the policeman (who appeared in their uniforms) fully maintained the reputation of Yorkshire singers.