THE WOOL SALES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20959, 24 February 1930, Page 8

THE WOOL SALES.

It was only to be expected that the deadlock over the -wool sales in the Dominion would) be of short duration. The surprising' thing is that it should over have occurred. It is perfectly possible to appreciate the viewpoint of the buyers who have come from overseas to attend the sales and desire to complete the business they have in hand as expeditiously as possible. The belief on the pai’t of the growers, however, that if the sales were spread over a somewhat longer period than was originally scheduled they would not be obliged to sacrifice their clips as the sellers at the earlier sales were — at prices which, it has been calculated, did not in many eases equal the cost of production—is perfectly intelligible. There has , been no actual warrant in the past history- of the trade for an assumption that the production of wool exceeds the demand, and, unless the competition from substitutes for wool has suddenly become so grave as to cause an extraordinary diminution in the demand for wool, the drop in prices this season can only be regarded as of a temporary character. Whether that be so or not and whether those growers who are financially strong enough to do so, would be acting in their own interests in withholding their wool from sale in the hope of a sharp recovery in the market, it is perfectly clear that the wool brokers, with whom the buyers had their quarrel, do not exercise full control over the offerings. The brokers do not own the wool and even in the cases in which, through the advances that were made by them while the wool was growing, they may bo said to have become the virtual owners, it would be unreasonable to ask of them that they should wholly disregard their clients’ interests and dispose of the wool at prices that do not represent the cost of production. It is satisfactory, therefore, to observe that the wool buyers repudiate any suggestion that they have been attempting to force the brokers to dispose of the wool under conditions that are seriously unfavourable to the growers. But the argument used by them, that their engagements with their principals prevent their remaining in New Zealand after the middle of April, is one which merits respect. After all, while the principle under -which the buyer comes to the seller of wool

is essentially sound, it is desirable to study, as far as possible, the convenience of a buyer who has come great distances. The arrangement which has now been made for tlie continuation of the sales is one that is designed, by an amalgamation of offerings,, to meet the objection, expressed with needless vehemence by the Wool Federation in Great Britain, against an extension of the selling season.