THE WOOL TRADE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2808, 8 January 1908, Page 11

THE WOOL TRADE.

AN IMPORTANT REVIEW. (From Ou» Own Correspondent.) LONDON, - November 8.

In The Times to-day there appears a very important review' of the history, position, and prospects of the Anglo-colonial wool trade. Passing over the merely historical 'and ornamental parts of the article,' there remains some portions which must needs possess special interest to New Zealand. These I now quote as follow : — "In 1895 — a ' record year ' — the production of wool in Australia* and New Zealand amounted to 2,000,000 bales, and the value per colonial bale for the calendar year, including importations from South Africa, was returned at £11. It is not at this date possible to give exact corresponding figures for, 1907, as the sixth London auctions have yet to be held, but the total clip ~ from the two colonies for the wool season of November, 1906, to October, 1907, amounts to 2,010,000 bales, and the average value per bale at the London Sep-t'ember-Ootober series, marking the close of that period, is returned as being some 55 per cent, above the level of 1905. When a staple commodity which is one of the necessities of appreciates in value to the above extent in the space of a little more than a decade, and when a maximum of production, eoinoides with a record in price, • some examination of the reasons for^fhe increased cost of wool and the prospect "of its continuance possesses a special interest. ...

j " Opinions as to whether the values of j to-day can be maintained at their highest I point! .may differ, but the experience of I 1906 and 1907 may with reason be held to j prove that buyers must accept a new basis I as to the standard value of thej raw material. | Increase in population has no doubt ooni tributed to some extent to the advance, but ' the increased consumption per Head has been the principal factor, and one that possibly has been overlooked by those who, basincr their conclusions on conditions existing 15 or 20 years ago, have urged that the present level is fictitious. No special knowledge of the trade itself is required to recognise the increased consumption' of wool, for this results from the social and economic progress of civilised" na'tions/'EduI cational and industrial development and increase of wealth have been, -and are, eoni tributing* causes. All over the world wages have become higher, and the improved pur1 chasing power of- the million has _ been, mainly expended in satisfying the primary wants of existence — .-food and clothes. The more l iberal education of the masses has raised the standard of living, and woollen manufactures of all kinds are considered essential to the comforts and refinements of modern life, while the ingenuity of the manufacturer has created a demand for cheap 'woollen goods at prices well within the limit of the working man's purse. The working classes require more leisure and more chanpe than did the former generation ; cheapness of modern travel has multiplied the number of excursionists, and cheap clothiers, a comparatively recent feature in retail- trade, exist to supply holiday clothes to ihe crowds of Blackpool, Marpate, and^ their Continental equivalents. Soldiersy'no longer weav the 6a,me uniform /fn active service as on parade, and orders for kharki become heavier each yea,]'. Further, the increasing practice <jf all kinds of sports and games, yas manufacturers know well, has fgreatly increased the consumption of ! woollen goods. Morales may decry the i luxurious tendency oipme age, but the •wool trade can only benefit by the competition existing between those who cater for the i rich. Each year sees the construction of gigantic hotels in Eurdpe or America, as far outclassing those considered palatial a ' few years .awro as -a Lusitania, with her complement of over 3000 human beings, outclasses . the giants of 10 years back. Newspapers mention the number of rooms in the. "former, or the champagne- carried -by the latter, but the amount of wool used in the ■■manufacture of -blankets, carpets, -and in the uniforms of the personnel are of more interest to Bradford, Roubaix, and Leipzig. "These and similar instances cannot, however, be said to constitute fres-h sources of consumption, the significance of the increase .being .one of degree ; but of much greater importance is the amount of wool

i now consumed per head by women, and is ' ) a feature of quite modern growth. The i woman of the lower middle class, hitherto ■ dependent on others, and most limited as > to means, of late years, in continually in- > creasing number, has become .an inde- ' '- pendent wage-earner -without, whether snop ' girl, typist, or post office clerk, becoming so • unsexed as to forget, that money is never " wasted in buying -clothes. What is obvious ! is often -regarded as unimportant, and when a wool clip is valued at £35}000,000 these 1 details of consumption may seem at first [ glance trivial, but when it is recollected that those referred to in /brokers' circulars . as the ' ultimate consumers ' are the millions forming the population of Europe and America who spend an appreciable portion : of their wages in the purchase of all sorts of woollen manufactures, it may b§ submitted , that even a trivial increase -per head in this ! great population explains why an additional i production of 700,000 bales of colonial wool " which has taken place within the last four ■ years has not only been easily absorbed, J j but has been accompanied by an almost" | constant rise in value." ", ]