OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 3244, 17 May 1916, Page 14

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

(From Our Special Correspondent.) BRADFORD, March 23. WHY WOOL SELLS. The registering of such high prices as wo have seen this year cannot but make one wonder in a moment of quietness what users are going to do with the wools they have purchased, and it certainly raises a very interesting topic. The writer has heard many a man say that dear wool must necessarily mean clearer clothes, and no doubt that is so. No one need be surprised at having to pay 10s to 15s more per suit than they rlid two years -.go for a similar article, -and no one must grumble. Even shoddy has risen 300 to 'IOO per cent. A manufacturer remarked to the writer only 10 days ago that he was paying lid per lb for mmvgo which cost him 3d in 1914, the article at the latter price being better than what is being delivered to-day. It. is a fact that rags, mungo, and shoddy have risen anywhere from 200 to 500 per cent., whereas merino wool has not risen on an average of more than 75 per cent. This may look strange on the surface, but the fact is there, and, after all, although wool is certainly dear, yet, relatively speaking, it is a cheaper article than the by-products of the trade. The difference seems to come in when greasy wool shrinking half weight is selling at Is 6d per lb instead of half the price, and, after all, it is in an article like a solid worsted serge made from pure new wool where the increased cost is seen the most. A great many woollen manufacturers buy. say, a bale of merino wool to about every five or six bales of shoddy, and it is not so much here where the increased price of wool is felt as in the larger quantity of material which is used in the making of fabrics. IS WOOL REALLY DEAR? Discussing this question with an outsider, he said that, while no doubt the raw material is to-day bringing higher figures than he had ever known, yet, taking value for value, it was no dearer than other things, his point being that the rise in other commodities had been equally as pronounced as that in wool. At the same time one cannot always draw an analogy like this, and wool certainly is making fairly stiff figures. We have al! known it otherwise. For instance, the Jate Sir Isaac Holden once said that the day would come when wool would be as cheap as cotton, and when good medium crossbred wool would be selling at 4£d per lb, which was the case at the November-December series, of London sales in 1801. A food deal of water has gone under London bridge since that clay, and far more blood has been spilt than one dares to contemplate since the grand old man of the wool trade was laid to rest. Today a similar parcel of wool is well worth Is 6d. and in January was readily fetching Is SUI. It looks as if the days of cheap wool arc very distant, notwithstanding the wails of the pessimists, who arc already forecasting depressing times when the war finishes. _ The wool trade and the textile industry in general arc in no humour for going out to meet those troublesome times. Let them como, and to a man v, 7 e will deal with them when they arrive. It is the writer's firm conviction that, like the Levite of old, these troublesome times will pass by on the other side; and. while no reasonable man can expect to-day's booming values to continue forever, it" is very unlikely that wool will fall to anything like the level that we saw in ISOO for marines and in 1901 for crossbreds. If the reader calls to mind ISOB, which saw a slump after the American financial crisis, the decline m no sense paralysed the textile, industry of Great Britain or the Continent, although wool values sensibly fell. Wool may be dear, but it is not by any means out in the cold as an unusable article at the price, for. although to-day we have seen a little set-back, yet the general impression prevails that it is only temporary, and when markets have recovered and users realise that there is going to be no surplus, wo shall sec still higher values. THE USABILITY OF WOOL. Closely allied with the views already expressed is the general suitability of "wool to meet to-day's world requirements. I think the world wants wool, and is going to want it. The writer had an inquiry a good fortnight ago respecting rami, and it raises the question respecting the shout of two or three years ago regarding the manufacturing proposals of Australian seaweed and other vegetable fibres, after the order of rami and rhca grass. At the time I said it would fizzle out, for the simple; reason that these vegetable fibres, while no doubt showing some staple, yet they have no life or elasticity—in other words, the fibres are not flexible, and, while cotton will card and spin and serve a good purpose when used in conjunction with wool in producing the cheaper styles of woollen cloth, cotton and rami are very different articles; and as long as the world lasts nothing will be found, not even paper, to equal wool as a manufacturing raw material out of which to make -fho clothing required by .-nan. It is the writer's firm conviction that science has already spent itself in discovering something to substitute for the fleece of the sheep, that alone being the God-given product required by human beings in which to clothe themselves. The world never realised what wool really was as a clothing material as it is doing to-day, for the vast armies on the Continent are to-day standing in something good—at least, this can.be said for those-de-Fending the interests of Great Britain, and licr Allies. In a word, it is the general utility of the fleeee of the sheep which today is appealing to all; and, with it standing higher in the estimation of men, it deserves to find its corresponding reward in those responsible for growing the wool receiving good paying prices for it. IMPORT WOOLS. General surprise seems to bo expressed in many quarters at tho excellent figures paid

in Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney during January and early February, the catalogues now coming to hand. It is recognised that there is nothing left in the wools, and with the recent fall in Coleman Street many lots undoubtedly look dear. Or course, buyers can still get back their own ; but that is cold comfort for those who have bought with a view to reselling, and they feel that all they can now do is to keep back the wools until later in the year, when there will be no big quantity available. That is really the position to-day. In a good week's • time the third series of London sales will begin, and among buyers there is not altogether that strong note of optimism expressed that one saw in January. The fact is, the trade seems to be suffering a little from financial pressure; and, with everybody being well supplied with raw material, and workmen getting fewer, many feel that there is just a possibility of a further decline, though nobody wants to sec it. Even buyers themselves state that cheaper wool will do more harm than good—a statement which the writer fully endorses. MARKET CONDITIONS. The Bradford market seems to be passing through « testing period. Buyers are back from Coleman Street, and they have not found a particularly buoyant market, things being rather on the quiet side. The only hope of bringing prices down lies in the wholesale refusal of licenses for the export of tops and yarns. Crossbreds cannot be exported in any shape or form, and licenses for shipping merinos are by no means plentiful. It is understood that a deputation from the export department of Bradford trade will wait upon the War Office this week, and it is hoped that some impression will be made upon the authorities. Merinos may be called steady, but topmakers apparently are open to consider business. Most business is being done in dry combed tops, and during the past week considerable amounts have been contracted for. The whole business seems to be of considerable dimensions, and it is hoped that reasonable facilities will be granted for export purposes. In the course of a few weeks there should be fair weights of crossbred tops available, and to-day, while 56's and 58's arc apparently very firm, 50's and below are. if anything, dightly in buyers' favour. It is reported that 56's have been sold to-day at 3s lid, and 58's ;,rc available anywhere from 3s 3d to 3s 4d. Fifties are offering at 2s Bid, 46's carded 2s 4d to 2s 4Ad, and 40's prepared 2s 2£d to 2s 3d. In the case of merinos, a good £.4's can be bought anywhere from 3s 6d to 3s 7d ; but some of the larger makers, who are apparently heavily sold forward, are very indifferent about quoting this side of next July delivery. English wools are quieter, but continue steady and firm. It is remarkable what confidence is felt in regard to English and crossbreds, but in the absence of shipping facilities it will take the home trade all its time to maintain prices. There is nothing new to say in regard to mohair; but since last Thursday about 233 bales of alpaca inferiors have been sold at Liverpool at full recent -prices. Spinners are in a very strong position, and few- are prepared to take any less. Hosiery requirements continue to be very large, and apparently there is considerable new business offering in Leicester, as spinners here can sell and make excellent prices. BUTTER 4ND CHEESE MARKET. Messrs A. S. Paterson and Co. have received the following cablegram from Messrs J. and J. Lonsdale and Co., London: — "-Butter: Firm, 163-- to 1665. Cheese: Very firm owing to short supply, 110 s to 1125." BUTTER IN COOT; STORES. WELLINGTON, May 15. The quantity of butter in the cool stores of the dominion tc-day totalled 88,911 boxes, as against 51,947 a year ago, and 90,274 on May 15, 1914. EXPORTS OF PRODUCE. WELLINGTON, May 11. The values of New Zealand products entered for export last week totalled £814,683, including the following: — Butter £ 31,172 Cheese 143,992 Frozen meat 211,454 Hides 61,281 Wool 299,178