MR MASSEY AT BRADFORD

Otago Witness, Issue 3525, 4 October 1921, Page 23

MR MASSEY AT BRADFORD

MORNING SPENT IN THE MILLS. OPTIMISTIC VIEWS. THREE SPEECHES IN FOUR HOURS. NEARLY AN ACCIDENT. (From Oub Own Correspondent.) LONDON, August 11. Optimism among the people of Bradford at the present time is not a quality to be easily stimulated, but in the series of speeches made by Mr Massey during Isis few hours’ stay in that city this week he preached the gospel of optimism to such purpose as to have been designated “A Harbinger of Hope.” His reception was a flattering one, for. as it has more than once pointed out, Bradford is the counterpart of New Zealand, and the interests of the woolgrowers and those of the wool consumers were ultimately identical. Even in Bradford, however, there are conflicting opinions—what is an advantage to one branch of the trade may be a disadvantage to another, and as every variety of interest was represented at the meeting of business men called together by the Bradford Chamber of Commerce, the Prime Minister had need for circumspection. Wisely, in his public speeches he refrained from entering too deeply into the contentious subjects which are vexing the wool world at the present time, but his stay with Mr Francis Willey, at Bhyth Hall, and his son, Lieutenant-colonel F. V. Willey, M.P., must have given Mr Massey an opportunity of discussing many matters of importance and of obtaining an inside knowledge which will be of great use to him in the future. Mr Francis Willey, now over SO years of age, is one of the wool magnates of Bradford, ana his financial interests in the wool trade are far-reaching. His son, member for Bradford, who served in Gallipoli, became Controller of Wool Supplies under the War Department in 1916, and organised the purchase and distribution of the British and colonial wool clips on Government and civilian account. It was at their beautiful home, some 50 miles from Bradford, that Mr Massey and his secretary, Mr F. D. Thomson, went last Sunday afternoon. Here they- remained until Monday' morning, when they were up by 7 o’clock and motored 50 miles into Bradford through the charming scenery of Nottingham and Yorkshire. AN INTERESTING DISCOVERY. Soon after the party started from Blyth Hall in the motor car Mr Willey suggested that the rug should be brought forth for use. So it was spread across the travellers’ knees, and Mr Massey greatly admired its texture. Turning over the corner nearest to him he was amused, but naturally much delighted, to find the inscription “Mosgiei.” He regarded it as a great compliment to the dominion that Bradford's most renowned wool magnate, and an infallible judge of quality, should be using a rug made in so distant a jiart of the Empire. INDUSTRY AND SCENERY. Yorkshire is beautiful. Those who have pictured this thickly populated workshop of England as a grimy smoke-ridden country without natural charm must be greatly disillusioned. Towns and villages there are in profusion, but the intervening country is a joy to the heart of man, with its cultivated fields and its woodlands, and its multiplicity of waterways all ultimately ending their course in the Humber. And amidst all this are the collier villages, each with its miniature mountain of black debris —cert tinly out of keeping- with their surroundings, but one is impressed with the idea that though (he collier’s life beneath the earth may not be very desirable, the ample time he spends above grounds holds a compensation not granted to the workers in the great cities of England. A NARROW ESCAPE. Mr Massey's journey to Bradford—his first —was not uneventful. Ip. fact. New Zealand came very near to losing its Prime Minister. Just outside a village the party approached a crossroad, motoring at 25 miles an hour. From the road on the left with a downhill gradient, there appeared in view a swiftly-driven car which had not been reduced in speed as it came to the high road. A warning cry from a member of the party seated next" to the chauffeur wa s just in time. The chauffeur acted with Commendable promptitude, put on his brakes, and swerved Mr Willey’s car to the left, just missing the other car, which was going at 40 miles an hour, by a few inches. It was the nearest possible escape. But for the chauffeur s immediate action the car in which were Mr Massey and his party would have been hit at light angles and certainly over-turned. On airival at Bradford Mr Massey first was taken round Ur \\ nicy’s warehouse. The party first visited the department where the sorting of New Zealand wool was in progress. The Prime Minister was obviously impressed* by the organisation and thoroughness of the operations, and in response to a query from one member of the party, commented that what he saw reminded him very much of a wooished at home. WEIGHING IN. On the way round a weighing machine attracted Mr Massey’s attention, and he stepped on to the platform. Weights were adjusted, and the machine registered 17i Stone. Though the result did not displease the Prime Minister, it is evident that the strenuous work of the past two months has had its effect, for, as Mr Massey remarked, he “had got back to normal’,” having lost 10 pounds since leaving New Zealand. From Mr Willey’s warehouse Mr Massey went to the Town Hall, where he met the Lord Mayor (Lieutenant-colonel A. Gadie) and Mr Henry Whitehead (president of the Chamber of ( ommerce). A civic reception was to be hold at midday, but there remained an hour to rec ovvr the Saltaire Mills. It was all to brief a time, for three hours could most profitably he spent in these famous mills. The name of Saltaire Is k i low n til e v.,rhi over, hut even 'vlr Massey admitted that ho did not know that the works were at. Bradford. As a matter of fact, they are three miles from the centre of the town, and, although S;dbairo was a distinct township, the suburban fXOUPe3 of Bradford have now crept u p to it and past it FIRST GARDEN CITY. Long before the garden cities of Port Sunlight and Bourneville were thought >f Mr Titus Salt—who was created a baronet In iB6O -selected this remarkably favourable

and beautiful spot for his model village. It is on the banks of the River Aire, which gave him the benefit of the direct services of the river for unlimited Water supply for the requirements of the business, and of the Midland Railway Company’s main line and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal for transit. Upon this site, in 1853, he built mills and houses and shops for the workers. He also established for the uses of the industrial community the Saltaire Institute, high schools, hospital, infirmary, place-s of worship, almshouses, and park. Just across the river the mill hands to-day look out on a beautiful woodland valley, and the conditions of work would seem to contradict any preconceived idea that the factory hands of England are a downtrodden race. The garden city control has now passed away, though the employees still benefi. from the institutions established by Sir Titus Salt, and the embargo on any publichouse inside the Saltaire area still remains in force. The mills have been added to materially since their establishment. Today they have a total floor space of 30 acres .containing a large combing plant, over 100,000 spindles, 700 broad looms, and dyeing and finishing machinery, and employing about 3000 workpeople. " Unlike many of the mills in Yorkshire, these particular Works include every process from the raw material to the finished product, and in this respect they resemble the mills of New Zealand. Other works specialise to a greater extent in the various processes. Saltaire has now passed into the hands of five proprietors, who combine in a very special degree, representation of practically all the processes which contribute to the making of finished pieces. It is certainly the show place of the woollen mills, and in 1918 it received the honour of a visit from their Majesties the King and Queen. NINE IN A LIFT. Conducted by Mr Whitehead, one of the proprietors, the Prime Minister visited the combing, twisting, spinning, and dyeingdepartments, and took a great interest ill the various processes. With nine passengers in one lift, all of them of more than average' weight, the liftman expressed fears as to the safety of an ascent, but, fortunately, the Lord Mayor’s remark that “we have good lifts in Yorkshire” was justified, and the ascent was safely made. ADVICE FOR NEW ZEALANDERS. An inspection of the finished article in the warehouse seemed to convince Mr Massey of the excellence of the material made from New Zealand crossbred, for in his subsequent speeches he said that when lie returned home he would advise the people of the dominion to buy suit and dress material made in Bradford from New Zealand crossbred wool. They had taken his advice on previous occasions, and he hoped they would take it in this case. The next four hours were crowded ones, for in that time Mr Massov had a civic reception, visited the Stock Exchange, attended a luncheon in his honour, and was afterwards received by all the prominent commercial men of the city at a meeting organised by the Bradford Chamber of Commerce. At all of these functions he spoke— not briefly, but very fully—and covered new subjects on each occasion. And between whiles he was introduced to many of the men whose names are household words among the wool circles of Bradford — which is of England. STATUS OF THE DOMINIONS. In replying to the Lord Mayor’s address of welcome in the Council Chamber of the Town Hall, the Prime Minister confined his remarks to the relationship existing between the Home Country and the dominions, and the need for a strong- navy. Referring to the Imperial Conference, he said he believed (hat they had done good work for the Empire and the countries to which they belonged. The status of the dominions had been improved very considerably. they were now partners —junior partners—but still partners in the Empire. “We are to-day,” continued Mr Massey, “citizens of the freest, the most enlightened. and the most democratic Government the world has ever seen. We know when we are well off, and we are not going to make a change.” On the naval question he reaffirmed the dominions’ desire to take their share of the expense. “We have hitherto practically left it to the citizens of the United Kingdom to provide the navy,” he said, “but we do not except the citizens of the United Kingdom to do that in the future. The dominions will do their share. I can speak positively for the Parliament and the citizens of New Zealand. We feel we have not done enough in the past, but we shall do our share in the future.” GIANTS OF FINANCE. The luncheon was served in the banqueting ha'l of the Town Hall, a building just completed before the war, but nevertheless having that attention to detail and architectural design which reminds one of some of the best of the older municipal buildings, and constructed to remain an ornament for centuries to come. His Worship the Mayor had invited a number of the most prominent wool men of the city to moot Mr Massey. Conversation at table was somewhat enlightening to the humbler visitors. Of one of the Lord Mayor’s guesis the story was told of how he was being chaffed by a friend at a club one day of having lost a million sterling in the present slump of wool prices. The chaffed one seemed to take Lis misfortune with something approaching delight, and, with great glee, he pointed to a less happylooking individual in the corner, and replied, “ I may have lost a million, but that chap in the corner has lost two million.” Another of the guests was pointed nut who had a few da vs b fore lost something approaching £200,000 through the bankruptcy of other men. There was another who had made a quarter of a million in a day during the earliest weeks rf the wav. Such were the stories told of these wool kings of Bradford—many of them once mill hands in this citv where fortunes are made and lost in a day. PEACE IN IRELAND. Tn a speech of welcome to Mr Massey on his first visit io Bradford, the Lord Mayor referred to the deliberations which had been taking place for tho promotion of peace in Ireland. There could he no peace for this country until we had peace at home, he said. Wo could not afford to go on in tho way we had been doin'! 1 . lie spoke also of (he troubles in trade, and said the sooner people determined to cut their losses the better it would be for both workmen and employers. Masters and men must work amicably together. He was hoping flint, labour troubles were now past, and that masters and men had all learnt that strikes did not pay. Mr Massey was not.

prepared to express his opinion on Ireland, lie oame from Ulster—the Black North, he said —but he was just as anxious as anyone to see peace arranged for Ireland and for the whole Empire. Lie hoped with all his heart that peace would come, and come soon. But he wanted it to be peace with honour, of which none of us need be ashamed. He would say no more than that, for the present was not the time to go into details on that question. Speaking of his tour in Bradford, he said that he could not honestly express regret that the wool stores were not particularly well filled. CONFIDENCE IN THE FUTURE. So far as wool was concerned, he need not tell his Bradford audience, he said, that they were hard hit in New Zealand. A drop of not less than 60 per cent, in the price of wool affected them very materially, but he thought they were going to get through. In fact, ho had very great, confidence in the country to which ho belonged—in its future and in its possibilities. He did not think anything could affect it. They had got through the war, and although they might have difficulties, he believed they were going to enter upon a bigger era of prosperity. Taking all the present circumstances into account he would be greatly disappointed if we did not see a great increase in the price of wool during the next six months. There was an immense accumulation of wool in this country and in New Zealand. But for that fact there would be no doubt about the increase in price. That accumulation of wool ought to have been avoided. When the opportunity arose to sell the wool at a fair price it should have been taken. Another point to be considered was the purchasing capacity of our customers. This was not nearly so good as it was before the war. France, especially the North of Franco, was not taking the wool she formerly took. Many of the manufactories of Northern France were smashed by the enemy, and were not yet in a position to carry on as before. He had no hope of Russia getting- back to business in the near future, and Russia was a good purchaser before the war. NO CAUSE FOR PESSIMISM. Taking all things into account, he did not think there was any cause for pessimism. He hoped the people would realise that every section of the community would receive its share of the proceeds of prosperity. Looking round, they saw Germany hard at work, Belgium at work, France getting back to word, Japan and America working hard. It had to be remembered that some commodities could be produced by one country at a lower juice than another country could produce it If a country could produce cheaper than Britain the trade was going to that country. L’nless people realised this and made up their minds that Britain was not going to be left behind. Britain would undoubtedly suffer. In his little country—which would be a very different country in 50 years’ time —there was nothing they produced which would not be allowed to come to Britain free. In return for that they expected to get from Britain the manufactured goods which they required. Orders had been given for millions of pounds’ worth of goods, though not of the kind manufactured in Bradford, Sometimes they wanted articles which they could not get in England, and nothing distressed them more than to have to go elsewhere for them. British labour, they realised, was tho very best in the world. England made the best motor cars, but- the price was very high. If they could not get the motor cars in England suitable to the requirements of their people, they had to go elsewhere for them. Nothing should be left undone which could he done to improve the trade between his country and Britain. NEED FOR COLLABORATION. Mr Henry Whitehead, who was in New Zealand last year at the time of the visit of the Prince of Wales, presided at the Chamber of Commerce meeting. Tn welcoming the Prime Minister, he said that the interests of New Zealand were very much wrapped up with the interests of Bradford. Mr IT. Dawson (president of the British Wool Federation) expressed the conviction that there should ho a greater co-operation between New Zealand and Bradford (especially between the organisations which dealt with and handled wool) and a closer collaboration of policy. As wool growers and wool consumers their interests were ultimately identical. Borne of the Bradford merchants knew the New Zealand market, for they had served an apprenticeship in that country, with advantage, he believed, both to their ability and character. ADVANTAGES OF CHEAP WOOL. Although wo were new passing through days of adversity, and the New Zealand growers were complaining that Home buyers were not paying them a remunerative price, yet it must be remembered that they had had days of prosperity in the past; and now they were going through days of adversity together they need not be downhearted, (.‘heap wool was a rare good thing for the countries that were poor to-day Cheap wool meant cheap clothing, and cheap clothing would help to bring prosperity back again. Although there might he a few more months of “ bad times,” he was op" of those who looked forward to a great boom in the wool industry before long. NEED FOR UNTRAMMELLED MARKET. The Wool Federation, said Mr Dawson, in a resolution, had expressed the firin' conviction that it was of the utmost importance that the wool industry should bo untrammelled and freed from all restrictions of trading and from Government or any other control. In this country, he believed, there was enough enterprise, brains, skill, and character", both among employers and employed—if they had scope to use them, and were not trammelled by control or any sort of Govern mont interference, and could get the raw materials they required—to assure in the future, days of prosperity which would be reflected as much in New Zealand as in this country. Bradford wanted New Zealand wool. He wished New Zealand would grow a few more merinos. There would be no disputes between Bradford and New Zealand if Mr Massey were to remain here. When a difference arose recently he managed to straighten matters out in a manner agreeable to both sides. He hoped Mr Massey would take back with him to New Zealand the hope of early better times. Mr Massey expressed entire concurrence with tile opinion that the sooner Government control was removed the better for everyone. It was preferable to be without the control of Governments, whether on this side of the -world or the other. Another opinion which had been expressed,

wag that the British mechamo wag equal to any other in the world. He had the best reasons for agreeing- with that, and one of the reasons was that while at the western front looking after the welfare of his people who were fighting for the Empire there, the agreeable fact came out that the best aeroplane in the war was made in England—one with a Rolls-Royce engine.—(Applause.) Before many years were over the British would have their workmanship tested again, though he hoped and believed it would not he in the same way. Fellow citizens of the Empire in New Zealand were also proud of tho fact that the British business man had no equal—mpno was straighten, none keener, none more fitted to be trusted. HISTORICAL REFERENCES. Mr Massey reminded his hearers that Bradford, the greatest wool city in the Empire, even in ancient times made a specialty of wool. On one occasion, when Bradford unfortunately mixed up with civil war, the people placed their confidence iii wool, and padded the church tower with it. —(Laughter.) With this defence they were able to resist the attacking enemy, and from that dav to this Bradford had concentrated on wool —rightly and properly eo, he thought,—and he hoped that wool might, be the principal article of commerce, so far as Bradford was concerned, for many a long year to come. The first wool was exported from New Zealand in 1839 and it fetched Is 9d per lb in the English market. He wished New Zealand could send some wool to-day that would make Is 9d per lb. —(Laughter.) About 1828 a number of missionaries reached Now Zealand from Sydney. They had sheep with them, and the wool shipped in 183*9 was probably the property of the missionaries. He did not blame them for it. A deep debt of gratitude was due to those early missionaries. NEW ZEALAND FARMERS. At the present day all were going through what they called the slump—a “technical” term for commercial and financial depression. He had not expected it would reach his country, but it had come over them suddenly, and they had not got rid of it yet. He was optimistic enough to believe that it would not remain long. Not a sheep dealer or wool man of his country showed a profit last year. Each and every one of them had lost money. That sort of thing had happened before. lie looked forward to enjoying a period of prosperity such as they had never enjoyed before. lie felt justified in forming that opinion from what happened in the days of the war. The British Government—the Government of the Empire in those days—had wanted food and equipment for the troops, and food for tho population, and an agreement was worKed out with New Zealand which was to the benefit of both parties. Britain was left with some wool and other goods on hand, but it was upon what was left, over, not upon what was utilised during the war, that the loss, which he regretted, had taken place. From that little country of his were sold and delivered to the Imperial Government £160,000,000 worth of products. With a record like that no man on earth could make him believe that they were going to suffer for long- from depression. Mr Fred Mitchell, representing the Bradford Sphiners’ Federation, proposed a vote of thanks to Mr Massey. When they considered, lie said, how the woollen industry of Bradford and the wool-growing industry of New Zealand were dependent upon each other, they were able to realise how much might be attained by united action. He hoped Mr Massey would urge upon his fellow-countrymen the importance of even closer unity of action bet wen New Zealand and Bradford than had ever existed in the past. Mr George Garnett, representing the Manufacturers’ Federation, said that there was no country which had earned tho respect and admiration of Bradford business men more than New Zealand. Their orders had always been welcomed in Bradford, and the New’ Zealanders had always carried out honourably their obligations to take deliveries. The good feeling fostered by such conditions was bound to continue, and Bradford traders looked forward to increasing trade with New Zealand. They had often been surprised by the amount of cloth which New Zealand consumed, but they did not wish to ask what the New Zealanders did with it. They would be ready to accept even more orders. A WORD OF WARNING. Referring to tho remark made by Mr Dawson that cheap wool would surely bring good trade. Colonel Willey agreed that that was a principle which had always held good in the past, and it was one which they would like to feel still held good to day. But he thought it was only fitting at such a gathering to utter a word of warning. bile the price of raw materials was below the cost of production the costs of conversion were so high that we were unable to sell our products in the world’s markets. Unless conversion costs could be brought down to a reasonable basis there was reason for serious anxiety with regard to the future. Unless we could sell our products we would be unable to get rid of unemployment. Colonel Willey expres-ed Ins approval of the resolution of the Wool Federation calling for the freeing of industry from Government control and other restrictions, and expressed a wish that some members of the Government might have been present at that meeting in order that they might have realised how strong was (lie fooling of the trade on this matter. Mr Massey, in replying to the vole of thanks, referred to the recent Imperial Conference which took place in London. Whatever else that Conference had achieved, it had at least conduced to what, in his country, was called “unity of Empire.” He was strongly of opinion that since the Conference the different peoples which made up the British Empire, whether in the tropes or the temperate zones, would be able to speak with a more united voice than ever before to tho other nations of the world. If the Conference had done that alone it would not have boon held in vain.