OUR ENGLISH WOOL LETTER.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14448, 7 November 1917, Page 9

OUR ENGLISH WOOL LETTER.

A COMPREHENSIVE CONTROL SCHEME BROUGHT FORWARD. BRADFORD, August 29. One of the most gratifying features revealed during the past few days has been the unanimity of action and opinion among different sections of the trade. Those two important bodies, the Wool Te.*-tile' Association of the United Kingdom and the West Riding Spinners' Federation, have individual interests which ordinarily speaking cannot be said to be always m harmony. The association is a very complex body, having a very large membership, and touching various departments . of the wool industry. The • Spinners' Federation, though equally powerful iv its own way, has more restricted interest, its i activities being devoted entirely to fur- j thering- the welfare of the worsted spin- ' ners' of the West Riding. There has recently been so much m common between the two that suggestions have been made to the effect that they ought to amalgamate. Tlie idea on the surface is an exceedingly good, one' and so far as present purposes are concerned it will be an advantage to do so. It cannot be expected, however, that we. shall always be living - under circumstances identical with those which exist to-day. Other changes will inevitably come. . These "though not necessarily creating any real friction between tthe Federation and the Association, may bring about a confused state of affairs such as would reveal that amalgamation 'has some disadvantages. | It is not the writer's intention to labor the aibove point, the matter of importance being that the spinners and the association have seen eye to eye without exactly intending to see so. This is the great need of the trade at the present time, and if the same unofficial unity pervades the entire trade, a very long step will have been taken towal'ds overcoming many of the serious difficulties which are having to be grappled with at the present time. It is noticeable ; that- one or two sections are less ox- 1 treme than the W.T.A. or the Spiniiers' | Federation. This need not be taken to I mean that the two latter have taken an j unjustifiably extreme attitude. Their decisions are based on sound common-! sense. They have felt that m passing resolutions demanding the abolition of the rationing schemes now m force and n drastic alteration m the constitution m the -nexv Board of Control, they have been working not only for. the best interests of the trade, but also on behalf 61 national safety. • i BRITISH PREMIER INTERVENES. I One, result of the determination shown by the two trade organisations already mentioned has been to bring \.o the no- ! ticeof the Prime Minister some of the 'facts-appertaining to the whole -case. The Wool Textile Association has as one of its members a well respected member of Parliament, who m a quite friendly and informal manner has been able to 'draw the attention of Mr. Lloyd George to the fact that all Ys not well with the trade and that some better and more efficient meanp of representation is urgently needed. The Premier . having intimated that he is willing to meet a deputation if the trade. formally asks for one, it now remains, for the- 'industry- at large to rise to the occasion and present m as concise arid as concrete a form as possible their most important , : needs. When this first became known m Bradford, it was hailed, with delight, but the feeling 'is now being expressed ' that the Premier's task ought- to be an exceedingly easy one, if it is necessary at all. The chief reason t for this is - that the trade as represented by the W>T.A. and the West Riding Spinners' Federation are prepared to bring forward wjiat they regard as practical and suitable schemes. Also demands have been made fcr a ; better representation on the new Board j of Control, and if the trade itself is allowed to bring, forward men whom they consider qualified for their position the Prime Minister's task will have been . further lightened. It is a foregone con- : elusion that no man will be appointed by the trade who is noe considered capable of doing his work, and no better reason than this could be brought forward for trade nominations being accepted. .. 3IORE TRADE MEETINGS. Since last writing various, meetings of the trade have been' held with the purpose of making arrangements which shall contribute to a satisfactory result being achieved if and when Mr. Lloyd George meets the deputation. A meeting of the West Riding Spinners' Federation was held m Bradford last Saturday, at which it .transpired that the "Director of Supplies . had asked to be met\.in London by representatives of tlie spinners and manufacturers. It also appears that the meeting, considered- a scheme for running ' the worsted spinning under Government control and copies of tins scheme have been sent to some of the spinners. A sub-committee of the Exe- | j cutive Committee of the Wool Textile Association also met last Monday preparatory to calling a full meeting' of the executive next Thursday. . , . AN OBVIOUS DANGER-. ' One danger at the present time is "that tho actions of the trade as a whole will | not be sufficiently unanimbus to secure the ends they have m view. It is surprising how much of the traitorous element reveals itself even m sections of ' the industry which as a whole are suffering grievously. The writer has no desire to bring charges of a wholesale char- I acter, and thereby unjustly condemn the I innocent,; but it is to be feared that if some who are m the- fortunate position j of not feeling as keenly as the majority | the burden of State Control' would . be somewhat moire considerate it. would I ultimately become aii easier matter for j the trade •at large to carry on. 'The jdemands of the spinners have been regarded by some who ai'e, reckoned 4mong their own number as : somewhat e*treme, whilst other Sections of the trade" would be satisfied with less than the Bpinners themselves are * demanding. The result of thistothe trade might be disastrous if allowed to work out to its ultimate logical consequence. It is to be hoped, however, that there will continue to be sufficient unanimity among the best and most important trade organisations to secure the vital end. A SCHEME. . As already intimated more than one scheme, has been, brought forward, or at least i$ m the air, but one of the most tangible is that the new Board shall be responsible to the / Director of. Revw Materials end the ' Director of / Supplies.There is' to 'be no interference on the part of the Government with the civilian trade, but military requirements will continue to take first place. The present merchanting firms are to be used for dealing with export trade. All matters m which labor is interested are to be dealt, with "by '-the. representatives of the operatives. A monthly distribution sale is proposed at which top-makers and merchants can coyer orders placed with them by spinners or manufacturers. With regard to' representatidn, a committee of two woolmen, two topmakers, •.wft'op, three worsted spinners, two woollen and worsted manufacturers and one representative each of the following — hosiery, blanket manufacturers', noils pnd wastes and cloth merchants — is proposed. All the officials a*re to act m an advisory capacity, and the gentleman proposed as

chairman of the new Board to be a mem- ' ber of the same m virtue of his holding the office of controller of military clothing. This m. brief is. an outline of. one new scheme, and it will be seen that trade representatives are fairly numer- , ous, it being proposed to appoint alto- ! gethei* thirteen men, ( m various jbapacjities. Readers will remember that the constitution of the ..Board of Control suggested by the Government was • seven men to represent themselves, seven 'to represent Labor, and seven to represent the trade. Though this looked well on paper it was obvious to all practical irien that quite apart' from anythiug "else, the election of seven men who largely stood for the interests' "of the manufacturing end of the trade was not fair to spinners, topmakers, and others who would have been left without a voice. HOPES OF A BETTER TIME. If anything .like 'the above scheme is actually put into operation, one may reasonably hope that the trade will have a better time during the next sixm'onths than they have, had during tlie six months passed Y Therp is ho desire whatever to' do away entirely";' with State control, and so long as something like sensible action is pursued the majority will be •satisfied. We shall always have some croakers, and there will always be those "with grievances. Some men are built that way, and cannot help it, but taking things as a whole such reforms as are briefly outlined above will go a long way to silence criticism and put more heart into the trade at large. The writer was talking to a spinner the other day, who said that lie was heartily longing for a new arid better* state of affairs. ' He has been harassed beyond description and seems- to have had no redress whatever. ; He : has had his rent to pay as usual as well as work-peoples' wages and' all other standing charges. Many employees m the textile trade go on the principle of "less work less brass," and as soon as shorter hours came into operation many of the said spinner's employees left him to go where they could keep on working full time and earn more money. Tliere has also been the difficulty of adapting 1 machinery to Government requirements, and above all the niggardly allowances of tops, which have , necessitated ■/ machinery -being brought to a- standstill," m of 'the fact that he and many others exceeded the quantities which they were supposed to be allowed to use. Once trade is lost it "is" lost for ever, A and''there is hb 'such thing as retracing one's steps m this respect; Even with- the brightest ;Coiiditions and prospects pbs'sible the spinners have a hard struggle, before them, and they deserve all 1- the' consideration possible. They have not had to suffer any more than many other sections of the trade, but they -have , certainly felt their position very acutely* With -regard- to the Priority ' Scheme, the majority' adriiit, that some sort of rationing will-be necessarjf. .Much les? objection would have been, raised to this Government organisation i'.-''-quant.t-es of tops had '-. been; 'allocated:' to -spinners equal to. allowing* -them eVen 'to.r,un 45 hours per week, but when the number of workirig;hd,lirs v was' c*ti_7d6wn to that and then allocations were altogether insufficient for it, no wonder that spinners' ire was .raised. The 'top allocations foi the three months commencing September .Ist have been sent out. and -in many cases are sufficient to allow machinery to be run 50 hours per week. This h m harmony with the announcement that full time will be commenced on September Ist. Altogether the position i^ becoming greatly improved, and given p: satisfactory settlement on the question of representation ori' the: new Board of Control we may hope to see better days.