GOVERNMENT WOOL AND THE DOCKS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 15212, 10 May 1920, Page 8

GOVERNMENT WOOL AND THE DOCKS.

NO ABNORMAL STRAIN. | ' .LONDON, aiai*ch' i6,-TS'tatenients by Sir .Alfred .B.optli and- Lord Pe'vonport, iniplying.'Govefiiment responsibility for London -dock, congestion thi'pugliiniports of wool, wero vigorously. ; cpritested. Sir Arthur Goldfinch. ; pirectpr-C'cijeral of ; Ra>v Materials, attended as,- witness for .the Ministry of .Alnnitiond .at the In.dy^tiM'aL.Coi^t '.of Inquiry Pi'i dockers' deitiftnds,, presided over by Lord Sim w. of; Dunfermline; He first 'absolutely refuted the : declai-ation of Si r. Alfred Booth that "the" extraordinary . vagaries of 'Government trading were partly-'. rer sponsible for blocking the port." He claimed that the,, commercial men who' alone, supervised' the' control of Gpyernmenfc ..wool .could prove they had foreseen- the requirements of tlSk country and, bf-Eui-ope, ond-; had provided - for theni' beforehand. The- purchases, were carefully planned and carried to- a successful conclusion. •. Lord Devbnpoi't's •evidence^ witness' asserted ;■ conveyed an absolutely -false i. picture of the comparison t between. 1919. and -pre-war, years. Has lordship had. said-. 2,000,000 bales of- wool -were shipped, to- London m- that yeai*j.' for sale • or . allocation. . The fact wasthat. the- beginning. :of that year the Department was faced with; the.' problem of .restocking .Western Europe with Australian wool, and to .bring about as rapidly, as possible a re'-est-busbment of normal conditions. ■: ... u'-Ihere ' Avas a great surplus of wool in,= Aj'str^lia, and • a great deficiency, iii _-Ui;dp/P,'' i^aid witness. "We obtained o^p^ft.HadyicO' and endeavored: to givo London -a- fair . share.. Throtighaui .the past 100 years London hag' had a predominant, share m tli«s, wool business. We endeavored. - to arrange- for total sjwnients-" to this .country of 2,700.000 bales, to be brought at the "'rate, of 225,000 bales :per month. ; We. know it would be impossible to keep to precise dates of arrival, and idso that some exceptioiial , accommodation • would, be needed for wool for. two or three months uiitil. machinery, had. begim to work perfectly. ' It was agreed that the. Port of London Authority should hold at the disposal of the Department storage up to 1,000,000 baW. The P.L.A. were told tlie Department did not expect more than 600,000, to 700,000 would ar-i rive.at a- time. .. Actually ; the greatest j amount tbatvwas m store -in the various' London warehouses during 1919 was 554-,oj0 t , bales., wli id) total was reached lavJilly."- .-...-. ,\; I . *oiit:nuedy 'that m; 1914. Ills Department . - brought t into ' London 1i558,014.-bales 'Adi Australian wool, and there. wei;p ,248^000 .additioiial bal)S& imported, !f6V - Which the* 'Govemmeitt? ' was not 'responsible— a total' .o£' 1^806,000 bales; %. .did. iipt • tliiitkV'his Department were imposing .an abnoiTnal strain on the po-^.;^ey"^iadt no reason to think so,, m view -of -past records, because ia 1915 ,tlje impoi;ts-into Londpii ■y^'-i9 L W_.^T!Q9>QOP;--.'M.g a - '-:A., v, -A- ' j