WOOL CLIP FINANCING.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 15321, 17 September 1920, Page 7

WOOL CLIP FINANCING.

GOVERNMENT BACKING PROMISED WELLINGTON, this day. Ihe member for Hurunui drew an important statement from the Premier regarding the handling of the coming wool clip. Mr Massey had shown the necessity for care m avoiding a rush of wool into an already congested market for crossbred quality, and Mr Forbes suggested that the Government might do something to finance returned soldiers, so as to enable them to hold back their clip. The Premier's answer was, "We will take the financial position into consideration, not only of returned soldiers, but wool growers generally. I know I am undertaking a big, thing, but tho matter is of such great importance to the country that we are justified m what we are proposing to do,"— Parliamentary Reporter. WELLINGTON, last night. In the course of a statement m the House- on the wool positidu this afternoon, the Premier said that m order to appreciate tho situation to be faced on tho return to normal conditions of sale, it was necessary fco remember what stocks are held by the Imperial Government. The figures at June 30. m con-v rteefcion with New flea land wool aro :— \ T -r» . „. Bales. In United Kingdom ...... 283,328 In Antwerp . . . . ....".. 1,057 In the Dominion '.. 510J527 Afloat for United Kingdom .. .. 61,385 Total .. „ „ .. y. 856,297 This total was made up as follows.— _ . Bales. Greasy crossbred combing .. .. 531,053 Greasy merino .. .. .'. .. 4,231 Greasy cWssbred clothing „' „ 28,494 Slipe 135,187 Scoured .. .. .. .. .'. .. 157,332 There was also a total of; 2,049,177.. bales ; of Australian, making the aggregate Dominion and Commonwealth total 2,905,474 bales. This very large accumulation of unsold colonial wool had been largely , brought about by tlie fact, that Continental, countries who were usually large buyers had been practically out of the market owing to their inability to financp purchases, whife America ' had becoriie overstocked, wjt|* woollen goods and temporarily' ceased mannfaptming tp <•- considerable extent, The public demand m Britain and thp countries drawing their manufactured supplies from Britain had., been m the. direction of. goods' iiiade 'from finer wools, with, tho result that erqsibred's accpmulatpd ip a m\\ph greater relative extent, apd the current market for this class of wool is a poor one, where it exists at all, The position had also been apt*entuated by Argentine wool being unloaded at exceedingly low prices. "One feature of the position," continued Mr Massey, lies m the fact that there appears every prospect of sufficient shipping space being available to lift the woo} required. The rates qf freight been fixed at I srßd ppr "11* for greasy, lgd fqp slipe and 2J4 fqr scoured Ve6l. but I am m further cable eoiPfnunlPayon tvjth the Imperial Government on thii* question. At the invitation of the Imperial Government. I asked the High Gommlßiionpi? to nomln. ate tw© representatives 0 |? New Zealand to confer with the Ministry of Munitions m regard to the disposal of the unsold stocks of Government wool m London, j As regards the new Clip and the market outlook for it the next two months may bring about changes for the better. Tl\& present position as regard «nprJno and half-bred wool is tha| a good market, better than t^at under the Imperial purchase, seems to be assured, though the outlook for crossbreds is not so good. It is satisfactory to note that wool auction sales aire to be held m New Zealand with the usujtf regularity du.rjpg; the eeming season bgjs«Pl\ing i*^ November, by which time the for^ crossbred may become n g^d deal clarified, but I have no hesitation- m stating that nothing can do more haria to tho woolgrowers of this country tjkan for them to sacrifice . their wool at bw prices for the sake of quick realisation Such a course would onljj.fea playing pto the hands of the spdcimtors, and wouH weaken the position of- all. The Government wilj. assist, if necessary, m inducing* buyers from outside countries to attenA thp Nejsw Zealand sales/-— lftess Assn, j ' Smgrnggnmsßsssm