The Timaru Herald SATURDAY, MAY 16, 1908. WOOL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13596, 16 May 1908, Page 4

The Timaru Herald SATURDAY, MAY 16, 1908. WOOL.

To-day's cabled report of the London- wool sales has. a more; hopeful ring about it than has been noticeable since the. decline in prices commenced, at the end. of last year. It is true: that there doeS -not appear to be, any actual improvement in prices; since the vwhich must M a' pretty representative -paicel' to be specially mentioned in : the message, has been disposed of at a rate somewhat lower than the value ruling, at the March series. But even if the prices have not made a recovery, it is : a favourable indication that competition is animated, that -there is a strong home demand for'crossbreds, and that all sorts snow a hardening tendency. The deduction is that the trade has begun to regain its confidence, and that the progressive fall in value* which has been' going oh'Ufor the last six months has at last been arrested. Should that prove to be the case, it will at least be i something to be thankful- for, as we may look now for the. " swing of the pendulum " which has been talked about by some of the commercial leaders in -Wellington. The chaiimanof the Bank of New Zealand, for instance, stated .on Thursday that, while It had frequently happened that low prices had had-to be accepted for wooi at different periods during the last quarter of a century, yet the market had never remained for ;a lengthy period in a poor condition; and he regarded it as a hopeful symptom!of the present situation that wnde prices at/ the present series had dropped to a level which had not been., reacjied. since 1900190ij;there was still a iMge; attendance of buyei-s.and a strong mated tdhe of the sales .-i-».cates that the low prices, which it is to/ ; vhave titrtr reached bottom, have stimulated the enterprise; of tlie manufacturers Hyhose 6iiei-aitii)nis should 1 be fftieilitated by the low jjank .rare,' now obtaining in London, t hit 'their enterprise: needed a stimulus is evident from the surplus of wool; as compared with the last' May seriesV which is now being submitted' to auction* and also from the decrease in the amount absorbed direct by the. mills. The position is shown in the following table \affeoting the present .sale and Che corresponding sale last ■ year : ~:

Critics who ascribed the Dec-ember drop ill prices to the American financial crisis, and the high Tnteresb'riite'To ' winch ; the English and Continental institutions ■ resorted as a, protection against the "uehudktion of their reserve's,' h'ifve 'ihafl 16 seek some other explanation than dear-money for the continuous "decline in'values which have touched theylowest pqint in the present series. With the Bank of England rate back to 3'per'cent., the explanation " must be looked for elsewheie ,than in dear money. Compei'shl' observers find it in " universal, fuhk " which has crippled enterprise and deadened trade. '* There is not the least .doubt," says a financial journal in London, ' "that fear of -what may never happen has depressed the whole industry, causing orders to be withheld and preventing .conk acts for yarns ": arid pieces being made." It will be the first step towards hnjjrovement if that apprehension has begun to disappear, as seems to be indicated by the brisk demand experienced now, though the prices are low, but it is' to be noted that the demand is a home one only, from which it is to be inferred that trad-u prospects on the Continent and in America have not brightened up- Nor can we expect much improvement across the Atlantic, in face of I'reliideiu Roosevelt's remarkably pessimistic address to the conference of State Governors in Washington. It is almost incredible that the natural resources.' d.f the United States lihould have been exhausted already to the extent stated byb the President, but even if he has painted' tlia pictuie in a blacker cofour than there is any heed for, it is only to be expected thai his speech will intensify the >vant of confidence already existing in his country. His remarks come at a most inopportune time as far as the restoration of Eiciustrial confidence is concerned, and they can hardly fail to retard *he recovery of wool .y.7.).Ufi?._.'.Jtjj.W»Mal)o»Tt .+!.«-. .J«n«M r7 . - - .:.tj_: -M..-._—i-.

be wise, therefor**, not to build too much upon the change for tb** better indicated in the tune of the present London sales, hat to reconcile ourselves U» the probabtltty that the capital of tht> totvny will no receive any considerable addition from t' H wool exports this year. Had the tnMw not suffered from erroneous assnw-js emanating from persons, including the Premier, that the Außrie.'i* smash would not affect New Zealand, wool gTowera might hart* averted considerable loss by accepting the higher prices ruling in the curly part of the season, when values were' something like TO per centbetter than they are to-<i;>y. Kvi-n yet we have probably not reafis-ed tin.- inn t taction in our national income rcprt>eutt»l by the drop in wool, for if w.- wets* t(» accept the figures given in Government publications, we should lno"k for an exaggerated return from tht* source. lhe monthly export leaflet from whiclr we quoted yesterday puts '••'* w, '°" e -"»l w ' rt for April at, 9>,5<J3.4751hi». valued a: £339,75?, or an average of B£d pe; lb, which, in the present state of the market must be a good deal too ftTgti. However, if the borne demand continues otrun-;. and if manufacturers can find a profitable outlet for their goods. It r* legitimate to hope that the wool market lia-» turned the corner.

Held ovui' from last Kales 1908 Bales 67,000 328,000 1907 Bales 6,0uJ 352,000 Sent diiect to mills ... 132,000. 357,000 197,000 Total available 263; ooor 160,000