SYNTHETIC WOOL

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 121, 25 May 1938, Page 2

SYNTHETIC WOOL

AUSTRALIAN IMPORTS AN ALARMING INCREASE HOUSEWIVES’ WARNING “In a very short time we who have ridden triumphantly for so long on the sheep’s back may find ourselves being taken for another kind of ride altogether.” In these picturesque words Mrs. E. C. Dyason, addressing the Housewives’ Association in Melbourne, warned woolgrowers of the menace of synthetic woollens, which she said, were being imported into Australia at an alarming rate. While the average Victorian woolgrower “pooh-poohed” the menace of artificial wool, synthetic woollens had been on the market in Melbourne for more than 12 months past. Mrs. Dyason said. The latest figures available from the Commonwealth Statiscian showed that between July, 1937, and March, 1938, artificial yarns. 150,1281 b in weight and valued at £10,839 sterling, had been imported into Australia. while synthetic woollen piece goods were included with artificial silk piece goods. “Why should we import artificial wool yarns at a rate of 20d per lb,” Mrs. Dyason said. “Twenty years ago artificial silk was in its infancy. Today we see not only pure silks, but linens, cottons and fine woollens being driven out by rayons, of which we in Australia imported over £3,000,000 worth for the year 1936-37. “If we envisage a similar growth in the synthetic wool industry—and there seems no reason why we should not—the terrible import of these figures to our greatest primary product and the living standard it enables us to maintain must be apparent. At present it is not even possible to find out how much synthetic wool is being imported.”