WOOLLEN INDUSTRY.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 15976, 19 November 1919, Page 10

WOOLLEN INDUSTRY.

ITS ESTABLISHMENT IN WANGANUI. PROSPECTS AND POSSIBILITIES, Pot some considerable time now there has been much discusion in business circles on the possibility of the establishment of the woollen weaving l industry in Wanganui, Although Mr W. J. Poison’s name has not been associated with the it is understood that he has been interesting himself in it. In order to ascertain has opinion of the prospects and possibilities of the industry in Wanganui, a “Herald” representative interviewed Mr Poison yester\day, /POSSIBILITIES OP DEVELOPMENT. Replying to the pressman’s first question, Mr Poison said; “1 am quite satisfied that there is room for the development of the woollen industry in Wanganui. I believe that in the rear future we shall see this country exporting a great proportion of its wool in the manufactured form. There is a great demand for New Zealand wool all over the world. It has certain qualities which render it specially suitable for mg and blanket making. The qualities of the New Zealand wool itself—and not to any particular success of the New Zealand manufacturer—has been responsible for the demand of New Zealand rugs in the past. SUPPLY INSUFFICIENT. “At the present time it is impossible ■ for the country’s woollen manufacturers to supply anything like the demand for New Zealand blankets and rugs. I venture to say that if they can turn out five times the present production it would be insufficient to meet the world’s demands at the present moment. ‘lt occurs to me that the cost of the wool must be lowest in the producing country, particularly just now, when freights are so enormous and labour so high in other parts of the world. “I do not know what it costs the Imperial Government to transport our wool to Great Britain, but I hazard an opinion that it must be somewhere in the vicinity of 2d per lb. After that it has to be railed to Bradford to be manufactured, returned to the seaboard, and re-shipped to other parts of the world at an additional cost of at least another 4d, INDUSTRY A PROFITABLE ONE, ‘ Yes, the ihdnstry is a profitable one,” said Mr Poison, in reply to another question. Elaborating his remark, he said : “Now we can ship something like 41b of manufactured cloth for 11b of greasy wool, so that the saving in freight alone, if we can manufacture in New Zealand and export direct to San Francisco for example, would be more than sufficient to pay for the cost of manufacturing. That is one reason why New Zealand woollen mills are doing so well, I am not responsible for it, but a statement has been published in the New Press that the selling price of the New Zealand wollen mills have increased in the following ration since 1914: Bruce Mills—Selling price, 1914, 10s; selling price, 1919, 44s 6d. Eaiapoi—l9l4, 106s 6d; 1919, 168s. Mosgiel—l9l4, 7os; 1919, 122s 6d. Oamaru—l9l4, 265; 1919, 535.

. Wellington-1914, 88s; 1919, 1655. “These figures ought to be sufficient to show us that the industry is a profitable one,” commented Mr Poison. THE BEST DEPARTMENTS. Asked in what departments of manufacture he would advise entering upon in Wanganui, Mr Poison replied; “Personally I am more inclined to favour the blanket and rug making factory than complete woollen mills. These are the ’goods in most demand and the scientific top-making which is necessary to cloth of fine quality would not be necessary in the manufacture of rugs and blankets. Top-making is almost an exact science. It requires, I understand, for some qualities of cloth a mixture of inferior wools, which are not procurable in New Zealand. Although the New Zealand manufacturers are turning out a very high grade of cloth, they are handicapped to some extent in this particular science. SEEDY WOOL. Responding to an inquiry regarding the treatment of seedy wool, Mr Poison went on to say:—“ There is a prospect of manufacturing our inferior and seedy wools and thus saving a very great deal of money which goes to the foreign manufacturer. New processes have passed the experimental stage for dealing with seedy wools and turning them inexpensively into good quality cloth. One such process, discovered by a Hawke’s Bay mechanic, has been experimented with by the New Zealand Government with, I understand, exceptional results. It is quite evident if we can manufacture our seedy wools it will be an enormous boom to this community, and we will retain a very large sum of money which would otherwise have been lost to us.” WAR PRICES. “As an indication of the enhanced values of woollen goods since the outbreak of war, the following figures will, perhaps, be of interest,” added Mr Poison. “The price per pound of four-ply knitting wool in black and white at mills in the year 1914 was 4s 6d per lb; in March 1915, it was increased to 5s 2d; in July, of the same year to 6s 6d; by January, 1916, the price had risen to 6s; and in July of the same year its was increased to 6s Bd. Two increases took place in 1917, in March a pound of wool selling at 9s ad and in October of the same year at 10s. In April, 1918, the price was 10s 4d, while by May, 1919, another Is had been added, and by June of this year the price was 11s lOd. These prices, it should be mentioned, were subject! to a discount of 15 per cent, to the Home wholesale merchants and the shipping trade. “These figures show that profiteering on an extensive scale is undoubtedly going on, when we recollect that wool of