H.—34a.

of rayon. On the other flank the cotton industry is attacking with the contention that cotton is the most hygienic clothing in the world. The changing habits of consumers A are_j3ometimea dictated by developments in fields far removed from textile activities. For example, in the United States the increased use of central-heating in homes and offices about a demand for materials of thinner texture. Manufacturers catering for have found that the cloths now in request are several ounces per yard lighter than those of former years. In the same country wool has had to give place in large measure to silk and rayon in the ladies' trade. The increased popularity of the saloon motor-car is another factor in demand for lighter-weight dress-goods. Add the influence of women's fashions in recent years, and it is not difficult to detect the source of a reduced demand for wool textile fabrics. We must also take into the reckoning of the future of the wool trade the changed position of dress in family budgets. In all countries the home is much less the centre of social life than it was a generation or two ago. Income normally directed to expenditure on furnishings and clothes is now claimed by travel, sport, and entertainment. The acquisition of a motor-car, for example, may occur not infrequently at the expense of the consumers' wardrobe. To combat this redistribution of private incomes is difficult for all the textile industries, because the greater freedom of social life which we now enjoy has brought with it a decreasing regard for ceremonial and smartness in personal appearance, with a consequent lowering of the rate at which clothing is renewed. In view of the vagaries of fashion and the subtle influence of income it is relevant to ask whether wool-textile research may not discover new uses for the wool fibre to compensate growers and manufacturers for the loss of trade from such causes as I have just indicated. The reports of the International Cotton Federation indicate that the cotton industry is experimenting along these lines by making cleavage cloths used in road building, bags and containers of all kinds, wall-papers and coverings. Technical problems are involved which lie beyond my field, but the suggestion confirms the feeling that the future of the wool industry is quite as closely bound up with technical research as with the mastery of economic difficulties. Post-war changes in the distribution of wool-textile manufacture have served mainly to put new problems to the older textile countries in the search for international trade. Japan is making rapid strides in wool manufacture, and now imports nine or ten times the quantity of wool consumed in pre-war years. The result of this decided increase in the consumption of raw material has been a sharp falling-off in Japanese imports of semi-manufactured wool-goods and imports of cloth. Italy now imports three or four times as much wool as in pre-war days, and, in addition to supplying a good portion of the home market, has now built up an export trade in wool fabrics four times as large as her pre-war export. Changes of this character do not mean a net increase in world wool textile activity, because countries like Great Britain, France, Belgium, and Germany feel the effect of the displacement in the shape of reduced exports to Italy and Japan. In addition, competition for the neutral markets of the world is increased. The interesting point is that the newer countries are not able to proceed at once to the production of the highest quality goods. As the process of accommodation is completed it becomes increasingly clear that the strength of the older textile nations will lie in concentration upon these more expensive types of product. And thus we may visualize the next phase of the world's wool developments. The older countries will tend to feel increasingly the need for fine wools ; the newer countries will be able in the main to meet their manufacturing needs with a supply of medium or crossbred types of wool. As the new countries expand the call will be for crossbred wools and the woolgrower will tend to specialize on the crossbred sheep because of its dual profitableness in wool and mutton. A decline in mutton consumption sufficient to increase substantially the relative value of wool seems out of the question. The meat-eating habits of peoples are, apparently, much more stable than their demands for clothes made of wool. It will be interesting to watch the developments of the next few years and to see whether advancing technique in fine-fabric production in the older countries can win back an allegiance to wool-goods large enough to warrant an increased supply of merino wools. It is sometimes suggested that the hazards of wool production and manufacture might be eliminated by rationalization. But the small firm is typical of the industry throughout the world, and the keen individualism of the manufacturer does not take kindly to the idea of formal mergers or combines as the means of lowering costs. The fickleness of fashion is ever uppermost in the minds of those who handle or manufacture wool, and the small firm operating under the personal direction of its head is the most trusted unit in the pursuit of fashion. The aid of designers and fashion experts is sought, therefore, in attempts to anticipate the trends of fashion. New methods of marketing and advertising wool-goods are carefully canvassed. Foreign languages are studied to equip travellers for the task of exploring markets abroad, and it is realized that the personal contact of heads of businesses with customers overseas is an important factor in the expansion of trade. Everywhere it is now admitted that wool and wool-textiles may no longer be expected to sell on their merits alone. There is keen competition from alternative products, and material changes in social customs have weakened the affection of many consumers for wool-goods. When the more immediate problems of currency and prices have been solved the claims of wool will still need to be made secure by scientific research and closer co-operation between those who grow the wool and those who turn it into clothes for the people.

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