OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2438, 1 March 1909, Page 2

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

GREAT BRITAIN’S FOREIGN TRADE IN WOOL AND x TEXTILES. ''' - A , (From Our Special Correspondent.) BRADFORD, Jan. 15, 09. ~ A few days ago the Board of Trade returns were 'published respecting Great. Britain’s trade during 1908, and they have a good deal to say to woolgrowers and manufacturers . both ’:n the colonies and America.: The West Riding of Yorkshire continues to be the backbone of Great Britain’s trade in wool textiles, and the boom jvhich culminated at the end of 1907 was largely produced by our expandng trade with other parts of the world. Last year proved to be the direct opposite to the year "previous, or our overseas, trade fell off tremendously, .causing spindles and looms to ,taiuf to a very largo extent. Ar. -analysis of our export trade in wool textiles shows that only South America has maintained its previous record, and Bradford shippers have continued to do a very-price trade in almost every style of wool-made textile. What our manufacturers want in neutral markets is fair play. They ask for no favors, only to be placed on;the same identical footing as other people', and then- they will stand or fall upon their own merits. The class of goods that is being turned out in this district was never better value, and, for style and color, they cannot be' beat, by any other manufacturers in any (part of the world. The final figures are well worth considering by all alike. WOOL IMPORTS. Turning to our wool imports, upon which the 'woollen and worsted trades so largely depend, the following table shows our supplies for the past five vears, the 1904 imports being a long way the lowest, for very many years back. In this connection we give the list of wool imports from the principal sources of'supply: CZ C 3 C2 g '3 g.S g.g o ,5 9 hi o g •a £j t s * 3 Year. Lbs. ' Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. 1908. 719,074 480,754 50,569 43,178 1907. 759,237 479,877 91,606 40,554 1906. 639,343.397,029 67,305 29,984 1905. 615,708 302.640' 6.7,702 26,675 1904. 561,677 354,236 65,127 13,367 [ooo’s omitted in above table.] It will be seen from the above table, that practically speaking our imports from Australasia are about the same as in 1907, while there is a decrease of 11 million lbs. from South Africa-, and a moderate increase in the imports from the River Plate. There were also decreases last year in our wool imports from Russia, Belgium, France, British East Indies, and “other riuntrics.” Regarding “re-exports” of wool, I think these should in no sense be omitted. The following table will repay analysis, and I show our total re-exports of wool, and also separately to Germany, Belgium, France, and America, which are Great Britain’s best customers: —

& 2 g “ S' .5 S "S os o bC . o £ o H S H-3 Hg HCO o - ea - O W ■ 0 Year. Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. 1908. 94,210 64,366 97.425 57,474 1907. 89,137 57,852 83,711 69,889 1006. 84,839 39,681 64.956 63,96 S 1905. 82.279 39.251 60,423 78,756 1004. 77i220 36:528 53,936 60,454 ["000’s omitted in above table.] In the above table showing the reexports of wool there is included both alpaca and mohair, but jour trade in these commodities in the raw state not great, our shipments mostly being to the United States. The-fact comes out well in our exports of wool that, notwithstanding a. slump year, three of our best customers, namely, Germany, Belgium, and France, actually took “record” quantities, all three alike taking more wool than ever they did, with the exception of Germany, who, in 1899 —a boom year —purchased 100,139,0001b5., but all the other countries, with the exception of the United States, purchased larger supplies than over. SEMI-MANUFACTURED ARTICLES Coming to deal with semi-manufac-tured articles the picture presented is hardly so satisfactory. But, after all, when one remembers the, slump in wool prices, the returns are satisfactory. In the table below I show oiir exports of combed wool, i.e. tops and noils and: their value : \ Top®. Noils. •Lbs. £. Lbs. ■ £. 1908. 34,726 2,338 13,206 807 1907. 35,311 2,963 12,680 898 1906. 38,649 3,096 11,522 809 1905,. 35,386 2,259 11,573 766 1904. 37,419 2,295 9,266 -551 [ooo’s omitted in above table.] In contrasting .the above the fact should not he overlooked that all the tops and noils shipped abroad last year were invoiced at sensibly less, hence more importance should be at r tached to the quantity, and not to the value of the business done. The shrinkage in tops was certainly -a mere bagatelle considering the rotten state of trade, but the most significant feature is that we shipped abroad a less quantity than since 1901. ... Our export yarn trade is still a v&ry bis one, &nd I should s&y 90 per cent of the yarns sold to foreign customers go from . Bradford. Last year, as was too painfully .evident, contraction was the order of tne day, and when the year’s returns came to be made up, we see the effects of the slack times which spinners

experienced. .. With "the. exception ol 1905, the overseas trade in woollen and worsted yarns was -the worst since 1901 in fact, 1899 was the heist year in our . exports of theso yarns we have known for very many years past. 'Just as showing our trade in these particulars, the following table will indicate the movement during the last five yours, and also when the highest point was touched: Woollen & Worst. Mohair & Alpaca Lbs. £. Lbs. 1908.- 50,910 4,609 13,770 1,705 1907. 58,098 6,014 17,750 2,301 1906. 55,328 "5,340 16,592 2,062 1905: 49,600 4,244 14,467 1,691 1904. ( 54,437 4,210 12,940 1,478 1899. 63,700.. 4,876 12,559 1,745 [ooo’s omitted in above table.] TEXTILE SHIPMENTS.

Undoubtedly our most important shipments- of -wool - textiles comprise woollen tissues, worsted coatings, and vorsted stuffs. Here avo' have e-vi-lence of a serious falling off, which accounts for the slackness of most Yorkshire manufacturers. The decrease in dress goods, comfnonly known as stuffs, a- very serious one, and is a long way tho lowest since 1888, that being as far back as •I have gone. The figures here are somewhat startling, and some Would av there is ample room for Great Britain to consider the burning question of a scientific tariff to keep out foreign made worsted stuffs. In the following table I show what have been our shipments in three leading lines of fully manufactured ‘textiles over a period of years, and the table presents food for thought to everyone interested in the wool trade:

§ S bi ji' oa r 3 -p" og ■ g.S o-3 O' W O Cp i~i . {-H. F O p- - Year. Yards. Yards. Yards. Yards. 1908 75.665 18,302 56,380 102,905 1907. 84,881 22,891 76,457 202,485 1906 79,957 20.,488 79,068 197,198 190-5 72,288 18.408 88,496 196,582 1904. 67,121 19,496 54,729 J 89,776 1901. 44,878 16,800 77,613 156,631 1395. 57,657 35,827 128,473 2-41,-702 1390. 56,486 27,342 140,293 253,426 1388. 87,262 18,635 129,551 264,387 [ooo’s omitted in above table.]

Of course, in considering the above Hble, some allowance must be made f)Y the movement of prices, but I liave purposely kept to yardage in order to show clearly the variation in Great Britain’s overseas trade in these ‘ •bread and butter” cloths. Last year’s trade was a fair average one in woollen and worsted fabrics, it being in ,sfuff goods where we had the mostpronounced shrinkage, and, of course, this affects" Bradford dress goods manufacturers a long way the most. The outlook is certainly better, but it is nothing, to shout over. There is more machinery running, and on tho whole ;manufacturers are better employed, but there is plenty of room for improvement. Some contend that in the aggregate our consumption of wool is expanding, and no doubt this i.-: so. hut when ail is said and done we Ike to see evidences of this in cur foreign trade.