The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1910. AMERICA’S WOOL TRADE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2739, 18 February 1910, Page 4

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1910. AMERICA’S WOOL TRADE.

The particulars furnished by our Bradford correspondent concerning the wool trade of the United Status that are published in this issue l should prove of .great interest to our pastoralists. The figures he quotes show that despite the heavy duty of 5-}d per lb, America imported last year nearly two million pounds’ worth of Wool, which is a record importation. The trend of events seems to indicate that these shipments will increase rather than decrease in. the future for having once handled the exquisite wools of Australasia the American (manufacturer will always demand them no matter how high the tariff bar. The fact is of moment to New Zealanders, for, as commercial reports inform us, the presence of the Americans at the big wool auctions invariably makes for high prices and a brisk sale. Catering as they do for the wealthier classes they usually bid for merinos and the best grades of crossbred wool, and as a rule their limits are sufficiently elastic to enable them to outbid their competitors. Were it not for the heavyduty woollen goods instead of being worn only by r tlie upper grades in American society would be the general wear of the masses, in which ease the importations of the. raw material would be enormously increased. Under existing circumstances the working classes in the United States are thrown back largely on cotton goods, which are neither convenient nor healthy in a. climate where the extremes of heat and cold are so marked. The large stores of America are filled with cotton goods, men’s underwear, women's apparel, and even men’s suits being usually manufactured from cotton. Only at an extortionate price can a tweed suit such as New Zealanders wear be obtained and even then the chances are that the wool has been liberally mixed with cotton. From this it will be. noted .that the efforts of American legislators to develop the sheep-raising industry; in that country by means of tariff laws have merely had the effect of punishing their own consumers. The climate is all against the production of good quality mutton and wool, and the industry makes little headway whilst foreign importations show an increase year by year. Even in regard to the manufactured article a duty of from 100 to 150 per cent, is insufficient to keep out the products in such branches of the textile industries as Bradford excels in. It was hoped by many that the alteration of the tariff laws under Mr Taft's presidency would result in a reduction of the duty on wool, but this hope was not realised, for the mandate of the people that duties be lowered was, owing to the influence of vested interests ignored, and the tariff, generally speaking, -was made higher than before. In rJI 1 probability it will be many years before the duty on wool will be lowered, and in the meantime we must bo thankful that we can soli as much wool as we do for American consumption.'