The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-01-24

s'.>Aos-~s ~ VSe@s 80
What threatens this country today
as result Of the low price for wool
and few buyers at any price. is dam
age to the wool-growing industry
in the United States which it would
take many years to repair.
This point was brought out by D.
A. Spencer Of the bureau Of animal
industry here. who has charge of
the government work in improving
breeds Of sheep.
Wool prices have been inordi-
nately high for several years. Now
at last they have come down, fore
ing the price of clothing down with
them.
Let them stay down." you are
inclined to say. 1.-THE wool-grow-
ers have had several good years.
They should now be able to weather
a little adversely"
The answer to this seems to be
that they are not able to weather
the period of adversely which they
now must face. without substantial
help Of some kind.
The wo0l-grower, according to
government men, did not make
large profits during the war. In
fact. the grower Of any commodity
in this country seldom makes large
profits, unless he is also broker or
dealer Of some kind. 1t is the ma
ture Of the industrial system that
the largest profits are made by dis
tributors, not producers.
Thus wool before the war was
bringing the producer about 80
cents pound. During the war il
brought him. about 65 cents for the
same grade. But at the same time
the wages he had to pay to herders,
the price Of feeds, and all the other
expenses doubled or more than dou-
bled. Most of the growers were
fairly prosperous for two or three
years. A few Of the large opera
tors perhaps made big money. Some
growers, by reason Of unfavorable
weather conditions. lost money. But
whatever may have happened to
fortunate or unfortunate individ-
uals. the wool growers as a class
did not make more than a fair per-
centage on their investments.
A Dead Market.
Then came the drop in the price
Of wool. Wool is now hard to sell
at any price and Is cents a pound
is considered a good price. But the
wool grower can scarcely produce
wool at that figure All last winter
his expenses of production were at
wartime level. In addition to
that, in many sections he faced un-
favorable weather conditions. Now
his wool clip for the year cannot be
sold at anywhere near what it cost
him to produce it, if it can be sold
at all. At tine same time, he has not
money enough to stay out of the
market until conditions improve.
Especially is this true when you
consider how uncertain it is when
conditions will improve. 1t is said
that there. is enough wool in this
country now to supply all Of our
needs for nearly two years. And,
with wool on the free list, more
wool is pouring into the country all
the time. In Australia. in the Ar
gentine. in South Africa. there are
enormous quantities Of wool which
seek market in this country be-
cause Europe has not money enough
to buy it. Wool can perhaps be
produced somewhat more cheaply
in those countries than in this. but
primarily tine flow of foreign wool
10 this country is due to conditions
created by the war-to the impov-
erishment O: Europe and to the rate
of exchange.
For example. American buyers
can now buy wool in New Zealand
for % cents pound. But the rate
Of exchange is such that about 20
cents in American money will buy
pound of wool in New Zealand
Hence American buyers are buying