The Winslow mail., 1925-02-06
EXPANSION OF WOOL
INDUSTRY IS NEEDED
In WESTERN STATES

The sheep industry is in need of
great expansion so that it will be a
part of the diversified activities of
every farm in our western country.
There is also need for promoting the
manufacture of wool where it is grown
particularly in the west.
These were among the important
points made by Paul Shoup, vice
president of the Southern Pacific COM
pany, in an address of welcome deliv-
cred at the opening of the National
Wool Growers convention in San
Francisco recently. Mr.. Shoup said
"The industry you represent today
has in excess of one billion dollars
of capital invested in it's manufactures
the amount being doubled within ten
years, with an annual payroll of more
than $236,000,000 and products reach
ing in value 81, 400000,000 annually.
'In 1924 California had wool clip
of about fourteen and one-half million
pounds, worth at prevailing prices,
I suppose, seven or eight million dol
lars. If that wool had been manufac
tured in the state it would have added
another four or five million dollars
to the income of the state. Our
neighboring states, such as Oregon,
Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico are
also large raisers of sheep and pro-
ducers of WOOL Idaho, Wyoming,
Utah and Montana each produce more
wool than does California, their sheep
industry having been devoted to a
larger extent to that purpose Ore
gon clips almost as much wool as
does California and the Nevada out
put is about onehalf that Of Califor-
mia. New Mexico is midway between
California and Nevada, with Arizona a
little less than Nevada. But these
nine western states have named pro-
duce more than one-half of the entire
wool clip of the United States. Yet,
the number of manufacturers of wool
in these states is negligible. There
are only two in California, one at
Eureka and one in southern Califor-
mia. In Oregon there are five. This
is very sorry total out of more than
one thousand wool manufacturers in
the United States.
$50 it would seem to me that with
a consuming population in the terri
tory west of the Rocky mountains
that has trebled in this generation,
with railway and steamship lines to
all consuming centers of the earth,
with more than one-half of the wool
production of the United States west
of and including the Rocky mountains,
there should be opportunity for great
aer manufacturing industry to be Great
ed on the Pacific coast Nor need it
look entirely to domestic markets, for
as l have said, all the world that is
able financially to do so uses wool.
Here in the United States it's use con-
tinue to increase and year by year the
values of the imports above exports
of wool continue to grow. We now
import two hundred million pounds
more of wool than we did twenty years
ago to meet our domestic needs.
"In the last ten years there has
been no increase in the wool prOduc
tion of the world. Aside from Africa,
there has been falling off in the pro-
duction of every great division of the
earth's surface, though the decrease
in Australia has been very slight. 1t
would seem apparent, therefore, that
the industry now recovering from the
strenuous efforts made in war time to
meet patriotic need has room for
expansion in this country, and cor
related with that expansion is pos
csibility of increased markets for NUT
ton and lamb, particularly lamb as
food. Indeed, think no meat article
of food has grown in favor as much
as the ever present lamb chop.
"I am glad to share with you the
feeling that the industry has brighter
days in prospect. Wool indeed is sell
ing at prices which must be crafty
ing fO oVorv DrOducnr and ara hardly
exceeded by those paid in the war
time. Never was the essential need
of the people for wool more clearly
demonstrated than when the shortage
of the last year or two was fully felt