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Show u. s: wool clip -mooaoQD pounds -SHORTAGE OF WOOL DENIED BY EXPERT 7secretary S.v. McClure of the National Wool-growers' Wool-growers' Association Gives Interesting Data ' on This Season's Crop. ONE hundred ind seventy million dollars is the approximate value of the wool crop of the United States this season, reports S. W. McClure, secretary of the National Woolgrowers' association. The entire clip totals 290,000,000 pounds. J t; will be six months before the crop is all paid for," said McClure today. "Less than 20 per cent of the entire crop has been paid for so far. The growers are receiving 6 per cent on their wool, but are losing through the delay because they have paid 10 per cent on the money invested in the business. Therefore, they tr the losers hv 4 Tier cent." "Tha government la working aa faat aa" poaalble, however, and tha growers ara highly patriotic. They know that It will take a long time to fully ap-pralaa ap-pralaa tha wool and sort It for government gov-ernment use. NO GREAT SHORTAGE. "About 10 per cent of tha entire clip la stored In Boston, while a amall quantity haa not yet arrived at Ita deatlnatlon. I cannot aea where there will be any great shortage of wool under present conditions. "There ara Immense quantltlea of wool atored In South America, and Australia also. Tha present price of clothing la unjustified. Tha clothing wholeaaler or merchant who basea his high prices on the argument that there in a wool ahnrtage la wrong. There is only about fit worth of wool In the beat of sulta. The coat of production pro-duction and a few other thlnge might justify a small Increase In the price of clothes, but nrthlng Ilka tha present pres-ent prices la Juatlfled. CONDITIONS NOT NORMAL. "Our Im porta of wool ara about tha aame aa laat year. Australia la advancing ad-vancing In tha aheep and wool industry indus-try In rapid atrldea. Argentina la producing about tha same amount qf wool aa In tha paat few years. Australia Aus-tralia and South America ara keen rivals In' tha wool Industry, and under normal condltlona -tha I'nlted States could not hope to compete with them. "At present condltlona are not normal nor-mal and -there la a great lack of ahlpa for their uae In marketing wool, t'on-dltiona t'on-dltiona will probably not be normal for aeveral'eara to come. Theae countries coun-tries are formidable rivals In tha wool business because It is about four times sa profitable to raise wool there. In Australia, taxea are lower, labor la cheaper, the government leases large 1 aectlona of land at absurdly amall ratee and tha country la more favor- I able for the raising of aheep than the'l lnlted Htatee." . |
