(*') Consider means whereby the employers and employees shall be brought within their respective associations."
This Council steadily extended its activities, and may ulti- mately be the deciding factor in helping Great Britain to main- tain and possibly to extend her manufacturing position.
Another [indirect result of the war was the development of industrial and scientific research. The university of Leeds (so far as the wool industry was concerned) here took the lead, and, in conjunction with the West Riding County Council and with the help of many prominent manufacturers in the various manu- facturing districts, raised approximately 5,000 per annum for a period of five years. With the development of the Government Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, however, came the question of overlapping, and the university, while naturally retaining its own research status, not only gave way to the new department but strenuously helped in the develop- ment of " The Research Association for the Woollen and Worsted Industries " now housed in Leeds. This Research Department is designed to cover the requirements of Great Britain and Ireland.
III. AFTER THE WAR (1918 to 1921)
Withdrawal of Control from British Wools. Under political pressure the Government freed the wool fairs of 1919 from State control. But a curious tendency now made itself felt. Owing to the limitation of supplies of colonial crossbreds and other
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CHART t Values of British Wools and Tops (1911 to 1921)-
crossbred wools, woollen manufacturers had been constrained to use British Down wools and Down crosses. These were dis- covered to possess just the characteristics sought for in certain woollen goods. They were also the wools sought for by the hosiery manufacturer; and as hosiery now took a wonderful development the Down wools went soaring away in price, at last almost rivalling colonial merinos. When the slump came, Down wools stood out against it even longer than merinos, and it seemed probable that when trade should revive Down wools would again come into their own. In view of the great future before Down wools it was regrettable that more British farmers did not follow the suggestion to grow Down crosses, as stren- uously advocated by qualified representatives of the universi- ties of Edinburgh and Leeds.
The changes in values of British wools and tops are shown for the decade in Chart i.
Of course the high values shown in this chart are fictitious in more senses than one, but it would seem that if the 1921 prices of these wools had been brought to the 1914 basis they must be so cheap that demand for goods manufactured from them would have been immediate. Probably the large stocks of manufactured goods still held in 1921 by the middleman kept the prices of these goods at an artificial height and thus lamentably interfered with trade.
Withdrawal of Control from Colonial Wools. The Wool Council of the War Office on the cessation of hostilities found itself in great difficulties with reference to colonial wools. Just as on the outbreak of war no one knew what would happen, so in this case it was impossible to foresee whether the enhanced values of the war period would be maintained or prices rapidly fall. If prices had rapidly fallen it is possible that the wool grower would have held the Wool Council to its bargain, and
1916 1917 1918 1919 1920
1921 PRICE
PER LB. IN PENCE 168
CHART 2
Values of Colonial Wools and Tops.
no one could well have found fault with their attitude. But pric rapidly rose, and so it came about that the colonial wool growe felt aggrieved that he was not going to profit by the enhance wool values like the home wool grower. Thus it came abou that the Imperial War Council agreed to share the very sub stantial prospective profits with the colonial wool grower. Un fortunately much of the 1919 wool had not been brought und the hammer before the slump started (May 1920), but it stated that, after the British Treasury had been reimbursed : the expenditure it had incurred, there was at the end of 1920 clear profit of 14,000,000, half of which belonged to the growe bringing their total receipts up to 180,896,059. In additio to this there remained unsold (Dec. 1920) 1,800,000 bales, hal. of which belonged to the growers.
