THE WORLD'S WOOL SUPPLY SINCE 1860. (WOOL BOOK, 1892.) YEARS. 1860 1870 1880 1889 1891 1860 1870 1880 1889 1891 1860 1870 1880 1889 1891 COUNTRIES United Kingdom. Continent of Europe. North America. countries so many other varying distinctions escaping exact measurement enter into the problem, as to defy scientific analysis and comparison. Even when gauged by results-the product in yards for each worker-many exceptions or modifying statements must be made. Such are the difficulties in gauging the wages received by the output or capacity of the worker, in gauging the industrial activity and reward of the wage receiver, as to render a general comparison between a laborer in Italy, for example, with what purports to be a laborer in the same relative employment in England or the United States, outside of economic possibility. Such a comparison would be mere guesswork. The problem is further complicated by the question of real wages and nominal or money wages. The cost of living must be decided before the actual compensation of the workingman can be known, and in this there is quite as wide a field for differing conditions as in the earning of the wages. After a most exhaustive examination, Mr. Carroll D. Wright, U. S. Commissioner of Labor, could show that the difference (averaged) in earnings and expenditure between a family in Europe and one in the United States was barely 3.2 per cent. The American can save 11.6 per cent and the foreigner 8.4 per cent of his income. I quote the conclusion of Mr. Wright in full: Table XXIV, with subtables from A to H, inclusive, gives a recapitulation of cost of living by states, both American and European, for the woolen industry, in the same way that has just been recited for the cotton industry. The general conclusive features only will be stated. The income per family from all sources in the woolen industry, 911 families in America being considered, was $663.13, while in Europe, for 334 families, it was $449.58. The total expenditures for all purposes for the American families was $594.09, and for the European families $414.73. Five hundred and eighty-three American families had saved during the year, on an average, $136.16, while 268 families experienced a deficit of $61.49 each on the average. Two hundred and nineteen of the European families saved $67.67 each, and 72 showed a deficit of $44.16. WOOL PRODUCTION. If we examine the official returns of the number of sheep and lambs in European countries, the fact is developed that in no instance has there been an increase since 1875. Such a general decrease occurring under so many different conditions, points to a general cause, working as well in spite of legislative attempts to foster the industry of woolgrowing as in the face of a perfect freedom from any such attempts. This cause is one that is readily recognized as economic, and in consequence not to be stayed by artificial conditions save at such a cost as to imperil the existence in these countries of the important wool manufacturing interests, and in many instances a valuable export trade dependent upon a full and free market for the raw materials used in this manufacture. The question of sheep raising is decided as any other agricultural operation is determined-by the profit to be gained, and under modern conditions the farmer who has a small flock of sheep and regards them as a subsidiary contribution to his farming operations, can not compete with the man who has large flocks, practically unlimited grazing ground, and no other interests to interfere with his attention to his sheep. Woolgrowing, as a great industry is of very ancient date; but it is an industry suited to certain stages of economic development of a country, and is rendered unprofitable where land is in demand for intensive culture, where population is comparatively dense, and where, in short, the pastoral has not given place to the industrial stage. In support of this proposition the statistics of individual countries are full and almost unanimous-the exceptions being due to some local advantage or artificial stimulus. I would also quote from a report made to the Department of State in February, 1892, by United States Consul-General Bourn, based upon a publication of the Italian Government prepared and printed under the direction of Luigi Bodio: With an increased density of population in Europe there has been a gradual decrease in the number of sheep, as lands formerly used for pasturage were converted into tillage lands to meet the increased demand for food. From 1860 to 1890 the population of Europe increased from 286,000,000 to 356,000,000, an increase of 70,000,000, or about 25 per cent, necessitating a tillage of at least 25 per cent more land to supply food for this increase. During this period the number of sheep in Europe decreased from 229,600,000 in 1860 to 192,240,000 in 1890, a decrease of 37,000,000, or about 16 per cent, while the number in the chief extra-European wool producing and exporting countries increased from 63,200,000 in 1860 to 264,500,000 at the date of the latest estimates. But Europe in 1890 consumed fully 66 per cent more wool than in 1860, while there were 16 per cent less sheep to supply the requirement. It is easy, therefore, to see why new fields have been sought in other continents for the deficiencies both in food and clothing. In 1860 there were not to exceed 40,200,000 sheep in the La Plata country, Australia, and South Africa, or scarcely 18 per cent of the number in Europe. In 1890 this amount had increased to 221,500,000, or about the number in Europe in 1860. There were 8,806,500 sheep in Italy in 1860, but in 1875 there were only 6,977,000. The number then grew again to 8,596,000 in 1881, to be again reduced to 6,900,000 in 1890, a decrease of 21 per cent since 1860, as compared with 16 per cent decrease for all Europe. In the United States the process has been substantially the same. The increasing density of population in the East has gradually driven the flocks westward into newer territory, where they have largely increased, though not so rapidly as in the La Plata country, Australia, and South Africa. From 23,000,000 in 1860 they increased to 41,000,000 in 1870. At this time the market for wool was so depressed that the farmers found it profitable to kill upwards of 9,000,000, thus reducing the amount to 31,000,000. Since then the gradual increase brought the number to above 50,000,000 in 1884, to be again reduced by the competition of Australian wool to about 43,000,000 on January 1, 1891. This variation in the number of sheep has, however, its compensation in the greatly increased production per head. The yield in 1871 was about 5 pounds for each sheep, while in 1884 and 1891 it was, respectively, about 6 and 7 pounds.* The centers of wool production have, therefore, gradually shifted. Prior to 1818 Spain was the principal source of supply of merino wools, a position held by that country for centuries, the sheep being descended from the stock brought to the peninsula by the Romans. England *In the appended tables will be found two estimates of the number of sheep in the leading nations of the world. obtained the foreign raw material for her woolen manufactures from Spain. In 1802, of a total import of 8,600,000 pounds, 6,000,000 pounds were obtained from Spain. In 1800 the domestic wool clip of England was estimated at 96,000,000 pounds. Early in the nineteenth century the Spanish influence began to decline, supplanted by the Saxony and Silesian wool, also a product of the merino stock. Later, about 1840, the merinos of Australasia began to supersede the German wools in the European market; and to-day it is the Australasian continent that raises the largest quantity of wools. This shifting of the principal source of the supply for raw wool may be seen by an examination of the returns of wool imported into the United Kingdom since 1844, as given in a table in the appendix. It becomes clearer when the per cent of these total imports contributed by different countries at different periods are compared. The decline of Germany and South America in the English wool imports is notable when placed side by side to the increase of Australasia and the British possessions in South Africa. A similar comparison for the sources of wool imported into the United States is as follows: PER CENT OF TOTAL IMPORTS OF RAW WOOL INTO THE UNITED STATES FROM THE •COUNTRIES AND DURING THE YEARS MENTIONED. |