Till-: ISLACK WATTI.l': INDUSTRY. 285 



Markets. 



The pro-war markets for wattle bark were ]lanil)uro- and 

 Antwerp, with only a very small ]x)rportion to England and else- 

 where. Hamburgh was the prineipal centre, distributingr to Ger- 

 many, Austria. Rtissia. Holland. Scandinavia, etc. 



Consumers everywhere prefer extract to dry bark', l)ui the 

 Clerman policy was tlie importation of raw bark, so as to mono- 

 ]H>lise in Germany the manufacture of extract, and with this in 

 ^•iew, there was an import duty of £4 per ton, which ap])lied to 

 quebracho and other barks, as well as to black wattle, but which 

 had the effect of retardin^^- commercial enedavours to ])roduce 

 extract in Natal. 



Under what was known as the Hamburo- contract, the arbi- 

 tration clause gave the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce the 

 official adjudication on points in dispute, and debarred sellers 

 from having any voice in the selection of arbitrators. exce])t 

 outside friendly arbitration was agreed to by both. 



Also all bark was sold at " fair average quality " ( F.A.Q. ) 

 without analyses or sample, consequently anything claimed by 

 the buyer to be below F.A.Q. went to arbitrati(~»n, and unfair 

 losses to consignors were numerotis. 



These, and other similar grievances recorded by the South 

 African Trade Commissioner, led to the formation first of a 

 Wattle Committee of the Natal Agricultural Union, and later to 

 the formation of the Agricultural Co-operative Union, with a 

 view to the protection of growers" interests. Private dealers in 

 Natal kept aloof or came into direct opposition, which resulted 

 in a certain amount of dislocation in the wattle business during 

 19TI-1912, consequent lowering of prices, and a sto])page to the 

 expansion of the wattle industry, which, till then, had been brisk. 



The declaration of w-ar closed the German market entirely, 

 and growers may thank the Agricultural Co-operative Union, and 

 other dealers, who, in face of enormous difficulties raised by the 

 war. have opened up new and i)ermanent markets (|uite apart 

 from German intervention, and have done so without lowering 

 the local price more than a few shillings. 



The i^resent position is that the British buyer is using, and 

 })repared to buy at enormous prices, whatever can be landed ; that 

 the shipping companies, running enormous risks, are earning 

 enormous freights ; that sufficient shipi)ing is not availal)le, and 

 consequently the ])rice in Natal remains low, and the export 

 comparatively limited. New markets in many other countries, 

 which the exigencies of trade prevent me from mentioning mean- 

 time, have been o])ened, and on the whole, I can only look on 

 the closure of the (ierman market, under the circumstances which 

 have brought it about, as an unmixed blessing. It must also be 

 noted that Britain has ])rohil)ited re-export of wattle bark to 

 Scandinavia. 



And to those who say that as soon as the war is over the 

 demand will be off, I can onlv say I do not concur, as I think 



