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Australian Wines.
TO THE MD1TOR OF TDD ARH
ir, TIm? shortage Of shipping oc
casioned by the submarine campaign of
the Germans during the great war has had
tho inevitable result of maintaining tho
control upon suoh space as was available.
Very naturally and properly. Govern to
in charge of the distribution of ship space
have concentrated upon the shipment of
c'ljccted stocks of essential foodstuff,
XJiat this lias been detrimental to many
commodities considered not quite so need
ful is bat natural, yet the time is rauidlv
coming when the hard and font rules
wineh so largely have governed the atti
tude of the arbiters in shipping matters
must, to save the lesser industries, con
siderably be relaxed.
„ PiV Commonwealth of Australia is
notable for its cattle, its wool and its
wheat, yet, besides these, it cannot be
U1 1 n undjst-higuish«d for the position
it Holds in the wine-growing countries of
tho world. lor years now this
nourishing industry, the only one of its
typo within the British Empire, has been
treated as the Cinderella in British com
mercial dcveloment, and tins when tens of
thousands of moil, women and cliildreu are
dependent upon its successful con
tinuance.
During tho war, without complaint, the
dislvibmere in the "Old Country" sot
their jaws and in as far as was possible
closed down tho supply and spread such
small stocks as remained in their cellars
tner tho anticipated period of hostilities.
Hi fortuitous good c-linnce alone peace
came before these stocks had brou-ht
about a crisis which would have meSnt
misery and starvation te many, and since
then mere drubJets have, tinder exeessivo
pressure, boon iermittcd to conic forward
to stave on the insistent competition from
the vineyards of Europe. This policy,
apart from the discomfort to grower, dis
tributer and consumer. Ss tending more
and more to dishearten those firms that
liave sunk thousands, nay hundreds of
thousands, ci poimds, into promoting a
great imperial trade. b
iiC of Australian wines lies
V1 tiie hands- of comparatively few firms,
.1. if1 n? dlu"JnK the war liave
worked loyally hand-in-hond to maintain
the prestige which was built up in the
peaceful days of old. The war lias been
over now some eighteen months, and yet
J (hstnl)ittoLT, with, the vingerons, have
to plead ror permission to ship, and very
little sympathy is given to our pleadings,
ileum- Ink-, tho taste for Australian wines,
assiduously dcvelbpcd for fifty years, is
going horn the people of the United King
dom—and yet herein lies the real and last-
uig strength oi the Comro on wealth viue-
j arus. It is very easy to destroy, but it
requires very great energy, initiative and
courage to rebuild upou a shattered
foundation. M hat we are asking now is
help m a two-fold direction,
re ,, aak ''' that tile Government of
-tlie Commonwealth should pot brush aside
these requests as of minor worth, but
rather should pay regard to the patriotic
self-effacement of the vineyard-world dur
ing the war, and endeavor to aid tliran
now in the difficult period tlirough which
they are pasting. And again, that the
vignerons themselves should not ease their
hold on wiuit should be the mainstay of
their future, i.e., export trade. The world
is hungry for wines, and none better aro
marketed or axe more healthful to those
who consume them than those grown
under the warm and, live-giving sun of
Australia.
Wo hear much in these days of profit eer-
rag. Doubtless vliat has been said in tiiis
regard is in many directions just, but it
can be claimed with absolute honesty that
in as far as the distributing trade in the
wines of the Commonwealth is con
cerned, no 'more than a fair price lias ever
been asked ol the British public, and wo
beg that in their dealings with us the wine
growers shall ask no., more than a fair
price of those Who market their goods.
'The difficulties of to-day are manifold. We
are cognisant ot them all, and we blame
imno, but to attain the efficiency wlueh
in the new world that is to bo can
alone lead to ultimate and per>otiial suc
cess, we must have hearty and lionorablo
co-operation amongst ns alL— Yours, &c.,
TILE AUSTRALIAN WINB COMPANY
1\ It. lIL'HOOYNli ANI) CO. LTD
TUB FIXSUURY DISTILLERY CO. LTD
\V- AND A. GILBBY LTD.
STBI'IIKN SMl'l'Ji axii nn r»nn
ci. !'. WYA'TP.
[?]
London, 29th January.
$