TRADE AND COMMERCE.

Press, Volume XLV, Issue 7242, 31 December 1888, Page 5

TRADE AND COMMERCE.

When the new year opened, the cloud which for some time had hung over New Zealand was only just beginning to life we had begun to hope, but the now hated word depression was still occasionally heard- The Government had only shortly before brought in a policy of strong self-reliance, of which the main features were gradual stoppage of borrowing and retrenchment in the public expenditure. Following upon that determination, a similar spirit was shown by one of our leading financial institutions— the Bank of New Zealand. It was decided to put the affairs of the Bank on a thoroughly substantial footing. The whole of the reserve fund was written off; the £10 shares were written down to £7 ; the personnel of the Direct >rate was changed, and a strong and influential Board secured in its place; 50,000 new £10 shares were placed on the market, and largely over-subscribed both in England and the colonies; and all doubtful properties were placed in a separate liquidation account. The Bank, to use a colloquial expression, made a clean sweep and a fresh start, and the effect was not only to restore public confidence, but to exert a most behe- < ficial effect throughout the country. The success of this vigorous proceeding was the best proof of the great resources of the colony, and the confidence felt in its future by those best able to jndge. Following upon this settling-down process came a substan tial rise in the price of wool, meaning, of course, a large addition to the income of the colony, and a similar advance in the price of cereals. The figure at which the grain market opened after last harvest was very discouraging to our agricultural community, but fortunately the bulk of the grain was held in a large number of instances by the producers themselves .and mothers by intermediate holders. The harvest in many European countries proved a failure, and the result was a gradual improvement in the English market till prices once more reached a remunerative point. The misfortunes of neighbors nearer home proved also greatly to our advantage. The drought in Australia caused a brisk demand for feeding grains and all kinds of produce, and although that has now slackened, consequent on a more favorable condition of the weather, our farmers have had a brisk spell of good prices in the closing months of the year. The frozen meat industry; although it' has not always been very remunerative, has been developed at a very .astonishing rate, and New Zealand now occupies the premier position «s a meat exporting colony. All our factories are in full swing, and it is Satisfactory to know that there is such confidence in the -future of the industry that another large company is about to begin operations in the colony, in addition to those already in existence. During the past year prices, as a rule, have been higher, and the export of meat from New Zealand has been larger than during any previous twelve months. The money market during the past twelve months -has been very easy, but there are signs of an approaching change in this respect. During nine months of the year the Banks in Victoria alone made advances to the amount of nearly nine millions, or about a million a moDth. With the collapse of the land boom, and the drought supervening and considerably lessening the income of many of the BanW clients, a good deal of stringency has set in in the' Victorian market, and there is now considerable demand for .money. This will probably affect the New Zealand supply, and result in higher rates ruling in this colony during the coming year. There is nothing, however, to warrant the belief that there will be any real scarcity of capital. Notwithstanding the backwardness of the season, there is great promise of the coming harvest turning ont well, and with remunerative prices the New Zealand farmer should do well during the coming year. His prosperity must give an impetus to the rest pf the community, and taking everything into consideration, it is seldom we have been able to conclude our commercial retrospect under such propitious circumstances.