FINANCIAL NOTES.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 136099, 25 April 1908, Page 10

FINANCIAL NOTES.

(from oca owx correspondent.) - -*' 130 Fl-oet St., London, March 13. Kir Christopher Furncss. M.P., m ' - a letter to tho Mayor of Hartlepool enclosing a cheque toward the local *'- distress fund, writes:—"Tho depression * '• iv tho shipbuilding will <x)Utinue until ;«.".. such time, as tho trado of the world V. overtakes the present- steamship carry- ~* ing capacity of this and other coun-V > tries, and th<>ri> is no clianco of a- 5 ] .- '• sufficient number of orders for ncw^ : . v ". ships being given out to keep the'''-* , shipbuilding yards of tho Norih-Eaofc -\. Goait and tho Clyde, or either of them, V' r more than partially employed for the * * v next year or two. ,, v*u * -. Tho Scottish railways announce ftir-J * V ther economies. Tho North British y T Railway Company this week posted n*r notices at tln-ir locomotive works, \,~~ Glasgow, redwing the working days * *""# to rive. This ::Itα-ts between 2000 ami*, _> ;}O(X> moil. A sy.-tem of pooling •"■'* traffic in competing centres is jUx> - V Lx- i n jj; per fro ted. so that the traffic will be handled l>y one stall". > • *„'' Messrs Eastmans, iha well-known t&svtailers of meat, are paying the dividend—ti jvr cent—on tho ordinary., , **-. shares as in the yeans ll)0(i and 190 a, - but they have placed only i'IO.OCO to ' ■ depreciation, against tIo.UOU. and ar*>* carrying forward only £1061. against.*,', £11,169 hist your. At this weA's meeting, tho chairman (Mr J. J. Thomson) » * iniorine.l the shareholders that tho difference had l>eoii "more than nvade> • up by the larger profits already matb tiiis year, as compared with tho same/ period last year.' . Still, he would not : - promise to pay an interim dividend" on the ordinary shares. Tlie chairmaa ~ was questionod very 'cVcsely. by shareholders respecting the operation**" of the American "so-calkd Beef Trust."- " „' He said that his company occasionally '•"; , bought moat from tho "'Trust, , ' but- * v it did not interfere with tho company's *';-'. business in any way. Messrs East- " * - mans only very seldom purchased ■,\ American beef; uic bulk cf their stap. plies were from Australia, Now Zi»a- "~*\- land and tho Argentine. He did not * regard tho "so-called Beef Trust" aa an enemy to Kngland nt all, and re- ,"- marked that a good deal ot nousonse had boon talked about it. It <lid not compete -with any retail scilors,. *. but •' N sometimes wholesale suppliers mere af- r ?i feeted by the "Trust's" own agents selling in this market. But they had ■ , no need to fear it. In fact, no did ' not admit there was any "Beef Trust' , at all. It is pointed out in regard to tlvor reduction in brewery stock that heavy ' < looses wore, shown under tho previous Goveriuh-ent, and that breweries have V, suffered a waning popularity for yeaxa. The steady set-back was a natural • • sequence to tho boom which, drove pi-iocs ridiculously high and brought* properties into tho books of the companies nt values which, hung heavily .i, **, about their aiecka afterward. Tho Vv" brewers terror at the now Licensing - *y\ Bill is due to the fact that tho item of goodwill stands in his account at an extravagant figure. The manage- ,-H •roent of several oompanies has bcomoe ", a by-word, and tho history of the brewery industry is one of capital wot- ,-- jg cred to tho extreme limit, over-infla-tion of properties, and extxayngant * ;>: goodwill items. ' .'■ "s '* s In this ooniiection, note is made that in the case of Allsopps, tho ordinary stock, which at ono time stood at ->|L 150, is now about 7. Messrs■>Hoare*j>j|jjj and Co. have passed through , many ' advereities; tho shares stood at some years ago, but they had dropped to 8 before tho nnesent took office. The City of JBrewery Co. paid !*1 per cent. capital in 189(3, and 10J per JR; the two following years; in 1905 TVMiS'g| the present Gorbrnmont came jn, dividend had dropped to 3 per cent.- F f-vg: and the price had fallen .from 190 to>m about 71. Messrs Ind, Coopo Co.'s experience is spv&n as excellent example of the over-vaJua-tion of assets and heavy debenture ?m debt. ■ In July, \IB9O, £500.000 do- ' Wj benture stock was issued; in 1894 an- jg other £200.000, in 1895 £50,000, in J§ 1896 £200 TOO," in 1897 £250,000, in M 1898 £50,000, in 1900 £800,000, and M £200,000 "has been issued'since; in -J|p a re-valuation showed £655,000 depreciation had to bo mot, /$& and the Board espreesed the view it would be necessary to write down;sS; the capital. This information, appear* i§m in an article entitled ''Bad Finance—lnflation of Properties to Blame than Legislation. 1, "' yjm. The public tliis Aveek is given opportunity of subscribing for chares of the South Atlantic Company, whoso preepectus states it has acquired an exclusive license "Ml; from his Government to Thomas Civradoc Kero*, who wae, 1 be--"# lievo, in Xewr Zealand, to work guano deposits an certain islands inl%(| the South Atlantic Ocean; .. Theae of vast extent, and, according to com* "ifS; petont authorities, very valuable. . KsfyfQ is anticipated tliat when are in rail working order tlie export* of guario should reach 100,000 tow->X, per ann-urn, with a 'met profit of.'sM 1 £300,000. The proposed share capital is £100,000, of whjcli £25,000 will for working capital. directors include Admiral Sir G. Faue, X.C.8., and Admiral Hastings Harris, K.C.AI.G. . The company takes Mr Kerry's yacht, the Pandora. v4^S The figaree of-the trade of Canaxiiml for the year 1907 reveal the fact the imports of British goods are ing 'at a relatively faster rate thosd of the United States or any% country in Europe. The total .trade of the Dominion for the-p«t«m : year amounted to 635,840,681 dolfiuJL'Vw an increase of 45,895,877 dollars the previous twelve months, and- cor- , mt stituted a record in the country'e *•*& commercial history. Tlie imports of '■?$ Bntish goods into Canada for tho year ~4«* amounted to dollars • v '?M against 77,645,574 dollars for 1906, an increase of 17,448,914, or 22.47 per Hf» cent. -Sfe