COMMERCIAL.

Press, Issue 16678, 12 November 1919, Page 10

COMMERCIAL.

OLYMPIA MOTOR SHOW. (By Cabls—Press Association—Copyright.) (Australian and N.Z. Cabla Association.) LONDON, November 8. .There wore record attendances at the Olymp:a motor show, buyers eagerly seeking motorcars at unprecedented prices, despite the manufacturers' uncertainty regarding tho time of delivery. EMPIRE FAIRS/ GREAT BRITISH SCHEME. _ _ LONDON, October 27. Tho Board of Trade is organising great fairs, to ba hold at tho end of February, 1920, concurrently at London, Birmingham, and Glasgow. Only manufacturing firms of the British Empire will ba allowed to exhibit. Ovor 100,000 invitations have been issued. A special branch of the Board of Trade ia organising the London fair, while the Birmingham and Glasgow fairs are being arranged by the municipal authorities, under tho auspices of the Board. ENGLISH MARKETS. LONDON, November 11. Cotton—December, 24.70 d. Rubber—Para 30£ d, plantation and smoked 23Jd. — flemn—The market is steady. High noint fair £18. Jute—The market » quiet. October-No-vember shipment £65.' Co urn. —November-January shipment £57 10s. Linseed 0i1—.131 per ton. Turpentine—l26s 9d per cwt. METALS. LONDON, November 8. Tin —Stocks 22,807 tone, spot 8760 tons, afloat 1568 tons, deliveries 2787 tons. PRICE OF SILVER. (Received November nth, 10.65 p.m.) LONDON, November 10. A further record has been reached ia fie price of silver, which is now 6SJd per oz. The shilling is now worth 12 23-44<L TREASURY BILLS. LONDON. November 6. The rates for both three and six months Treasury bills have been raised to Bid nei cent. DALGETY AND CO., LTD. LONDON. November 6. Dalgety and Co., Ltd., after paying interim and preference dividends, show'a profit, exclusive of the amount broug&t forward, of JE2C0.929. A final dividend of Se and a bonun of 4s have been drc!cr"d, both tax free; carried to reserve, £50.000; writing down of premises, £30,000; et'off benevolent fund, £10,000; carried forward, £120,928. NEW ZEALAND MUTTON. LONDON. November 8. It is reported that the Food- Controller intends on Monday to reduce the maximum priro of Ne'.v mutton 2d per lb, to tho considerable arrivals of imported meai and the plentiful supplies of home-grown beef. PRICE OF POTATOES. SYDNEY, November 11. Potatoo3, which are very scarce, are selling up to £22 per ton. ' HIRH COMMISSIONER'S CABLE. Tb" Hi~Vt 00-nmisnoner cabled as follows on November Bth:— Mea .—Ther' is no change in prices, but on account of the large Quantities here, and also on tho way from N"»w Zealand, it is ejpectod that the prices of imported mutton will bo reduced by 2d per lb next week. Butter.—lt •is reported that the Govern mcnt has purchased 30,000 casks of Danish butter, to be shipped during the next four months. It is understood that tho prioe c.i.f.. is £16 16s per cwt., as against £14 2s previously. Hemp.—The Manila market is fi~m, and the spot demand is rood. J fade, Octobe--Decmber shipment. £51: January-March shipment, £49 15s. The oiitp-t f-om January Ist till Sep'emb~r 30th na? £02,000 bales, as bales last year. Conmenc•insr with Dwmbor shipments the rati of freight for h'-mp from the Philippine to" Great Britain will be incr—x'ed from £15 10 to £15 2s 6d per tori.. Tho Ne*v Z->a. : nni market is n-uiet. but firm. Hi>h point, Octo-ber-December Fhipment £17 Ts; fair, £46.

The wool market remains firm, and the demand continues brisk.

I ■ TALLOW. T)al?ety and Companv. Limited, have received tic following cablegram from then London office, dated November sth: —"Tallow—At the wp<-kly mictions 1020 casks were offered aid 1000 eo!d. Since our lnit wir prime muttnn ts'Jow is 5s 6d per cwt. higher and other descriptions is per cwt." The New Zealand Lopti and Mercantile A"°ncv Co.. Ltd., rdvise havii? received th* fo'lovin-r from London, under dat« s<h instant: —"Tallow—Fine mutton £5 6* pr cwt., frood beef £i 5s per cwt., mixed £i 15a Gd per cwt. Market active.'' CANTERBURY JfAKTKTS. Tuesday evening. There baa been practically no business in produce on account of the holidays, and there w no alteration in quotations The offerings of wheat have been nil during the past few davs, supplies, ae far as farmers are concerned, beinsr practically er.d"d. The only sales in o«ts are small lots between merchant. Cbpff is efill in demnid, most'y for the North Inland, but the holidnv of the p"t week has further restricted ehippiT!" facili!i"S. There has been considerable export to Svdney of potatoes, the Moeraki, which left last week end, shipping eeveral hundred

tons. The latest Sydney quotation {or New Zealand is £18 a ton. However, the cost of re-picking to-bagging, branding, freight, ate., very considerably reduc<a the apparent mar. gin of profit, and as the principal of these expenses (rc-pickiDg) is not required with Tasmanian potatoes, merchants are not disposed to add further to the potatoes in store for tbo purpose of export, no the Sydney demnnd msv oenee at any time. ' The demand from the North Island has ceased, new potatoes on the market there at 21 a pound. A few farmer*' lo's hnve offering at Inte quotations, £3 to £8 IDs, at country stations.

The fo'lowins are prices paid to farmers at conntry station#, free of commission. fKfk« extra, except where otherwise etntcd: — Milling "TCTient— According to Govern ment prices : South Island, November 6e 91 per bushel; North Island, 4d per bushel additional; fowl wheat, Ss lOd to 6s. Onts —Gartons, 4s 2d to 4s 4d; Duns, 4s 3d to 4s fid. Barley—Prime maltine, 6s Sd to 7«; Cape bar'«y, 4« 6d to 4» 9d Flour—£ls per ton; 1001b bflffs, £15 15s; 50'b bass, £16; 251b bngs, £16 15s. Bran—Shipping, £5 10s; £5 13s per ton. Pollard—£7 10s per ton. Oatmeal—Cslb bags, £23 per ton; 71b bags, £32 p?r ton. Oa'xVaf Ch*ff-£6 10s to £7. Italian Rye<rras9—Up to 4s to 4s 6cL Perennial Ryegrass—4s to 4s 6d. . Cocksfoot—9d to lOd Rel Clover—ls 8d to Is lOd. AVhito Clover —Is 4d t-o Is 7d. Lin»oed —£26 to £27 per ton. Peas —Partridge, 7s 6d to 8s; White Ivories, 9s to 10s;' Blue Imperials, lis to lis Gd (nominal). Potatoes—£3 to £8 10s fot early delivery. RAIN IN NEW SOUTH WALES. SYDNEY, November 11. The heat waives in the const districts have broken and light rain is falling. The heat continues inland, where wafer in many places is very scarce. THE EGG MARKET. The weekly ealo of the Canterbury E<rg Farmers' Association was hold at the rooms Of Messrs Harris Bros., Hereford street, yesterday. There was a very large entry of all grades and a good number of_ buyers, owIrur to the largo number of visitors in th« city. Prices wero • maintained. There was a> very keen demand, and all lots were sold at the following prices First grade hen egg 9 Is &d, second grade hen eggs la Bd, duck eggs Is Bd. 1* THE.TEA MARKET. The tea market in the Dominion is said to bo practically bare at the present time, most packers having been unable to fulfil all the orders they have received, and the merchants have informed the retailors that increased prices will shortly be charged. Last week the Colombo market advanced 2Jd per lb. Stocks coming to hand at present, ordered before the advance was made, also show a considerable advance, and priccs therefor© will rise very shortly, and will rise still further when the Colombo price is passed on. It is expected that the market will remain firm until the fine teas are available, about the beginning of next year, when prices will probably again increase. RABBIT SKIN PRICES. (SPECIAL TO "THE PRESS.") DUNEDIN*, November 11. In regard to the prices ruling at Home for rabbit skins, a local exporter vjho was interviewed attributed the soaring priocs to America's manipulation of the markot, and prophesied a sudden drop when they "got from under." "America, be said, "hue taken practically the whole of tho rabbit skins from New Zealand, and anything eoin? into London is being pushed up to extreme prices by the Americans. They bought a. lot of lines cheap at the beginning of tho season, and are forcing the market up for other buyers, but when they get rid of their manufactured stock, they will get rifht out of the market.' At least that is their usual practice. If that happens prices will come back at once." At the same time, whilo doubting that the present extreme prices would be duplicated next season, this expert considered that, on account of the fact that no surplus stocks could be carried forward, prjoes would certainly rule high next season.

STRAWBERRY SEASON. HIGH PRICES REALISED. "The strawberry season, within a week or two, should be practically in full swinsr," remarked a prominent wholesale dealer in fruit in Auckland on Saturday. He stated that the recent rains had hurried elong the berries, but the -high winds had dernnged the mulching' material to no small exti!*.t. Prices remain high. At one market 15. cratcs of berries, containing some £60 chips, were disposed of on Friday at very heavy rates. Prime berries fetched from Is IOJd to 2b 4d, and second tirade fruit realised Is 6d to 1» 9cL The dealer remarked that as there was a sustained demand for fruit, there waa as yet little hope that the prices' would drop to any considerable extent. TIMBER PRICES. Correspondence is passing between New Zealand and Australia on the subject of timber prices,-it being alleged that a remarkable discrepancy exists between the prices ruling in the Dominion and the Commonwealth. It is said that "0.b." (ordinary building) timber, which costs ,26s per 100 ft in New Zealand, can bo purchased in Sydney es low as 16a per 100 ft, and price-lists are beinfl exchanged to enable the real position to be ascertained. Rimu is in big demand in New Zealand, and large quantities of that timber have, it ia said, been shipped to Australia. Heart of kauri, which ie growing scarcer and scarcer, is also stated to be selling cheaper in Australia than in New Zealand. A "New Zealand Times" representative was on Saturday informed that heart of kauri had been sold as high as 80b per 100Pt in New Zealand, while the price in Australia woe from 40e to 50s.

. COMMONWEALTH BANK. EXTRAORDINARY DEVELOPMENT. (tboh oxru owv oißnr,si»wnKNT.) SYDNEY. November 5. The extraordinary eucoeee which haa attended the establishment of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia is opparentlv th° exception which proves the rule in Stat* enterprises. It ie a shining example, in tu most dismal host of failures, of a State-con-trolled trading establishment being a success almost from the moment of its birth, The bank came into being in 1912, and at the end of that year had recorded a lose of over £14,000. It started absolutely without capita), having only an advance of £10,OCO from the Treasury to meet preliminary expenses. Six months later that defioit had in* crcesed to £46,000, and the croakers croaked in happy unison. But the tide tarncd suddenly. In the eccond half of 1913 the bank made a profit of £1600. ' In the next IS months, bringing it up and well into tho war period, it wiped off the wholo of it<l deficit and put £2000 to reserves. The war was an abeolute godatnd to the bank. All the Government's huge financial transections rendered necessary by the extraordinary condition of world affairs were done though tho Government institution. Profits positively leaped up. The reserves nearly doubled themselves every six months. The total reserves were just over £2000 in June, 1915. Four years later, in June, 1919, thoy wero just under £2,000,000. A profit of no lese £458,000 was made in the eix monlha "nd'-d December 31st, 1918. end in the succeeding half-year it was £788,000, The apnearano© of T. J. Ryan, of Quoens'and. in Federal politics, and the possibility of his ultimately becoming Prime Minister, i* trreatly a!«rroin<7 thos» moderates wVo wish 1 the Commonwealth Bank well. It i» believed bv those who know him best that Mr Ryan, or>r« ho pets power, will mak? ducks and' drakes of this now richly-endo-rrd and profitable establishment. It ccrtainly would he :: ke him to v«te the bank to finance hia wild Bolshevist schemes.

CHFTPTCHUBCH STOCK FXCHj»NGE. H YESTERDAY'S TRANSACTIONS. g Sale reported:—Union Bank of Australia, H £13 2s 6<L fl LATEST QUOTATIONS. | Buyers. Sellers. H £ a. d. £ •. d H BANKS- i ■ jUnion of Australia m 13 0 0 — INSURANCE— ♦ New Zealand .. <• 1 12 0 — Standard .. 2 19 0 — M LOAN AND AGENCY— ■ Permanent Investment 9 0 0 — H FKOZEiS MEAT— Q Canterbury 13 10 0 H Wellington (£2 12a 6d ■ paid) •• S 18 0 ■ GAS- I H Christcbarch -t — 6 15 0 n BREWERIES— I Manning .. — 4 5 0 I MISCELLANEOUS— I Beath and Co. .. 1 11 0 1 12 C | Boath and Co. (pref.) 10 0 — I N.Z. Farmers' Co-op. E (£2 paid) .. ..2 4 0 — ; I Weeks .. .. 7 10 0 — Whitmmbe and Tomba 6 13 0 — I*

YESTERDAY'S BUSINESS ON OTHER EXCHANGES. (press association TELEGRAMS.} AUCKLAND. Sales on 'Charge:—Wilsou's Cement, ISi lOd; Hayward's Pictures 10s 3d; Talirmaa Consolidated, lis. DUNEDIN. Soles reported;— Now Zealand Inmranoe, 32s 6d; Waihi, 53s Bd.