COMMERCIAL.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17063, 7 February 1921, Page 8

COMMERCIAL.

ACCUMULATED WOOL.

NEGOTIATIONS WITH IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT. (press association TELKURAM.) WELLINGTON. February 5. In a statement the Prime Minister s.iys it is well to make perfectly clear what the position is regarding the arrangements for the handling and realisation of the Imperial Government's accumulated stocks of New Zealand wool. When the British-Australian Wool Realisation Association was initiated, it, was intended that it should deal cnlv with accumulated stocks of Australian wool, and its constitution and financial arrangements were based on this understanding. Then the question of this Association also handling the Imperial Government's New Zealand wool arose, and in considering this one great point, was whether, in view of all the circumstances, such an arrangement would offer any advantage over the continuance of the control and of realisation by the Ministry of Munitions, which by its efforts to uphold values of New Zealand wools had shown a. marked desire to assist Now Zealand wool-growers in the Side of their present- clip. Such discussion as had occurred up to this time had arisen sole--Jy as a result of the general interest taken by wool-growers and merchants in the question, and the Government naturally kept a watch on the position in the interests of all concerned, especially the wool-grower being fully determined to do an that might ue possible to prevent an undue and sudden fall of values with its attendant serious risks, and cables were sent to the Imperial authorities emphasising the necessity for a strong holding of stocks. At this juncture development occurred in the shape of an intimation from the Imperial Government that, in the event of the proposed British-Australian Association being established, it considered that it would be proper to hand over to that Association the sale of New Zealand wool under sufficient safeguards, so that its sale should be conducted to the best advantage and to the entire satisfaction of the Imperial Government. The New Zealand Government on receipt of this intimation toot; up the matter with full regard to the necesity for safeguarding in every respect the interests of the wool-growers in the sale of their present and current clips. The previous line of action adopted by the Imperial authorities in holding up values, and the general knowledge of their desire to do the right thing by the New Zealand wool-growers, made it quite reasonable to assume that the safeguards referred to would also include reasonable consideration of the interests of New Zealand, but at the same time it was felt that in order to ensure a sufficient degree of security for us, New Zealand should have a direct say in J>he management of. the Association's operations, at any rate as far as New Zealand's produced wool was_ concerned. _ Negotiations based on this have been in progress since it was sugegsted that an advisory committee should be established in London to act in conjunction with the Association to conserve New Zealand interests, Including those of the growers and trade in the Dominion. It was felt that such a comjnittee, being merely advisory, and having no directing power, would not, in view of all the circumstances, constitute a-sufficiently adequate" safeguard, and the Imperial authorities were notified to this effect, and especially that it was considered that New Zealand should have adequate representation on the actual management of the Association. The matter was then discussed between the Imperial Government Department and. the High Commissioner, and again an advisory committee was suggested, with a proviso that if the committee were not too numerous its members would be invited to attend board meetings to express their views. This, however, was still considered unsatisfactory. and a further cable was sent to the High Commissioner expressing the opinion thatj having regard to the interest of New Zealand in accumulated stocks, and the vital necessity for protecting the interests of the producers in the sale of the current and following clips by judicious handling of accumulated stocks, New Zealand should have direct representation on the directorate itself. | A reply to this has come to hand to-day which, indicates that the strong representations made by the New Zealand Government have had a good effect, and it is now proposed that a New Zealand committee of three shall ba established in one to act as chairman, who will have a seat on the Board of Directors of the Associar tion. Unfortunately, owing apparently to some error in transit, this communication is 'not clear on one point, namely, the extent of the powers which would be possessed by this committee and its chairman, and an urgent cable has been sent for the purpose of getting this cleared up. A reply should be available within a day or two. In addition to this London committee, an advisory committee in New Zealand is proposed, which will keep in close touch with the London committee, particularly in regard to all points connected I with realisations of accumulated wool stocks, seeing that this has a most important bearing upon the sales of present and succeeding clips. | This is the position as it stands today, and it is anticipated that a definite j arrangement may he established with the Imperial Government very prompt- | ly. The representation offered to New I Zealand on the Board of Directors is not I by any means as large as could be de- ! sired in view of the fact that practically all the interests concerned, inI eluding those of the manufacturers, are j already represented on the -directorate, j and this is being intimated to the Imperial authorities.

TIGHTNESS OF MONEY.

BANE AND BOROUGH COUNCIL. {special to "the press.") AUCKLAND, February 5. A refusal to increase the rat© at which. the Council may pay the interest on its drainage loan was received from the Minister of Finance ,(Mr Massey) by the Hamilton Borough Council on Friday evening. Mr Massey said the figure obtained for the debentures should yield such a price as would not produce to the lender a return exceeding 5? per oent. The local manager of the Bank of New Zealand, in a letter dealing with the same matter, expressed regret that his office could only partly provide for the Council's requirements. He enI closed an extract from a letter from his head office, as follows: —"In the present condition o" tho money market we see no possibility of debentures being sold at a better rate than 6} to 6} per cent. In these circumstances, we are not warranted in locking up £20,000 of oar funds for an indefinite period. Perhaps the Council could arrange either for the purchase of the bonds by one of the Government Departments, t or for an advance against the same. If that could be arranged, we would be prepared to find the money temporarily, provided the Department makes a definite commitment, even if six or nine months ahead. trailing that, we will advance £SOOO against £7500 of debentures, and would suggest that the residents of the area to be served by the drainage wprks either take up the balance, or lend funds to the Council against the debentures, pending-thgir sale. People who want

| conveniences must, be prepared to pay I for them.'.' j The Mayor said it was apparent that they were not going to get- much assisI tr. nco from the Bank. He regarded the last remark in the letter as gross , impertinence. The working classes ■«ere already paying a substantial tax ] I'y liplit- and otnev convenience*. The Council decided to accept the £SOOO from the Bank.

COMMERCIAL CRISIS ON THE CONTINENT.

A GENERAL BANKRUPTCY FEARED. (SPECIAIX? WRITTEN FOR "THE KRESS.") (By Mrs Julian- Grande. GENEVA, December 10. The commercial and financial situation of the Continent is so much involved that liardlv any business firms, factories, banks, or shops, except provision shops, know what- the next day may bring forth. For the Inst two years, the business houses have been holding on, hoping for letter times. Much was expected from the Brussels financial conference, but matters have since become steadily worse, never better. Hopes were then pin nod to the first Assembly of the League of Nations —very unreasonably, for any effects which it could have upon the business world can only come ai'oout gradually, if tlioy come about at all. The exchanges, instead of improving, tend rather to get worse. The dollar continues to rise, and no one. can buy the American goods with which the American and British producers do not know what to do, and which so many millions of people on the Continent so badly need. The money of countries such as Germany, Austria, Hungary, Homuanin, Bulgaria, Czecho-Slovakia, Poland, and oven Italy and France is so low iu value that they can neither buy the raw materials which they need for manufactures themselves, nor the manufactured goods from Great Britain, the United States and smaller countries, such, as Switzerland, Holland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Any gold that the former countries may still possess is used for buying food and other prime necessaries. „ The result is that a commercial crisis equalling in magnitude the war of 1014-18 prevails iu Europe. For a small oountry such as Switzerland, for instance, which depends largely on exports, and on exports of some' articles which, although excellent in quality, are not prime necessaries (embroideries, watches, silks, ribbons, and machinery, for example), the present state of the world combined with the labour disturbances. simply means that she cannot avoid piling up debts, and that she lias numbers of unemplo3 - ed who do not know how they will get through this winter,'besides numbers of shops which once earned a good living, and which now see no course but to close their' doors. Again, it is not that the world does not need her products, but that it cannot afford to buy them. Nor is it merely the conquered nntion which cannot buy now, because their money is worth little or nothing. The victor nationa, except England and the United States, are not in a much better case, while the young onei, such as' the Caecho-Slovaks, Yugo-Slavs, Roumanians, Poles, Georgians, and others, need any quantity of machinery, agricultural and other, to develop their resources, if they could but afford to buy it. Everywhere are those who ' would fain buy, but cannot for want of means*; and those who would fain sell, but cannot because the world is too poor,to pay-for their products. There is mucli talk about Germany dumping,, jr trying to dump, goods into other countries, but she must soil something if she is to 'buy, and the kind of goods that she does sell are such aa she can produce with materials of her own— , generally paper, cheap furniture, and tovs. Here .again, however, the present crisis extends its ramifications so 'far and so deep that the moment a downcast country tries to pick itself up again a little and sell some goods to another nation, the door is shut in its face. The Swiss paper-makers, for instance, have induced the Government to forbid the import of German pa.per, which was considerably cheaper than what they could themselves produce; while the French Government severely limits the import of Swiss embroidered goods and watches. At the samo time, those countries whose exchange is high—Switzerland, Holland, England and the United Sta.tesy-complain that Germany and the countries with low exchanges do not buy from them. How can they buy? The banks on the Continent axe try- ( ing' to keep their heads above water. It is known that some of them made a ; good deal of money by speculating on , the rise and fall of the exchanges, but '■ they can no longer aft'ord to do this; and if some of the large manufacturing firms and warehouses which thtey have to back up, should declare themselves. insolvent, then the commercial crisis may bo aggravated by bank failures Small tradespeople are in a pitiable state, and many of the larger firms, old-established and honourable, are.not much better off. Jewellers' shops, for whose stocks are worth hundreds or thousands of pounds, often sell nothing worth mentioning for weeks together. People buy the. fewest clothes possible, the scarcity of dwelling room means that far less furniture and household articles generally are bought, while as for tho travelling public, not only are international communications almost as difficult as during the war, but even within their own countries people travel very little. Again, not only are international postal communications fewer and worse, but inland letterwriting decreases, because of the cost of postage; and when the highfer postage rates for international communiraitions come into force, this will unquestionably make it still more difficult for trade and commerce to recover. It would seem as if everything were being done not to make travel and communications generally easier, quicker, better, and pleasanter, but rather to make them harder, slower, worse, and unpleasaater, to say nothing of more expensive. On the. Continent particularly it is impossible not to feel the depression duo to their being so many millions of people anxious to work and earn an honest living, but in one way' or another prevented from doing so. j Tho struggle for existence could not bo more acute, and so much is wrong that • no one seems to know where to begin' to set matters right. j The. banks to which tradesmen owe' money—tradesmen brought low by the! war, and not by extravagance or any 1 other fault of theirs, are doing their inmost not to press them, and not to make them bankrupts, arguing that once they begin to exert pressure, then a general collapse will ensue, and mat-, ters be worse instead of better. ! At present, nothing is being done to extricate Europe from a condition which is every day becoming more acutely distressing; but meanwhile a few 'great war profiteers, at all events in Ger-j many, axe utilising their more or less! ill-gotten wealth to form trusts, not' only a newspaper trust, but what may' bo called an iron and steel trust, both j on a vast scale. This is a tendency, which surely gives no cause for rejoic- ■ ing, for whatever is going permanently! to improve the commercial state of the i world, it is not likely to be enormous | trust 9. | In the opinion of international bankers and commercial people generally j whom I have asked about the remedy j or remedies for the present condition of | affairs, Germany must be given credit ■ and allowed to work, and Russia must; j be opened up: otherwise they see no, heme, for -Europe righting herself com-, mer&My.

PROFITABLE BEEKEEPING.

THE HONEY INDUSTRY.

CANTERBURY'S UNLIMITED POSSIBIIJTIES. In the course of a chat with a n» porter at the beekeepers' field dar at Avonhead on Saturday, Mr Fred P, Baines, secretary of the National Association of Now Zealand Beekepen, who is spending six weeks in the Sooth Island forming new branches of the association, made some interesting remarks regarding Canterbury, l)fcig», and Southland as fields for the exte*> sion of the honey industry. " Journeying around Omtetmy," Mr Baines said, " I am aniaaed at the opportunities there are for commensal beekeeping, and at the small advantage taken of them. TW» whole length and breadth of Outerbury seems to be suitable for aotoMi beekeeping, though I learn that the only drawback is the fight rabfaß which is rather against heavy crops. The forage is here for the bees, and it only wants a little greater rainfall to mako the district an absolutely ideal one. I am convinced that, with careful management, the possibilities for profitable beekeeping in Canterbury are unlimited. The district has produced some of the finest honey in "So* Zealand, honey that has earned at Home the highest commendation far quality, appearance and «flavourt "Otago and Southland have 11m «p» rearanee of being even better itti Canterbury for beekeeping. Tb om like myself interested in the decelopment of the industry, it is ahmsfc pitiable to see the huge tracts of conn* try with hardly a bee to the sqvarc # mile: and that state of things exist* Jp. in districts that are capable of sap* importing, and could support, 100 eofe» f% nies every two miles." V's On<> result of Mr Baines's triTek has been to give him some fresh ideu «e the question of limiting apiary districts. "It is all tommy-rob to talk about limiting apiary districts, '* ha said, "when there are localities in which there are hardly any bees. That a beekeeper who goes and pioneers in a new district should have any cwa- , plaint against other beemen owning along and taking advantage of Us «• terprise is largely due to the ignoraaca of those, to whom we may refer as the 'interlopers,' regarding untouched tricts which are just as good as those in which the pioneer has established his apiary."

PROSPECTS OF EXPOBT TKASB. Amongst those present si the tne> keepers' field day at Avonhesd on Saturday was Mr John Rentou], chairman of directors of the New Zealand Honey Producers' Co-operative Awncation, who informed a reporter that, as the result of the failure of the Bristol and Dominions Producers' Association, tit H.P-A. is hoping to make arrangements for New Zealand honey to bo retailed on the English market under the saporvision of tue H.P.A. In the past the Bristol and Dominions Associations had handled all the honey exported from New Zealand to England. % Mr Rentoul addressed those present on the pro'spocts of th» export trade, and on tho necessity for all liongr producers loyally supporting the H-P-A.