FINANCE AND COMMERCE.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18547, 24 November 1925, Page 10

FINANCE AND COMMERCE.

FROZEN PRODUCE LETTER. THE MEAT POSITION. BEEF FROM DOMINIONS. (from our special correspondent.) LONDON, October 15. Although at this time of the year Homo meat supplies off the crass are at their zenith on the market, the hindrance caused to frozen meat shipments "by the shipping strike has had the tendency to stiffen values for the imported article. In the lamb trado prices of meat off the hooks are lower than the ex-storo values consequent . upon the recent holding up of Dominion supplies. "With the labour trouble ; now reported settled, this disparity mav be looked To to disappear. Frozen beef is becoming a rather firmer article and this business is likely to see better fortunes round about Christmas. Very fair maintenance of the frozen meat business with the Continent of Europe is reported and Germany is looked upon as still a good customer in spite of the new Jaw which came into force excluding shipment as from October Ist. "What Germany refused with one hand she is calling in with the other, as there is provision for municipalities to admit up to a certain amount of frozen meat according to current needs, free of import duty.

Beef Producers'' Activities. In tho great contest for the capture of the world's beef markets, it is evident that several ot the British Dominions axe not going to be left behind in the race without a good struggle. Canada has for some time past held the determination to compete strongly with Argentina in the English market in chilled beef. Indeed, much has been made of the ' fact that superior prices have been realised by the Canadian chilled articlo in competition with that from South America. Ontario possesses a National Agricultural Committee which has been enterprising enough to evolve a scheme for the establishment of a welldeveloped meat chilling and exporting business from Canada. The plan for this has been submitted to the British Prime Minister and to the Imperial Economic Committee by Major Palmer, of Vancouver, from which centre it emanates. Among other proposals, , the scheme provides for the establishment in Great Britain of no fewer than a hundred depots for the disposal of "Canadian chilled meats and other produce." Provision is also made for central cold storage depots in Canada ■ for the servicing of. dead meat supplies, . and altogether the scheme as outlined : i involves an expenditure of about two millions sterling. The Agricultural " Committee of Ontario, it is said, through, the Dominion Government of Canada, is inviting one or more executive representatives of the Imperial Economic Committee in London to..goto. Ontario to-sit in conference on this idea. Considerable attention in trade ; . circles is given to this report, but it is . • thought that success! would only attend such enterprise so far as it is founded

upon practical ideas and business-like .' operations. Ontario, beef shops in Eng- • land, it is felt, are about as likely of 'success as Australian meat shops in the Old Country, and the opinion is ; expressed that if success cannot be achieved on the lines of the traffic in chilled beef already sent from Canada then no scheme allied to artificial • propaganda would fair better. Dominions' Meat Trade. An idea mayoccur to-dominion meat-] - producers episode, charac- -• teristic of occurnng'in;the\] . issue of Meatjl-Oontract. Tenders for a;! . local in- ""; England." 4 It is~statedthat,the Sculcoates ¥>oard of Guardians./.recently.,^accepted-a tender ? for English- oxVbeef and•wethor*muttoh,i ] , in spite of. the; fact!that it was specifically pointed out that £BOO would be saved by contracting for imported meat. The idea that presents itsejf is that in order to stem the tide- of prejudice which is constantly revealing itself throughout the establishments of Great Britain frozen meat—although /why paupers should- be the most fastidious it is hard to conceive '. —it might be serviceable for some au- < thority interested in frozen meat- exports from* the -Dominions to organise sortie demonstrations, on. a wide and - comprehensive scale among such institutions in England. The display of a cinema film followed by, say, a hearty luncheon of Canterbury lamb and New Zealand beef slight convert this remnant of* laggard opinion, and also add 1 .to Dominion meat business a very considerable item of regular tender trade throughout'the country. •British. Storage Bates; The statement recently appearing in „the annual report of the New Zealand Meat Producers' Board that "the pres- . ent cold storage rate in Great Britain, which is approximately id per lb per month, is a big tax on our frozen meat trade" has been taken up ,4n trade circles in England, and vigorously contested. Writing in the London Trade t Press on, the subject, Mr B. T. Aitken, the General Manager of the International Gold Stores, Southampton, says that the.foregoing statement is inaecur- ": aXb t for the London rate, which is always quoted as being the highest, only amounts to .209 of a penny per lb, even when the import and landing charges are included. But, adds the writer, ' the inclusion of those import and landing dues is unfair, as whether the goods . go into 1 cold store or not these must always appear, so that the cold storage rate in London only wotks out at .14$ of a penny per lb per month, and it is possible to store one pound of meat for six months for the charge of a Id per lb. Taking the average of the rates quoted by the six chief provincial cold storage ports in Great Britain, Mr Aitken shows that .the charge on New "Zealand, meat.Jfor cold storage comes to only .132 of a penny per lb for the first month, and less for succeeding months, so'that one pound of meat can be stored for'eight months for the cost of a Id. Mr Aitken- carries the battle into the other camp when he says that he doubts whether the' present cold storage rates in England are such'a big tax on the i New Zealand meat trade as the Board would wish- one to believe. For during the (last three years the wholesale price of New Zealand lamb at Snrith- ■-' field was 66 per cent, more than in the three years prior to the war, and of New Zealand . mutton 79 per cent. ; higher.

KAIKQUKA STOCK SALE. ■ stock sale there was a Four hundred and fifty were sold at satisfactory if dairy cows and heifers, >r of pigs. The range ollowa:—TwoHooth half- ' 22s 9d, fat wethers and «d, ewes audi lambs (all Is, forward shorn ewes » and heifers £3 to £5, 1.J7 to £lO 10s, weaner

BRITISH TRADE.

REVIEW .OF. THE MARKETS.

FLOOD OF NEW LOAN ISSUES,

(by cable—rsEss ASSOCIATION— copyright.) (austkalux axd x.z. cable association.)

LONDON, November 21

Once more rubber shares provided the principal interest on the Stock Exchange, and with the price of the raw material at 4s Gd a lb there lias been a strong demand for almost all rubber shares at advancing prices. Other sections d" the Stock Exchange have shown considerable dullness. Giltedgeds had to face numerous adverse factors, notably a flood of new issues, some of which met with a very "poor response, and the fears of a possible rise in the York" 1 ' bi'.nk rate, but despite these unfavourable conditions there has not been pressure to sell gilt-edgeds, and prices generally have been maintained.

Small subs:riptions to the Gold Coast loan, and .Bristol :'.nd Brighton Corporation issues, of which the underwriters are saddled with about 80 per cent., is attributed entirely to the high, issue price. Investors now want a fle.ir o per (c:it. yield, and they will not take less. The Newfoundland loan, just underwritten, is o lei- cent, at ICO'. and certainly yields under .o, . but this is an exceptional case. The high price is accounted for by the fact that both principal and interest are payable at either St. John's (Newfoundland) or Montreal or New York, a valuable option for anyone wanting'to .make payments in dollars. Newfoundland's indebtedness here is very small. Butter Market. With the arrival of the new season's butters from Australia and New Zealand there are signs of a revival of interest amcyig traders, and there has been a fair demand for new arrivals. A leading firm of importers say: "We confidently expect business will now resume its normal dimensions, and that we shall soon be able to .report a very much better trade." The "Continental markets have been quiet, and they, like English merchants, are working out their stocks. The importations for October show a considerable decrease, 94,000c\vt, compared with 1924, and undoubtedly tc situation is tending towards healthier conditions. Importations from Denmark continue to decline. » '' ' • Demand for Wool. The.prospect of the wool sales opening on Tuesday is generally regarded as favourable. It is certain that raw wool is wanted, recent heavy exports having greatly reduced stocks. Some topmakers may be compelled to purchase in London to supply urgent needs, and this demand should suffice to maintain values. According to Bradford correspondents there is further business in fully manufactured goods waiting to be placed, and these orders should come along in due course, provided the verdict of the saleroom does estpblish prices for semimanufacturers which are too high to permit successful tra<Jein the.(finishe" article.

Tea Sales. The tea market has shown, considerable strength lately, and at this week's auction sales very little Indian tea was available under 16d a lb. According to a Press cable from Calcutta another boom year for tea seems certain. Four months ago experts predicted an increase over last year's north India crop of 20,000,0001b, but owing to climatio conditions the anticipated surplus has been changed to a decrease of probably 10.0(K),0001b compared with the 1924 output. The '. average prices at Calcutta show''"a. rise of six annas alb or 75 .percent., compared with the prices ruling 'last, August. CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE. ANNUAL CONFERENCE. Several representatives of North Island Chambers of Commerce are expected, to pass through Christchurch to-day on their way to Dunedin, where the annual- conference of the Dominion's Chambers of Commerce is to open on, Thursday. The delegates from tho Canterbury Chamber of Messrs W'.Machin (president), E. H: Wyles, H. S. E. Turner, and P. R. Climie (secretary)—leave for' Dunedin to-morrow. WAIHI GOLD MINES. REDUCTION OF CAPITAL. (r&OX OUB OWN COBRXSPOSDENT.I LONDON, October 15. Mr A. M. Mitchison (chairman), Sir Westby B. Perceval, and Mr William Bristow; were the directors present at an extraordinary general meeting of the Waihi Gold Mining Company today. On September 30th last, another meeting was held, when an extraordinary resolution was passed unani- . mously relative to the reduction of the capital. 'The meeting to-day was held to con-firm-that'resolution as a special resolution. The chairman 1 , proposed that the following be confirmed as a special resolution: • 'That the capital of the Company be reduced from .£250.000 divided Into 500,000 shares of 10s each,: to £125.000, divided into f-500,000- shares'of'ss' each, and that such i reduction be effected by returning to the holdj ers of the 495,907 shares which have been ' issued paid-up capital to the extent of 5s I per share, 3uch capital no longer being re- ' quired for- the purposes of the Company's 1 business, and by reducing the nominal amount I of e-Jch of the 4093 unissued shares of the Company from 10s to 5s by writing off 5s ! per share, and that such return of capital be i carried out in accordance with Clause 42 (aa) j of the Articles of Association of the Comi pany." j The resolution was seconded by Sir Westby Perceval, and carried unanimously.

ALEXANDER REEFS. (FBESS ASSOCIATION TBUKiaAHS.) j REEFTON, November 23. i Alexander River battery crushed 60 tons of stone : for 2240z, of melted gold from the top plates only. The boxes are expected to give over another ounce. NAURU PHOSPHATE. j 1 j SELLING PRICE. j ■Representatives of the Mid-Canterbury Executive of * the ' New Zealand Farmers-' Union, consisting of the president, Mr John '< Brown,, and the vice-president, Mr J. Carr, met the Hon. W. Noswortky, Minister of Agriculture, yesterday f-r the purpose of discussing the question of selling prices of superphosphate manufactured from Nauru Island rock phosphate. Strong complaint was made of the fact that the Farmers' Union was unable to deal direct with the manufacturers on the. same terms as merchants, even though they were prepared to pay Cash. Another grievance was that Canterbury farmers obtained no benefit from their proximity to the Hornby works, inasmuch as the manufacturers would quote only a railage-paid price, which applied irrespective of distance. Attempts to arrange a discussion with the DirectorGeneral of Agriculture and the manager of the works had failed. Mr N>«worthy said that hi wou!d go into the matter personally as early as possible.