FINANCE AND COMMERCE.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19691, 7 August 1929, Page 12

FINANCE AND COMMERCE.

U.S.A. AGGRESSION

FLOODING THE MARKET. A winch tiai created considergkl* tataraat in Australian commercial lliiln waa «trliv<-red th«- oth. r day by Ik* Own onwealt Ii 1 'r*tii.- Minister, Mr Maal# f H ruc<». A44f*eaiug the Chamber of Manufuctutmr*. h.- w.irii'-1 manufacturers that within tht, n*• *i tvw the United Stair* of Vm.- ri- a would start ft di.tantKW» flwuling <>f 'h< wo !•' 'a markets. At «b- h<- urgt'fi Australian ur»*r* to . • inr«Mitiui «• ;:}><• i» the ■uiaufa<-tuM- of iM..t -r cur". "Wher* #n industry run stain! on Its •ffn f*et, nuil still gut* rht» con-turner *fc# benefit ..f low nut's, 1 am prepared !• gv thr whole h»ti, and prevent in i. ' he iiinl. "At th« |'rr ■»«*nt thin-," Kp went uti, **w« cannot '•!:, l.j the ■ • ginei and iUmii miilor curi in Australia, but w» can supply a trenn -..Jou* number of thing* that tin* used in the constructlatn of 'tn.t .r .-ac It is perfectly atmplr fur ua to mnkc a complete exanimation iiii4 nitimatelv *tnj> any cur aoaiiag in here which . ..iit.iins iuiv of til* things w«• run produce in the •Matrv. Manuftui urcm should lay 4mwm • programme hh«\«.| nrx] carry it ftatw nffuct, until, in u few \car*, they will raarh the pomt wheru they will be aM«* to produce i motoi car from •a# ru<f to the other, (Hear, hear.) (Jvaat Britain, at tha present moment, la rip* to I'uiiii) in and help Australian toaaafacturrm, because Britain ia bofiaalag to r»aJi*s that she ia up against vmy mofh mor# trouble in the near IMw*. That trouble la going to affect •9 to w»m« extent. Being a good pro toctteniat eotinfry, and knowing how 111 tell with people who try to put it •var ua, wt> an probably meet the ■ltvaiiwa mat h more effectively than Britain. There ia a danger facing us, Ui that danger is from the United of America. During the war iltrtra became amazingly rich. She CMtl of the gold of the world. She axp*ud«d a lot of that money in taaraaalng her facilities for protection, Mpu4l>| her factories and installing mmw asaehlaery. Coururrentlv with •ym4ku| that money, the haa been con •Wtnlui opoa a terrific tifflciency •aaapaifa. Hfce has stopped the flow of MV pMpU Into the country, and the —mil ia inevitably going to bo that Imm kail less will the home market be •Me to taka the tremendous production. *'Bha la going to start flooding the %r*rl4 In th« next few years, and it will W a diaastroua flood in ail countries. Itat Uritain is beginning to see it, and X battove there will not be any better way *f tackling this problem and benoftttiag the secondary industries of Australia than by saying that wa will givu te Britain the market which we do not waal awmelvea, and keep out the other Wlaw., (Cfcaara.) 4 'la the interMta not only of Australia generally, but of th« manufacta*MS ihamaelvea, It la eaaentlal tihat mh fMmj should bo pursued at the yraaaai time. 1 '

WELLINGTON 'WOOLLEN CO.

MBaCTORB» RBPORT.

(in vasM »>«ft swvtM-i WELLINGTON, August 6. Tin gross profit ••rued by the WelW««U«a Company, Limited, for th« jrear ended Jan* BOtb totalled MA,407, compared with £07,600 In the ytif. The expense! amounted to tmjMtt, against £29,304. «ates, taxes, interest, salaries, etc., accounted tm as,ts& agal.net £23,672, mainten mm, Ml debt*, etc., for £6201, against i£44N>; auditor*' fees were unchanged •I Mia 10a, and <3OOO waa again written *flf for depreciation, leaving the net Mtft at t#0,545, against 233,206, showlag tie trifling decreaae of £2661. TW directors in their report state: Tie geaeral buaineaa depression which existed in lb* Dominion during the JNNUr, aafi whieb unfortunately haa not <f*t lifted, ia reflected to some extent in *lm igarw, although not sufficiently so II to prevent the directors from recom■Madiag a further dividend at the same »*ta m last year. To tka net profit of £30,545 must be added £5474 brought forward, making avaliikMa £13,010 against £84,388. The dtvidoMl for the year absorbs £30,000, half of which wsa paid aa an interim d§»lda»d, and £3OOO has been added to tt« reeorve fund, .leaving £lOl9 to be asnrM forward. T%m paid-up capita] of the company »« CNN>,OOO to 40,000 ordinary shares of iS mwh, and 30,000 preference shares of §1 mmk. The general reserve stands at JIM*. against £34.000, and the fire lnwMuaee reaerve at £II,OOO against The bank overdraft totals <M t 4M, against £46,700, a reduction of AIAJML Hmtdry creditors account f»r £74»41W against £63,737, aa IwfMtMt of £1.0,763, and «m----mioyaoa* deposits total £3723 against W*. *Vee.hoid land, buildings, plant, •I*., Imm depreciation, amount to against £313,745; stocks of M* material ami manufactured goods OtC.JMIt against £21.6,154, sundry JahUra £#0,074 against £60,658, bills MMdvftbi* £471! against £1169, and deducting the reserve ifor bad debts, total IM;W against £55,294. Insnrmmw premium* unexpired £3OO, and aaafe is hand £177 make the total of HfliMis £400,738, against £505,044. VALL'ABLB CITY BLOCK BOLD. Tks aaia ta reported of 72 feet fr .lit wnat side of Colombo street. I IwtwtMi Armagh and Gloucester «tr*eU, having a depth of 132 feet •ad running out to Gloucester street with a frontage of 42 feat. the area ■•lag; 1 rood 10 porches, with right-of-wm of Clkwwter street, and together Willi two-atorvy brick and atone boildlugs occupied by Messrs Frank A OMfc. Uul.. groevra. J. N du Feu and Oe.. Lid , bootmakers, T. D. Lennio awd Co.. nurvrrvmen and florists. Mrs J*almM r lr ft|»>r, City Oarage, and (•!<m< , Mit>r ( tub, TW »«-od i are Luck'a Tru»t«*a. who fca*« w»«xl the land since the early Jay* i th«* province, and the p<irmmmn are Xoaara II g Richard* and ■cm, who erected tile buildings 23 |Ni*ni ago oa a SO years' building The poreiuM* haa been made for ■nveataent purposes and no immediate are contemplated. The f*fc» k not dfacloaed. DAISY BBSEARCH. (Wtaee tMOiurim rauwaAM.) PALHHMTON NORTH. August fl. A of dairv research scientiato ooened at Maaaey College this anming. The meeting decided to form • N«w 7.**btini Science Association, and rrt»<lr ••>{ .;vlf into the flint meetisc of <l»«f I**l* Papers on question* I relating to (!'«■ dairy industry were fed *H<e (tritrtH-fltiKj* were not open to tl»# Pre*, hut reports will He supftfed «4 tl»« end at tho conference.

N.Z. INSURANCE CO.

ANNUAL MEETING. (THE PRESS Special #«mce.] AUCKLAND, August 6. The seventieth annual meeting of iharehoklers in the New Zealand Insiiirance Company was held to-day. Mr C. lUiodcs, thairman of directors, presided. In moving the adoption of the re(»ort and balance-sheet, the chairman mid that in tho marine market, while M<rnt* advanct* in hull rates had been htought alK>ut, efforts on the part of the a&sociated lonipanies to improve carno rates had not developed along healthy lirn s. The rates ruling in London were still inadequate, and condit fella unsatisfactory, and for these rea- » ns the company's operations there t(.llow«Hl a Ktrongly restricted policy Notwithstanding increasing competition at most points, income had advanced from £1.100,232 to_ £1.183,973, giving a satisfactory increase of £33,741 Underwriting profit, however, after making full provision for all contingencies, was rather less, being £'80,209. or 8.21 per cent., as against 8.22 per cent last vear. Expense i-owt showed a slight decrease from 31 4 |km- cent, last vear to 30 6 per cent for the period just ended. Husirii-ss in New Zealand in both the fire and accident departments, said Mr Hhodes still gave the insurance companies general cause for some concern. The abnormal fire waste of the past two or three years continued without abatement, and the average claims cont of underwriters in New Zealand for tho last statistical year v/a.s over 7'2 per cent. "Add to this their average expense of 38 per cent.," he said, "and it is clear that much business is done at a loss Fortunately, with the experience of our company •n other fields, we are able to show an aggregate claims cost of 61.2 per cent and expenses 30.6 per cent., which vit Ids a moderate margin of profit of H 2 per cent. Without being extravagant, this gives us some reason for congratulation under existing conditions." Consistent with the growth in the volume of assets, interest and rents derived from investments had advanced by £3805 to a total of £134,077, being a return of 5.33 per cent., as against 5.28 per cent last year. The aggregate book figures of the investnievits of the company, standing at £2,515,739, were less than the market value of same. Referring to the seventieth anniversary this year of the company's incorporation. the chairman said that in 1909, their jubilee year, the paid up capital, r««ervea, and carry forward stood at £765,000, in 1919 at £1,614,616, and to-day at £2.486,000. Interest and rents in 1909 produced £28,648, a.s against th« present day figure of £134,077. In regard to the dividend, Mr UhodeH said that after full consideration nf current conditions, and in accordance with the conservative policy which had consolidated the company's position during an experience of 70 vears, the directors recommended that th« dividend this vear should not be increased, but maintained at lid per aharo for the half-year, making Is lOd per share for the year. The TVust Department was becoming a valuable adjunct to tho main buaineea of the company. Tn« report was adopted without discussion The retiring directora, Messrs Alfr«! 8 Bankart. C V Houghton, and Oliver Nicholson, were re-elected unoj' posed. Messrs Henrv Gilfillan and P C Buddie were re-elected auditors Mr P A. Rdmiston in moving a vote thanks to the directors and staff, said he wan not going to pretend that he considered the result of the vear's underwriting satisfactory, as he thought it was poor. Whether from fore* of existing circumstances, or from unwise underwriting, or other causes, shareholders would probably cnly be able to decide when they saw the results of similar institutions. However, the fact that during the year nearly £1,200 000 in premium had been paid showed that the directors and staff were entitled to appreciation.

BOTTLE TRADE MARKS.

ACTION BY N.Z. BREWERIES, LIMITED. (raass lasociATiov t«ukmui(.) PALMERSTON NORTH, August 6. Sat down for hearing at the present sitting of the Supreme Court at Palmerston North waa the ease in which the New Zealand Breweries, Ltd., sought £3OO damages and an injunction restraining the Standard Brewery Co., Ltd., from using any bottles bearing plaintiff's trade marks and selling liquor not of plaintiff's manufacture in any such bottles. When the action was qientioned in Court to-day Mr F. H. Cooke stated, on behalf of plaintiffs, that the action had been brought not only for the purpose of stopping defendant's invasion of plaintiffs rights, but also for the purpose of drawing public attention to the rights of New Zealand Breweries, Ltd., in respect to their glass bottle trade mark, and of reminding the public that the plaintiff company's ownership continues after the bottles have been delivered to the purveyors of the liquor contained in them. The trade mark is embossed on the bottles, and in addition there are the words:—"This bottle is the property of the New Zealuud Breweries, Ltd." Further, plaintiffs notify their customers of the fact that their property in the bottle does not pats to the purchaser of the contents. The company appointed agents for receiving and returning empty bottles, and from time to time by advertisement had given notice to the trade of its rights and warnings against infringements of those rights. The case would not go on, defendants having agreed to an injunction being entered. Mr H. R. Cooper, for defendants, ex- j plained that they had not been trying to pass on their beer as plaintiff's make. Each bottle had been labelled, although they used the bottles.

KOTUKU OIL SEEPAGES. COUNTRY TO BE TESTED. (run tssociATioH tslko&ak.) GISBORNE, August <5. The directors of Taranaki (N'.Z.) Oil Fields, no liability, decided to earry out a preliminary test or" the anti-clini-cal formation situated to the north of the oil seepages at Kotuku on the west coast of the &outb Island, about 15 miles from Greymouth. Oil rights in the district have been held by the company for some time, and last year the area now proposed to be tested was examined by Mr E. C. Maephorson, the company's geologist, who reported favourably and recommended that the structure bt tested.