FINANCE AND COMMERCE.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19732, 24 September 1929, Page 12

FINANCE AND COMMERCE.

LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE.

EFFECT OF HATRY GROUP COLLAPSE. COMMERCIAL SUMMARY. ll'jriTED PRM« ASSOCIATION— »f ELSCTMC TBLIOBAPa COPTBIOHT.) LONDON, September 21. Everything on the Stock Exchange has been overshadowed by the seusationul collapse of the Hatry Group securities, which commenced in a small way oh Tuesday, progressed to a dramatic climax yesterday, when the Block Exchange Committee took a drastic step by suspending dealings in the group. This brought confusion to the market and completely offset the more encouraging signs which had been apparent earlier in the week. From gilt-edgeds down to mining •hares weakness set in, and the blow vas more severely felt as it came at i the end of the account, when arrange-: ments for a carry-over had to be made. It was, of course, industrial shares that suffered moat, and there was a general markiug down of prices. Fortunately gilt-edgeds, though unable entirely to withstand the adverse influence, did Hot give much ground, the losses in most instances only amounting to about one-eighth. Colonials were generally steady, though the Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works 5 per •ents., 1954, fell further to £9l 10s, doubtless on account of the association of Corporation and General Securities with this issue last April. This stock was quoted at 94 on Monday. The. newspapers comment severely on the failure of the directors of the Hatry Group to make a statement regarding the position of affairs. The "Financial News" says: "The companies have been unusually dilatory in submitting accounts and reports. Into those companies the money of innumerable small Investors has been placed. Brokers in both London and the Provinces transacted bargains in good faith. The directors who surround Hatry have flanged many confiding and not excessively credulous investors and many brokers into ruin, or a state of embarrassment very like it. Hatry must, from the position he holds, be held up to censure in this regard, but his colleagues on the various Boards must share his responsibility." There was a fine display of Empire produce at the Grocers' Exhibition, which opened at Islington to-day. The Empire Marketing Board secured space iu which are shown varieties of products from all parts of the Empire. The New Zealand High Commissioner's Department is showing an attractive exhibit of butter, cheese, bacon, honey, dried milk, condensed milk, tinned tongues, and canned passion fruit. As the exhibition is thronged daily with grocers from all parts of the Empire, it is expected that the demand for Australian and New Zealand products will be considerably increased. Discussing the decline in wool prices, a correspondent of the "Economist" writes: "Consolation may be found in the fact that the lower prices will be conducive to increased consumption. .Values are now at a really cheap and attractive level, and a return of confidence on this basis is alone necessary* If tie general public could participate in the benefits of cheap wool by being able to buy clothing at a correspondingly reasonable price, the textile industry would soon experience a very big improvement. If a profitable outlet for wool eannot be found at the current prices it is a poor look-out for the Colonial wool trade.—Australian IPrem Assciatlon. THOUSAND FEET HIGH. NEW YORK'S BIG OFFICE JIUILPING. (VHiTan rasas association—by bmctbio TILSOSAPa -COPYIUOHT.) (Received September 23rd, 7.25 p.m.) NEW YORK, September 22. The contract has been given by the Empire State Incorporated, of which the former Governor, Mr Al Smith, is president, to Starrett Bros., for the construction of the world's highest ofike building on the site of the Wal-dorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. The structure will be a thousand feet kigh, of eighty storeys,.and will accommodate fifty thousand office workers. It will be ready within two years.— Australian Press Association. [The new building will be one of the world's largest, and will exceed the size of the Equitable Building, which is, at present, New York's largest. The company paid £3,000,000 for the site, which covers two acres. The building alone is estimated to cost £9,000,000. The Waldorf Astoria Hotel, which is being demolished, has been a landmark of Now York for 37 years. So great was the space devoted to corridors and lobbies, and so high the value of the land, that the hotel could no longer show a respectable return,] RAYON. STRIKING AMERICAN INCREASE. Loading United States producers report rayon aales at <T lr*el materially higher than a >tiar The markets quickly recovered (rum the tmaattllnc effect* of the rayon price reduction in June, which was the second this year. The (our major textile fibres all khowrd a downward tread in prioes (or the Sr.t half of the year. On the basis of weekly average prices, raw cotton declined by 14 per euut. from the high point, wool by 18 per «..ut . ftiifc by 0 per cent., and rayon by 23 per rent. According to the "Daily News Heoord," production of rayon in the United fit*ten in tflao will approximate 175,750.0001b. a gain of »4 per cent, over the output of 1.10,450,0001b planned lor lit - .!!), and about 80 per eonl. more than m 19-''. HAURAKI MINES. The i»»i>ager report* as follows:—"As soon •» the batik witurna for the gold sold are tu band Mitt iltitailwd ruturn will be made. Tile hopper at the mint* is about com pleUd, and mis him: it the battery will be rttauinnl iu murro . (Tuesday). The passes • I buih ends of liui it ope* are full, and towards the en.l of tint week sloping will be resumed at the |> <ini where tta<f last lot of tiim-tnien »loiu- *~s got, and where void is ■howirif it) the back of the stone. Driving on (he (Irwen Harp reef from the deviation drive lis* advaocsd Bft through bands of qu*r«» up to tiin In width. This drive will i>» carried through to the portion of the MurV« nod reef, followed in the mnin Wei. There it, m pass of (juarti here, aud the junction should Im dose up,"

N.Z. ONIONS. PROPOSED AUSTRALIAN DUTY RESENTED. [THE PBBSS Special Service.] AUCKLAND, September 23. Considerable resentment is felt by local merchants at the steps being taken by Victorian onion-growers to have a duty of £6 a ton placed on 1 New Zealand onions exported to Australia. It is considered that a definite attempt is being made to cut out New Zealand trade altogether. "It is the next chapter in the tale of protection run riot," said a prominent city merchant. He referred to the restrictions imposed by the Commonwealth on imports of New Zealand butter and potatoes, and mentioned steps which had been taken to retaliate in regard to the latter commodity. ■ This spirit in trade between the two countries was to be deplored, he said. A better feeling should exist andpin pricking'' tactics were not helpful toward that end. The merchant said it was to be noted with -certain satisfaction that the Chief Inspector of the Victorian Department of Agriculture had. protested against the decision of the growers. If the growers were successful in thtir representations and the Minister for Customs agreed to impose a duty, some form of retaliation would possibly" come from New Zealand. He considered a duty would absolutely ruin the trade, as export to Australia would not be.a payable proposition under such a restriction. It was pointed out that the amount of New Zealand exports of onions to Australia was not very great, and consequently it could not greatly affect the Australian market. As a general rule Australia shipped more onions to New Zealand than it received from the Dominion. This was borne out by the record of exports and imports during the past three years. The quantity of onions shipped from New Zealand to Australia for the three yea™ was as follows: —1926, 692 tons; 1927-1928, 17 tons. The imports from Australia were: 1926, 224 tons; 1927, 1720 tons; 1928, 964 tons. The action of the Victorian growers waa inopportune in view of the efforts being made to establish better trade relations. It was stated the attempt would only add fuel to the fire of resentment which already existed. The position into which the two countries are drifting is realised by commercial men, and the following resolution was passed at a recent meeting of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce: "That the increasing asperity in wade relations between Australia and New Zealand be deplored and the desirability be urged of the removal of the present restrictions on trade, and of the negotiation of a new reciprocal tariff on substantially lower terms." This resolution will be considered at the forthcoming conference of Associated Chambers at Auckland. N.Z. DAIRY PRODUCE. ENGLISH DEMAND INCREASING. [»m 7BJSSS Special Service.] AUCKLAND, September 23. It will be gratifying to New Zealand producers to hear from a Tooley street dairy produce importer that our butter is increasing in popularity in- England on account of its quality. Mr A. W. Heyes, of the London firm of Henry A. Lane and Company, Ltd., dairy produce importers, who recently spent four months in New Zealand on a business investigation and then went across to the Commonwealth, expressed this opinion to-day. He is on board the Aorangi on his way back to the Old Country, - "I think you have a great future for your dairy produce," he said. "Your butter is well liked and its popularity is growing, especially in the North of England, that is around Liverpool and in the Midlands. I believe Liverpool will develop into a big distributing eentre. "As far as cheese is concerned," he continued, "there has been a lot of criticism in respect to the quality, but that should have referred; o»ly to a portion of your exports. It is quite apparent that real consideration is being given to the matter in New Zealand and 1 have no doubt that any defects will be rectified in due course." Asked as to the future from a price point of view, Mr Heyes said he had been away from London for six months and he was not in a position to forecast prices, but it appeared that prospects for the coming season were hopeful. "No doubt, prices will work out quite satisfactorily," he added. Mr Heyes is not at al sanguine as to a satisfactory market for New Zealand dairy produce on the Continent of Europe. "I do not think there is much scope there," he said. "They are great producers and tariffs are prohibitive. Canada and the East, however, are in a different case and the markets are apparently developing freely to your advantage in the future." While declining to make any comment as to the early operations of the New Zealand Dairy Produce Board, Mr Heyes said:—"The Board in London in its reorganised form is doing useful work in regard to such matters as supervision of handling, advertising, and so forth. Beyond that I have nothing to say." WHALING INDUSTRY. EXTENT OF OPERATIONS. Tlwre are now 40 whaling companies operating in Antarctic waters, and their fleets include 40 "factory ships" and over 200 "chasers." The Norwegian contingent alone employs about 9000 men, and the results secured seem to have fully justified the outlay. One company, whose fleet consists of two factory ships and 10 chasers, is said to have killod 4760 whales between 1923 and 1929, and this "catch" produced 400,000 barrels of oil, valued at more than £2,000.000. Naturally such turns have attracted competition. A tew months ago there was registered at Sydney an Australian Whaling Development Syndicate, with a capital of £750.000 and one of the inducements held out to investors is the statement that one Norwegian whaler had taken more than £1,000.000 worth of oil in three cruises The Australians seem to have taken to heart Sir Douglas Mawson's admonition, that it .is a national duty for them to exploit th® wealth of Antarctica.

THE BANK OF BABEL.

(specialty wktttek fob the psbss.)

[By Hartley Withers.] have approached our task as business rapn anxious to obtain effective results." With this quotation from the report of the Dawes Committee its successor, the Young Committee, opens its own account of its efforts to solve the problem before it. Everyone will agree that the results produced by the Dawes Committee •were very good, in the matter of a more reasonable atmosphere in Europe, though the question of Germany's capacity to pay, which was so ingeniously shelved by the committee, was evaded by the fact that Germany did not pay but borrowed. Let us hope that the efforts of the Young Committee will be equally successful, but it is rather difficult to believe that a team of business men really anxious to obtain effective results should have complicated its scheme with such an unnecessary and questionable excrescence as the Bank of International Settlements. The recommendation of its creation is justified as having been made "in order to provide machinery for the removal of the Reparation obligation from the political to. the financial sphere,"-:a most laudable object if there were any possibility of securing it, but' can even a Committee of Experts delude itself into the belief that because Reparations are henceforth to be paid to a new bank created ad hoc, the German taxpayer will be induced to forget that he has a • political debt to meet? It is hard to believe that the very shrewd folk who sat on this committee really believed in this sort of eyewash, and other passages in the report suggest that it cannot have been read very carefully by some of the eminent people who signed it. It says—"we have attempted . . . through the proposed creation of the machinery which we recommend, to set up an institution whose direction from the start shall be co-operative and international in character; whose members shall engage themselves to banish the atmosphere of war, to obliterate its animosities, its partisanships, its tendenrious phrases," and to work together for a common end in a spirit of mutual interest and goodwill. The noble eloquence of this sentence is just thfc port of thing that one expects to hear, and applauds with sincere heartiness, in the idealistic atmosphere of Summer Schools, but from business men anxious to obtain effective results it has an irrelevant ring; and if, as it implies, no one is to be allowed on the board or staff of the new bank who is not a wholehogging pacifist, the difficulties, in any case considerable, of manning it will npt be diminished. Two questions inevitably assail the mind of anyone who is faced by the Bank of International Settlements proposition —Was it wanted, and can it workf It certainly was not wanted for its ostensible purpose—the removal of Reparations from the political to the financial sphere. That this is impossible has already been noted, but it was certainly worth while to abolish, as the Young Committee has done, the machinery bv which Reparations were collected in Germany by a Transfer Committee whose duty it was to turn them into foreign currencies and hand them to the Ally creditors. Under the Young plan it is Germany's business to pay the Reparation annuities in foreign currencies —at least this seems to be the only possible meaning of the statement on p.lB of the"report that ' of the above annuities the following amounts shall be payable . . . in foreign currencies" and "the remainder of the annuity shall be payable in foreign currencies." It is true that the report, which is hardly a model <jf lucidity, refers in another passage tpo " reichsmarks currently accruing'' to the bank 's account at the Reichsbank. Why marks should currently accrue to it, when it is its business to receive Reparations and Reparations are payable in foreign currencies is not clear; what is clear is that since Reparations are payable in foreign currencies there was no need of any kind to create a new bank to receive the payments and distribute them among the creditors. The existing machinery for making payments iB about as perfect and complete as anything in this world; and there was no reason why Germany should not have paid the monthly instalments of the annuities into the Swiss National Bank, or the Bank of Sweden, or any other neutral bank, or, more simply still, paid them to the central banks of the receiving countries in the proportions agreed by th Seeing that the actual payment could have been so easily effected, it can only be supposed that the bank was created pai "y to give an excuse to the committee for refusing during so many weeks the really big jump that it had to take, namely finding a figure which Germany thought she might be able to pay and the creditors might be induced to accept and partly because there were dreamers on the committee who forgot that they were business men anxious to obtain results, and preferred to be financial H. G. Wellses imagining a great Bank of All the World that would some day do for the central banks what they do for the trading banks, and would help to stabilise the purchasing power of gold and reduce the need for shipping gold backwards and forwards across the hemispheres and do all those things which a great central bank may do some day if and when the nations have sense enough to get civilised and give up war and to recognise that they are one another s good customers. A splendid idea, if ever it becomes possible; but to start it now, in the present temper of the world—as exemplified by the proposed American tariff and the fact that it could not be mentioned in public at the recent Amsterdam Conference—is to run a serious risk of spoiling a good idea by introducing it, on a false pretext, at a time when the world is not ready for it. . And this danger is all tlip greater when one tries to answer the second question—can the new bank work i Business men anxious for effective results would hardly, if they had not been obliged to do so, have deyised an institution with a board consisting of seven central bank governors or their nominees, seven others appointed by the said governors from their own countrymen, two more appointed (if they like) by the Governors of the Banks or France and Germany, and nine more to be elected by these fourteen or sixteen from lists furnished by the governors of the central banks of any other countries that may care to come into the scheme. It is difficult to conceive a more impossible and unworkable board, or how any good practical banker, of the kind' whom one would choose to do the work of the bank, would, ever consent to expatriate himself to Brussels, or wherever the bank is to be, to work under such a team. The bank is... part of the Young scheme and the scheme stands or falls as a whole. Bat at least one may hope that the Governments, when they accept th.e Young scheme will confine the bank to toe barest duty of collecting and distributing Reparations. Of that job it cannot make much of a mess,

SALE OF OATS.

hearing of disputed claim. [THE PRESS Special Service.] WELLINGTON, September 23. Further attention was given by the Supreme Court to-day to the case m „l,ich the s« plus inter - resnect of 5649 sacks ofoi C ts a for S alleged breach of contract °'ta openmg tl» case for defence Mr FT F. O Leary said that ir tne ladings were left in their present form he would ask for a non-suit with reference to the smaller parcels of oats whi'-i were not the subject of Set sale between the two companies in the case. If, however, the nleadings were amended there would be, no point to make in that connexion The Chief Justice (the Hon. Mi Myers): I do not think any good piirpose would be served. I would prefer to hear the whole of the evidence. .Mr O'Leary went .on to say that he intended to call evidence to show that the procedure of branding sacks observed in different ■ districts in the South Tsland was not haphazard or wrong, as might have been gathered from the evidence for the plaintiff company. His Honour: What I thought was this: —First of all, irrespective of the merits of this case, a grader should show that the sacks he grades are branded in accordance with the certificate, otherwise his certificate is untrue and should not be taken. Secondly, in the interests of the warehouseman it is in the highest degree important that that should be done because .frequently oats are sold on the warrants nnd in accordance with the description in the stock warrant, and if that is done, and the precise sacks branded as described cannot be delivered the purchaser has the to object, and you will have all sorts of trouble. Not only that, but the business of branding obviously leads to the possibility of fraud i Mr O'Leary suggested that hi 3 [ Honour address the witness on the ;-subject. His Honour remarked that he did not wish to deliver a homily, but with regard to the practice of branding sacks only after the issue of the warrant, when such a question arose ht». thought it advisable to point out to the trade generally the dangers of the practice. The hearing was adjourned. CONDITIONS IN AUSTRALIA. MR J. RENNIEPS IMPRESSIONS. [THE PBESS Special Service.} AUCKLAND, September 23. ''Prospects for the coming season's wheat production in Australia are not good, and even though Australians are by nature optimists, they cannot be optimistic concerning the wool clip." These are the views of Mr J. Rennie, the Christchurch flour and cereal manufacturer, who returned from a trip to Australia by the Aorangi "In most parts of Australia there has been only a very slight rainfall this winter," Mr Rennie said. "The prospects for the coming season's yield are not although it is hoped that there will bo some wheat avail able for export. A full "crop is expected in Western Australia, which is held to be one of the soundest States in the Commonwealth, but New South Wales has been very badly affected by the drought." Australia's wool production would not be quite so heavy this season, Mr Kennie continued, and although statement had been made that priceh had reached rock-bottom last season, Australians were not viewing the co/ning sales in any great spirit of enthusiasm Conditions all round in New Zealand were much healthier than they were in Australia. However, a notable feature was the surprising building activity in the Australian cities, more particularly in Sydney. From the number of buildings that were going up no one would think there was any trade depression in Australia. MEAT TRADE PROSPECTS. PEDIGREE STOCK FAVOURED. [THE PBESS Special Service.] AUCKLAND, September 23. It has been estimated that the recent drop in wool prices will mean a heavy loss to Australia,- according to Mr R. W. Roche, of Auckland, who returned from Sydney by the Aorangi after spending five months in the Commonwealth. There was not a very bright outlook ahead of Australian Eastoralists, he said, but on the other and there were indications of a good season in the meat trade. "The United States are now importing much more frozen meat and Australia is taking steps to develop this market," Mr Roche said. "Increasing population has meant that land which was used a few years ago for raising stock must now carry, cereals, and as a result the number of cattle in the United - States has decreased by 7,000,000 head. Foot-and-mouth disease constitutes a serious bar to the export of meat from the Argentine. The bettei prospects for export have resulted in an increase in the price for beef cattle in Australia. Mr Cramsie, chairman of the Metropolitan Meat Industry Board, holds that there is a great future for the Polled Angus and Red Poll breeds and regards the latter as a dual purpose cow. He recently purchased a number of young Polled Angus bulls and heifers from the best herds in Canada, and these are to be used to improve the breed in New South Wales.'" The New South Wales Government was doing much to encourage farmers to breed pedigree stock, Mr Roche said. There was a very keen demand for stock from the various colleges, and the Government was not looking for large profits, but supplying high-grade animals at low prices. The price was genera'ly based at Is a pound of butterfat from the dam, a bull calf from a cow vielding 600 lbs of butterfat being valued at £3O Heifers were sold at correspondingly low prices. "For such stock prices are much lower than those ruling in New Zealand." Mr Roche said. "The Government is purposely keeping them low. Tf the stock were sold at public auction it would bringdouble the price. One heifer was sold at the Royal Show recently for £149 10s." Herd-testing was becoming more popular in Australia and dairy-farmers were beginning to realise its value Mr Roche continued. However, there was not nearly enough top-dressing. Lack of ton-dressing and use of fertilisers was holding back Australian farming to a considerable extent, and in this respect Australians could: learn a very valuable lesson from New Zealand.

and it may be quite useful as a meeting place for governors of central hanks, especially if there is a decent golfcourse attached.

DAIRY PRODUCE BOARD

financial position. NEARLY £32,000 INVESTED. In view of the. criticism which has been levelled at the New Zealand Dairy Produce Control Board by recent meetings of dairy, companies, some details concerning its financial position, provided by an Auckland paper, will be of interest. The books are balanced at July 31st, and at that time the liabilities to sundry creditors totalled £9190, whilst the assets stood as follows: — ASSETS. Cash at .bank ... .. 2,389 Sundry debtors . . 5,677 Investments —New Zealand Government stock . . . ~ 31,90$ Motor-car .. . . .. 227 Office furniture . . . . 2,275 Films of dairy industry . . 100 Thermograph and hygrometer .. 36 Motor-van (London) . . . , 50 Silver challenge cups . . 175 43,134 It will be seen that the Board holds a strong position financially, for it has in investments and cash £34,000. Details of receipts and expenditure are supplied in the following table.:— For year Levy on ] • ended dairy Total July 31. produce. Expenses. ! 1925* .. 77/956 31,289 1926 ~ . 53,517 26,937 1927 .. 60.56G 54,516 1928 •• 33,711 37,528 1929 .. 35,277 27,088 261,027 177,358 ♦Eighteen months' period. The difference between expenses and levy over the period shown h £83,669. Crediting the assets there still remains £40,535 to be accounted for. This has probably been spent on advertising." The published accounts of 1927 showed, in addition to the expenses account £20,000 spent in advertising in the. United Kingdom, and a simi-' lar entry or memo appeared the following year. Among details of expenditure, expenses of board meetings, members' honoraria, and travelling expenses totalled £4632. Expenses of management at head office totalled £7068. and at London £5292. These three entries alone aggregate nearly £17.000 per annum, certainly a heavy bill for what would be termed in a trading concern the "overhead." No problems of financing confront the gentlemen who control this expenditure, their job being purely one of organisation. Charges which they incur in carrying out the Board's work, such as inspection of produce, shipping expenses, and advertising, are all additional to the £17.000 just referred to. Amongst the expenses incurred is an annual subsidy to the "Exporter," £3352. Since this paper was started four years ago, no less a sum than £11,691 -of the dairymen's funds has. been paid to keep It going. For and Again St. An instance of' the criticism levelled at the Board nowadays occurred at Pahiatua recently. Speaking at the annual meeting of the Rexdale Dairy Company, the chairman, Mr P. Lawson, said there was not the slightest doubt that the Dairy Produce Board was a failure so far as the main business of such an institution was concerned. The failure to regulate shipments wbf an absolute scandal. It was perfectly ridiculous for the chairman, .Hr W. A. lorns, to be travelling about the country telling the farmers what wonderful benefits they were receiving.. As a matter of fact they were receiving no benefits which could possibly compensate for the losses taking place. It was unanimously resolved that, in the opinion of the meeting, the question of the continuation of the Dairy Board should be seriously considered by the dairy industry as a whole, with a view to a drastic devision of the personnel so as to* secure members of the Board being wholly representative of dairy farmers only. At the annual meeting of the Konini Dairy Company the chairman, Mr M. Alpass, said the operations of the Dairy Control Board were, in his opinion, now more of a detriment to the farmer than anything else. The Board was too expensive, for one thing. The secretary received a salary of £ISOO a year, which was alotgether too much: All the members, in tact, were paid too much,, It wns the farlner who had to struggle on the land to pay these hnge salaries. Without a Board at all the National Dairy Association could carry out the functions adequately, with the assistance of the High Commissioner for New Zealand in London to direct its advertising campaign. About the same time as these meetings were held Mr lorns, chairman of the Board, addressed the annual meeting of shareholders in the Feathersto-n Co-operative Dairy Company. At the conclusion of the meeting a, vote of thanks and confidence in Mr lorns and the Board was carried. The mover said the Board was an immense benefit to the daiyr industry. The Board is faced with a difficult problem just now to satisfy the South Island Dairy Association, which has protested vigorously against the action of the Board in approving a form of contract submitted by the Exporters' Association, which, it alleges, appears to have been framed solely in the interests of exporters. HIGH COMMISSIONER'S REPORT. [■mil PBESS Special Servica.] WELLINGTON, September 23. The» Department of Agriculture has received the following cablegram, dated 21st instant," from the High Commissioner for New Zealand, London TALLOW. There was- no auction this week. The market is quiet but steady, and prices are unchanged. WOOL. The sales continue, with good general competition. Values remain the same as opening rates. HEMP. The Manila, market is somewhat irregular, and business is quiet. Closing values of "J" grade, October-December shipments, Bre £36 10s. The sisal market is quiet but steady at last quotations. New Zealand is unchanged. There is only a little offering, but buyers are holding back, as prices are considered too dear" compared with Manila. Sales are reported in fair at £3l 10s Nominal comparative closing values are: Highpoints £35, fair £3l 10s, common £3O 10s. T 0W —Second grade £22, third grade £l7 15s. Stocks in England at August 31st were 88 tons, as against 86 tons at the same time last year. AN AVIATION PROBLEM. PARKING OUR PLANES! Aviation has obviously a great deal to offer New Zealand. Recent flights have done much to stimulate public interest and enI thusiasm, and this will doubtless lead, as j indeed in the national interest it is essential it should to progressive development of flying. The question immediately arises as to where our budidng aviators can land and "park" when visiting other centres, as they very naturally will wish to do. On the successful answer to this question depends the extent of development possible in private aviation in New Zealand. The problem requires to be handled with energy and vision, and the practical proposals of the Auckland Aero Club to acquire and equip a permanent aerodrome as a contribution to a national need, should therefore be of keen interest to every believer in the future of air travel, and which of us is bold enough to doubt this now! It is to be hoped that sufficient funds may be realised as a result of the Art Union suecially sanctioned by the Government, and now in progress, „to carry out the project m Auckland more especially as success in this case will have more than local significance.

WAIMATE DAIRY CO,

ANNUAL MEETING. Tie ninth annual meeting of shareholders of th« Waimate Co-operative Dairy Company, Ltd. was held on Saturday. The chairman of directors (Mr H. H. Meredith) presided. The annual report was as follows — Your directors have pleasure in' submitting the ninth annual report and balance-sheet for the rear ending June 30th, 1929, for your consideration, and,-in do»n«-so, agam UKe the opportunity of expressing their thanks t° the dairy-farmers of North Otago, Waimate, and other parts' of South Canterbury for their continued support. The_ past season has been very successful, and satisfactory returns have been-secured. The future bright, «nd every confidence can. be placed in excellent results ensuing in the coming season. We have made the usual allowance for depreciation on buildings, plant, and machinery, also 6 per cent, interest to shareholders on paidup capital The supply at the factory has been well maintained, the output show,n» 46 tons increase over the previous year, and the total output reached being the highest since the company was established. The directors wish to accord their appreciation of the staff for the manner in which they have carried out their respective duties, aiid the interest taken in the company s business. The directors, retiring by rotation are Messrs H. H. Meredith and T. U. Cooper, who offer themselves for re-election. During the year the directorate lost the services of Mr William Stewart (deceased), and Mr T. U. Cooper temporarily filled the vacancy. Your directors recommend the following final payment per lb of bUtter-fat on last season's supply:—ld, July; Id, November; Id, J>e-. cember; Id, February; Id, March; la, April. These payments bring up. the amount to Is 5d per month for 11 months of the year, and la 6d for August." In moving the adoption of the report and balance-sheet, ■ the chairman said the past year constituted a record for output, the quantity manufactured being 379 tons, an increase on the previous year of 46 tens. The butter shipped Home had been on consignment. Approximately 250 tons had been sold, and "48 tons were now being held tor the market to rise. The prices realised at Home had fluctuated somewhat. In November, 1928, the ruling price had been 172 a per cwt, gradually rising till in January it reached 188s. Then, when the balk of the butter reached home iw- Marcn and _April, the price declined to 160s per cwt. It wa« now 180s. In the balance-sheet would-be noticed the item, £866 4s 7d net profit. This amount .was being held in the event ox any loss on the butter shipped. The manufacturing and shipping costs had been lowered- by nearly Id per lb, owing mainly to the increased output, and'also to the-reduction" 01.. freiebt and insurance charges. Mr Kennard asked if superphosphate purchased through.the company was cheaper. . The chairman said it Iwas not necessarily, so, but even if it were not the company would make a certain amount of profit. The report and balance-sheet were adopted. The retiring directors,' Messrs H. H. Meredith and T. U. Cooper, were re-elected. Mr J. Burgess was reappointed auditor. On the motion of Mr Kennedy, it ~was- decided that it be a recommendation to the directors that a bonus be voted to earsh member of the staff. - . The usual remuneration of £BOO was passed to the directors. LONDON WOOL SALES. Dalgety and Company, Ltd., have received the following cablegram from their London office, dated September 21st:— • 'Wool sales continue. Competition Is more active at the lower level of prices. Continental buyers are operating more freely. Merinos and fine crossbreds are rather easier. As compared with closing rates of last series, greasy and Bcoured "merino are 10 per cent, to 15 per cent, lower, gTeasy fine e T 10 per cent, lower, Victoria scoured lambs 15 per cent, lower, crossbred lambs and merino lambs 10 per cent, lower.