FINANCE AND COMMERCE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 173, 15 April 1908, Page 10

FINANCE AND COMMERCE.

x THE SHARE MARKET. , '•'•'.•There''was no trading in investment stocks . • yesterday, ■ and ' therewere' ' no ..■ vintbrcstmß 'features, except the: strong ..upward .tendency •of Taranaki - Petroleum shares. n l or these shares buyers are now- offering 7s. 3d., but sei; 1 lers are wanting ,10s. >' It is believed that shrewd Taranaki men; are . buying these .Psharesj'.if so, it is evident'that sonio.goodyre. ■ suits may be'expetted from the boring operations. Bankshares■ remain, unchanged, Wen • Zcalands aro offered' at £9 Us.; Nationals, " buyers £5: ss. Gd.', sellers, £5 7s. Financial shares were unchanged with,.a tendency-. towards dullness. Equitable Building quoted,: sellers ,£lO ,2s. 6d.; National Mortcaf. r e, buyers. 605.,:: sellers Zealand Hnd River; Plate, ;Mers r 'il . Mercantileifsellers'Ss.; ,ld'.; Wellingtonanvest12s! 3d.; Wellington:'' Deposit, sellers 9s.;' New Zealand ' Insurance.shares, sellers .£3 175.; Wellington Gas, £19 10s. and : ' las; - for therespectiveissues. .Meat shares •. show ■ no' changes; i Christchurch; Meat; sell§rf *10 7s/'6d'.;' 'Gears; repaid .up,-buyers AS ss~,'' sellers ■' £10;£1 paid up, buyers .£1 Gd;, sellers-£2 10s./3d.; Manawatu RaUs, buy;ers 16s. 6d.; ..sellers, 505.; > buyers 605.; .-"Westport. C6aU>seUer3. . Westport-Stocktbn,: sellers" 10s. • 6d.; ' l,eylandO'Brien Timber, ' 43f1; New Zealand " Drug - - shares keep-: steady with "buyers ; at £2 ; lis. . .and sellers at £2 12s. r New Zealand Portland Cement;-buyers 325. 9d., sellers .335. «d.; New Zealand Paper Mills,, buyers 22s 6d., eelleif 235. - v'-r-^VkS THE MIXING MARKET.;; This market was quiet yesterday, trading be • ing confined to Talismans, which, sold at _ £. '12s- 6iL; Waihis were wanted at 75., .bul sellers were holding t for Is 6d. more. Tm ; quotations were as under:—.: , - \V r. . -Buyers."/^Sellers. l : Sales A £ s. d; £ s. d. £ s. d \ Talismans. ~ — , 2 2 — •' Waihi, - ... 970986 - : Waihi Grand Junction — v: , 116 0 — . : Tairua Broken Hills 0 3 - 6 0 3 9 — i N.Z. Crown ... 0 .7 0 .• 0- 7 3 — Big River 1 — • s. 0 17 9 V NATIONAL MUTUAL LIFE. • An extraordinary ■ of: the- policy ■ holders of the above Association-was held lr • 'Melbourne; to' receive.; the. report of th< .actuary (Mr. E. J. Stock) on his investiga' ' tion of 'the affairs of the institution •. as al : -• September 30 last. • Mr. Andrew Newell pro sided in the absence of Colonel JV Templk ; ton through ill-health, and in the course of hn remarks said: There were 77,174 policies.*Th< amounts;payable by. • the. Association undei ' these'policies; wer© over <£19,600,000, including "i-over .£1,000,000 that had.-, been padded.; to th< > 'original sums assured by tlie. • Association, ai • Over was. also payable t< ! annuitants. On the other hand, the amounti payable to the Association as assurance pre ■ miuras under these policies were .£631,201. !>• li comparing these with: those .'presenta , : . three years ago ' they could 'form ! an -ldef bfvthe progress the Association was making They would find: that they 'had> then in forci • . over 15,000 more'policies than , they, ;ha'd threi years ago/the sum assured i had'increased : b; -> more than • and the annual--pre <. mium incomo by'.more than .£lso,ooo'.in thi v;' three years.- ; • The iesact figures they ;.woul< . find in the'actuary's report. This, very largi increase in the business was, he thought very satisfwtoiy-v indeed.: Of the -results ni need call tlfcir attention to only three items or, perhaps* four:—The* value-of- the-linbili ties, and 1 risks, that/ is, of the sum a&suret and bonuses,, which was 159,219; the valu of the assets represented by the future pre ' miums payable .to,ithe...Association, after de • ducting an ambuht necossary-'ito jprovide fo: ••••••'•.expenses and unforeseen contingencies, whicl - was JE5,675,416. " The difference betwcei ; these liabilities and assets, or what.was.callei the net liability, was £i,523,803. • That migh be taken as what the Association owed, or wa ' liable for, on September 30 last, and to ascet ' tain ; that' . . .which had.;..taken-;'some mo'fflhs of laboribu work. - Having found this result;: tbe/,ne'x thing was-to'see what funds the ■: had. to meet-its liabilities. These funds-ithe; would se<t:byVth6''cpnsolidated : rev.enue;;:acc6un . amounted -'to : r £i,844,002, so that they had" no •~ only- sufficient' to cover their', liabilities; -bu ■/ JE320.199 nibre";than .sufficient.' This- amoun ' .. of i§320,199,;, the- surplus- tha i was' and ; -was i the;absolute proport; of the membere. 1 The ! dirq(;tors had r.decidet . to at this amoun • '-amongst! a'"bohus.' '■ " ' • THE GERMAN LOAN. The German, and. Prussian, Governments , jus t managed ,tb gct>their_loans taken up, for i( - is announced;' by. "cable ;that;.the , loans;-. ,weri slightly , ov,er-subscribed->: That any nation in ■ times .of • peace, should , increase . its in i dobtedness 'by' ,£42,500,000^i5 : :extremely 'surpris ing.. '- Germany recent yeah been some thing remarkable, the • general budget in 1901 :•:. ~ being -i£1tJ3,000,000,; as against'.'.£l37,ooo,ooo • five years later. About twelve months ago Ger many applied for <£15,000,000, part of a 000,000 loan, issued at 99 and. bearing 4 pei - .cent. ..interest, which was ■ subscribed; forty foia. The Imperial funded debt amountec on March 31, .(,1906, ,to. and in - elusive of the',separate debts, of';,tho Fedora ■ States, the total funded ■ debt- of tho Germai '■ '.'Empire'-, on - the k above;' dajej iia5..;'iE775,115,000 : Eequirements for "' interest' annually wen '.'£26,071,000, and for sinking fund wE3.902,000 together equal, to 9s. lOd. per head of popu lation. - Taken on tho whole Germany is s . wealthy country;- .The j National, wealth ii : estimated at" i 12,250,000,000, and tho'yearlj : income of German households at £2,250,000,000 Tho capital paid in and .deposits .with ; thi larger banks reached,- from'3Bß3 to 1906, 'foui times its original amount, viz., £1,100,000,000 In tho savings banks, about 140 millions weri paid in\ during the five :yoar3 from 1900 t( 1901.' Germany receives „'between v 75'.f roil lions and 95 millions a year in the shape o: interest and dividends for her investment] abroad. SOUTH AFRICAN' TRADE. ''"'V South Africa generally is suffering from i ' severo depression, nobvithstanding tho fac: that the output of the Rand: mines is non : , greater than it has ever been. If there -is ai industrial depression, there is stronger evi dence that tho agricultural and pastoral in ' diistries ■ are being fully developed. It wa shown tho other day that Victoria is obtain irig oats, and New South Wales, • maize fron South' Africa, showing that the agricultura

interests are being carefully fostered. Messrs. Henry S. Fitter and Sons, of thO 'Central Jient Market, London, : ,in. their -circular dated MarclO; Estate'"A' novelty on the market last week was a small shipment of lambi from South Africa. : Some' 1 of these the Perbreed,, others the merino. The merits >f the,fat 1 tail of the former are not gat understood on the f London market;, and the. mennoa Evere rather-''small and thin/'. , Not, so very long ago South Africa was importing meat, because of the losses sustainedfmainlythrough rinderpest, but now. it ifhat South Africa is able to meet domestic requirement* ind have a little to spare forv^xpbrt. BRADFORD TOPS;"': y-' '■ ' The' quotatioiis r for' Brddfor(l • the depressed l state of the iwool.market.'-.'JThe following quotations give a very' fair, idea of the anonnous' decline that has takejT place, irr : "April 9, Jan. 10,'; ; April 12, Counts. 1908. - 1908;-';, 1907. " • 40's . 9d.. V:i3do,. ,-?';i7id. 4G's lid. . 14|d. i ISJd. Common 60's -22d. . • 25jd. ~ 2GJd. .•, ( Super GO's ... 23d.. 26jdr:27}d. The North -Islands is interested 1 in the quotation. Jor '40's ' (Lfn6olji),."and ''-it;-'--will--''l»o seen by the above that, as compared with last year, there is a drop of abrat 50 per 'cent., while, compared with the January 'quotation, the decline is nearly-31 per cent. The .London Proluce Circular of the Bank of New Zealand, iated March i, affords some explanation. The Circular says"The position in.Bradford, according to Jatest reports,.-is far from-encoura-ging.? It will be .seen from the list of \currenl prices for tops that 40's quality (Lincoln) is quoted at Hid. per'lb., which compares with 121 d."a nionth ago and 17$ d. a vear ago-a drof of about 35 per cent, on the latter figure. II is said that 1 , dealers, who have mostly very little:, stock', on,-hand,- and /.have, practicallj boiigh't" nothing in, the. Dominion, are , taking full" advantage of the depression by persistent); bearing* tho market'-with ;the ; view of-. getting in at bottim prices,'"-while supplies are', heavy, Should this be the case, an improvement might take place later on 'in the year, biil much-willdepend- upon the state of the trad< in the near future.' v - . : ', A .NOTES. ' .. The Argentine 'sugar crop,,:last..year wai about 109,000 tons, the consumption of thf country being about 150,000 ton's. As yet, there fore, Argentina is an importer. That Republic i 3 also cultivating rice, of which 13,000 ton! in husk .were raised in 1007.' - In the Middle-West of the. United .Statei many; local (newspapers are raising their sub dcription price 50 per cent, ill - order to 1 pa] the increased price ;of : paper. The way it which the reading public is devouring forest: is described as perfectly appalling. Acres o: spruce are consumed in, a single edition ' of i big newspaper. lii spite of rising prices, thi amount pf wood consumed cach year for puli in. ■thevTJnited.'States -hasMncreased since 189! from "two million to 35 million cords. ..The 'capital, debt.\of ..the . Sydney Harboui Trust 1 at the close 1 of the year ended June 30 1907, was • £5,137,616, the income for that yea: amounting' to J8297.941.-: Aftta deducting th< working expenses for the year there remainei J3215.272 to 'meet interest. This,' as determine! by the auditor-general, was ,£181,530, leavini a surplus": of' X'33j742"0n tho year's operations The average rate»of 1 interest chargeable th Trust' is '3.591 pfer'cent., and the 1 net revenu after deducting, working expenses, equals a re turn of 4.26 ' per cent., ■ the surplus revenue being equal to O.GCS per cent. The Trust' finances have expapded; materially, during, th past two years, owing to the-, good season having'swollen ! the""general business of th port. ' : ' " WELLINGTON PEODUCE MARKET. Messrs. Laery and Co., Ltd., Wellington, re ■ on'-the market Whe'it, fowls', ss. 3d. to ss. 6d.;oats,3s. to 3s 3d7|''see.d'6ats^ : 3s>3di- to, 35., 6d.; maize, ss. 6d foiis.f9i'VvM^ted*i'malt,' Bs...Gd. prussiai bliie' peas',', 6s. '3d;> tb ,6s. Gd.; . fowl'peas,: 4s. ,Gd at '-per-'-bushol; flour,' New Zea liind £12 10s., Australian .-£ll to ill 10s.; bran 2E6'"to~iEß "'SS.T "pearl' barley, - .£l9; split peas .£lB 10s.;. bonedustp'.jM; superphosphates, £ 15s' ss.'; : chaff.''oatensheaf, "i 5 15s. to £ 5s - oatmeal, .£l3 10s.; potatoes,: whites, ss. 6d tj'6s- 6d.;-'bScon,. factory 6ides BJd., hams 9d. rolls l)M. ; bu.ttcr,*b"ulk, lld. to Is. Id.; poultry hens 2s. 6d. to 35.,' ducks ss. 6d., turkeys (gob biers) 1 lss.'"to 22 s!,- 'liens Bs. to'9s„ all at pe: pair; fcauliHowers,"ss. to 10s.; cabbages, 4s to 10s., all.at per.sack; peas, green, 9d„ to Is per peck;" fresh "eggs- Is. lid. to 2s. 2d., pre sorved' eggs'" Is. 6d:>-pe'r dozen; cheese, 6d. t( Gid.- porab:;' onions, . £7 to £1 ,10s. per ton Akaroa coclusfoot, ,10d. to lid.; ryegrass, 4s. 9d to. 55.-6 d. .peivbushel. . <,• ' STOCK SALE." Messrs. Dalgety and Co. report that at thi Hunterville salo yesterday, there was a goo( entry of sheep, and a fair entry of cattle There was improved demand'for sheep, especi allv wethers.'. Cull lambs, Is.;-mixed lambs 3s.*sd.Y two; four, and six-tooth ewes, 8?. 2d. two-tooth wethers, Gs. 9d., ,10s. 9d.; eighteen month steers; :355. 6d. I Co., Ltd.,-report oi their Pahiatua"sale, held yesterday, as fol lows ;—A good yarding of sheep, and a fai: number of cattle came forward,, Bidding fo: wethers was brisk, as also for good ewes. Cul eires : were' hard, to'.'qiiit. We.quote: Two am four-tooth - wethers;' 11s. to 14s. Gd.'; lambs in wool to 85..10 d.; shorn lambs,. to-65.; cul lriihbs' 2s; ,sd..'to,.3^;'.sound-mouthed.owes, 9s ud • cull ewes, 2s. 4d. Fat-and forward cows from d£3 3s. to £3155.; springing heifers, £3 3s. poor cows and calves, 305.; empty heifers, £2. , .WHEAT AND IXOER.• BY TELEGRAPH—PItESS ASSOCIATION —COPTRIGIII London, April 13. ■Wheat and flour afloat for .the United King doni is. 3,985,000, quarters; for' the' Continent 2,920,000;' Atlantic* shipments, 85,000; Pacific 30.000 quarters. •• .'-J' '. , • R«uter states:that;stocks of .ffheat.in countr; elevators in Ganada total; tiyo ana a halt-niil lion bushels, against nineteen; millions in 1907 ■' i V '

WELLINGTON SHARE LIST. • • .. •• " !?"' Liabli- 'J . • . ' PMfiEq. .Tte^ MPATT7 r; -' : 'v- , CaritftV. Pa itjr.per - '2? —r rr — " 10 COMPANY. raid Up; .g<g Snare, 'Jg Bayor. EeJIer. . B^0 " InveFtar. ' BANKS. ' ' f ' 'gi ' 'A '.j®" ■ o]"' oh o' \ 12 *0 1i ri^'i Jl. 15 V : M 15. 6 7 0. .. 5,'7 0 613 2 ".'•INSURiKOB./.j' .• " . -. I ""ojb933 s •' . i\!Vv " - i' 7-;Q! 7 9 '" f 7 3 :• ■ i:: I ,°ffi i, J; B Iff 0,,, 317/0 , •'Standard - - • 75,030 87,335 S unlM v ■*> .. . 1 - ° ,, FINANCIATi. , ,.•• jiojo • r - «a 20 3 6 Ifl n 0 k » (i EquitableBuilding: - £0,000 VfisS - in : n - ' 2- >'• " s . : •:_< Metropolitan Building v." 40,661 . •.., .30 - '.*".1 / ' 7 ■' : o 12 3 011 6- P 4-4 '^■WellingtonInvest.' - ,: 50,033 ,,' 33 , ■ ', | J. \. 6 -on 711' 6 7 9 6. f 7 0 ' -f - 1 ■: »!»• Jil ? ,;!x? 2 ft* IfitSggStt: «. _;i ill..i-° 61 » 0 * '( "I S 0160 60 o 10 1 / . J-J. .15 8. *» 0 , 210 0 510 0 : Kew rTymoutb-- ! 18.CW jj >} ]° ' ' . ■ .. :. KBP r: :*: ':;*■»,} w« " f J • ' lM0 °r ; ' : SSw 10 - oil JO '•■■'. -M10 o 19II 6' 6 3 2 Wellington -' ■ • > . J24,570; , '6 • i 10 ; 015 0 ■•■C tintorbury'?' 163,727 ?.V ■'biLi'-• I'-' ''10'10' 7 6' '?a0v70 7 U T :;v.Chri5tehurohV 163.33J - - - C6 V bl • 1 ' & " 2 „-. 6 210 0 . '2 8 0 5 1 » "Gear . ; - :j l!,Wa} jli . • 12P'015/0 "10 0 0 "; ,'7WeUingtonM(!ltExi):'n76r' "f'' ' 'b' 1 ' "1 o' B 3 0 f 5 (! 5 Vanc'aonl. ' !! ' . 4S.S50. ' . U1 '.. .>. » lJ -. ' ■'.SL '' . «• » T ?, A ? S P RT- 5 'T-nmi ' 'ife " 'i". *7 2 6 6 , e 10 0 . 8 7'0 |H : '- i738l}- : ' b '■ 1 til.'" ""5 ' ' ' " C11 0 . . ' 0;; .: HMOJ'". ;■ V 1 , 1)1 6 , • ' -Wgtn; Steam Ferry • '*• /b ' , •- •; : ; • m: # j®; Uoo. 'M: - il • t ■: I -.300 b' -'3 3 6 3 1 o - 4 12 0 wcf&on: : :" : : > } »> * B ' 3 o «. ,3 t -o • 3 0; . B .0 0 - V SS E0Ui «»3 - ,5 nil -'6 0 0 HO fit v'l klWJ ' VW«. : ;i; ' 35 2 2 6 • 2 3 0; i'3 9 6 17,2 '* Jilauricevilleijimj, - 'AM; '' . : 0 " '■■"-T ■'• sJo'Su' '•:, £«a : r '■.nU- . -1 ■211 o. ■> 212 0 ! fll 0. 6 S 0 : ; • Ski . llW:'. . ml 7 12 6 13 0 113 3 t 0 6 4$, ,1 f " v ; ; " -lloniiiiie&Co. - . • ' 06,001. . ;,S yi':. sh;. . *»?'S S iV,-'n ' a 8 5 ■Ward & Co. - • " W.UUU. 'J.' M . 0 4 17 6 8 86 : ' OporaHoast: ,:lt,lx*J J '"" f> ?j.. . ', - • .' Vein Frosh Food - 1&-S1 -nTn' " •- iiii' • . < " "in '« mu J S!1 jl ; | fl I SI _m_o