FINANCE AND COMMERCE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 188, 4 May 1908, Page 10

FINANCE AND COMMERCE.

■ 1 ■ • I ■ I. ) THE SHAKE MARKET. . Sales of National Mortgage at Gls., and Tara- ." nald ;Petroleum at Bs.. i)d., were reported ori Saturday, and, on the whole, the business for • .the week was fair. There was nothing out of the common in Saturday's quotations, and tho firmness of some stocks previously noted was continued. National Bank shares were in.de-, i';' , . mand at £5 as.,' with sellers at JES 6s. Financial shares were steady:—Equitable%Building, sellers ,£lO 25.; National Mortgage; buyer's 'GOS;- - _ -Cd-, sellers,62s.; New Zealand and River Plated .... buyers 325., sellers 335.,; Loan and Mercantile, sellers 55.; Wellington Investment', sellers'l2s. ; . 3d.; Wellington Dpposit, sellers 9s. 3d. In tho insurance section a demand was noted for Standards'at i2ls; Bd., and Nationals "were oii sale V,'."':. at 275. 3d. Other quotations, wer^:—Wolling■,v\y- ton Gas. shares, sellers. .£l9 10s. .'/and: .£9 15s. ; for the respective issues; Gear Meats, 20s. paid ■ up, (in good demand), 495. 9d.; Manaw:ttu ivails, . , buyers 475. 6d., sellers 495.; Wellington , Woollen, (buyers; d£3 Is. Gd.; Wcstport Coal, •}.•;••• sellers £7; Leyland-O'Brien Timber, 435.; : New. Zealand Paper Mills, sellers 235.; Ward and Co. Brewery shares, buyers £& 155.; Taranaki Petroleum, buyers Bs. sellers os. ft!. i THE MINING MARKET. / The sales yesterday were confined to West ; . Coast' stocks). Big ■ Kiver sold ,at 21s. 3d., and 'S-\-. ■Blackwrier 'at' 255. \Talismans. were weaki 'with . 'no declared:'buyers.. ;Tlie quotations were/as under:— /.;■ .. , v ■ Buyers. Sellers. ' Sales;, .1' s. d. • jB-s. d. ,£ s. d. Big River ... ... ... 11- 3 —r ,1.1, 3 Tairua Broken Hills 0 3 G 0 310 — ".. Talisman ... — 0 210 Waihi ... ... ... 910/ 0 911 0 — Blackwater. ... — .1 5 0 , ' THE- IfONEY MARKET.. ■ The European money markets continue to display an easy tendency. The figures of the Bank of England disclose great strength, and we may reasonably look forward-to an early '■ reduction o'f the. BanV discount rate. ' The Bank's position is nor/ really stronger than it was in 1905. Until March 19, ..when the Bank • rate was reduced to 3 per cent., such a rate had not" .been witnessed since September 7, 1905. The last .occasion upon, which the Bank rate was reduced to 3 per cent, was on April Or 21, 1904, and after that 3 per cent, ruled for . nearly a year.;. A; change, to 21 per cent.; and possibly 2 per cent.,'may be looked for, : 'but ■such changes must necessarily depend upon the volume of , the demands on the'money market, - • tho political outlook. and : .the general trade and industrial couditi'ons in Europe and V . America. ■■ ," WEALTH IN PETROLEUM; If any .of the oil-bearing lands of New-Zea-land turn out to be profitable, it will be an excellent thing, ,• for to strike oil is to strike : ~ wealth. "The Roumanian oilfields show what' wealth there is in such According ■ V' to a consular report/ the total area of the Rumanian Petroleum fields ,is computed :to . be about 1,800,000 acres. According to the exploitation carried out up to tho present,; it . is estimated that " one acre of oil-bearing land has produced an average'output of 10)000 tons. Assuming the extent of ,the oil-bearing land. ■ . to .be at tlie lowest reasonable' computation 600,000 acres .'only, and the oiitpvu per. acre on an i average only 6500 tons, the petroleum' resources of Rumania will amount to no less than 4,000,000,000. tons, - which, at a net-price ... of 12s. -per : ton, represents ar, value- ,of JJ2,400,000,000. ' During tho last , forty years theexploitation has, hardly reached . 10,000,000 tons, . so that the supply will be seen to be practically inexhaustible. . There is to-day .nearly ' '£10,000,000 sterling invested in the, Rumanian petroleum industry,'the exploitation of which is carried on..by means of the most modern and . perfected .mechanical appliances. ~ . . CURIOUS INSURANCE CLAIMS. The Workmen's Corporation Act,, which re-. • jently became law in .Great Britain,' has. ; 1 brought some curious claims before the insur- . " - ance companies that cater for this class of ■ ■ , business. The chairman of one. of these , companies recently . told. his shareholders that, - < amongst others,: they; had a claim" from' a .domestic servant, a' cook, Who vhad burnt her 'hair with '~ over-heated ' curling-irons. This , scarcely came under the definition of an acci- ■ ■ ■;■ dent arising out of an occupation. However, she said that her _ mistress insisted upon her ' looking nice'arid 'tidy, and therefore she could not dispense : with curling her hair. Another case was that of a domestic nursei who was -injured by ; the , breaking of a ..blacking, bottle , thrown at her. by hor infant charge.' He hiiist have been' "an ' infant Horcules." " " Another ' - case was that of a workman-who had a dread-'-fnl accident-and lost his leg. Inquiries Were, made,'and it turned out to be a wooden leg. They had just settled the claim of a young man who lost his' eye during partridge driving, by a shot fired by, his father, who also had >■•■■■ /lost an eye in tho same extraordinary way. There were also two other-members of the : same family, living'in the same house, who had .in former times lost an eye from gun neci- ! dents. ■ CONFIDENTIAL. POSITION OF • . ' EMPLOYEES. The idea that clerks generally hold confi-; • dontial positions is more or less believed in by both the'clerks and their/employers, and now and again tho latter have suffered because of .the inability or unwillingness of-tho employees to appreciate the trust. A case of some importance .was decided -in .England the other day, and it will prove of interest, generally.: A , - : clerk employed, by' a British 'shipping 1 firm 'for l some years left and. took a position. as-traveller , in the Far East for another firm. In prepara- ;-' tion f<ir his trip, he wrote to a number ,of flrme for samples, and in doing so disclosed information .that, his previous .employers said could only have been secured,from a. perusal of,their . books. He denied this, and said that he only . , made use'of his memory. His first - employers • brought ;im action against thoir former employee and .his new employers! The Vice-Chan-collor said; that tho principle.on which he was asked to; interfere wus this:—Any man of business who took a clerk into his employment was , bound more or Jess to expose to him inforina- ! tion as.to what was going on in the office or . in tho warehouse whioli, according to the ordi-nary-rules of fair dealing, it was the duty of that clerk to, keep in his own breast, and not divulge to others to the injury of his employers. In answer" to that,,,it was suggested that no man could learn a business, and as

soon as "he left that particular employment . erase from. his' memory all recollection of what : he' had seeh: • He thought the true rule was this: An absolutely ignorant man might be engaged, and it might bo the merchant's duty to teach him how to conduct a business of lhat particular sort, but if- there were special lines, or,,special customers, or a -special way,of dealing-with particular goods, it. was no part of his right to carry away - information of''that sort, no more than it was part of his right to carry dway the secret processes of the preparation of particular goods. It did;.not matter in tho least whether the information was carried away in writing or after being committed to memory, but ho wa-/ of opinion' that in this case the employee must have made copies of tho particulars which ho made .use .of, and had been guilty .of . a breach of confidence. Ho, thought, at least he hoped, the other defendants had no suspicion whatever of what,their new traveller.was intending to do, but as they had defended tho action lie would prant an injunction against them as well as against their employee, and both would be liable for the costs of the action. The law, as here laid down will.be of interest to every , employer. . I ' A HOPEFUL VIEW. .It must not be supposed that every one in r the wool trade is 'disposed to view the pros-' pects of- the'immediate future as hopeless; on the contrary, some think that tho outlook is / A. Bradford correspondent, writing to an Australian contemporary, takes a rather chcerful'jyiew. ' He writes:—" I have ; said all 'along that the present funk in the trado is 'largelydue tc lost confidcnce, novvo, paralysis, and crippled enterprise. It is hard to believe by those the wool tradb proper, that the present slump in prices 7 and inactivity of markets ..could have .proved -so pronounced. Everything was laid:; last December at • the door of excessively dear money, and it, was thought that directly tho rAte of . interest fell we ■ should see a return to more favourable times. , But the trade is in a worse condition to-day'than it was three months, ago, and yet all the while consumption— except, in Huddersfield—has been fully maintained.' Mills are , not generally running, till 8 and 9 p.m., as was the case last year, ,but apart from the district named there is as yet no. slackness, and in'.'some districts -overtime is',still .being .worked. .Then why such dull markets and slumping values as wo have seen?. There is. not the least doubt that fear of what may never happen has depressed the whole industry, causing orders to be withheld,, .and preventing fresh contracts -for yarns and .pieces, being made. Whether actual facts justify\ the depressing experiences of the last tureG'. months : is,.. liowover, more doubtful. Gsrmany. has'been; blamed for nearly everything connected t with the crossbred trade, and day after day in Bradford it has-been stated that shipments had dropped to a mere bagaA fortnight ago it was actually stated ■wjth all' Sincerity that Roubaix manufacturers were " dumping dress goods into London, Manchester, and Bradford markets at pence per yard less-than the -fabrics could be made by West Riding manufacturers." Board of Trade returns do not bear these statements out. r ; MINING NEWS. ' . DREDGING RETURNS. , ' ' ' . , (BY ..TELEGnAPH—PHESS ASSOCIATION.) Eekfton, May 2. Pactolus No., ,1,. 71oz. sdwt. for 24S' hours: No. 2, 28oz. 14dnrt. for ,127 hours. .. , " i, T ' Duxedin, May 21 Waikaka United.>Noi l, 20oz. ldwt.;'No 2 390z. 7dwt.; Pactolus,;No. 1, 71oz. sdwt.; No' 2,' 260z. 14dwt.; Punt; 28oz. 3dwC; Rising Sun, 530z. Bdwt.; Rise and Shine No. 1, 450z. 3dwt. i No. 2, 560z. 14dwt. ; ■ Ddnedin, May 3. ' Golden Bed, 430z., lldwt.; Waikaka Queen,' Sloz. 3dwt.; Sandy' Point, 19oz. 15dwt. | 'I 'IT ' NEW BIG RIVER. . (BT TELEQEATn —PBESS ASSOCIATION.) I ' ; Reepton, May 2. The mine manager of the New Big River're- • ports for the past week as follows:—Branch level 1 stopes: No. 4, stope is now being risen for in 1 blank ground.,.ln-No. 3 stope, going south, j there is 'five 'feot 'of reef in tho bottom of the stope, _and twelve feet of reef in the back ] of the stope. In No. 2 stope there is an aver- I age width' of two feet of stone. In No. 3 stope ' going north on tho-eastern block, the reef has opened out-to,eleven feet in width, but it has ] .sincg narrowed,,(liin;n,;' In the leading stope go- 1 ing south the, reef r pinched out, so we are ] 'rising for" ]No.' 2"stope on ap average width of 1 two feet -six inches "of stone. No. 2 level:' The reef in tho stopes over this level is smali' ! and. .broken. During. the week 140 tons ot J stone have been raised. Cleaning-up at tho ' battery will take place on Monday, May 4. 1 i " LIVE' STOCK SALES. Messrs. A. H. Atkinson and Co., Ltd., re- j port:—At our sale on Friday we had a fair ' entry of pigs._ Competition for good stores was keen, and prices advanced on last week. The poultry; offered was of. poor quality, which accounts for tho low quotation. Wo quote:— Horses—4-year-old gelding, .£2l; 8-year, gelding, ill 55.; aged mares, £r> 10s. and £7; saddle gelding, .£5; 7-year-old gelding, .£9; aged sad- i die. mare, £2 10s. Pigs—Weaners, ss. 6d., 7s. Gd.; slips, • rough, 4s. 6d.; good,' fls. Gd., 10s. 3d., lis. 3d., 12s, 3d.; small stores, 14s. Gd., 15s. - 3d.; good stores, 20s. 3d., 295., 31s. Gd. Poultry—Hens, 8(1., 9d., lid., Is. Id., Is. 2d., Is. 4d. ; turkey roosters, 9d., Is., Is. 4d.,' Is. Gd.; ducks, ' Is. 7d.; geese, 25., 2s. 2d., 2s. 4d.; turkeys, ; ,'stnalli ;25.; 6i,"45.';. guinea fo.wls, 2s'. Gd. (all at , each)..\Produco—Potatoes, 10s., lis. Gd.; pig 3s.'to;;3s. 9d. per sack; onions,'lid. par lb.;" quinces, lid. per lb.; green tonia- - toes, Id. per lb.; .bacon, homo cured, 6d. to 7d. per lb. ■ - t ' HIDES, SKINS, ETC; ■] ' Messrs.';' Dalgety' and Co., Ltd., Palmorston North, report as follows on their usual ( monthly sale of .wool, skins, and hides held on | Friday:—We offered an average catalogue to i a large attendance of . buyers, and competition was keen for all lots offered, especially for good sound skins and .hides, which advanced 1 to tho "extent of to Id. per lb. on last salo 1 rates. We quote:— ". . • s Wool.—lnferior crossbred, 3d. to 3Sd.; medium i crossbred, -4d. to 4|d.; dead wool, 2Jd. to 4d.; ] , , Vf

bellies and pieces, 3d.; locks, lid. to 13d."; lambs' wool, rough, id.; black, 3}d. Sheepskins.—Woolly, jd. to Id.; pelts, 3Jd. to 3!jd.; woolly crossbred; 4J<l.; polts (sound), 3d. to 3Jd.; dead, 3d.; lambs. 33d. to 4(1.; infevior and damaged pelts, IJd. to 2d. Butchers' part dry and greon crossbred, 25., 2s. 3d., 2s. It}., 2s. Gd., to 2s. 9(1. each; lambs, Is. Id. to 2s. cach; salted pelts (small), Is. 7d. each. Hides.—Heavy ox, to 51(1.; light to medium, sd: cows, medium, 4Jd..; light, 4d.; yearlings, 3jd.; calfskins (sound), 3-fd. to 4(1.; cut and damaged, lid. to 2d. MARLBOROUGH LAND VALUES,. Messrs. Dalgety and Co., Ltd., Blenheim, report that at their sale by public auction pn Saturday on account of the estate of the late Sir. A. Herd, they disposed of 20 acres of land near Grovefcown at from ' to <£105 por acre, the average price being .£lO2 10s. per acre, which constitutes a record price, for agricultural land in Marlborough. CHRISTCHUKCH WHEAT MARKET. (by telegraph.—l'ltras association.) Christckubcii, May 1. Business in wheat continues-within narrow ■ limits, and the number of lines placed on offer by growers during the past week has been very small. The bulk of the transactions since last report have been between merchants, the prices asked by growers being in nearly every ease too higli to lead to business. ' Since our last report tho following purchases have been matlo from farmers, tho grain in each case being bought on trucks at country stations-.—200 sacks tuscan at 4s. 5d., 200 sacks volvet at 4s. 3d., .150 sacks hunters at 4s. 3d., 200 sacks tuscan at 4s. 4(1., and 200 srjeks velvet at 4s. 4d. The oats market is slightly firmer, but there has not been any advance in values. Local prices still.ruli about Id. abovo Southland quotations, and in consequence of this little business has been done. Very foiv oats liavo been shipped from Canterbury to other parts'of the Dominion, except to ports not touched at by the Southern boats. At present all large orders are being placed down South. One of the best sales made since last report was a line of 200 sacks of duns at 2s. 4Jd. on trucks at a country station. Some difficulty is being experienced in obtaining second-hand sacks for chair, and-this has had the effect of' hindering business. The present value of chaff is .£3 15s. por ton, but in most cases holders are asking .£4. In potatoes, a fair business has been done on the basis of ,£3 15s. for Up-to-Dates, and -£3 17s. 6d. for Derwents. Peas, extept prussian blues, which aro unobtainable, are dull of sale, and tho demand for beans is quiet. The price of onions has advanced to £b ss. for tho best classes. 'LONDON WOOL SALES. Messrs. Levin and Co., Ltd., have received tho following cable from their London agents, the National Mortgage and Agency Co. of N.Z., Ltd., dated London, May 1, 1908:—"Tho next London sales open on May 12. It. is .ex-pected'that-moriuos'and fino crossbreds will open at a decline of 10 per cent. 6u closing rates of last sales, and. coarse and medium at a decline of 15 per cent. Prospects are uncertain—large quantities of wool arc likely to be held over till tho ensuing sales without being offered." \ ' '

WELLINGTON SHARE LIST. J"-: . ; —; —: —; ——— ; ——— ; —:—.—!— j —_—!—.————iCOMPANY " - ~ ' S-? LmbU. £ ' ™TCTC. T'r'» fe;^ : --:,.:.. : C Jeiio* TnvX, BANKS. . - £ :■ . £- £ .' £ ;< £■ , '£ s. a. ... £ S. a. i B. a. £ M. >■: . FewZctiana • , recocm fSl,C7."> ,gl • ,. s\ 10. 922 # ■ 913 0 3 1) s /■.v-':,. ; National : . . mffa £35.311 £4 . 15 . 13 ( 5 0 0 60 5 50 £ 13 5 Hi SuliANCIi - t t i . National . - • . JOO.OX1 E«J33'; . . J. nnlti. ■ 15- -,1.73 i\ow Zealand . , . • SCO,(*» • '■ E96,t71-. >. j 8 ' 10 > ' "TIT 0 ■■■ Eonth British . - jco.000 <74,913 ! J- itj ; ' ]o' • '217 6 ' Standard ; - ... 75,000 , B7.3SS ' j> unltd. :i0 1.1 0 12 0 b.. : . FINANCIAL.* - ... pV;.' . Equitable Bnildini! fO.OOO 4?,240 5 5 10 10 2 0 , E" . • • Metropolitan BuildinS 40,561 .'5.6:8 10 nil 7 ' | - Wellington Invest. - 50,Mb 3,033 i J 6. •' ■. ' ■ 012 3 r 11 6 M I U v Wcl'gtonTrnrt&Loao 101,251 . 44,334 1 5 5 ■' g 7*9 0 " 7 H 6 7 0 0 f 7 0 fc : National Mortgage. 500,OiM 112,250: n 'a ' j 0 #'0 0 ' 3 U 0 £,10 nl 1 v. , , : N.Z. and River Plat9 - SOO.COO £52,000 1 nil 7 113 0 ' 113 n 113 0 450 ;i -v.;:.. t«anandMorcantilo . ; m£2J 815,133- : I bi* - B 11 ' ■■■-' ' "<i 5 n 0 5 0 in 00, GAS. ' i,. Auckland. - . ' - ieo.373. f3,3S) 5 nil IG J': ,' . Ohnstchurch . '-162,033 E5.037 . -j • ml • 10: 10 I! 0 10 0 0 5 0 0 . Feildmg : - . . 12,000 103 J nil- — 015-6 - 018 8 Uisborno - .. ; - IT.'W) 10,5il j mi 13} » 9 9 212 0 210 0 £10 0 Hawera? . 8,251 . • 74=3 ■ j ; jo , , . Vv- Kewl'lymonth - 18,(01.- IJffl 6 • na t 10 " ■ . kapier - ... ) ' ' 10 nil 15 ' -.' t - - . 4P.037 f C3.1S3 • 5 • 5 15 1 ' "" '. ralmerstonNorth ' £7,000' ■ 11,093 : > 4 5 10 .T N ' Wellington -v, i „,™l .'WW lu ml. 10 . -3010-0 ; '6 » '10 , * '.{I? 0 • MEAT. ... . ' 1 ' . Canterbury i • jf.1,727 S0.971'' 21 s 7 10 0' F o 0 Cbristchurcii . • les.saj . W.UJ iu uii. 8 10 B" 0 ""10 '7 6 10 7 0 714 T ..t«r • ■ . . . • ronmL "t8,l81 i u«'i. 14 2 9 .9 2 10 G . C10 0 [ 0 0 i: ■ • 4' - 0 izj e 13 0 io 0 0 ■ . .VSeliingtonMeatBip . : ' • 5 nu, 8 c 12 0 : ... .. , 105,766f '• R.757 • '4 / i >8 ' .'.6 2 0 520 f 5 r ' I ' £8: 2 i-' .8 ' ,. ,;3 .5 0 25 0 (9 • . Tvanfianni ,. . <5,850 11,401 »U. ' B ' • TBANSPORT. - , - W.&M.Hailwiy . • 170,03] 121,43) 1" 4 7 n 7 6 2 9 0 S 8 0 #18 4 ,. Shipping - - 473,81)-. 113,751 8 nit. 6 6 5 0 tnion Steam - .. B00.CBJ 473,591. • j ?uu. 74 113 9 1U 6 >i'£tn. Steam Ferry . 4G.23J w 1 'n.u , ii , ,' ,. ■ "• COAii. t-» :.:v, Westport - - • JF0.00) 117,"n. -j} ' H" - •' Hj' *g 18 0 7 0 0 ' 6 10 9 f 5 0 TLrrW M Z 1 D ' U i4 . 1 0 0 1 1 6 1 0 3 7 8 0 WOOIjuEa. '-••• J.'oiapoi- . 300.03) f2,S3l ' 5 nil 6 ' • -' J- 1 oe&iol - . - 4 . . fcb.ij/ l'l/JiJ H ■ 4 . e, 0 0 q 6 .3 10 1 15 0 IastekEO(IJ- ' UMXU ■**•*' 4 ' 6 " » 1 0 ;£ 5 0 s 0 ' 8 6 0 LSSfc:: :•%%: ..SM, # - I 3 I ''-i-O £ 17 ' .. l.anricoviileliimi . ■ V,03J. . -0..' ' 1 - li.i ' 1 ' • -/• ~ - l : ' u ' " eM •i : v l».iC.CandJe - - , :1 10.00J' . ' ' • ' lu • ... '<• •• r Drug's • . UKJ.uiJJ .• 7 211' 0' 2 11 G Ml 0 6 3 0 . . W.753 " • illl iiu •/ ' 3 2 " 6 " 3 3-3 r fi ? /*; ,l\.il.Cemeat- i0,M, . .1 ' uu,y - , Lf J- ° 3 3 3 1 0 * , —A •- 10 v "S'lS 6 • *> 11Q & Co. - : * ' IU.00J • lO.WJ X 4 . 1/ ' 1J '4 IS fl , • i 17 fi J i*s n B' R R /•;?: \atn. Opera Ho-hj • it.kr i.Wi - . fc' : oil' ui . 8 txesii Looa ' • it.iol ' — ; .-ci... .. V biiccuit.ua: Jowbs "[0.15J t na . 1J . r n >■ . l, " u ' 1 " a ■ " ,J ■ 0: 13 -6- 1 0 0 1 0 0 710 0