The Dominion. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1910. THE CALL FOR CAPITAL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 747, 21 February 1910, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1910. THE CALL FOR CAPITAL.

The capital applications lin nearly all tho leading countries in 1909 were very , large.-r-.Thehto'tal .applications in Great Britain last year, as disclosed by : advertised prospectuses and otter public notifications, amounted to : £182,356,800, :,or, soine £10,000)000 below the figures of 1908.' The destinations of the capital'msed in the .two years show as under:—-. . ' 1908 - ' 1909.' " ' £ United Kingdom ... .50,051,700 . 18,081,400 British Possessions 58,650,300 74,758,200 Foreign countries... '.83,501,700 88,917,200

.... 192,203,700 .182,350,800 The striking feature in the above table; is the smallness of the ' amount obtained for'. the; United Kingdom, and:it is a question whether adverse conclusions should, bo drawn from this. There are, no doubt, ade?uate .reasons for tho shrinkago. t may be contended that last year the undertakings in the; United Kingdom had all the capital that was needod. _ There was a boom in nnk promotions. last»ycar, no loss than 320 companies having bcon formed, with a combined capital of riot quite' two and, a quarter ,millions. A good many rubbor companies were also formed, but the capital in each case .was comparatively small. British railways did not make any great appeals to the market, and Government and municipal borrowing was on a smaller scale. It is cortain, however, that the "shrinkage will be attributed, in part at loast, to distrust created by the :attitude by the Government towards capital,, and a general disinclination to embark on fresh industrial undertakings while the future remains so uncertain., • The applications for capital on tho part of .British Possessions, it will bo seen, rose from £58,650,300 to £74,758,200, an increase of £16,107,900, equal to about per cent. It is interesting to compare the amounts raised by tho principal colonies. Tho figures aro as under: 1908. ... 1909. - .. iC . wC ' Canada 17,050,800 16,595,000 Capo 1,170,700 - 290,000 Ceylon — ' 1,500,000 Gold Coast ....... — 1,000,000 India 7,333,M0 11,260,300 Natal' 500,000 . 200,000 New South Wales 3,000,000 . 4,500,000 New Zoaland .... 836,000 971,900 Orango River7s,ooo ' - — Queensland ...... .. — . 2,000,000 South Australia ... 2,000,000 — South Nigeria 3,000,000 — Tasmania ; 200,000 ' 300,000 Transvaal . ......... — > 5,000,000 Victoria — 1,500,000. West Australia ~.. J,000,000 1,415,000

Canada, India, Transvaal, and Nbw South Wales obtained comparatively " large sums. Canada _ iii developing her resources very vigorously indeed. Besides this Heavy borrowing on tho. market, capital applications within tho country for 1 the past fiscal year total £24,324,976, without taking into account the increased capital : obtained by existing companies, which •totalled over £14,000,000.; No doubt a considerable proportion of this money was obtained from the United States.. Money and muscle are being, poured into Canada, and we have the pleasing spectacle of land that twonty or twonty-five years ago was considered worthless, now in profitable occupation and gradually and surely swelling tho granaries of the world. Canadian borrowing is no doubt very heavy, and we may fairly assume that there is the usual political waste of capital, but Canada, can' show tho compensating effects of a rapidly expanding population. Tho Australasian loans obtained last year, were mainly for the several Governments and municipalities, and comparatively little money was obtained for enterprises. In New Zealand company flotation is rare.; No big enterprises are taken in' hand, and ,it is doubtful whether they could be successfully handled if promoted. A few mining com-; panies, one or two coal companies, a certain number of.-, dairy companieSj and a considerable number of private companies can be placed to our credit, but the really large commercial undertakings have been passed oyer. The State. ;debt has steadily , expanded, but the increase in population is: not on a corresponding; scale. Last year, in spite of our so-called immigration, policy, fthe increase in population was only; 2.32 per cent'., the increase, in number 22,281, • and of this 17j562 were the excess of births over deaths, that is the natural increase, leaving only 4719, to be contributed by immigration. Tho development 'of the country' and, the expansion of population are constantly urged: as being desirable for Zealand, but - the efforts of the past do not give hope of any , great measure'.of success in the future. ;

Australasia obtained inlho UnitedKingdom last year a total of £11,291,500, while Argentina secured: £21,738,100, Brazil £9,218,600, and Mexico' £9,109,600; Argentina appears to be in remarkably good favour with British investors, and. tho; country is being rapidly- developed in cbnsoquence. ; The money market' cannot be said to have been alto-' gcther .favourable for loan flotations. : Tho rates for money : were comparatively high, and the underwriters of colonial loans were obliged to carry a . heavy load. . ; There is now a brighter outlobk, t The Bank rate is very low, and while this will tempt a number of foreign Governments and enterprises to apply.to the London market for funds, there is no reason to suppose that : Australasia will not receive fair, consideration. So far as New Zealand is concerned, the 1 prospects are promising. The Auckland City Corporation loan 'of £343,000, issued v, through the " National Bank of New Zealand last week,. was over-subscribed, and if the New ~Zealand ' Government goes nn the market for its naval and defence loan the money will, wei : think,; bo readily .obtained.