COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 761, 9 March 1910, Page 10

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

INVESTMENT SHAKES. The transactions ' recorded yesterday were:-National Hank, £6 55.; Taranaki Petroleum, Bs. There wore very few Quotations. National Bank, buyers £6 45., sellers £6 55.; Wellington Meat Export. £2 12s. fid. paid, sellers £2 16s. 6d.; Wellington Woollen, ordinary, buyers £3 25.; Taupiri Coal, sellers 19s. 3d.; Westport Coal, buyers 7s. 3d.; Leyland-O'Brier. Timber buyers £1 3s. 6d.; Sharland's preference, buyers £1 25.; Taranaki Petroleum, sellers Bs. 3d.; Ward and Co. Brewery shares, buyers £4 .15e. , P.O. SAVINGS BANK.

On February 2 a cable message was nub; lished stating that the American Bankers Association had allocated £200,000 for a so-called campaign of education to defeat the proposed establishment of po6ta! sav; .nigs bank. The oppof'„ion of the Bankers' Association does not -iipear to have been effective,' for it is now reported that the Senate has passed the P"st Office Savings Bank Bill, but with obtain' safeguards. It has been so amended as to permit the investment of deposits in Government securities, but only in war times or.times of great national. stress. Presumably then in normal times investments must be found in the ordinary securities of. the market, and to a certain citent this is a, good move. The P.O. savings bank should, with ordinary care, return a, profit, assuming that a good class, or securities are held and the investments are well, spread. .Investing the deposits, in Government .securities in times of stres3 may' prove a very, different thing toi -what it'' appears now. At such times the dp. positors generally clamour' for their money, partly through unreasoning fear, and parMy'because most, of them would have' calls upon their sayings. ffho increasing cost of the United: States' postal service is. causing anxiety to the committee responsible for the Department. In the'last,financial, year, expenses ciceeded income by..no less than £3.500.000, so that considerable economies will navo to be effected if the service is to be made self-supporting; The main leakage is m second-class mail matter, on which the deficiency is £12,600,000. This class ..includes newspapers and magazines, which are mailed at a charge of one cent per pound, while the cont, to the Government is 9c. per pound, the discrepancy being justified oh the ground; that the publications constitute a public benefit. Franking, though "ncimiDally lor administrative, purposes only, has bcentso widely used for political and private correspondence that the. leakage from this .apparently trifling abuse Has become serious...--.'

DOMINION EXPOBTS.' , According to New- Zealand Product* Export Leaflet No. 83, issued by the' Department of Commerce; the value of the principal products passed . through the Customs in February totalled £2,962,778,. as compared with £2,«2,754 in the,.corresponding month of. 1909) being an increase, of £530,024, equal to about .224 per cent. The' values of. the several products compare as under:— . ■ ■ ■ Feb., 1910, Feb., 1909. Butter :.......... 242,880 . 277,651 Cheese ■....:. ... 192,594 174,067 Beef : 22,596 56,036 . Mutton .89,046 158,331. i Less and pieces ..". ' 3,312 10,750 !' Lamb - J.: 161,983 200,407 .Wheat 1,676 ,271 : 'Oats 5,001 ' 7,276 . ; Potatoes .'.......:: ■' ■ 173 .. .157 , Hemp ..: 60.270 20,356 ■;. Poultry ! - 'J. .! Tow 3.673 , 2,204 'Kauri Rum :..'...'i- '36450 ' .;■'■, 50:856 .'■;-. ■Grain and pulse ....' .2.160 ''•..• 24/ • Hops ........„...'. ~ 1,701. , \. 46 ' Hides .....'..■.;....;.... 15,076:: ' ,19,962 . ~ Skins 57,508 ' • 68,563 : '■ Tallow ' 59,871 54,857 Timber 29,909 24,228 , Wool 1,830,656 1,152,846 Gold 146,235 163,862 ' ';.,;■ , 2,962,778 ... 2,432,754 ' The exports for the eleven months ended February amounted to £17,379,228, as compared with. £13,323,399 for the corresponding period of the previous year, the increase being oqual: to -.£4,005,829. For the 12 months ended February. 1910, the exports totalldd £19,768,880, as against £14,928,999 for the previous twelve, months, the. increase being £4,839,881, .which' is very' substantial and very: satisfactory. ,;■ -..',' •'. i ' ; .:'/-

• Ciistoms revenue colleoted at 'Wellington yesterday amounted to £3177 ■ 25." 4d.

, TBADE IN ALLEN STEEET.' 1 ; Fresh Eggs.—Owing, to the nearness of Easter, the demand has 'improved., but stacks are, at present, fully eoiial to 'tho' demand.'. . ' , ■- ...

,'Butter—Prime pastry butter is in 6mall nupply, and excellent rates are now being obtained for all coming forward. .'_• : Hams and Bacon.—The demand continues good,' but values show no alteration. ; Poultry.—Turkeys "arc in vary short supply throughout .New Zealand, and are practically unprocurable at'present: Tho first consignment will' realise extreme rates. ' • '■;■'■■'■' - ' '''"■'' ■ \ Fowls—The market)is glutted, and very low prices are .'.ruling. '.'Wheat—The lower .values 'now ruling have 'stimulated the demand, and. fair sale 3 are-being made. ■'' . 'Pollard continues scarce, but prices are without- alteration.-:

; Bran.—Supplies "are fully equal to the demand, and the -tone of. the market is weak.'. -,'■. -..". •.' : '', ■' Onions—The lowest prices recorded for a number of years are now ruling, consequently the consumption, is increasing rapidly. Potatoes.—All sound lots reaching the market.meet'with a ready sale, and prices continue firm. \ Elour—Light shipments of Australian from Sydney and Melbourne are coming to hand, ...but the. market values exhibit no changed .'.•.-.■.■•..•.■..(.. -■■•-.:-.. • Barley.—Very little business is passing in feed barley, :but:.for malting Ibarley, the prices have''advanced considerably.■-,.,., , Peaches—Heavy supplies;.-continue, to cqme forward, 'and' are realising, extremely low prices.'■';•', '.'"'"-. '.' -Apples.—Dessert and cooking apples have advanced slightly, and a further improvement in '■ prices seems likely. ■ Pears—Regular supplies are coming in from" the Canterbury district; values are unchanged., ■Tomatoes.—Values havo improved somewhat',.' owing to lighter supplies, being available.' ' • i' ' ' "' Grapes from .South Australia and New, South .Wales are reaching this market by every steamer, and' a' ( fair auantity is coming in, from the - different districts of New Zealand.... Prices are low enough to permit almost' everyone" to.enjoy "grapes. :. Vegetables.—SuppliesN are .fully - eanal to the:demand, and a fair business-is doing in'all-'seasonable-lines." .- ,

taken at Ib. BJd., and 1200 bushels at Is. 9d. at country . stations. Kvegrasa continues in good demand, but cocksfoot is not changing hands very freely, as growers are not inclined to accept the lower prices offered. . KEMPTHORNE, PROSSER, AND CO. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.i Dunodln, March 8. At a meeting, of the directors of the Kempthornc, Prosser Drug Company a dividend for the half-year, at the ralo of 7 per cent., was recommended.