FINANCIAL OUTLOOK.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1438, 13 May 1912, Page 6

FINANCIAL OUTLOOK.

8 MR. H- BEAUCHAMP'S VIEW. LONDON MARKET AND NEW ZEALAND. AN INCREASING DEBT, "As a field for private investment, New Zealand will be given a wide berth so long as the prosevit preposterously high death and succcssioxi duties obtain." Such was tho view expressed by Mr. Harold Beauchanip, ,?x-chnirnuin of tho . Bank of New Zealand, when interviewed by o, Dominion reporter,, upon his return to Wellington, after uri'extended tour of tho Old World and America. "A great deal of discussion -hns taken place, in tho Old Country duriug tho last few months," said Mr. Buauchamp, "upon the steady and consistent fall in tho initio of' Consols, and all sorts' of suggestions Jiavo been made by eminent financial men aiid others ns to what st'eps should be ■taken by the Government to improve their value. However, I saw in, uoiio of those uny that wero likely to prove really efficacious. It will bo noted that cue cf tlio leading financiers of tho day, Sir F. Schuster, attributed the fall in tho vslno of Consols and other gilt-edgcdj securities partly to tho heavy realisations which from timo to time have to take placo to,meet the death and succession duties ■iu''tho'United Kingdom. This contains -a : lesson for New Zealand, and, to my niiud, emphasises tho • necessity of our Parliament considering whether it would not bo wise.to niake.ii substantial reduc-. tion in tho duties wider these heads. Further,'Term'only : reiterate the opinion 1 have so frequentlv voiced, namely, that these preposterously high duties in this country are calculated not only to drive ' capital nwav, but to bar its flow hither I think one "of tho most injudicious pieces of legislation ever passed by the-Liberal party is the Death and Succession.Duties Act, 1910. I think it -would bo a good thing if wc could now call a halt in regard to legislation, of which to my mind we.-hav.ejiad too much during the past decade. '" ~, , Mr. Beauchamp added that wh.'le he was in London several large loans were placed on the market, and the majority of them, ■he found,-was readily token up by the public. THowever, iii. the. matter of Gov-, eminent loans, investors, as a, rule, would not touch anything that would yield them less than 4 per cent., and, for the, issues of first-class -public bodies and railway companies, i\ to i', per cent, was demanded. With the enormous sums that will bo required for. tho development-of Canada, China, tho Argentine, Brazil, and other South American States—not forgetting tho financial needs of Australasia, "I think, said Mr. Beauchamp, "there will be a rc:ession in the value of money. As. to this Dominion,- the piling up of our public 'debCwithin the last five-'years', is strongly .condemned; and in financial circles tho issue of.-short-dated loans is sharply criticised; Still, it is generally recognised that we have good security to-offer, and, if more money he required, we can .confidently look; to the British public to find it—at, of course, a price." ..-..- As; to tlio products of the Dominion, ■with the restoration of- industrial peace, ' Mr. -Beniichnmp thought we might look with,, confidence for remunerative prices for wool, frozen meat, dairy produce, tail- , low, 'and*T>elts; 'nil' of which' are in constant demand throughout Great Britain, but the" prospects for hemp and kauri gum are discouraging. Tlio dressing of Manila hemp by machinery—thus appreciably lessening the cost of production—and the discovery of a substitute for kauri gum in the manufacture'.pf varnish' had seriously affected-, these-New-Zealand pro- ■ ducts.'.:'-'-':"..;'::"; i.'"i"'.. .':', .'.;.,:"' -.'; ;>