NO WARRANT FOR THE JUMP.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2221, 6 August 1914, Page 6

NO WARRANT FOR THE JUMP.

"DUE TO PUBLIC EXCITEMENT.", [There was ,v slackening; off experienced ifl the denjand'ruado on,wholesale flour and grain merchants'yesterday, indicating a weakening of the partial panic which threatened to run up the prices of . flour, oatmeal, wheat, etc. . One merchant,'who deals heavily in flour in Wei-, 'lingiton, said that his telephone had been comparatively quiet during the day; the majority of the orders that had come through being for bag (as distdnot from sack) flour,- which he was . quite, unable to 6upply. Our informant stated that the fadt-thatithe-risaiiniiprices was "quite by the cables from- Sydney dealing with the prices of food stuffs. He drew attention' to tho-Sydney. cable message .which read that'-"the' boom -in wheat yaluea -- has, • practically ended, and there ..is'now. strong. • piessure to sell looally, os;_hqlders are afraid of the financial position. Prices have' dropped to is. 4d., forward deliveries; December-February, 3s. llid. , Wholesale . merchants aro. advocating, o. State proclamation prohibiting the exportation of. wheat end-flour during the' crisis to avoid the possibility of'.shortage." Thati he said, showed that "the panic had practically ceased in Sydney.' 'Mining wheat had dropped to Is. Id. alreaay. whilst wo in Wellington; were teing asked to pay 4s. 3d., for fowls' wheat, 4a. 6d. for seconds, and is. "d. and "J-s. • Bd. for first grade . wheat. Another cablegram from Sydney, stated that' the; price of sheep' at- Homebush had declined Is. Gd., as there'was a prospect !,of 'a decline in wool. . As a matter .ot opinion, our informant said that the natural outcome of a panic was high prices—the publis had. to pay'for its excitement as it was now doin£ in Wellington, and it must be admitted that it was the only euro for a panic. There was no warrant for'the sudden rise (beyond tlie temporary excitement). As a. matter of "fact, when there w<i3 a lessened, ohance of export, the tendency; ■ should bo' to lower prices, and he' would not be surprised'to near of them at least'roceding_ to normal. Questioned as ' to the agitation for the removal of the duty of XI per ton. off flour,'a Wellington dealer said that he was . pretty sure 'the Government -would ■never <lo that. -It would l>j infinitely better if the duty (9d. per cental)-were removed from Australian wheat, so that Rio millers could be independent of the local growers, who were inclined-to jump the price on-the smallest provocation. RUN ON THE GKOCEKS. SUGAR IN/ SHORT SUPPLY. Wellington grocers had litfle time for idle talk yesterday morning.' They had to go at it "hammer and tongs," to fulfil the orders for- bagged flour, sugar; ' oatmeaV and such-like necessaries, that streamed in from every, quarter. To judge from the mountains of groceries that were being sent out from one big local store, one. would estimate that the city was in' imminent risk' of : ha-ving its food supplies cut: off within . a day or two, or tnat famine prices were coming, neither of.,which, contingency..is considered - to -.be in the. least likely.., Stul, it is not for the provision merchant' toreason- why"—his business is, to execute, orders, and. , the bigfier and more .numerous they are, the more profitable his turnover. The only lines that have gone up so fa? ore, flour- and oatmeal, Uotli^ot wliich have been .advanced j£l a ton this week. This means that the 1001b bag has advanced by 2s. or 2s. lid., and the 501b. bag Is. or Is. Gd., acMrding to the grocer's estimate of market 1 fluctuations. Grocers have been put into a flutter, oy reason of the southern millers musingto quote "firm." This places local mw chants-and the big grocers. (who order direct) in tho position of having to order "on the blind, and naturally keeps them nervous as to what they should charge. Bagged flour was in very heavy demand yesterday; so was sugar. price of which has not advanced. None of the .merchants hold'.very large stocks o 6U°ar, and by midday yesterday ,tho local, stocks of No. 1 A (crystallised) were exhausted,'and No. 2 was in short supply, jo l A sugar now stands f.t J!ls per ton in Auckland. Tho cost in Wellington is 17s. Gd. -more. No. 2 sugar is-*£2 10a. nor ton less. There was no great demand for oatmeal, which still stood at ill 10s. per ton (a rise of on hist Saturday quotation). RUN ON COAL. im noufMoip WANTS IN \ ' -CimiSTCHUIICH. (By ieiegKiph—Presa Association.) Christchurch, August 5. Practically every retail coal dealer in the city has been flooded with orders for coal during the past two or' threo days, and their stocks ftro already being "depleted to a dangerous extent—dangerous,, because, as a prominent wholesale coal merchant point 3 cut, the public, by-their fear of an immediate rise in tho pricc of, coal, and their actions in rushinjj the retailors, arq precipitatinp an event that-if-tliey would only takei things calmly; might not occur for some time yet, aud posably might not occur at all. Up to the iprosent coai -remains at its late price; but there ■is little'doubt that-if tho war continues for any length of timo coal, as' well as' most other goods, will get dearer. For . tho'jast six raontho at leasts so a -'Nows"

representative ""fis informed, it .lias been • difficult for coal merchants to get adequate supplies of coal from Australia owin» to strikes, and at no time have 1 merchants bean fully stocked up. As a ; consequence, all retailers have been short to a certain extent.. At the present tim« a large shipload of Australian coal is l>e- ■ ing unloaded at Lyttelton, and another boat load is expected to arrive about August 20. If. everything is allowed to go along at a normal rate, it' is thj prof)-' able that the threatened rise -will be staved olf indofiiitcly, but if the public- - loses its head and bombards the retailers with orders for large amounts it will have ' only itself to bln'me if a rise in price has • to be chronicled. AUCKLAND PRICES. (By Telegraph—Press Association.)' • Auckland, August 5; : "With the exception of flour,-which has . gone up 30s. .per ton, there has been no 'increase in .the prices of foodstuffs in Auckland. There has been a great rush 'on the provision stores. during the pas" few days many persons laying .in stores. Large crowds paraded the streets tonight and there was much shouting anS singing. The declaration of war has beer received with enthusiasm. PETROL AND BENZINE. * AMPM! SUPPLIES IN SIGHT. • (By Telegraph—Press Association.) Chrlstchurch, August 5. The question of the petrol and benzine ■ supply is one that affects a great- many Christchui'cli citizens, and the act'of.ono retailer in raising his price 3 caused the idea to get about that there would be a shortage, soon. It is'true that the agents of the oil companies are not taking-any very large orders just at present, but that is merely a precautionary, measure. It . was stated aborut..town that a very large consignment of Shell benzine had been-, seized" by the Admiralty in Australia. The "... real facts are that.the steam r.Physa with a big consignment of 150,000 cases, . on'...;' board has been stopped.at Thursday Is : ,! land by the Government. The Physa runs on oil fuel, and the Admiralty mere-, | ly wished to'commandeer the vessel's, supply ..for naval purposes.. . The benzine was of no use for naval' , purposes, and tie detention of the vessel will merely mean that she .will .'.be'Mcft with enough oil to get to Newcastle, : where she will take in coal (which . can '" also bo used for firing), and then' come on' _ to New Zealand. Her cargo of 150.000' ;, cases would suffice -for the whole of New,: ■ Zealand ,for about throa or four, months,.', and tliii which should "have been , here' about August 27, will now be' delayed for ; - a/fortnight or so. 'There has been a brisk demand for petrol,-and the stocks of Shell : spirit at present-in'hand are not large, but on the.other hand customers are well . supplied. ■ ■ LABOUR 1 UNION'S PROTEST/ VARIOUS RESOLUTIONS. .' At a meeting : of-' the; car-shed employees : held in the Newtown lowing resolution • was'. passed - "That • - this', -meeting of car-shed employees views with'grave concert the.ab-- -. normal'and unwarranted incieaso in the oost of foodstuffs and urges the Govern-. treat to exercise, its authority to prevent-. : such wholesale robbery , of the workers, and thaft those, responsible ;for . the'increase of the cost of living are a greater ■danger to the people than the present enemy." '•' -■ I . , _~■ ■, At a meeting of the Wellington Tailors . Union last night the' following resolution,.." was carried: "That, this unio"fc urges "upon'"' the Government the immediate! necessity, of controlling the prices '! of ; foodstuffs; and suggests imposing heavy penalties; on persons raising prices or withholding „ stocks from circulation when required ;. for tho people in this Dominion."" At a meeting >of< the members of the Government Printing • Office Association yesterday evening, the following resolution was unanimously passed:—"That this meeting of the Government Printing Office emuloyees respectfully urge' the Government to take charge of the newssaries of life 'with a view of keeping. '.' prices down as - low as possible during ~ the war; further, that the merchants haye already iwised tho price of flour .and;s sugar, and that; as many workers could hardly make ends meet prior to this present rise in-prices,.any„ further rise will causo a roost . serious and, hardship - to 1 them and their, dependents; i. 'and-that this resolution be iorwarded' to "■ the Right Hon! the Prime .Minister and ; to the Press." The meeting .after singing ' the- National Anthem .concluded with ; olieers for the success of .Britain and hea' • allies.