COMMERCIAL & FINANCIAL.

Evening Post, Volume LXIX, Issue 50, 1 March 1905, Page 4

COMMERCIAL & FINANCIAL.

Evening Post Office, Wednesday. MONEY MARKKT. Tlio feature of llio fmuneiul prsitf'l, in London m tho utendy nccunui :i. ' uiettil in tho Hunk of Knglaml •• . p tho pant four weeks Iho Block of '" tho contral institution has ndvwnrcit iiom £32,655,000 to £36,847,000, or nl tho rnto of ovor a million ntorling; per week, nud thin is having a invouraMo nlCect, especially on tlio values of gilt-c<lgcd fsuuiuitio*.-. Loanable- credit in rapidly accumulating in London, nnd this of itself makes for lower wtos. It ia, howuvor, to bo noted that noithor tho Bunk i\Uo nor Uio opon nmrkot ralo hna boon reduced, nnd poosihly there may bo no reduction until nftor tl>o elosn of tho quarter. It was in April lust year that reductions woro mado, and tho same inovoiiiont ia likoly to bo ropoatod this yonr, provided political oyonU do not otnbarram Iho flilimtion. Signs of woaknoiw should havo boon fthowu oro this in tho open m«rkol rat on, hitt (limo hnvo kopt in tho neighbourhood of 2£ por emit, for hoiiio timo past. Tho nolo circulation of tho Bank of England exhibits a doolino, nnd lo a certain oxtont this implies that internal track* is still dull nnd depressed. There, linx been a grout incroaio in tlio publio (lopontu, tho amount Inat week Btunding at £16,430,000. (ih ng*mnL £14,066,000 a your ago. Tho bulk of Iho taxation, especially (ho income-tax, fallfl duo in Iho lant quarter of tho financial year, and tho houvy iucronso in tho doposits hcsirn out tlio anticipation* of tlio Metropolitan dailies that tho British Budgot will i-hot(' a surplus of £3,000,000 to £4,000,000. If this proves correct it will bo a 'nsynifieont triumph for Mr. Austen Chamberlain, tho Chftnoollor of tho Exchequer. Tho rapid incronno in Iho gold reserve of tho Bnnk of England is probably duo to tho incronsod output of tho yollow inotnl in South Africa. Tho output of tho Trnngvnnl for 1904 constitutes a record; tho nggrogalo for tho your ronohod 3,779,621 ouncoß, vnluod ixt £16,054,809, nnd .was £10,774 moro than tho proviou*. highest annual total, obtained in 1898 — tho yonr boforo tho Boor War conimonood. I'ho rocovory hna como soonor than wna oxpoctod by Iho most ennguino, nnd on tho proHoul monthly basis tho total for 1905 will bo woll ovor £18,000,000 n« a minimum. Tho vitlno of tho gold production of Australasia in 1904 woe approximately £17,987,500. SUGAR Tho iitoady upward movomont in Iho prices of this commodity i» likely to o\rrciao a' beneficial influe-m'o on Australia and Fiji, and may ultimately loud to tho profiUblo cultivation of tho sugar hoot in Uim and tho olhor colonies. Sinco tlio suppression of tho bounties under tho Sugar Convontion of BrnssoU thoro linx boon an onormous increaao in tlio oottmunption. For Iho year ended 31st August. 1904, the world's conaumplion incroiwocl by 1,313,699 tons, of which increnso 808,000 tons has tnkon plnoo in tiormany, Frnnoo, Auitrin, nnd Belgium, 210,000 tons in tho United SUl'ds, 34,000 tons in tho United, Kingdom, and tho remaining 261,699 tons in non-sUtiitictl oountrios. Tho samo rnto of consumption, cannot bo met during tho prosont yoar, as thero i« not a sulhoieut supply by 400,000 tons, so that tho present, high pricog aro justified and inovitablo, for it ia obvious that consumption mu*t bo checked. A year ago Gorman boot sugar. 88dog, waa quoted at 8s Id por cwt, and in now 15s od, and touohca as high as 16s 4d earlier in tho year ; first-mark granulated wm a yoar ago 10s por ewt — it is now 17a Id, and iin» boon high or. Tho pricos aro so romunoralivo thnt holders of stocks in Austrulia. and Fiji nro finding it profiUblo to ship lo both Europe and tho Unttod Statos. As in usual when prices aro Abnormally high, tlvcro is a strong temptation lo incroato Iho sourcnn of supply, and from present indications thoro aro prospects thnt in tho aenson 1905-6 supplies of both beet and enno will bo groally increased, and thoso didtant deliveries aro bring offerod at 3s bolow tho rates of to-day. Tho cultivation of cane, sugar hn« received a gront impetus, nnd as beet anil cano aro on a frcotrado bnvi«, tho Britieh market will no longer bo dominated by beetroot, but will havo henceforth hot h sources of supply from which to draw. BUTTER. Tho imports of butter into tho United Kingdom during 1904 ronoliod 4,241,0050w1, tho largest total on record, tho value- bomg Btntod at £21,117,162, us emu pa rod with £20,798,707 in 1003 mid £20,526,690 in 1902. Tho import* for tho past two yonrs comparo as uudor: — » 1903. 190 V. Colonies. Owt. Cwl. Cauada 285,437 268,607 Now South Wales ... ?0,371 159,622 Now Zoaland 249,879 204,002 Queensland 786 59,475 Victoria 193,177 255,716 740,650 1,038,402 Foreign Countries. Donmark 1,771,654 1,708,619 Other countries ...1,539,390 1,493,984 4,060,694, 4,241,005 Tho lending foaturo of tho London buttor trade in 1904 was Iho great expansion in Australasian supplies, all othor countries showiug defioionoien. In 1903 tlio Commonwoalth stood ninth on Iho list, but laet year it got into second place, Denmark being tho only country nhoad. Tho Danes hold a very strong load, Mid it will tako yoars for tho colonies to ouliilrip thorn. Tho war does not nppoar to hnvo mado very matorial difforoueo to Russian mpplies, for tho quantity sent to tho Unitod Kingdom in 1904 wns 404,7170wt, at against 484,328ewt in tho provious yoar. Whon tho country soltlct down after tho prosont uphonval, wo may well look for vory great dovelopmonls in Iho Siberian buttor trndo. WOOL. Tho sooond of tho sorioa of London snlos will begin on Tuesday noxt, Iho 7th iiut., and all tho ovidenco nvailablo points lo a further doolino .in values. Tho Bradford top inarkot rocords a fa.ll of id por lb in, tho crossbred counts— tho second eonseoutive doolino of a liko amount. At tho thoopikin. salos Inst weok thoro was an ajl-rouad doclino, ooareo crossbrcdi boiug 3d. to Id lowor. Tlio Antworp salos to bo hold during tho noxt few day« will furnish further indications of tho tendonoy of tho mnrkot. Tho comparative tablos of tho imports of colonial wool into Europo and Amorica published by Mosors^ Ilclmuth, SchwnrtßO and Co. nro vory intorosting. Lnat yoar Australasia contributed 1,371,000 bales, and tho Cnpo 201,000 baton, Iho avorngo valuo por l»lo being £14 10s nnd tho total valuo £22.794,000. During tho past 44 yean tho highoet uverngo nrico was £26 10s, obtainod in 1872, nud tho lowest £10 10s, in 1901. Tho imports from Australasia wero Inrgosl in 1895, whon 2,001,000 bales woro oxportod, and Iho vnlno of all colonial wool importations reached its highost point in 1899, wheu tho total was £27,666,000. Compared with the 1895 record tho imports of Australn»i«n wool into Europo in 1904 ihowod a dcolino of 630,000 bales. TRADE RETURNS. Tho trado returns of Australasia for tho pnet year aro now available, and tho comparison with provious yonrs is vory intorosting. Tnkmg tho past four yoars, Iho imports show as under: —

Tho Commonwealth figures include intorStnlu imports, but tlio oversea imports havo declined considerably sinco 1901, duo largely to roducod borrowing nnd to tho cessation of imports of grain, flour, and fowling stuffs, nit was tho caao iv 1903. Tho export* oomparo n» under: —

Tho break up of tho drought in eliowu in tho Commonwealth figures. Tho oversea oxports only from Atißtnilia increased by £7,814,000 M compared with 1003, and £13,030,000 ng compared with 1902. Tho excess of oxports ovor imports on tho Oonunonwoftlth rotuniH for lnet yo«r in £20,588,440, and on Now Zealand's figures £1,456,714. Messrs. Thompson Bros., Ltd., report tho following wholesale prices ruling ou

tlin Wollmgton produce murkot during tho pimt wuok : — Primo onion »hr>nf chad, now 85s to 87b 6d, okl 10S« to 110h por ton ; food oaU, 2b 3d to 2s 4d per lumliol ; wluilo fowl who.it, 3k !?cl to 4n per biiohnl ; inivi/o, 3i 6d por Inihhol ; pollard, £6 15s to £7 per Ion ; lira.ii, £4 to £4 5s per ton; flour, £10 5h Id £10 10t por ton; barley, 2» 8d por bunluil ; kidney pofca-toiw, 7h to 8b por owl ; Brown Rivoi*, 6s od to 7b 6cl j>or owt; Derwiuilß, 7n to 8« pi>r cwt ; Vioi-orUui onions, £10 10h per ton ) Now Zcvtland, £6 to £9 per ton ;oarroti, 7« to 8s pin- sack; ™b)«gi'«, 3s Gd Urt 4a 6d per Back ; ciuilillowoßi, srf to 6b 6d por Bftclc ; groon i>aa, 4d to 6d por pock; French Imkiiis, 2d por lb; factory bacon, didoH 7d, rolln Od ; liiudb, 8d por lb ; poultry, hens 2a 6d to 2h 9d por p^ roostors 3s to 3a 6d per i>air, duokn 4e to 4« 6d po>" pair, gooso 5s 6d to 8« 6d por pair ; turkoys, hens 8s to 8s 6d j)er pair, gobblers 12s to 14b 6d yiov pair ; oggn. Is 4d ]wr oVwon ; butter, seixirator (lib pnte) Oil por 11), bulk Oil por II), pastry Oil lo id per lb ; chooso, b<«sL factory, 5d per lb ; funguß, 4id per lb; peanuts, 2id por lb. LONDON MAR KETS. [PnKSS ASEOCIATION.I (Rocoivotl Mnroh 1, 10.18 a.m.) LONDON, 28th Fobnmry. Tin.— On tho spot, £130 2s 6d ; throo months, £129 15s. Load, £12 ss. Whoat. — Eight thousand quartors of Victorian, February <<hipmont, Hold at 335. Wool.— Tho arrivals to dalo total 367,500 bnlos: forwarded diroot to manufnolurm-s, 191,500 bnlos ; availuWo for ensiling rales, 176,000 bales. Ooniolo, £91 7h 6(l— a riso of 11s 3d since- Friday* quotation.

1001 1902 1903 1904 Commomvortlt £ ... 75,026,787 ... 71,111,535 ... 77,618,363 ... 88,983,419 tli. N sow /calami £ 12,081,424 13,632,953 15,010,378 14,748,348 1.

1901 1902 1903 1904 C jOinmonwoftlt £ 68,129,455 67.433,184 67,468,533 68,394,079 Mi. New /oalanu £ 11,816,457 11,314,856 12,708,675 13,291,634