COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL. THE CITY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 30, 5 February 1908, Page 3

COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL. THE CITY.

Distributors report a week of moderate activity. Tho retail trade has boen j steadily disposing of the heavy stocks purchased fof tho holiday season, and this month should see the placing ol orders of satisfactory magnitude. There is no outstanding feature in tho j fjrocory section to record. Quotations foi mast linos f.ro unaltered: in Eastern good 1 ?, thero is, however,/ a. weaker tendency in rics, wnich may touch lower values. Im jskcmieAls. a strons upward movftmmi is announced in j-lycnrine. A f^rtaißlifc ago £2 pc? ton was added to tk* previous ouotation, »nd noxy cable *,dir:e»s hti76 been received intijpatmg tkat Makers had atill further ineren?«u p«t«s by il 10s. It is not ret definitely known what kas csused riiis ndv*nc« of £5 Its p»r t»» ia such t. short sptce of tiM». Tkt feft good* houses report that iht EUraain-winter raason is opening up quietly, but ell the indications point to 1 b. gtecdy business bomjc transacted. The hardware section is experiencing a satisfactory demand for builders' and constructional ironwork, _ but could easily cope with a moro active country trado. So Ion? as the dry woather continues, there is small hopo 01 tho nffrioullTirifct launching out; N henco country storefeeepers' orders aro of a hnnd-to -mouth description. This season will witness a diminution in the enport of Nov.- Zealand hemp. Export merchants complain of dullness in the London market, and if tho forecasts made as to tho increased Manila output prove correct, fJio decrease in tho J\ow Zealand fibre will not b-p feli. JJajlila ef- j feetually prnvents a revival in prices. "In aa ordinary y«ftr eny eanfidertblcf ttill-ins-off in the output of New Zftftln nd hemp would nt onco cause quotations to junip — but manufacturers now yew th* position with equanimity. There is a eompiefo sibseneft «f thai, brisk speculative trade which characterised the last four loasons. The e*:»orc ci fre»e» meat &>ntitiu»s to expand i» tf, gratifying manißßT 1 . L«st year sh«rred up well in #orripßrison with 1906, Ahd left 1905 far behind. Up to the present Great Britain has been «or .xaaia mAfkei', but experts s»t that with improved organisation and better *n«thocls c' distribution the Deminion esuld dispose of even larger quantities of mutton, lamb and beef there than it does ji«w. Signs are no* wanting, however, that in iho course 0' the neit few j ears fke emb^r<?o placed on the importation of fr«iFen m^pt by ninny great European na"li«Hs .rill be either wholly removed or greatiy modified. So far tho infiuones of the powerful country parties in Germany and Austria has blocked the way, but resontlv mass meetings h.'.ve been held ir> Vienna and other important centres callins upon tho Governments to abolish tho dbnpxiou* laws. In Vienna the housewives "are joining hands to boycott the butchers. _ They ftre trying, states the Economist, to get hundreds ot" thousand!! to refrain from buying butchers' meat for a whole fortnight, hopirijr thereby to induce cattle dealers and butchers to. reduce their prices.. It is stated that' the Swedish Navy has ncc&pted a tender for -the supply of n larfjs quantity of Australian frozen meat. Considerable interest is boirig evinced in Swodoa iw connection with the shipment, over wkieh particular carewill be tak*»n, as it is wished to ascertAin the pessibilitv of importing meat frozen ftfcd then aalting it down in Scandinavia.. Ths outlftofc on the Continent «f Europe is decidedly encouraging, and tllie demands on New Zeclfind as ft fool « producing country promise ta exceed i the estimates of the most sanguine. It is to bo hoped, therefore, that "some finality will be reached in connection with the proposal, which for some time ;has_ bees under th© consideration of tho various meat po-n-panios, that in order to moro effectively testj and exploit now markets a pooling arrangement snould bo arrived ar. Tho weight of frozen meat shipments from tho Dominion as compiled by tbo Shaw, Saville and Albion Company, 'arc as follows: —

Of the total export of meet lart year, Wellington is responsible for 48,98&/tSS lb?, nnd is now running: Lyrtolton vorv close indeed for first place, Timaru and Kapier beinj third nqd fourth respectively in importsac* TALLO^T. — Only n small business w«s dona at the last London sales. 1423 casts were offered, but only 157 *old. ■ Prices for modium mutton deelirted 6d per cvt., but beef was unchanged. The following' is a comparison of tha January sales: —

T^lie total imnoits ol tallow into Britnia for th-3 first cloven months of the year compare as follows: —

It iwll We ■•ticed ta?t Ntw Zealand supjfii&s * wy retieffcotory proportion oi J&itsin « requirements m tins arucle. EASTEP ZOSDOS MONEY iIARJCET. — Tk« Banlc of Eagland materially »trrajth»Bß«L its position aurinjf the weak. 'Ihe iticrs4i« in t&ft Banks gold reserves has brought tlio troporhou ot re!e^^ es to Liabilities to 06.00, whion compares satisfietorily with the 48.31 ot a year ago. 'l liars should be a further drop in tlxe ijapk ratp, fer the open market is now almost per cent, bcloiv the 1 hvcadneecile(tvsct lUttitutiou imperial Consols are reaping the beneiit of tho improved financial position, and are 32s 6d lughPT. This grei>t Eecunty ia vow rapidly making up it* leew&'y, lor since tho 24ih December last year no less than 4-g per cent, has been added to its price. This means enormous prctits for those gpeculators who bought for the rise when Consols touched 82. Kcv.- /joaland Cjovcrnmpni securities have also jJarlie patcd in the e-asier conditions, and the 4 per cents, wenfc 45s higher, aud are nerw <juot«d at J510& 15s. The expnln jtrem fhe Dominion last year topped tne £20,000.000 mark, tho precise fisum being £20,069,001), or a gain o* iii,074,453 on 1905. Km- the same period the imports were £16,982,G45, showaig an iccrcsso of £1,770,643. During the past ten years the value of ths external trade of JSow Z;aland has more then doubled : — law. lien. lispurfcs . S,eßß,'-^S t*,M'-2,CW* i«e. .t8.926.K3 foporta .. 1u,016.0J> £0,G&,603 inc. £,1(>,05,j i eU 1 / )U*%a * f crpori* . . 31,961,11* «3,8e?.3c4 2%t t»tal OuiHibs rerenno fcr last year is £3,079,422, ag*:p.rt »2,5&9,103 for 19G&, a s»t inert ai» of £120, 515, ur neitriy bi per c»nt. Gas of tlia moil marked di&'or«noa;i b»twuoa tb» L*ckJn^ tysiovu ef Aiuh-alAsia end tkat of tk» Uaiud Statog 1U« ia vhc f«s\ that wk&ctuu hur<« moA vi tb.o bauks wo widely rapraiorltau by branches, in the United fattt^tww bianuJoj ar« quite uxsoptional. The Bank of New Zealand, fur eiample, Lr« up«ai-c5 wf liO Lwnclies, TLan the ''big three' — tha .N'ev.- South Wales, Australasia, find Union — have numsrouß branches spread all over the various* Australasian atatcs. In the United States there are no similar institutions. Despite the «normou> volume of business earned on in that country, this has tv be done through gntiruly different institutions in tha vari«u» cilia*. Tlie City Kdit«r of tho fe>yd»«y Mos&ld afffßOT tbet tfcw method has ita afmwtaebv. I* •C!M parlK tht bT&nth banks are chiejy receivers of deposits, them being little of no outlet for advances. la others Ihe advance business preponderates. If each branch, he says, hxd to be Belf-^ufticwg, it can easily be imagined how difficult would bz the task

of its mauaueineat, and if oaeh branch iiad a local board o: ojrectors, with mwtj o' lees proteucioui. few, ie tau. be t>eeu How expensivo it could becoma. Ydfc tliiu 15 what the United brates system implies. Other authorities, nawevor, conteuu that unuer certain coudinoiii tho seu-ceutaiued bant without branones is the more tuccesslul and eatutaclory mcti.od. in lueibourno, tho Koyal iiauu, ftjist-n up to niiue recently haa not a smgio biaucn, was- ooiisp.cuously Buecosslul 1:1 its opciaticiis, and may be quoieii aa ail Ausuauau paiauel to tha American banks. Trow tho Ist January this year, in New Rouiia V> ales bills oi uxcliaugo, prouut-gory nocee, di-alta, and receipts u> not require sumjys. This actuiE, it 13 auttCii..ueu, may nave a prejudicial cliect upo-»i tae volums of financial traneaotions in Victoria, and the Stamp Dopanment ha» submitted a repoit to tho Victorian Government. lTrom this it appeals that the; penny receipt rtainp yielcii'd ft revenue di £131,0 1 5, eiamped foims lor jpromwaory noteo and bills of exchange £is,'J7b, tvs »d valorem duty smpressoa on promissory notes aiid similar instruments iUd.bo'J, and ot&er sourceß < ot stamp/ revenue" Drougut the lolal to £1^0,4^. If Victoria follows the example of New South Wales and abolishes tho stamp duties, it will thus entail a considerable lobs ot revenue. As the State ireasurer is bles3ed with a, buoyant revenue ho may accede to the request' \vh.eh is being pressed upon him vigorously by tho baukmg, linancial, and cominerctal sections ot the community. DRIED FRUIT.— Tha Mildura, Fruit Trust, which handles 98 per cent. ot^tUe total output of dried trusts at Mildura and llenniark, has proposed a Echeme which -will coutTol both the buying and dittribuiin^ of dried fruits produced thero. 'L'his tchemo differs irom tnit of last season, inasmuch as previously ths trust had only fixed the pncs3 to bo charged the, distributors ; but this year they aiso mean to regulate tho rales at wh.ch the distributors must toll to their customers. The great success attained by tha co-operative handling end selling of Mildura fruits should encourage tho New Zealand fruitfrowens to prcccod a lons similar lines, .efore this method was adopted the outlook ab Mildura. v»as a, glooaiy ono, but rll this has been altered by the unity of action made posjiolt through co-opera-tion. In this Tr*y -new mirkots fca.ve been opened up for tho mrplns output of -fruit. BUTTER.— LowtI expert* expect % still further increase to take place in the prieft of butter, probablj next week. They contend thn.t even should ruin fall it will bo too lsito to save the ritartion. Meanwhile shipments to the English market *re finding a, resdy outlet at high q-aora-tierac. Compared with the same date last jt?.v New Z»l«id butter js fully from 6s to 10s per crKt dearer. This ii prinoipftlly ewinj; to the serious lulling oft' in the ship* ments frcrA Australia, ths total decrease of vihieh to date is nearly £400, tons. The imports into tho United Kingdom f or the eleven months cf 1907 amounted to 3,889.^02 ctrt, a, comidernble falling off on. the previous j'oar'a figuiez. Both for butter and checso Kew Zealand is experiencing a bumper season in England. Much at^entie-i is being devoted <o the developrr.or.t of Au«(raiian rra-de with tlio Fsr EasriNind it behoves tbe Dominion to keop a watchful, uy a en the potiiibilitieb oi cultivating k, more cxtenshe tinde eonnettion» with China, India, and Japan. Ia a sutrgestive artirld ir tVie> Sydn-iv JJotuing Herald it appears thafc in 15C5 China imported neaily £70,C00 werth of butter and cheese, £?,!J.OOO of kides, r.ad £360,000 of leather. Tke AustntlMkn rfrooortion of tliecft fSgijrrb w«* very small ana is much rooni for expansion. In Honjkeng there af s Chinese rnerchsnti who are prepared to import butter, beef, mutton, lambs, rabbits, hare?, and liasn. Whilo the best butter in Hongkong is of Australasian make, very few pfcple are aware of rhe fact because of the lack cf advertising end push. Australian beef is always wanted by the shipping people, but the general public of Hongkong Would be surprised to know there wrs any Australian beef up that way. It is poinced out that by merchants combining, having their own warehouses arid special agentf, lmieh trade could be captured. Beside? being a tremendously busy pert and tho rreat trades channel of South China. Hongkong in a few yesrs will be linked tip by the Kowloon-Canton railway, which in turn has it? railway running out to other centre;. South China is a lnnd cf enormous possibilities. Further north is Shanghai, which imported last year goods to the value of 37 millions, of which (he Australasian share for the samp period was the puny amount cf £147,761". New Zeslaad is handicapped at present by the lack of a direct service, but it will be one of the probloms ef the imrardiate future fer cur Department of Industries and Oommeros how to obtain a 'fair share ef the va«t trade which is year by year being revealed in Ih-a Far East.

?r«sj Orb. kustialia E«,4« Kc\7 ZfaHnd .. .. 312,871 Ptsbm J0.728 [Jiited States .... 361.5 M trt«H»» c&Q,m Dthw *»u»trj«».. .. 1ii,78» IJOS. IVO7. Cirt. CVi. Mf>:.'M P?6,6K 3M.STS <W,31! 43,51 a <UM< <3Z.fn9 «3»,S<? 151,£63 1M.73] 1,817,392 1,»T5',544

Medium MfliiiH Ozto C«.»li« muttoa Tjccf. offcied. sold, per ewt. ntreni 2s. d. *£ c. d, f*n. S 1815 fOl 1 12 0 1U ( ran. 15 1C23 338 1 13 0 1 11 < ran. 2?. 1179 144 1 11 6 110 f ran. £9 1428 157 1 11 0 1 10 {

Juttoil limb se*J 1907. lbs. . . lfs.s-iT.cea .. 57.2C2,«8 1503. 110.664.211 88.216,91 ; 39C5. 70,1 M,170 17,160,-163 ■.tsl „. 2:3,2ie,9is 210,929,041 vn,n-:Z.ZZ2