COMMERCIAL & FINANCIAL

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 47, 25 February 1914, Page 4

COMMERCIAL & FINANCIAL

Evening Post, Wednesday. Already the question is being asked, ,Wben, in view of tb© cheapening of money in London, are the banks of the Dominion: going to fall into line? From enquiries made in, the proper quarter it would soem that hankers, in common with some other authorities, are not yet assured tbart money wffl remain at its present" tevel for a reasonable length of time. Prqbabry when the Government's la6t loan, or a great paa* of ,it, ia r>ut into developmental work, the expenditure tf local bodies' recent loans for works begun, and other receipts _ from wool and other produce are pat inio circulation, there may then be eeen a. disposition on the' part of tho banks to slacken' the purse-strings. This should take place somewhere about April to May next- at the- earliest^ in the absence of any un-looked-for disturbing factor. >It is proposed that the capital of the Wellington L Investment Trustee and Agency Company,' Limited, be increased by credting an additional 100,000 shares of £1 each. ' The 'nominal and subscribed capitai of the company is now £100,00 C, divided into 100,000 shares of £1 each, 10s 'paid up, representing £50,000. The reserve aifd undivided profits at 30th June last were £13,033 7s 2d, making a , total of £63,033 7s 2d; equal to over 12s 6d, per share on shares now issued. If the. resolution to increase the capital is passed, the directors intend to issue now only 50,000 of the new shares, at a premium of^ls per share, to existing ehareholtlers in the proportion of one newshare, for 'every Uvo shares held by shareholders. The ' amount at present to be called up. will be 10s per^ 6nare; so that when this is paid the paid-up capital of the company will be £75,000. The premium of Is per share will be placet! io the credit of reserve. The directors give as a reason for the proposed increase of capital the prospects of more extensive and profitable busines* being done. Messrs. Samuel, Montagu and Co., in. thejr annual bullion letter, state that the effect upon gold of the revolutionary movements involving military operations in -China, the internal strife in Mexico, and the struggle in the .Balkans, with its nequences, cannot be said to ha>ve been very apparent, for. with the exception of t donsiderablo exports from the United ytales in order to pay for securities returned from Europe, no remarkable movements of the metal have taken place as a result ,of this widespread unrest. It is doubtful whether the world's production of gold will exceed that of 1912; it. will probably be in the neighbourhood of £98,000,000. The great State Banks of liurope heldts-gold as follows at the close of the respective years: —

*It ie possible -that the figures* set against these two banks include a small portion of silrci'. A noteworthy feature of the year is the ■<va,y in^fcrhich New York exported gold fceely to France and South America,: tho nefc exports between Ist January and 13th December, 1913, were £9,000,000. Mr. Vincent Astor, the young multimillionaire, has announced that Mr. Andrew Cwmegie, Mr. Jttfius Rosenwald (the great Jewish merchant and banker of Chicagolj, and himself ha.ye entered into an agreement to capitalise a chain of banks throughout tho country to loan money at low rates to working men. In his statement Mr. Astor says»: — "These loan banks ■mil be organised on a system similar to tfiafc vtaon, obtains in Germany. It is an organised attempt -to put 'loan sharks' out

of business, and I think it will very greatly benefit^ tho worker, who, when h,e needs money, is now obliged to pay usurious rates of interest to money lenders." The inception of the idea came from young Mr. Astor. and because he did not wish to go into the matter alone and preferred tho experience and advice of older men, ho in^ teroated Mr. Caruutjio and Mr. Rosenwakl. who lit onco fell in with his plans, recognising that such a scheme would bo of immense benefit to the poor and thrifty. COMMERCIAL BANK.— Mr. Robert Harper, chairman of the Commercial Bank of Australia, at tho recent halfyearly meeting of tho bank, referred to the future allocation of profits of tho institution. He hoped that not later thai the noxt half-yearly mooting the board would have- agreed upon a policy and be prepared to carry it into effect on lines- which they anticipated would meet all reasonable requirements, and bo beneficial to the bank.- lie might perhaps be permitted to add that the objective of tho board would be to bring the ordinary shares as speedily as possible ■ into tho dividend-paying list, which, if achieved, would, of course, involve the payment concurrently of 4 per cent, on the preference shares. DAIRY PRODUCE. -The butter market is well maintained, but there is still a great discrepeney between tho prices for Danish and New Zealand, as much as 7s to 8b per cwt in favour of the former. Locally, no change is reported "in butter for homo consumption. In Australia the long spoil of dry weather is having a hardening effect upon prices in the Commonwealth. This fact has stimulated enquiry for New Zealand butter for Africa. To this market a certain quantity of New Zealand choicest goes every season, but tho element of local production, combined with tho advantages Australia enjoys in the matter of freight charges has to be taken iuto account. An order for some 500 boxes spread over March and April has boon received, and another for 600 boxes spread over a longer period is being executed. The prices are 12gd and 12|d respectively for pats. Auckland in selling butter to San Francisco at llgd. The cheese market is very steady, and seems likely to remain so to tho end of tho exporting season. _ Australian cheese in but small quantities is beginning to sell well in England. Probably by next season the export of this product from t-hq Commonwealth will 4iow promise of conI eitlerable development in view of the favour in which eheeso-maklnff is now riekl in. New Zealand. A rdport has just been made to tho Union Counties of the East and West Ridings of Yorkshire by the Poor Law Inspector on margarine v. butter. He places the nutritive elements of butter at 16 and of margarine at 15. Ho recommends supplying poor law institutions with margarine on tho ground that this substitute is already oaten by 80 por cent, of the workers in their own homes: men earning 35s to 50s a week to the extent of 15 per cent. ; and tho re- | maining well-to-do classes to the extent of 5 per cent. It is pointed out that no hardship would be done to poor people by giving them tho same substitute for butI tei' that they now habitually use, but_ of a superior quality, ivhile a- great paving of the poor law expenditure would bo effected- There are, it was pointed out, nearly ono hundred unions and a large number, of public institutions in the United Kingdom which had substituted margarine for butter. 'WOOL.— It is expected that 6ome 6000 to 7000 bales of wool will come under the hammer at the sales to be held in Wellington on 3rd March. There is a quantity of very fair conditioned wool _to be offered. Some of it will necessarily be of a back country deecrjption, but included in the catalogues will be wool held over from the February offering. There will be a fair quantity of lambs' wool offering. It 'is anticipated that the majority of oversea and New Zealand buyers will bo present at this sale. New Zealand wool importers of over 10.000 bales for the London market, 1913, include the following: — Bank of New Zealand, 46,724 bales ; Jas. Morrison, 30,073 ; Sanderson, Murray, 27,561 ; Loan and Mercantile, 25,820: Union Bank, 21,545; Bnnk New South Wales, 21,545; Dalgety,

19,862; Bank Australasia, 14,726; C. Anderson, 14,328; National Mortgage, 12,256; A. L. Elder, 11,002. As regards prospects for the wool market for 1914, Jacomb, Son, and Co., London, report that "there is, nothing in the condition of the wool industry to suggest anything but a firm maintaining of present values, and any change should be in an upward rather than downward direction, while it must not be forgotten, when summing up the position of the raw material for the npxt few months, that the new clip is earlier than usual, and that a considerably larger proportion has already been marketed in London and Australia than was the case at this time last year. It remains '-to be eeen what effect the revision of the American Tariffs Bill will have on the rrtarkets of the world. Very certainly while it will eventually be a great additional source of competition for the raw material, the change has been made primarily to benefit, the people of America and not other countries. What is most required ia a rest cure from the heavy financial capital requirements which have of ia+e been such a burden on all nations." Tho firm Jurnishes the following table of prices pet bale realised in colonial and London_ markets. Value of Australasian wools in the London and colonial markets during the la6t ten years: — *,

MEAT. — A number of enquiries for North Ibland lamb, February-March shipment, haivo been received on tho basis of s|d c.i.f., but it is found difficult to procure lines on such terms, local prices for stock being still very high. London is not at all dispoaed to go to 4 9-16 d for mutton, ab which price holders eeem inclined to quit. The tendency at Home seemts to ba_ to hold off in expectation of lower prices ruling. Gilbert Anderson and Co., London, reporting on the meat market as on 2nd January, /stated that although frozen meat businoss had been of tho usual slow nature at this season, values had been fully maintained, and' in most cases advanced. Arrivals^ of Australian lambs at British ports during the past month were about 45,000, but the consumption has been very good, and there is, no ■accumulation in London stores. -The few New Zealand sheep available have risen to 5d for grades 56-64, heaviei grades ' being id-id less, and ewes 4id. Axrstralian wethers, 30-50, 4id, 50-70 4id ; ewes, 30-50, 4 l-10d. " South American wethers, 40-55 4-^d, 56-72 4£d. Tho light weight of the fair and inferior Australian lambs enable them to bo Bold at the same price as best, which aro now coming to hand heavy in weight. Best lambe, 28-42, s|d ; fair, 28-42, sjfd : inferior, s!d. Canterbury (New Zealand) lambs havo advanced further — 28-36 6|d. 36-42 6id, 42-50, 53d. South Americans, 28-36 s|d, 36-42 sid. FRUIT EXPORTS— The lonic will take this week a largo quantity of New Zealand apples for the South American market. They will bo labelled in most cases American style, and the fruit will be of a bright rosy description, such as soils more in appearance than flavour, a sine qua non for this market. In all some 40,000 to 50,000, cases will go, tho lonic taking 20,000 cases. The fruit is distributed from Rio do Janeiro, Buenos Ayres, and Monto Video. Considering the cost of carriage and distribution, the fruit is retailed at a very cheap rate in South America. Tho trade is a growing ono — as Tasmania's waa — but New Zealand has all tho experience of her rival to go upon, and should profit not only by the mistakes tho Tasmanian exporters made, but also endeavour to avoid those little lapses of principle that appear to bo associated with the initiation of possible big trades. All will depend uppn conscientious and intelligent packing, just weights, and maintenance of qualities and grades. HEMP.— The' hemp market is still exceedingly dull, with but little prospect of

immediate revival. The output, is well maintained, and millers not forced to quit aro not rushing the fibre forward. Prices to millers on Monday were as follow: — Good fair grade, £20 5s per ton; high point fair, £18 10s per ton ; low point fair. £17 10s per ton. Tow, No. 1, £7 I per ton; No. 2, £5 ss; and No. 3, £4 10s. GALVANISED IRON. — The Times (London) in commenting upon the understanding arrived at by British galvanised iron manufacturers, states that "there will be no official soiling price, and each member will be left to make his own terms with ouslomers, but there will bo a strict control of the output. To each firm thero will be allotted a certain output based upon their production for the past three years, and members exceeding the stipulated limit will pay a proportionate contribution to the pool, while firms whoso production is below the average will bo recouped from the pool. The new arrangement provides that as soon as prices fall below a level at which they cease to be remunerative by reason of the scarcity of orders or any other cause, the output of the various works shall be reduced until the lost ground has been recovered. The object of the association is to check the ruinous competition from which the trade has suffered during the last few years. No maximum selling price has been named by the association at present, but it is considered by some makers that it will be necessary to fix a limit beyond which prices shall not go. It is hoped that tho association will be in full working-order early in the new year." GROCERIES.— CabIes from Eastern markets show that desiccated coconut is 15s per ton down. Penpers_ have advanced id per pound for April shipment. Pineapples and nutmegs have undergone no change. Ginger has advanced l-16d per pound in Hongkong. Peanuts are 5s por ton dearer on the week for immediate shipment, and up to 15s per ton for JuneJuly shipments. Prices for new season's Mildura fruits atfe due by the second week in March. It is reported that all crops are very heavy. American dried apricots and prunes are reported to be of good quality, but prunes aro said to be very scarce, and prices are likely to be high. Prices of pounds, halves and tails, Cohoe salmon, are stated as being now 3s 6d per case_ higher than the opening rates. Stocks in merchants' hands in New Zealand and Australia are reported to be very short. | TEA.— Cable advices from Colombo at Sesterday's sales show a rise of 3 cents id) all round. Quantities offoring are reported to bo very small, one million to one and a quarter million pounds in tho place of the average two and a quarter millions usually offered. Commonwealth tea exports for 1913 show an increased value of £1,436.359 for 40,196,2171b5, as against £1,314,032 lor 36,752,0221b in 1912. Australia and New Zealand are easily tho heaviest tea consumers of the world, not excepting China. Australian supplies wore drawn from Ceylon, India, Java, and China in that order. .

1913. 3 Great Britain . . 33.874,535 Austria-Hungary 51.666,000 Belgium 9,960,000 ... 4,260,000 France 140,696,000 Germany ... 59,887,000 Holland 12,624,000 "Italy 48,585,000 Norway 2,657,000 Russia 168,355,000 Spain 19,168,000 Sweden ... -. 5,672.000 Switzerland ... 6,813,000 1912. 29,294,455 50,380,000 8,559,000 4,305,000 128,293,000 38,504,000 13,390,000 46,019,000 2.353,000 155,841,000 17,485,000 5,563.000 7,092,000

1904 L 905 L 906 L 907 L9OB 1909 L9lO L9ll L 912 L 913 Colonial £12 7s 3d £12 13s Id £13 10s 3d £14 3s lid £13 Ob 2d £11 6b lOd £13. 12s 2d £12 10s 4d £11 15s 5d £13 13s Id London. £15 6s 6d £16 2s 6d £17 13s 4d £17 8s 2d £13 12s 6d £1S 10s Od £16 18s Od £15 4s Od £15 13s 7d £17 12b 9d