COMMERCIAL.

Evening Star, Issue 16912, 9 December 1918, Page 6

COMMERCIAL.

MONEY AND MARKETS. Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. LONDON, December 6. Bank of England returns : Gold coin and in hand. £75,427,000; reserve, £27,413,000: proportion of reserve to liabilities, 15.17 per cent ; notes in circulation, £67,048.000- Government deposits, £26,530,000; other deposits. £154,199,000; Government securities. £75,544,000; other securities, £97,597,000. Colonial Government stocks are practically unaltered, except for ox dividend quotations. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Comnany’s report shows that, .after placing £25,000 to the reserve fund, £30,000 to premises fund, and £15,000 to dividend equalisation reserve fund, there is a divisible surplus of £220,310. A final dividend of 3£ per cent, .and a bonus of 2 per cent, are recommended. A further £70,000 is added to the dividend reserve and £IO,OOO to the benevolent fund, while £24,105 is carried forward. SOUTH AFRICAN WOOL. Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright, Reuter’s Telegrams. LONDON, December 7. A message from Pretoria states that in reply to a request by the Wool Conference that the Imperial Government should renew the wool purchase scheme, the Government offer to purchase South African wool at 55 per cent, above the 1914 prices, provided it is registered before December 20. This is a conditional offer, withdraw, able unless at least 200,000 bales are registered. The Union Government have requested the Imperial Government to waive the latter condition and extend the date to January 1. BUTTER PRICES. [Special to the * Star.’] CHRISTCHURCH, December 9. Speaking to a reporter on Saturday with regard to the rumors current that the local price of factory butter will shortly increase, -Mr Charles Aga, manager of the Tni Tapu Dairy Company and member for the South Island on the Dominion Butter Committee, stated that there was no suggestion of any increase in the price of butter to local consumers. SOUTH AFRICAN MINERALS. At a recent mooting of the South African Science Association, Dr Wagner gave some illuminating particulars as to the mineral resources of that country. Ha stated that tiro gold extracted amounted) to 4.609 tons, of a value of £571,400,000, and the diamond production 31 short tons, valued at £216,165,764. In regard tor Iron, for years it had been declared that South African ere was of an inferior quality, and therefore the manufacture of iron and steel in commercial quantities and of a. standard quality was a practical impossibility. This, however, has proved to lie fake, and it has been found feasible to start smelting on a large scale. South Africa will, it is assured, be able_ to compete, as regards manufactured iron and steel, with the leading iron-producing countries. Argentina doubtless well ba tho best market, and possibly other South American States, and the suggestion that a dheft steamship service he inaugurated after the war with Capetown, and Buenos Ayres has already found favor. INTERNATIONAL PROSPERITY. When addressing the House of Lords recently, Lord Jnchoapo stated that he was afraid that we were living in a fools’ paradise, eo tar as the popular notion of prosperity is concerned. Paper money which is legal tender is abundant owing to tho Government disbursements, and there would appear to be a widespread belief that because we have been able to find so much for the war we can go on finding money for ah sorts of schemes when the war is over. There is always a seeming prosperity when a country is borrowing and disbursing freely. To-day we arcs compelled to impoverish ourselves in older to save our lives, but unless tho nation understands that wo aro doing so to meet the crisis of the moment, and that eventually we must go through a period of selfdenial and strenuous work, our labor will have been in vain. According to Lord Inohcape. there may lac a short boom in trade after peace has been restored, but with the enormous loss of material wealth and tho crushing taxation which will have to bo imposed on all save the United States to meet the debt charges, it is difficult to see how there can bo any lasting international prosperity for many years to come. Lard Inehcape emphasised the need cf avoiding so far as possible increasing our liabilities in pounds sterling, and of getting rid as quicklv as practicable of the inflated paper currency which now floods the country’. This means producing and exporting more, and at the same time consuming less. Finally greet importance is attached to dispensing with the bureaucratic fvsteni, which is tantamount to being told by men entirely ignortant of business hew to conduct one's own affairs.

Oil. IN GBFAT BRITAIN. The production of fuel oil in Great Britain lias he.a; investigated by a committee appointed by the Minister of Munitions. Tim report of the committee stales that the beet method is the carbonisation of carmel coal in existing vertical retorts at gasworks. The Petroleum Research Department had recommended the erection of batteries of »• form of lowtemperature retort, for the carbonisation of canned coal, hut experiments have proved that the suggestion was impracticable cm (lie grounds of expense, insufficient labor, time involved, and the fact that the minora! is not available in the quantities which the first investigations indicated. The committee, refers to other sources of supply as available in _ the future. These include boring for oil in Great Britain, the further development of tho Scottish shale oil industry, and the increased carbonisaiion of raw coal. In this last-named connection the report states that some million and a-quc.rter tons of fuel oil might be obtained frem every 20 million tons of' coal carbonised.

For the first time in history the resources of the New York savings banks on July 1, 1918, failed to rcflei t an increase over those of the previous year. Withdrawals amount to £104.260,000, an advance, of £11.100,000. or 11 per cent, over the figures of 1916-17, and the sum deposited fell just about as much as repayments increased. The causes responsible for these movements arc not far to seek, states ‘ Bradstrcets.’ Liberty loans have taken large sums from the banks mentioned, and the draft claimed many thrifty young men who undoubtedly withdrew some, if not all, of their saving*. In short, while the war continues, it is not likely that deposits in savings banks of the I'nitoil States will exhibit any noteworthy increase, for the thrift* of the nation for the time being will be displayed in subscribing to “Liberty bonds ” in order to help the Government to finance the war.

In 1912 the British Government gave notice of withdrawal from the International -Sugar Convention as from September 1, 1913, and replaced their obligations under that instrument by an undertaking that they would give six months’ notice to the States of the Sugar Union befora dethe fundamental principles of the convention, “ by granting either bounties on the exportation of sugar, or a preference to colonial sugar; or, again, by subjecting to a different rate beet sugar and cane sugar.” The_ ‘ Board of Trade Journal * of September 5 states that ’ the Government have now approved the principle of giving preference to Empire sugar, although in doing so they will have careful regard to the interests of the Allies. The Government have decided, therefore, to liberate themselves absolutely from all engagements towards the signatory powers of the International Sugar Convention. The British Minister at Havre has accordingly been instructed to notify the Belgian Government that the Imperial authorities now give the requisite six month*’ notice of their action, in accordance with their when they withdraw irorft th» convention ' .