COMMERCIAL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XVI, Issue 929, 5 October 1861, Page 4

COMMERCIAL.

There is little to write about commercial matters, the past three months being usually the dead season of the year, all the wool of the past season having been shipped and but little grain or other produce remaining for exportation. The gold discoveries at Otago have been the one subject of speculation for our mercantile men, who are all concerned in watching the progress of events and waiting with more or less patience their ultimate issue. The immediate effects upon trade in this province have been inconsiderable. At the first blush of the news, several parcels of goods were moved dowa and met a remunerative sale. This demand soon ceased and shortly after, Otago commenced to draw her supplies direct from Melbourne. Had the demand continued, our merchants could not have supplied it, as stocks in this province have not been in excess of the wants of the place for some time past.

During the past three months the Bank of NewSouth Wales has commenced business in Christchurch and Lyttelton and has met with a fair share of support from the public. The necessity of a second bank has been so widely felt here during the last few years and is so thoroughly understood that it is quite needless to enter again upon the subject. We can only trust that those who were the loudest in their cries for assistance when it was not to be had will not be the last to support an establishment which enables the public to get rid of a very unsatisfactory monopoly. Since the Bank of New South Wales has commenced business, the Directors of the Bank of New Zealand have visited the Province with the intention of forming branches in our chief towns should a sufficient number of shares be taken up in Canterbury. The project, though holding out the fairest prospect of success, has not met with the amount of encouragement which might have been expected, the number of shares applied for in the province not having, we believe, been very great. This must be attributed, not to any doubts entertained of its prospects of success but simply to the fact that in Canterbury there is an unlimited field for the employment of capital in the large extent of its fertile waste lands and that, as a consequence the rate of interest on capital is always at a very high point. Under these circumstances there is no class here having surplus funds seeking investment. As fast as money comes in, employment is found for it in a variety of remunerative forms.

Some inconvenience has been felt from the stoppage of direct steam communication with Melbourne owing to the loss of the I.C.E.M.S. Victory. This would have been more severely felt at the time had not the s.s. Omeo been running between the two ports at that time. As soon as the discovery of gold caused the ' rush' from Melbourne to Otago the Omeo ceased to visit Lyttelton, and our communication with Melbourne at the present moment is restricted to the chance visit of any steamer which may think it worth Avhile to run into the port on her return trip to Melbourne. Tenders have been invited by the Otago Government for a mail service direct to Melbourne, and separate tenders for a service to that port calling at Lyttelton; but we are not aware what action our own Government intend taking in the matter. It is highly desirable that during" the ensuing summer a direct line of communication should be re-estoblished between this port and Melbourne.

The General Government has during the last session decided upon appointing an inspector of mail steamers. We trust that the supervision will he extended to our steam coasting craft—a class of vessels yearly increasing in numbers and importance. Assisted immigration has been almost stopped for the last six months. In our last summary, which included a term of six months, we noted the arrival of but a single vessel from England, bringing iao adults ; during the last three months only one vessel has arrived, the Chrysolite, from London, with 220 adult emigrants. The Eoyal Stuart may be shortly expected, with a further instalment, and throughout the approaching summer a regular shipment at intervals of about two months will be kept up. Some difference of opinion has arisen as to the policy of continuing assisted immigration in the face of the great temptation offered by the Otago gold fields to induce our immigrants to leave the province Con sidering the great uncertainty which hangs over the future of the goM fields, and the possibility that

further discoveries of equal richness may n ..t i made, it would be very unwise to interferewitl,\ ' C machinery of our immigration system, any si' 0 of wind! could not be rectified without \UnSfT six to twelve months. It would be far bettor tr i the majority of a ahipment of immigran ti^T derange the whole system for an indefinite,• The following is a table compiled f»m ftmE' turn officer s returns for the portjof Lytteltnn i» • not reliable, as numbers go on board steamers W n * the port whose names are never entered „„ s manifest:— n tll(-' SEPTEMBER QUARTER, ] B sj. IMMTGRATION. " ~ Adults. Children. | Totals M- V. 31. F . IM. ~^ United Kingdom 46 27 48 48 ~^4~~^~ Australian Colonies ... 34 12 2 o 'jr I Other Ports N.Zealand 644 52 22 19 6 p f . Ii 2 __ g4 72 !~67|^7j^ EMIGRATION. ~ Adults. Children. T^tuh~ United Kingdom 0 0 0 0 ~~^ Australian Colonies... 4 1 2 0 r Other Ports N.Zealand 846 30 8 c 854 ->' 3 85° 91 10 ~T£T!^~ The price of stations and sto^kiTsTeldihM^" tamed. In the latter a considerable speculative ri has taken place, especially in sheep, partly in ! ' ticipation of the effects of the influx of pormlatir At the present price, it will pay to import sheen ml Australia, and it is probable that during the present year we shall have a large quantity introduced from those colonies. The White Star is stated to ha . been chartered to convey some 50,000 sheep to New Zealand, and several other vessels are likely to v engaged in the trade. c

The farmers had a steady demand at fair Dricffor wheat until lately. It has now fallen off and stocks are stated to be large. First-class samnles command 6s a bushel for seed purposes • inferior from 5s to 5s 6d. Oats and barley are both very scarce, and good samples are much wanted for seed Owing to the difficulty of obtaining reliable returns we are unable to give even an approximation to the acreage likely to be under crop during this year The return of land sold during the past quarter shows a very marked increase on any former similar period. The following are the totals of each month-— July, 2,852 ; August, 3,015; September, 4 835 Total, 10,702 acres. On the first board day of' the present month, we understand that £4,730 was taken by the sale of land. The customs returns published below give satisfactory proof of the steady progress of the province. RETAIL PRICES. Christchurch.—Flour, best, 20s. per 100 lbs • seconds, 16s. to 18s. do.; bread, 4lb loaf, lOd.; bacon' Is. 3d. per lb.; cheese, Is.; ham, Is. 6d.; butter' Is. lOd.; beef, sd. to 9d.; pork, 9d.; mutton, 6d. to Bd.; eggs, Is. 3d. per doz.; milk, 6d. per quart • fowls, 6s. per couple ; pigs, small, Bs. to 10s. eachporkers, 15s. to 255. each; store pigs, 255. to 35s' each. Timber.—Boards, Bby 1, 265. to 28s. per 100 feet; do. wide, from 40s to 50s.'; scantling, 245. to 265.; V.D.L. palings, 355. per 100 ; do. shingles. 325. per 1000. Coals (supply limited) £6 per ton.; 'firewood, £3 to £3 3s. per cord. Lyttelton.—Flour, 225. per 100 lbs.; bread, 4lb loaf, Is.; bacon, Is. 4d.; cheese, Is. 2d.; ham. 2s. • butter, 25.; beef, 6d to 9d; pork, 8d; mutton. 6d. to Bd.; eggs, Is. 6d. per doz. ; milk, 6d. per quart; fowls, 7s. per couple; pigs, small, 10s. to 15s. each ; porkers, 255. to 305.; store pigs, 18s. to 255. Timber: —Boards, Bby 1, 225. to 245. per 100 feet; do. wide, 345. do. ; scantling, 18s. to 205.; V.D.L. palings. 255. per 100 ; shingles, 255. per 1000 ; coals, scarce,' £4. Colonial; £4 10s. English; firewood, £2 per cord.