COMMERCIAL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1361, 18 February 1865, Page 4

COMMERCIAL.

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. The quarterly meeting of the members of the Chamber was held yesterday, At 2 p.m., at their rooms, High street. Present: Messrs. Hassal, Richardson, Nathan, Marks, W.Wilson, Peacock, Stanley, Laurie, J. D. Macpherson, Todhunter, Stewart, M'Donald, J. C. Aikman, Lunt, Thiel, Montgomery, Matson, Day, and Pavitt. The Chairman being unable to attend, Mr. Montgomery acted as chairman pro tem. The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.

The first business was the election of new members. The following were the candidates: —Messrs. E. C. Latter, A. Louisson, and W. H. Mytton. They ■were unanimously elected. The Secretary read a letter from the Secretary of the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce, on the subject of the revision of the Customs-tariff, requesting the cooperation of the Canterbury Chamber in the matter, and promising to forward copies of the proposed alterations. The Secretary read a copy of the reply which he had sent to the Secretary of the Dunedin Chamber. Mr. Nathan moved that the letter be referred to the Committee of the Chamber.—Carried. The Secretary announced that the report of the Committee on the Debtors and Creditors Act had not been brought up. The Chairman, in explanation, said that a subCommittee had been appointed to consider the Act, and were diligently engaged in their task. The Attorney-General had sent a circular to all the Chambers of the Colony, suggesting ten or twelve Questions for their consideration. He mentioned this, in order that it might not be supposed that the Committee were neglecting the work which they had undertaken.

The following are the resolutions on the subject of the Custom's Tariff, passed at the meeting of the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce, and referred to in the Secretary's letter : —" That a committee consisting of Messrs. E. B. Cargill, James Rattray, R. B. Martin, John Bathgate, Wm. St. Reynolds, Geo. Turnbull, Richard Oliver, and J. Ewen, be appointed to take into consideration the existing tariff of the colony, and to report to a future meeting its recommendations of what would be a more equitable system of levying import duties: That such committee communicate with the various Chambers of Commerce throughout New Zealand, for the purpose of ascertaining their views, and endeavouring to agree upon a revised list of articles which should be subject to duty, so that, if possible, the different Chambers might unite in recommending a fair and satisfactory tariff to the General Assembly, at its next meeting, and in urging the necessity of its adopting same." « That the Secretary forward a copy of the foregoing resolution to all the Chambers of Commerce throughout New Zealand, asking them to co-operate with this Chamber, and to forward their views as to the description of tariff they would support. The Secretary to intimate, at the same time, that the views of this committee are opposed to the present system of levying duties by measurement, which is found to be oppressive on articles of necessary use, while articles of luxury escape almost free, and that the committee are in favour of a classification of articles, so that the heavier duties may be levied on articles of luxury. " Martin Sholl. " 30th January, 1865." The meeting then adjourned. Yesterday Messrs. Hargreaves and Co. sold the hull of the Nymph of the Seas, with all the gear, sails, &c., recovered and on shore ; the price realised for the whole was £35. Afterwards the remains of the schooner Canterbury was offered, but bought in by Mr. Dunsford. Otago.—The Daily Times of the I3th and 15th instant gives the following commercial intelligence: The week just closed has scarcely exhibited any improvement upon the extremely quiet state of things recorded of the previous week, every branch of commerce suffering from the prevailing depression. In flour, transactions have Bhown the heaviest amounts, in the early part of the week the cargo of Chilian last to hand having been placed as noticed, a large portion having since been resold in smaller parcels. Adelaide brands close a little easier, £27 10s to £28 on short terms being accepted. The sales of Chilian have been principally at £23 to £24. Guaranteed parcels may be quoted at £23 to £23 10s, though parcels of inferior quality held in stock are offering much lower. Brandies have declined, Martell s haying been placed at 8s 3d to 8s 6d, at which prices shipments move. Other spirits hardly command any attention, the stocks being much in excess of requirements. Tobaccos, likewise, continue in the depressed state in which the trade has been for the past three months. A large auction sale held a few days since, resulted in our buyers declining to notice the article. Candles are in demand, prices have slightly improved, and if no heavy lots come forward, are likely to be still better. The arrivals during the week have been few, and, with the exception of the Remark, from Adelaide, with flour, and the Eleanor, from St. John's, with timber, unimportant. On Saturday, a meeting of the creditors of Messrs. Jones and Williamson was held, and a statement of assets and liabilities shown. It was decided to sequestrate the estate: such course being adopted, not as a mark of disapprobation on the part of creditors, but as being, under the particular circumstances, an advisable step to be adopted in the first instance. Business is usually in a dull state as the departure of the English mail approaches; therefore, in all probability the next few days will be quiet. This day's transactions have not been large or heavy in amount, nor have any operations transpired which would betoken either a rise or reduction in priceß of any of our staple commodities. Our stock of Chilian flour has been increased by the arrival of the Prospector, from South America; no effect , has been observed ii| consequence, except that transactions during the latter part of the day have been suspended. The auetion sales of the day have resulted in very little. Messrs. M'Landress, Hepburn and Co., offered the transhipped portion of the Leonida's cargo, from Batavia, but found purchasers unwilling to come up to their limits. Messrs. E. D. Carle and Co. also submitted flour, without success, having to pass in nearly the whole.

Messes. Dbiveb, Maclean and Co. held a public sale of wool, at their wool warehouse, High street, and report:—The attendance of buyers was numerous, the competition for all choice lots was very spirited, and the results highly satisfactory, the prices obtained being, according to the quality of the lots offered, higher than at any previous wool sale in the province of Otago. We catalogued 385 bales, 200 of which were sold under the hammer; and for one or two of the principal lots passed, and which were competed for up to withm -|d per lb. of the owners' reserves, negociations are pending, and they will, doubtless, be placed before the close of the day. Greasy wool, sold fleece from 9d to lldf Scoured do do, 21d to 24r|d Fleece, 17fd Catalogue of prices of wool sold: — » "SKE*} <"»"• 9d Do do, JTB, 30 do, 9£d Do do, GXM, \o- j 0 inid TaieriLake, d0 ' lu * d Do do, Do, 1 do, 9Jd Do lambs, Do, 1 do, llfd Do pieces, Do, 1 do, 8d Do locks, Do, 1 do, 4£d Scoured Fleece, WTC, 67 do, 24qd Do discolored, Do, 2 do, 15d Do fleece, S and F, 2 do, 21d }*<> ■*, Do, WM, 62 do, 17jd Hobabton. —We have our files to the 28th ult. from Hobart Town. The Advertiser of that date reports:—

The receipt of the inter-colonial papers to-day has tended to still further depress our markets—already Buffering from the decline of prices in our Tasmanian productions in all the New Zealand ports, where trade of every description is in a ' very precarious state. We have now to report excessive dullness in every branch of business. At the mills, the trade is simply for home supply. One parcel of the wheat, perDerwent, being for a milling firm, goes into consumption at once. A very prime lot of Adelade wheat, consigned to Messrs. Chapman and Co, is held for 108 6d; and the Chilian flour, to the same house, is held for £21 per ton. There is a disinclination on the part of the millers to purchase at present, awaiting further news of the Melbourne and Adelaide markets, especially as the late arrivals have given them a temporary supply. The probability of the Wild Wave coming with wheat from. Adelaide also tends to unsettle the market; but as her .bringing wheat is quite Uncertain, and which the next steamer will decide, this cannot long influence the market. The general opinion is that with the present supply, and that known to be on board the Heather Bell, we might rub on until our own harvest comes in, without any further rise in the price of breadstuff's, but thai the hope of anything like any considerable reduction in price in the prime necessary of life —wheat —for the next twelvemonths, is futile.

Hay is in full supply at from £3 10s to £4, purchasing priee by the "dealers.- No export trade doing. In wool there is not so much doing, the wool buyers being veiyshy of buying at the present rate, which cannot be maintained, and must give way in accordance with the London quotations. Butter was in abundant supply, and in the absence of any export trade the producers find it difhcult to quit at

quotations. Prices now v«xy f«>m «to 8d m accordance to^rse?' feed continuos much varicf) Tt according to quality and quantity. , ~ SODXHLAND.-Tlie News of the 7th supplies the following commercial information: There has been an unusual amount of activity amongst ferLps durine the last two or three days, «M«KbSV ™e parcels dnpowl of W m no inatances lien large, but nearly every description of ModT been inquired for. Groceries, provisions, and hroadshiffg generally; bulk and bottled ale and porter, colonial andiaported; ironmongery and s'ops tavefound nurchasers, and prices, in consequence, it anything, a little stiffer Flour with decidedly an upward tendency, Sere on hand. Mart's Adelaide, to-day, £30.

The Times of the 10th says:— The total amount of duties collected at the Customs during l the last three days is £584 0s Bd, viz., on Tuesday, £15419s 2d; on Wednesday, £346 6s 6d; and yesterday, £82 16a od. The duties were principally derived Irom spirits, beer, sugar, tobacco, &c. „ i or i Very fair quantities of goods continue to be lorwaxded totheNokomaiand the Mataura diggings, from both of •which favourable accounts have been received. Ihe proximity of the Mataura diggings to Livercargill has relieved us of many of our surplus population, the news is rather cheering, it is hoped that a revival of trade here will result from the discovery and working ot these no particular change to report in quotations. The trade doing is of a quiet, steady character, and is marked by the absence of speculative transactions.