COMMERCIAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15483, 15 December 1913, Page 5

COMMERCIAL.

lp-.' LONDON MARKETS. Iff- * ' |t FROZEN MEAT. y'-U v-Ry Tdesvaph—Press Association— Copyright. (Received December 14, 5.5 p.m.) I** Lo.vdon, December 13. ; - Sheep. -Light. 4 l-16d; heavy, 4 l-16d; |wes, 3 16li - Smith America ". light, :-- 4J<d; heavy, 4 3-16 d; ewes, 4d. " Lambs: Canterbury light, 6]d ; medium, Mdj heavy, si<l. Australian best, s^l; fair quality under 361b, 53 J; inferior light;i weights, bid. South American heavy, 4Jd. Beef: Australian hinds, 4jjd; South American chilled fores, 3Jd; hinds, 4£d. Others unchanged. RABBITS. The market is steady. JUTE. November December, £35 10s to £35 12s 6d. ; ? . THE ORIENT LINE. fly Telegraph— Prejs Association—Copyright (Received December 14, 5.5 p.m.) London', December 13. s The report of the Orient Line shows that • tie profit liming the past year was ':£255,592. A dividend of 5 per cent, on 'the deferred stock was announced. A sum ' of £50,000 was added to the repair and .'renewal account, £75,000 to the general reserve fund, and £57,910 to the underwriting fund. A stun of £56,717 was carried forward.

GERMAN BANK RATE. By Telegraph—Frcss Association— (Received December 14, 6 p.m.) Berlin, December 15. The bank rate is 5 per cent. TEMPERANCE MUTUAL LIFE SOCIETY. • 'By Telegraph—Press Association— Melbourne, December 13The annua] meeting of the Temperance ■ and General Mutual Life Society disclosed that the new business totalled £2,500,000. .. -The income. from premiums during the h past year increased by £50,000, and tho funds by £160,000. The rate of expense had reduced the rate of interest earned , on the funds, which now stand at • £1,500.000, to £4 12s per cent. On the directors' recommendation a substantial • increase to the annual bonus was adopted. *■ • BUTTER AND EGGS. ■ The wholesale quotations for butter and .eggs for the week ending December 20 : are as follows:—Butter (factory), Is OJd '•'per lb; butter (farmers'), 8d per lb; eggs, \v°d per dozen. ■ •AMERICAN CATTLE POSITION. ■\\':'l So much has been written of late / regarding the great falling off in the . number of beef cattle in the United ;,. States, as compared with the advanco :, in population, that somo authentic >figures on the subject of tho number .':: of beef cattle and the population of the .;' United States, as follows, shoidd prove " ■interesting: — Year Beef Cattle. Population. / 1913 36,030,000 97,025,789 '"' 1912 .. .. .. 37,260,000 95,410,503 .- •1911 .. ~ .. 39,679,000 93,792,509 -. 1910. 47,279,000 92,174,615 1909 49,379,000 90,556,621 7,1908 50,073,000 88,938,527 ' J907 51,565,731 87,320,539 '. 11906 .. .'. .. 47,067,656 85,702,533 [■ These are statistics, compiled from of- ■ '. ficial returns, and indicate a decrease Hin beef cattle from 1906 of 23.4 per •cent., and an increase in population | from 1906 of 13.2 per cent. Here is Ha; demonstration of the fact that the /numbers of cattle and people are trav -''elling ! ''in inverse ratio. There are 11,324,256 more consumers of meat in ■ I'the States than in 1906, and 11,037,656 ■': fewer cattle to yield beef. .Milk cows 7 declined 202,000 between January, 1912, ... and January, 1913. - • VICTORIAN HARVEST ESTIMATE. ■v. The Victorian Government Statist has /.■issued his first pre : harvest estimate of / "/the wheat crop of that State for the season 1913-1914. Tho area sown for grain is stated to be 2,673,000 acres, from which* an average yield of 13.28 bushels per acre is expected, making :-V ; the total return 35,496,075 bushels. The area estimated as likely to be harvested '/.forj grain this season is 587,784 acres more than that actually garnered last ,;/: year, and the ■ prospective yield per acre is placed at 0.78 of a bushel more .than; on that occasion. The estimated | /.increased production, consequently, is 9,272,971 bushels, or 36 per cent, more than that of 1912-13, and greater than any yet recorded in the history cf the '. /State. The "requirements of the State ; for "food and seed mav bo set down at 110,000,000 bushels, so' that, on the figures submitted, there will be an expor : H table surplus,of some 25,000,000 bushels from the current crop, worth, approximately, £4,000,000 on the farm. . ; ;; AUSTRALIAN MONEY MARKET. ./•In Sydney, were it not for the threatening industrial trouble, a further eas- / /ing off in money rates would have occurred, says the Sydney Evening News. - /As it is, the position is a deal better , than at the" beginning of last month, /-but with such glowing prospects of a /./.good season as are everywhere apparfe ent, disappointment is expressed that a v lower level in rates has not been .-.■.■ reached. No doubt this end would have '~: been achieved had the New Zealand strike not threatened to spread to these -/■shores. At the present time thero is : keen demand for investments, and the | volume of business done on the Sydney : Stock Exchange is improving. There is .''a scarcity of first-class stocks offering, ■.: : ;and as is usual in such circumstances, >' investors are paying attention to more speculative lines. Bank shares are •/.sought after, but people are inclined to ''..hold on to the stock, and very few--transfers are being made. This is not /surprising, when the fact is taken into /consideration that the net profits from .; banking operations were higher this /.ear than in any other period of our history. ' Thev ' totalled closo on £3,250,000, and out of that over /.'£1,000,000 was added to the reserve funds. From a survey of the figures " it is plain that most of the banks opcrating here could pay much higher i dividends than are being made, but . they prefer to build up their reserves, a move that cannot help but commend itself to all concerned. The profits represent a fraction over 15 per cent, on : the entire capital, but the dividends . paid averaged only 8.36 per cent.