SYDNEY WOOL SALES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20598, 24 June 1930, Page 5

SYDNEY WOOL SALES.

STRONG COMPETITION. MARKET STILL VERY FIRM. (Rocoived June 23, 10.45 p.m.) SYDNEY, June 23. At tho Sydney wool sales to-day the offerings totalled 9934 bales, of which 8663 were sold. Also 1574 wero sold privately. There was strong competition from Germany, Japan and France, and limited support from Yorkshire. The market was very firm at tho closing rates of last week with continued strong demand for lino types. Greasy Merino sold to 20d. GOLD IN AUSTRALIA. REQUEST FOR A BONUS. £1 AN OUNCE FOR 10 YEARS. Members of tho gold bonus committee of tho Mining Association of Western Australia arrived in Sydney recently in furtherance of tho campaign for the payment by tho Federal Government of a bonus of £1 an ounce for 10 years on all gold won in Australia. The delegation states that the campaign committee is representative of tho whole of tho Commonwealth and that the eastern States will benefit even more substantially than Western Australia by the payment of a gold bonus. The payment, it is claimed, will mean the introduction of largo sums of fresh capital into Australia to equip and work tho enormous low-grade deposits of gold-bear-ing ores known to exist and to reorganise on tho most up-to-dato lines many mines and treatment plants now in existence, but not working on the best methods, and it will also stimulate prospecting for new goldfields. It is claimed by tho delegation that tho bonus will mako available mora gold for the Federal Treasury, almost immediately relieve tho unemployment problem and provide improved local markets for agricultural and industrial products. The delegation expresses tho opinion that, if the bonus is granted, outside capital to tho extent of from £5,000,000 to £10,000,000 will be brought to Australia within three years to open up low-grade mines. "There are ten million tons of ore, worth about 6dwt. per ton, in sight in the Kalgoorlie district that will remain in the ground, a dead loss to the . Commonwealth, if this bonus is not granted," the delegation declares, "as costs have increased by about 60 per cent., and it is unprofitable at present to treat these ores. Of the quantity of gold won during the past five years in Western Australia, 97 per cent, of the value has been paid away in wages and the purchase of commodities, leaving only 3 per cent, to be distributed among the companies." FINANCE CORPORATION, LTD. PROFIT FOR THE YEAR. [BY TELEOnAPH.—OWN COEBESPONDENT.] HAMILTON. Monday.

A satisfactory year's operations are disclosed in the annual report of the Finance Corporation of New Zealand, Limited, in the report for the financial year ended May 31, 1930.

Mr. C. L. MacDiarmid, chairman of directors, states that the growth of the business had been phenomenal, the business having increased by 150 per cent. The company's operations were now practically confined to farm finance. In three years' operations, it had not been necessary to write off a single amount to bad debts. 1 Nevertheless, the directors were anxious to maintain a conservative policy and wero therefore placing all available sums to the reserve account, which now stood at £2222. The net profit for the year, after making all necessary provisions, amounted to £2334, out of which the directors had carried to the reserve account £BSO. From the remaining balance, the directors recommended the payment of a dividend of 8 per cont., absorbing £1313. The balance of £l7l was available for the payment of directors' fees, and any final balance could be carried forward on the profit and loss appropriation account. Messrs. P. 11. Saxton and W. M. Cann offer themselves for re-election.

In order to extend the operations of tho company, steps are being taken to issue 50,000 preference shares immediately. SWISS WATCHMAKING TRADE. DECREASE IN EXPORT. World-wide depression has taken toll of tho watchmaking industry of Switzerland, which, as the country's chief exporting industry, exports 95 per cent, of its production. The monthly average of exports was £1,023,000 last year, but it reached only £550,000 for tho first two months of 1930. Causes of the decline are ascribed, firstly, to the continuous raising of customs duties in, countries which used to buy Swiss watches; secondly, to the reduced purchasing power of countries such as Germany, Italy and Austria; and thirdly, to tho slackness of the Far Eastern and South American markets. So far, tho only country to which watch exports have not dwindled is France. The depression is felt mainly in cheap watch manufacturing. Reorganisation is being carried out; three big manufacturers have formed a holding company, and in many places two or three small factories have combined. Joint measures have been taken to foster export and also to limit tho export of rough watch movements and spare parts which made possible the manufacture in foreign countries of socalled Swiss watches. RUSSIAN STEEL WORKS. OUTLAY OF £70,000,000. Tho London Mining Journal reports that, with tho technical assistance of an American firm, the Russian Soviet is undertaking tho erection of largo steel works in tho Magnet Mountain district of tho Ural region. Fixed assets will include eight blast furnaces, to produce 2,500,000 metric tons of pig-iron a year, open hearth and Bessemer departments, and rolling mills, iron ore mines with an output of 5,000,000 tons a year, and coke ovens capable of handling 4,000,000 tons of coal a year, to be shipped from tho Kuznetz basin in Siberia. The total cost of tho steel works and a town for tho accommodation of 10,000 workers and their families is estimated at £70,000,000. REAL ESTATE IN SYDNEY. CHIEF AGENTS " CARRRYTNG ON." Anvono who supposes that tho real estato market in Sydney is dead can bo informed to tho contrary, says a corres pondont. It is true that there is no groat flow of business to the offices—"not what you would call a rush," said one in the business with a whimsical smile, but there is not entire cessation. Some real ostate men havo fallen by the wayside, hut they were never very strong The well-established firms, competently conducted by men who havo tho public confidence and aro keenly alert for all the business there is, will carry on. It is to their credit that their main concern ap pears to be to maintain their staffs intact