FINANCE AND TRADE

New Zealand Mail, 21 February 1901, Page 55

FINANCE AND TRADE

What is called a “green Christinas” was experienced in London, according to last mail advices, and considerable difficulty was felt by- holders of meat and poultry in effecting sales. The position is described by the C.C. and D. Company, in their circular, thus: “The public demand was chiefly for poultry, turkeys being in vast supply, English, Irish, French, Italian, Hungarian, etc., and selling at reasonable ■rates, in the afternoon and evening prices low, as salesmen accepted the alternative of cheapness to: the almost certainty of spoiling, and so becoming quite unsaleable, •hundreds, perhaps thousands, of prime, young, well-fattened birds were sold at nominal rates, from 2-s 6d down to Is each. Sellers of meat were cautious, “hut put very light supplies on the market, not- anticipating the brisk trade that obtained for a few hours, enabling those salesmen who compulsorily held •over from Saturday to reap a rich harvest.”

In view of the large demands on British coal production, more attention is being drawn to the resources of Australasia, The English “Builder,” notes recent discoveries of coal in Queensland, showing that within seventy or eighty miles of Rockh ampton, the chief town of ■Oefftral Queensland, there is an immense area containing Smokeless coal, and the seams' are found: to range from 9ft up to. loft in thickness. The whole of the area has .not, of course, yet been proved, but there can be. no doubt of the existence of an enormous coal field and of the kind of coal wanted'. . The region is -t-ravers&d. by the Central railway, and water carriage is close by. Another excellent coal is at the CaJilde Creek mine, net far distant from the port of Gladstone, where also the quantity available is enormous. * And there are certain New - South' Wales coals very suitable for steaming purposes. There can be no doubt (says the “Builder”) that- if these Australian coals were more systematically called on to furnish requirements at Aden, along the east coast, of Africa, in India, the Straits Settlements, in ,-the China • S eas * an d on the P acific Station, the tension now existing in regard to the supply in Britain wou." be greatly alleviated'.

Captain Wagstaif, frozen produce surveyor, has issued’, a-, new chart of steamers and stores, from which, it appears that ,at the present time there are 142 vessels fitted for carrying refrigerated produce between Australasia-, the Plate and this country, with a total capacity of 7,373,560 carcases of mutton. There •are 20 refrigerating stores in London, stated to be capable of accommodating 1,758,000 carcases. Compared with the position at this time last year there are seven new vessels added to the. trade, and three stores. The*Duke of Buckingham has been sold for the Plate trade, and! the Waxrnambool (now Earmodius) goes in the same direction. The lonic, now the- property of G. Thomson and Co., is called the Sophocles. Later advices state that the Wooloomooloo has also been purchased by Messrs Houston Jror the Plate trade. Mr Lund is building new boats to replace those sold.

Tile Deutsche • . Handelstag, which will discuss at its forthcoming conference the question of customs tariffs and commercial treaties, in new of the new international agreements to be entered into in 1902, says the “Bullionist,” has been obtaining tire opinions of. tlie German chambers of commerce on the proposals which have been suggested as tile fundamental principles which should guide the Government in regard to the new •treaties. On the subject o.f the introduce tjon of a system of double tariffs, it ap-. pears that 68 chambers of commerce out pf 69 iffom which- replies have been received fir©' opposed to the proposal, whilst only - the. one remaining is ,in favbtm of it.V : Complete unanimity prevails in regard to the granting of customs ' credit, although! only four chamKefis are in accord for the payment of mterest -on'" the.-credits. In addition to •this Ja- very large majority of the chambers'haye expressed themselves,, iff opposition to the proposal to alter the existing system of import- duties by the introduction of a higher rate according to the net weight of the goods, instead of the existing duty based upon the gross weight, and also against the suggested imposition-of a duty on the packings enveloping the merchandise. The question of customs dues on cereals will not be, specially discussed at the conference, but only in- relation to the general subject pf-import .-duties arid commercial treaties., . -

: The “Economist’’ reminds those interested in the enlargement of the powers of trustees in the United Kingdom, permitting them to invest in colonial inscribed stocks, that in additio% to the regulations gazetted, which, we have already. referred to, the Act of 1900 also prescribes .that “the restrictions mentioned in section 2, sub-section (2) of the Trustee A ot, 1893, with respect to the stock, therein referred to, shall apply to colonial stock/’ These restrictions are that a trustee may not purchase at a price exceeding its redemption value any of the specified stock which i s liable to be redeemed within 15 years, at par or any or some other rate, not purchase any such, redeemable stock at a

price exceeding 15 per cent, above par or the fixed rate of redemption. These limitations are crude, and might be altered. with advantage. Many trustees require to make investments for shorter periods than 15 years, and if the- restriction had been that they should not give a greater premium than 1 per cent, for every year the stock had to run, or, better still, should accumulate a sufficient sum to csver the amount of the premium paid by the date of the redemption at par, so that the principal should be preserved intact, the result would: have- been a better working measure.

Savings Bank deposits have grown by £4,982,528 in the United Kingdom diming the year 1900, the total reached' on December 15 being £186,664,413. Of that amount £135,305,174 was in the Post-office Savings Banks. The growth in the year was not so large as usual. But then, money was dearer, and it paid better to loan it- elsewhere.

At the close of 1900, the position of the Boston wool market, which the “American Wool and Cotton Reporter” describes as the second most important in the world, was quiet. The year opened with large supplies of wool in manur facturer.s’ hands at considerably higher prices than at- the close - when the bulk of the supply in the' United States was in the hands, of the growers arid the trade. Some of the 1900 clip was dis-. posed 1 of by the growers in the spring at top prices,, the subsequent- course of the market being very unfavourable to the buyers'” of this wool. The year witnessed a steady decline in quotations. In the beginning of January last there was no disposition to force wool on the part of holders, who expected a quiet business at that time of the year, and were content t-o wait until business, under the natural order of things, could get fairly under way. Within the week manufacturers had taken some interest in the market, and several of them had been around shopping and testing it. Some houses reported that they had sold quite a number of sample bales, which, they believed would develop into some good size business by the end of another week. A pretty good inquiry was still noted; for Australian merino, and: most of the sales' of the week in Australian had been of that kind. It was thought more business might have been done if the available stock of such wool had been larger. Included in the sales of the week were 45,0001 b of fine Australian, which was understood' to- have been moved at a clean cost of 69c. Australian crossbreds had been comparatively neglected. Recent occurrences in the United Kingdom have so prominently brought into question the liability of auditors that the Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales recently submitted: to counsel a ease with reference to several questions arising on the sections relating to audit in the' Companies Act, 1900. The joint opinion of Mr R. B. Haldane, Q.-C., Mr O. Swinfen Eady, Q.C., Mr A. R. Kirby, and Mr F.. B. Palmer was obtained and is given at length. Counsel regard the new law as supplemental to the Act of 1879. They think that the words “boobs of the company,” in section . 23, which gives tq the auditor a right of access at all times to the books and accounts and vouchers of the company, mean all the hooks—not merely the books of account of the company . The. words therefore include the minute book and letter books. In counsel’s opinion, where the auditor’s requirements are not complied with the auditor should specify in his certificate in what respect they have not been complied with ; and if there is no balance-sheet on, which to place the' certificate, then the auditor should so specify ,in his .report;. Bfft if the Specification; of" the instances of non-compli-ance be lengthy, they see 'no objection to. the ’ceitifibate sffatmg“tn£tt-all'’the requirements have not beeh complied with without specification of details, provided ' that it refers to the report for the details. Section 23 of the Act of 1900 requires ‘the auditor to yeport whether the balance-sheet is properly drawn up so as to exhibit a true and correct 'view, of the "stale;' of the company’saffairs, as shown by _ the books, of the' company; In counsel’s opinion,; these words, ■ “as ’ shown by fixe books of thecompany,” do not limit the auditor’s duties to a comparison of . the figures. No doubt he lias tp examine the books, but as Lord Justice Linclley said, in In re the London and General Bank (1895, 2 ch., 683),. “He. does, not discharge his duty by doing this without , inquiry, and: without taking any trouble- to see that the books themselves, show the company’s tine position ; he/must take reasonable care to; ascertain .that they do so.” "