THE New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) SATURDAY, MAY 21, 1898. GOLD.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXVII, Issue 3439, 21 May 1898, Page 2

THE New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.)

SATURDAY, MAY 21, 1898. GOLD.

With which are incorporated the TTellinjtoH Independent, establithed t$4S, d'hi the New Zealander,

When the Mariposa sailed for San Francisco in April, and war was declared soon after her departure, there was an outcry against the folly of making public the value of the specie and bullion shipped by the vessel. The Mariposa flies the Stars and Stripes, and is therefore legitimate prize for a Spanish cruiser, hence the agitation against publicity. The Mariposa’s gold cargo was valued at .£350,000, aud the last mail steamer, the Moana, which, of course, sails under the Union Jack, and need not cause any concern, had a precious cargo of gold coin and bullion valued at £500,000, all shipped at Sydney. The banks supplying this money were the Bank of Australasia (£230,000), Union Bank (£150,000) and Bank of New South Wales (£100,000). It is more than probable that additional gold was shipped at Auckland, but as to this there are no details available.

The American demand for gold developed very suddenly. When the financial houses in New York and other large American cities saw the political horizon becoming overcast they immediately set about strengthening their reserves and preparing for contingencies. Europe is very largely indebted to America for wheat, and instead of taking goods in exchange the Americans have taken gold. The bullion that has been sent by Australasia was obviously on London account, and since the beginning of the year shipments to San Francisco from the colonies have aggregated nearly two millions. It was the very pronounced American demand for gold that caused the money market rates to harden. Writing of this sudden intake of the yellow metal, Sradslreets, of the 2nd April, had the following:—"Nearly 8,900,000d0l (£1,780,000) additional gold has been forwarded from Europe to New York during the week, making the total since the present movement began pearly 37,000,000d0l (£7,400,000). To this must be added the amount of 5,000,000d0l (£1,000,000) in transit from . Australia to San Francisco. Altogether the movement of specie in this direction during a period of little more than a month has attained the dimensions of over 43,000,000d0l (£8,600,000), an amount which, it is claimed, exceeds the record for suoh a period.” Australasia has been called upon to supply a very considerable quantity of gold. The demand has remained strong for over twelve months, and the export of the metal has not involved any serious depletion of bank reserves. The reason for this is to be found in the fact that the output of gold from the mines has largely increased during the past few years. We have always a surplus of gold for export, but recently this surplus has been very largely levied upon. For tho first four months of this year the increase of the gold yield of West Australia, aa compared with that of the corresponding period of last year, is 153,7310 z. In Victoria the increase is 35,0000 z. (Queensland shows an increase of 34,6400 z, New South Wales of about 10,000 oz, and this colony for last quarter was able to show a Blight improvement in quantity, though the value of the metal was below that of the first quarter of 1897. Heavy gold shipments notwithstanding, the increased output of the mines is beginning to tell on the reserve, and it is estimated that since the beginning of the year the bank treasuries have been depleted of from a million to a million and a quarter sterling. If this is continued much longer —and there is every prospect of its going on—it is obvious that colonial bankers must take some steps to check the outflow, which can bo done only by offering better rates for money. Such a comae will mean increasing the rate to borrovers.