FINANCE AND TRADE.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXIX, Issue 3676, 28 February 1899, Page 7

FINANCE AND TRADE.

“■New Zealand Times” office, Monday evening. Tlia Customs returns for to-day amounted to .£IOOO 14a lOd,

Tho question of "rain freights is being discussed by the Southern papers, and they vei'y naturally desire to see the Government run the risks of chartering vessels. We understand that} the regular traders are. prepared to charter vessels for suoh grain shippers as desire it, mutely charging a commission for doing the work, and we do not think it is possible for tho Government to obtain' bettor terms. What the grain shippers apparently require is that the shipping companies should first charter vessels and then arrange tor 1-oa-K ing, in other words, the grain shippers wish; to havo the shipowners at their mercy, and naturally the latter cannot sou ’that they are called upon to act so'foolishly to phase anybody. is as yet up grain ready for BhipmCnti or, at any rate,' none has been declared availab'p, so that no rates are as 'yet quoted. The regular " traders charge 32s Gd per ton by steamer and 3)s per sailer, varying the rates aocotdidg tor the exigencies of tho regular export produce' trade. The Now Zealand Siiippisfe Company and tho iShaw, Savill and Albion Company have very few sailors now; dull Would tbcr-T fore have to charter vessels, bnfc tbfa will not be done until such time as shippers are ready. Freights by regular steamers will depend npon tho space that is available after froze n meat, tallow, butter and the other regular lines of oargo have been shipped. If spade is available we may bo sure that' thd shipcwner will be glad to lot at even a cheaper ratm Where the Government is going to do. batter, than, .the private individual wo fail to sec! Tho steamers engaged in the, Now.TorkAustralian; trade may offer cheap; rates .t o secure back oargo, but these rates iriiist bo controlled by prices ruling in Melbourne and South Australia. Messrs .fobn Darling and Son, in their market report dated Adelaide, T3th February, write with regard to steam tonnage as follows“ This chisa of tonnage available is extremely limited, a> d confined more or loss to the regular’libers for Mediterranean and United Kingdom ports, which space has lately been' taken up'at 35s per ton for'Marseilles; bat the.;genera 1 tendency now is not to exceed 30s par ton for. parcels by steamer after this .mouth. , Chartering pf sailing vessels has bean remarkably quiet, as charterers aeom to'bo fully engaged, and not disposed to add to their Hoot.” It will be aeon that Maroh shipmeats 'fro e Adelaide per steamer is to rule at 30a-per’tori; and wo have no doubt shippers Kero ■ can arrange with the regular linos at the same rate, and there need bo no Government iii:. torferonoo.

But, ifc may bo aakod, why- should tho Government show such interest in the graiugrowoi- this year in particular, and over-look the claims of ths butter-producers ? If it is right to find tonnage for grain-growers, i . ought to ba equally so to provide cheap trailsnort for butter and cheese. Tho dairymen have special, need of regular shipping facilities, but they -are left to fight the diffi unities of the position as best they can, and they have succeeded in a measure Freights have been reduced, but what is perhaps of greater importance, tho dairymen have done a good deal to reduce the cost of production. There is absolutely no justification for Government interference in the shipping arrangements ot grain, and those who are most interested in urging it are those who entered into the speculation of grain growing without a full knowledge of the conditions. Potato-growers are in a somewhat similar position toi the grain-growars. led away by the high prices ruling for potatoes last year the area planted wilh the tuber was very largely increased, and a, good crop now promises to bo unsaleable except at a ridiculously low price. Why should, not the Government oomo to tho assistance of the potato-growers find arrange for cheap freights to Australian ports? There is no difference in principle, and if one is justifiable so is the other. The matter had very much better ba loft to ba regulated by the laws that govern all markets —the laws of supply and demand. Bat such papers as discuss this question of grain freight are too ready to apply the term monoply to tho shipowners. The “ Lyttelton Times” soys “ our own opinion is that the producer would reap an immediate advantage from the reduction'' in', freight, and a permanent benefit from the State breaking up tho monopoly of tho carrying trade.” Whore does the monopoly oomo in? Wo have it on the authority of Sic Kdwyn Dawes that the revenue of the New Zealand Shipping Company has decreased in ton years to tho extant of £280,000; is tins usual with monopolies? la it like a monopoly to pay only four per oont for the first time for many years ? It is an extravagant term to use wim regard to our shipping lines, seeing that the utmost they are able to pay to their shareholders is five per cent.. Probably the word is used because the companies have agreed to a common rate of freight, but it does not apply. The same paper would hetitito to speak of a labour combination as a monopoly, but when capitalists combine for purposes of self-protection it is quite another matter. Instead of tilting at, the shipping companies the farmers should-hold them with gratitude. The existence of tho frozen meat trade is largely due to the New Zealand Shipping Company and the Shaw, Savill Company. When tho tra - :e was still in its experimental stage these companies did not hesitatb to fit up their vessels with refrigerating machinery, nor did they hesitate in incurring tho expense of building suitable steamers. When the trade was in a very precarious condition the sh’Downers took upon themselves the entire risk by buying' outright the frozen moat cargoes. In many instances they-have helped freezing companies during th- ic early troubles, and in all respects they * have stood by _ the producers. Ot course, there was nolhinginthe nature of benevolence in all this, but it does seem peculiar that when there is a few thousand tons of any special cargo to ho shipped away there should bo an outcry for tho Government to call in the services of outside shipowners. - . The poultry expert, Mr Hyde, is diligently endeavouring to impress upon tho small farmers the importance of poultry, and in course of time we may hone to sea good results attend his efforts. '1 ho export of poultry .will ,yet bo quo of the profitable industries ot tho; colony, and there is no reason why the export of eggs, also, should hot ,be a paying business. Tho difficulty, of ooufse, would bo in -delivering tlio f-ggs to the British consumer in a condition fit foe use; B cion oo is over oa tho sido of tV.o farmer, and the preserving of egg? has been overcome. An interesting experiment in ogg storage was recently brought to a successful conclusion in the warehouse of ■ Messrs Christianson, ot Bernard street, Leith. In June a batch of 50,000 Scottish, Irish and Danish eggs was sealed up in patent storage apparatus, and was opened some mouths afterwards, only a small proportion of tho eggs being found unfit for use'. Tho secret of tho method is to keop' the eggs cool, to allow free access of air around each ogg, to keep thorn upriaht in position, and to turn them periodically so that the yolk of tho’oggia constantly embedded in the albumen. Those disodorata aro brought about by placing’tho eggs in frames which, by the notion of the lover, can b»inclined in different cirentioua as needed. In this way 23,000 eggs can he tunied over in half a tninute without, risk of breakage. From store to shipboard is a small step, and tho installation of the storage apparatus on board ship must follow 1 in the natural order of things.

Cheese has boon steadily advancing for fotha timo, and for the past few weeks has regiftercel a vary good price, ; The nr'-rke t has.bepn inflnenoed by tbq wliibh shows tlint Ibe imports into tbo United Kingdom wore lower than tho previous year. Tho demand no doubt is better now than in the early months of last year, when the engineers’’stoke uni lock-out had oiily jriet concluded. Tho receipts* from almost all quarters wore less, and the comparison for threo years is as under; 1896. ‘ 1807. 1803 Cwts. Cwte. Cwts. Australasia... 55,140 68,615 44,003 Canada ... 1,314 297 1,326,001 1,433,181 France ... 45.070 . 30.858 3.3,080 Holland 293,938 297,601 292,025 United States 581,187 631,016 435,995 Other countries ... 35,323 43,321 50.657 2,244,523 2,603,178 2,330,432 The decrease last year as compared- with 1697 was 263,726 cwt, or about 10 per cent T ho activity in ‘lho.ooppev market and the high prices, ruling for the " motaH naturally direct attention to tho-productinn of the metal, finch mb-cs as are fully developed will be worked to their utmost capacity, but as far as New Zealand is con-

oerned wo are interested in the opening up cf copper deposits. Attempts have boon made in various localities to work these deposits, but for several reasons these attempts have not proved successful. Tho capitalists, however, may now be relied upon to find the money necessary for the development, and already the deposits of this colony are attracting attention. According to tho “ Nelson Colonist ” an offer has been received from London by cable for the purchase by aa English syndicain of tho Champion copper deposits in Aniseed Valley. The owners of , the Maharahara copper mine ought now to bo able to find the money to develop their Claim • supposing that; it is worth developing. There was a ruifaohr'about a few weeks ago that this mine had. been acquired by.-Soqje, Wellington capitalists.