FINANCE AND TRADE

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4366, 25 May 1901, Page 6 (Supplement)

FINANCE AND TRADE

In frozen meats there tv ns little doing at Smith in Id, London, during faster. Subsequent reports diotv that trade Wits fairly good, although no more titan 4Jd per lb could be obtained for prime Canterbury; outside grades, 4tl to -11,(1 per lb. Secondary sheep are correspondingly lower, prices ranging from M|d to 3;d per lb., according to quality. Lambs are making loss money. Small Canterburys. of.cl to s}d per lb; medium and heavy grades, sjd to old per lb; ordinary Zealand lambs, from sjd to ofd per lb. Australian sheep are still being forced on tho market, and in consequence values have further receded, to-day’s quotation being 2:{d to 2;d per lb. Frozen beer keeps .steady.

A London report of April Id says the Arcadia brought 7200 boxes of butter from Australia, and the Waiwera 25,000 boxes from Xfw Zealand. This was all the butter expected from Australasia that month. The Arcadia was the last vessel to bring butter from Australia this season. For the three months ending March, 1001, Australasian imports were 485.G68 boxes:—Australia, 1901, 316,969 boxes ; 1900, 392,086 boxes. New Zealand, 1901, 171,690 boxes; 1000, 147,535 boxes. Australia shows a large comparative deficit, which New Zealand has vigorously .striven to make good by shipping 24,000 boxes in excess. A barge with 1100 boxes of butter from a Now Zealand vessel was run into the other day on the Thames by a steamer, and all the butter was submerged and damaged; the underwriters allowed 6s to 9s per cwt. Market Prices; Choicest Danish, Ills to 113 s; Choicest Australian, 100 s to 102 s ; Choicest New Zealand. 100 s to lD2s. Messrs Mathie and McWilliam, Glasgow, report: The shipments from New Zealand are coming to band in very fine condition, and while the majority of the well-known brands arc especially free from fishiness, other brands which have passed tho Government examination, and been graded <: No. 1,” are turning out very oily and fishy in their flavours. Buyers have a very decided objection to anything of an oily or fishy description, and cannot be induced to take these butters except at a considerable sacrifice in prices.

Mail advices throw a little further light on the cabled reports of naval warrant frauds, stating "that owing to alleged frauds with metal warrants several of the large London and other bank;; have been let in for rmounis varying from £20,000 to £40,000 each. Particulars are for the present withheld, because the matter is engaging the attention of the authorities. Of course, a loss of £20,000 to £40,000 would he of importance, but not serious enough, we should say, to affect the dividends of most of the banks interested. The total amount involved is estimated at upwards of £200,000.”

The half-yearly report and balancesheet of the Loudon Bank of Australia for the six months ending the 31st of March has just been issued by the head office- The result of the half-year’s business shows a profit of £116,324, which the directors propose to apportion as follows: —Payment of interest on fixed deposits. £91,338; preference dividend, a-s per term of reconstruction, £14,184; carried forward to next halfyear, £10,504. The balance-sheet shows that the sum of £1,911,960 stands to the credit of transferable deposits, whilst the other deposits amount to £2,652,826. The amount held in cash and investments is £1,789,417, whilst the bills receivable and other advances amount to £4,327,293. The Loudon Bank of Australia, it will be seen, has a fair share of the more prosperous times which of late have been enjoyed by all the Australasian banks.

11l connection with the recent movement in tlie United States to obtain a larger portion of the trade in export of coal, it may be stated that the latest mail advices mentioned two big combines as having been made. The one will have an annual output of 4,000,000 tons of coal and 400,000 tons of coke, whilst the other, which includes a large number of the smaller West Virginian companies, is estimated to produce 1,000,000 tons of coal and a proportionate amount of coke per annum. In addition to this movement, a strong demand for coal lands is reported in West Virginia, two large properties, one consisting of 30,000 acres and another of 25,000 acres, in addition to others, having been taken up at very heavily advanced rates. Indications aro plentiful that the Yankees intend to force a much larger interest in the coal export trade.

After lengthy negotiations, an amalgamation of various .Danish match factories has at last been effected, comprising the Copenhagen -Match Factory, the Godthaabs Veicns alatcli Factory, Copenhagen, and the Merkur Match Factory.'Handers. The style of the new linn is ‘‘The Copenhagen Match Factories and Merkur’’ (“KoDenhovus Tandstikfabriker og Merkur”), and tbo share capital is 800,000. kr. The new company lias arrived at an arrangement with the other lanre factory, Gosch and Co., about prices and output, which for the latter firm has been limited to 180,000 boxes per day, and for the new company to 140,000 boxes. It has been decided to raise the price to 91 kr. per 1000 boxes, which is a considerate increase. It is proposed to push tiie export trade in various directions, and in order to give increased impetus to this plan it is under ventilation to bring about co-operation or a coalition between the Danish and Norwegian factories and a couple of .Swedish match factories. Intense competition has kept the price of safetv matches at a very low point, hut the combination referred to should be able to bring the trade back to a profitable level.

From an interesting article in the ‘"Daily News'’ it. seems that the moment a traveller lands in America he comes under the control of a trust. The newsboys who board nis incoming vessel, the telegraph office whence he cables his safe' arrival, the baggage porters, and the cabs are all trust controlled. His hotel is probably a ‘"free house,” but. 75 per cent, of what ho oats and drinks therein is trust property. The Booth Trust, with its £1,000,000 capital, sunnlios the fish; the £11,000.000 Biscuit’ Trust bakes his biscuits,; whilst the £1,000,000 Cigar Trust and the £2,500.000 Match Trust give him his after-dinner smoke. The £30,000,000 Flour Trust provides his broad, the £4,000,000 United Fruit Trust his dessert and vegetables; the £3,000,000 Dairy Trust his milk and butter; one of the two great whisky trusts, whose capitals aggregatoed £30.000.000. provides his grog; the £l-).000 000 Candy Trust and the £25,000.000 Sugar Trust supply him with all manner of r-weot things : his feet sink into the luxurious wares of the £10,000,000 Carpet Trust; his tourneys are made in the cars of tile Pullman Trust, which glide almost noiselessly over the rails supplied by thc £50,000,000 Carnegie Steel Trust. In Siiort in a land which boasts an eggregate oi d.Uou.OO-J.OOO of trust is not surprising to find that

tlie grip of ibis- ectopic -like creature i-- upon every .saleable object, from the babe's bottle to the centenarian's coffin.' The reports on the r-uropcaii wheat crops received by mail continue to be on the wiioie of a favourable character. In England (according to “Dornsbtisch” of April 41 the weather had become more seasonable, but drying winds were required in order to bring the lands

into workal lie condition, and to enable spring sowing to he completed. The wheat crop.-: were not DClieveil to havo suffered much from the protracted cold, hut. ail things considered, the situation was not quite so promising as it was

a year previously. Reports from France indicated that although damage had been sustained in some places, the crop as a whole was not affected. In Germany the weather had become finer, Im t complaints respecting tho wheat cron had not lessened. The crops in some places in Italy mid been damaged by heavy rains, but the general outlook for the crop was considered satisfactory. Russian advices stated that the condition of autiumi-sown wheat and rye was very satisfactory over large areas, and with the disappearance' of -now tho farmers wore hard at work on spring sowings. American auvicos were free from complaint.

The great depression that hns chaj'actcriscd trade on the European Continent has for .sonic time past seriously affected the South American wool market, as the forcing buyers are the principal operators in this staple, and other outlets are looked for. Tho “Statist,’' in referring to the matter, says:— "A change seems to be impending in tne system of marketing th 0 Argentine product. Hitherto tne Continental users have sent their uuyers to South America to secure the wool. But tho recent speculative disasters have so depressed them that very few buyers have been despatched. The South American growers, in their alarm at tho disappearance of their usual channels of business, are seriously considering whether they cannot find means of following tho Australasian example, and consigning their wool to European agents, tor disposal cither at auctions or by private sale. Th 0 difficulty is that none of the Continental trade centres have meansavailable for dealing with the mass of South American wool on this basis. In. England the means are amply available; but British users, on.the other hand, care little for tho South American material. Nevertheless, the i-StatisT” suggests, it is not in the circumstances an impossible contingency that London' may become the chief centre of tho. South American wool trade, as it is of the colonial.

There is a decided movement in that; big shipping companies in the Atlantic trade to meet the increased demands; of th G travelling public for proper accommodation on ship board. Messrs Ismay, Imrie and Co. have alrcauy shown their appreciation of the forward movement in building tile Celtic, whilst tho North German Lloyd launched at Stettin on 30th March tho Kron Prina Wilhelm. Tho now liner is 15 feet longer than tho Kaiser Wilhelm dcr Grosse. Her dimensions are :—Length, 202.17 metres; breadth, 20.1 metres;; depth, 13.1 metres; gross registered tonnage, 15,000; displacement. 21,001) tons. It provides accommodation for 650 first class, 350 second class, and 700, steerage passengers, in addition to a; crow ol 600 men. With indicated horsepower of 30,000, it is expected to maintain a speed of 23 knots. Save for the Kaiser Wilhelm der Zweite, which is not completed, the Kron Prina AVilhelm is now the largest vessel in tho possession of tho N.D.L. Company. The, N.D.L. has also just ordered four largo new steamers. The advantages in accommodation afforded to passengers by the new vessels now being placed in the world’s trade are very marked, and ns improvements take place in other directions, doubtless, some similar steps towards much desired advancement hers 1 will be noticeable.

The Manchester Liners, . Limited,, have issued an official circular relat»i ing to the new Manchester-Philadclphia service. The service will be conducted; jointly by the Manchester Liners, Limited, and the Leyland Shipping Company, Limited, and not by the Leyland Line. Th e former company purposes adding to its fleet three additional steamers, now building, viz., the Manchester Exchange, Manchester Inventor, and Manchester Market, and the first steamer to open the service will be the ; Manchester Corporation, which is fixed to sail on 20th June, the Leyland Shipping Company’s new steamer Planet Neptune, following three weeks later. In this service the Americans have now acquired a controlling interest.

There is an interesting article in the- “ Economist” dealing with the position of the South African banks and the' effects of the war. The most extra--ordinary feature shown in the comparison is the loss of deposits by the National Bank of the South African Piepublic, and the gain by the British; institutions. Two balance sheets are reviewed, that of the institution referred to and the Natal Bank’s. The figures show that the deposits of the National Bank of the South African Jlepublio in the two years ended December last lost deposits to the extent of .C 1.762,502, had £448,105 less cash in hand, and £205,688 less money at call, while hills discounted and advances were £659,066 less, and bills of exchange current £595,614 less. On the other hand the Natal Bank showed a ; gain in the same period in deposits of £470,608, an advance in cash of £236,295, one of £105,986 in cash balances and money at short notice, and minor increases in other headings, clearly showing that the position in South Africa has been as detrimental to the one hank as it has been beneficial to the other. Whereas the National Bank's deposits have declined from almost £3,000,000 to a little over £1,000,000, those of the Natal Bank have not only fallen, but have increased by almost £-SUU,->OO. In fact, the total deposits in the Cape and Natal were, at the end of last year, over £1,000,000 more than the total deposits, including those in the Transvaal, at the end of 1898. No doubt the balances in the colonics have been swollen by transfers of accounts from the Transvaal, bub even taking that into consideration, the changes are highly satisfactory.