COMMERCIAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1861, 22 July 1887, Page 18

COMMERCIAL.

' The revenue collected at the Custom House during the past week on goods cleared for consumption amounted to £4507 0s 2d. The beer duty amounted to £125 15s 4d, and the gold duty to £830 12s 3d.

Millers' lines have ruled during the week 86 follows :— Flour, £10 to £10 10s per ton ; oatmeal, £9 19s per ton ; pearl barley, £18 per ton ; pollard, £4 5s to £4 10s per ton ; bran, £3 10s per ton ; chaff, £2 5s to £2 15s per ton.

The Timaru Steamship Company has declared a dividend at the rate of 15 per cent, per annum,

and a bonus of 3s 6d per, share of £3 10s paid up. ' .The directors of the Colonial Bank, in their half-yearly report, recommend the- payment of a dividend at the rate of 7 per cent,, adding to the reserve fund £1000, and the carrying forward to the next Half-year of £3962.

Messrs Wright, Stephenson, and Co. offered for sale by auction on Saturday, by order of the mortgagees, the Kartigi estate, Moeraki district, the area being 3319 acres, freehuld land. No sufficiently large bids were made, and the property was withdrawn at the reserve, £8000. It is for sale by private treaty.

The Te Anau Downs estate has been sold through the N.M. and A. Company to Mr J. C. Ellis at a very satisfactory figure. The estate consists of 740 acres freehold and 79,000 acres leasehold, about 16,000 crossbred and merino sheep, and a number of cattle and horses.

Mr Montagu Pym offered for sale by auction on Monday afternoon sections 49, 50, and 51, block XXV, at the corner of George and Park streets, together with two dwells g houses thereon. The building was started at £1000, and run up to £1260, at which price the property was purchased by Mr C. Northcote. The directors of the Equitable Investment Company of New Zealand have declared a dividend at the rate of 7 per cent, per annum for the half-year ending 30th June.

The total value of exports from New Zealand (says the New Zealand Trade Review) during the second quarter of 1887 is £1,283,789, as against £1,299,835 for the corresponding period of 1886. This brings up the total for a twelvemonth ending with the quarter to £6,937,003, as against £6,580,849 for the preceding year. It will be seen that the total value of imports for the twelvemonth ended on the 30th June is le«.s than the total of exports by nearly £600,0' 0. This in the circumstances of the colony wetak to be a healthy sign, and an indication of a pro • cess of bringing our expenditure* s *withih our means. The returns are not sufficiently advanced to enable us to publish with this issue our usual details of value of exports, but we may mention that the improved total for the twelvemonth is almost entirely accounted for by wool, in which the enhanced value and increased production result in the growth of the year's value by over £700,000. With two or three exceptions the other items of New Zealand produce figure for a decline in total values. The same paper, referring to the Wellington money market, says: — In our local market there is continued evidence of an increased supply of money available for advance on mortgage of real estate, and we believe that for very first-class security large sums could be obtained at 6£ per cent. We do not, however, hear of much business being done. One difficulty in the way is the reduced valuations of properties as compared with those of a few years back, which'prevent the same amount being now obtainable in cases of old mortgages expiring. Medium and small sums are still charged 7 to 8 per cent.