BUSINESS IN AUCKLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2757, 16 January 1907, Page 12

BUSINESS IN AUCKLAND.

A YEAR OF PROSPERITY. DEVELOPMENT OF GOLDFIELDS. (F&ou /Our Own Correspondent.) AUCKLAND, January 2. Inquiries locally go to show that the trade of the past year has been better than that of any previous year— in fact, ia some businesses there was a record, while 6teady progress was being evidenced on all hands, and this notwithstanding that competition was keen, consequent on more businesses being O{>ened. One of the leadI ing merchants, whose house docs a largo and varied business, stated that the closing year has been certainly the biggest his firm had ever experienced. All lines had been well sought after. The business had been very sound. The amount of debts on books had decreased. " People are better able to meet their obligations now than at any other time in our experience," said the mere hant. The Christmas trade, he said, had also been ahead of any previously known, and the cla33 of goods purchased was of excellent quality all thiough. There had been an unusually large quantity of dried and canned fruits sold, and more fruit wa3 being sold now than at any other period. This might be attributed in some measure to the fact that a few years ago half of the duty was taken off currants and raisins, but apart from that " there has be.en an encrmous trade." Butter and cheese had been at a high price, wool and flax had been at a satisfactory figure, and the price of kauri gum. was better now than at this time last year. Judging by trade prospocts, there was evidence of very prosperous tinges ahead. In the country, where the settlers had been leaning to a considerable extent upon the storekeepers, they had been putting their money into more cows and sheep, putting down grass, or buying more land, thus anticipating their capital, and the result was that they were leaning a little more than usual on the storekeeper. The position, however, was regarded as perfectly sound. "With regard to the town, there was not the slightest doubt they had had a land boom to a certain extent, especially in the suburbs. and this had tightened the money market in town. A retail grocer in a large jvav of business declared that the business during the past year had been the best ever experienced in all departments — in fact, it was a record. The country trade had perhaps shown the greatest increase, because of the somewhat rapid settlement going on. The town trade was described as increaei ing very rapidly. The Christmas trade 4 too, had jumped ahead of anything pr«rioualy known, and a record had been created. An unusually good year has been experienced by the drapers. The increase is attributed largely to the very fin« summer, but undoubtedly, in the opinion of one of the largest retail drapers, the general prosperity had & great deal to do wirh it. In support of this, he instanced a number of articles that can only be classed ac very luxurious, and which sold readily, while there had also been an improvement in the class of articles in demand. Generally, there appeared to be a feeling in favour of a better cla«s of goods, and the pcopTe were becoming more sesthetio in their tastes. What satisfied our fathers and mothers 20 years ago would not satisfy the rising generation. The drapers had an exceedingly busy time at Christmas, and all previous records seemed to he exceeded. The hardware trade, wholesale and retail, Is in a healthy and flourishing state. Thare has been an excellent volume of business all through the year— a result which, as in other businesses, has beaton all previous records. This was principally on account of the greatly-increased activity in the building trade in the cify and suburbs; while the farmers have been going in for further Improvements, consequent on the good seasons and the high prices being obtained for their produce, which gave t-hpm more money to spend. One of our leading bank managers stated that business, in Auckland at anyrate. was in a very sound state. There was plenty of money in circulation, and the banks had ample funds available to meet all legitimate requirements of their customers. Consequent on the prosperity of the colony, deposits were increasing, and it was now difficult to secure first-class advance business. The value of city property had increased, and a good many purchases had boon effected, not fpr purposes of speculation, but for investment — an ufiusually healthy sign. With regard to the opinion ' •£ a Christohurch banker, that the finan-

cial outlook was not very bright because of tho action of the Bank of England in increasing the rate of interest at present, the local banker stated he did not agree with this view. It was true that all the colonial banks had a good deal of money in London, but it was let out for short periods, so that it could always be brought back to the colony at short notice. There was not much doubt that the rates in London would come down shortly after the New Year, but in any case the people in the colony were not likely to suffer, be cause of the large accumulation of money due to the good seasons and the high prices obtained for produce. "It is far and away the best year we have ever had," declared a member of one of the largest and oldest land and estate agencies. There had not been what might be called briskness, but there had been a steady volume of business, and the transactions in land had been on a larger scale than formerly. The fact of the Government coming into the field in the new year, and giving advances on town securities, would, he believed, greatly depress the money market. The security would b» scarce- and rates low, and he anticipated that interest would come down. There waa only one thing that could prevent that, and that was a tightness in the London money market. Dealing particularly with Auckland, the agent stated that the advance during the lust 10 years in Auckland had been remaTkably steady and free from booming. They could sell better land at £2 per foot in Auckland than could be got in Wellington for £10 ver foot. In all its history the country districts have never known so great and wonderful a development of rural industry as they are now experiencing. The chief factor has, of course, been the dairying industry, but other country industries have also made progress. During 1906 the gold miningindu=try of the Auckland district had experienced a year of steady progress, noted for legitimate development work and a marked increase in the gold output. The returns from several of the leading bullionproducers for the December month have yet to come to hand, and when theee are in it is anticipated that the yield for the 12 months will show an increase in value over the 1905 output (which was £1,030,382) of upwards of a quarter of a million pounds sterling. This will be by far the largest gold output for the Auckland district since the early days of the Thames field, and the indications at the close of the year pointed to a further marked improvement in the yield for 1907, as practically all the leading mines are steadily increasing their returns, while the industry, generally speaking, was never on a more permanent footing than at present. At Ohinemuri immense reserves of a payable character are being opened up in the low levels of the Waihi mine, anil large additions are being made to the milling plant. The quartz in the Talisman and Crown mines continues to show an improvement in value as depth is attained, and at Komata the management of the Komata Reefs Gold Mining Company is increasing the crushing power, with the object of adding substantially to the bullion output from that prop«*rtj. The yield from the Thames field for 1906 was about three times as large as that for 1905. The splendid returns from the Waiotahj mine were mainly responsible for this. These returns promise to be well maintained for some time to come, and meanwhile other Thames properties ar« being explored, in some instances with encouraging results. The Coromandel field has not claimed much attention during the past 12 months, but it is expected that more comprehensive and thorough development work will be carried on during the present year. The outlook all round, therefore, may be regarded as very bright, and ehouVl the Government provide the necessary money to enable the Thames field to be properly tested at a greater depth it is quite possible that before long that district will again rank as one of the principal bullion-producing centres of the colony.

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