TRADE IN THE CITY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2859, 30 December 1908, Page 11

TRADE IN THE CITY.

A FAIRLY GOOD YEAH. , Trade generally in , the city during- the year. just closing,'" although by no means 1 of a booming nature, has been steady and iound. t For the first, three month? business j in nearly- all traded .was excellent, but '■ from April Jtill November tihe -uncertainty ; associated with a. general election, added [to the falling-oflc in the price of wool and other products, 'the. tying up of large sums or money in local government and other 1 securities, a gradual slackening off in the i building and iron trades, and other causes, induced a quieter period. Pessimistic ' trader? and others somewhat unduly mag- , niiied the slackness in trade referred to', , and the '* tightness " of money, although it undoubtedly existed, and continues to exist in a lesser degree, was also a little overdrawn. With the elections Cyer and improved prices for wool, a hoaJihier commercial tone is now observable in the community, and traders generally agree that sinc3 November trade has been brisker ' and money easier. j Business in the Official Assignee's Office I has been slacker during 1908 than in 1907. . The Qtago bankruptcy v district includes I Dunedin and the sub-districts of Oamaru, j Lawrence, Gore, Queenstown, and Inver- | cargill, and the total number of bar/k- • ruptcies for 1908 was 52, made up as folI lows: — Dunedin 25, Invercargjll 15, Oamaru 7, Naseby 1, and Wore 4. For 1907 the total number was 63, Dunedin contributing 25, Invercargill 14, • Gfore 9, Queenstown 5, Lawrence 1, and Oamaru 9. The total amount of liabilities- under 'the Dunedin ■ j bankruptcies for 1907 was. £9422, and for j 1308 the liabilities were £16;838, the latter j%um being swelled 'by two items of £10,316 ' <r and £2481 connected with jewellery and . [ fancy goods failures; 'i*e liabilities in'i [connection ,with 3ub-disteict returns «.re nob j t yet available. Inquiries as to private as- ! signments show that these were very conLsiderably less for 1908 than during l§o7, j ami the amount of liabilities under this i heading is much less than for many years ' pa^st, the principal . assignments coming "from, districts <>uts»de rf 'Qtagol '_ j "."Turning -tc^ ' Customs, returns, the 'total of these for 11 months of ISO 7 was, in round numbers, £466,446, as compared with £440,865 for 1908 Looking at the figures this would seem to indicate that' the value of importations had decreased during the present year, but it has to be remembered that at the commencement of the year and afterwards there were Considerable remissions in Customs duties, sugar alone contributing about £5000 per quarter for the 1907 period, and the remission of duty on : cotton and linen goods is also a factor, in the Customs returns for 1908. Saving 3 Bank deposits for- the three quarters pnding September. 1908, were £896,656, and withdrawals for the sanie period were £352,817. leaving a- balance to the credit of depositors of £43,839. The dercsits for the year 1907 were £1,114,678, and the withdra vale £1.005,899. The local Labour Department, on being interviewed, reports that for the year ju?t closinjr, although the demand for labour on public or local government works has j not been so great, there has l«en a steadier : period of employment than during the previous * year. A greater demand has been made by private employers to the department for unskilled workers than has been the case for four or five years past, and in to skillo-d tradesmen, with the exception of about live or six weeks, all classes in ths building trades have bean more or less fully employed, many of those now in employment having come from " other parts of the Dominion and front abroad. Inquiries, it is ale© satisfactory ro learn, are made to the local dexai'tiaqiit for farm hands and other classes of labour from (he North Island. In the .ironwork industries" tra.(Je ims not been so gotxX as in other trades. Wholesale and retail trades generally v.-ho were waited upon yesterda-y by a Times representative report a good Christmas trade. A slackness is reported in the dressmaking and furnishing trades a< compared with the busineSs of former and buiMers rvnovr & slackening in building operations, which for a considerable period lia\c been particularly bri-,k.