Poverty Bay Herald AND East Coast News Teller. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 661, 27 March 1879, Page 2

Poverty Bay Herald AND East Coast News Teller. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING.

THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1879.

Landed property in portions of the' Auckland district hasr already given way in value very considerably,, }f we may depend on the reports' furnished by the large estate agents and atic^ tlohelers Ha respect of lands placed in iiie market for sale;. Last week Mr. Buckland, after giving a long and extended publicity, offered several estates in the provincial district of Auckland. There was 'only /a moderate attendance of persons present, and the result was a very indifferent one. The Waitangi estate, consisting of 9385: acres,: jdicl not draw a bid. 1356 acres at Paraheke, Pukekohe, was also- withdrawn. .A, small farm at Panimtre, consisting of 192 acreaj drew: forth a bid of £10 per acre, while the suburban farm at One-Tree iHill, consisting of 35 acres rich volcanic soil, obtained a bid of £§Q per ..acre,, but .the whole of the lots w^re jwithdji-awn. Now "in all these estates only a poi*tion of the purchase-money was demanded the balances being payable by long-dated bills. Still not a single estate or farm was disposed of. Later on we find it stated! in the Auckland Herald, whose commercial articles are generally very reliable,, that .during the week several alterations had taken place in the market, and buyers : were operating with great caution. " This/'

says the Herald, " is borne out by the stagnation that prevails in land transactions, and while there is little doing in this branchy it cannot but be ad-, mitted that country or suburban land is not worth so much as it was a few months ago, while a higher percentage is required for advances thereon. The recent rise in bread-stuffs of 10s. per ton, is due to a slight hardening in the English and Australian markets, but, so far as we can see, there is no indication of a further advance. The market is fairly stocked, arrivals large, with a great quantity afloat, and while such is the case, there will be sellers at something like present quotations. In fact, many holders are in. the position that they cannot afford to keep their stock very long, while the sudden drop last year has taught ma,ny £he wisdom of realising at a fair profit*" After quoting "declines" in certain leading commercial lines, our contemporary goes on to say,"We have to regret learning that many of our country flax-mills have been shut up in. consequence of the low rates hitherto prevailing here, arid the manufacture is now decreasing." What the Mill-owners of themselves, is that while flax is. of lower market value than formerly^ the cost of production has increased by the high rates demanded for all kinds of manual labor ; and so they have -closed their mills^ obeying the ' law of economics, that labor must be controlled by what has to pay for it.