COMMERCIAL.

Southland Times, Issue 3363, 1 April 1879, Page 2

COMMERCIAL.

". ' J / >- . Times Office. Monday Evening. ' The amount of Customs revenue received to-day on goods entered for consumption wa 8 as follows: — -.-• - ' , i 1 I 1 i i

(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.) | Adelaide, March 31. -'Wheat is 4s ; flour, ten guineas.

We have heard a great deal lately about a prospectus that has been issued by the New Zealand Agricultxiral Company, and we have noticed unfavorable comments upon it in the Lyttelton Times. A copy of the said prospectus has, however, not yet come under our notice, but this is what the London Times of January 29th says about it in its money market and" city intelligence column :—" The prospectus has been sent to us of the New Zealand Agricultural Company (Limited). Its capital is stated to be £1,000,000 in £20 shares, of which half is to be issued now to the public. The company also proposes to ' raise money on debentures to the extent of two-thiids of the amount paid for property. The object of the company is to acquire certain'lands'in New Zealand, and 'the- pur- " chase^is to date" from the Ist November last, from which date the vendors are to receive iuterest at the rate of 5 per cent, on the purchase money/; Although bound to pay this interest, the company is, not to receive the titles to the properties till the 30th of June next, so that should any flaw exist in these titles the subscribers of the company would have no security whatever. Another curious point is that the promoters of the company are the ageiits of the vendors, arid as such entitled to a commission of 7£ per cent: on the purchase monoy, out of which, "however, they undertake the payment .of ceitain promotion expenses for the company. Power is taken to give the vendors £350,000 in fully paid-up shares in lieu of cash, and as the vendors' agents can ls at any time issue these, they would seem to be able at will to control the company. The more effectually to do this it has been provided that, notwithstanding their fiduciary position, these vendors' agents may act as directors of the concern. r Apart altogether from the question of the ''actual pr prospective value of ovec 300,000 acres of freehold and leasehold land in New Zealand - £_poorly stocked but valued far, above the highest Government price for land—these arrangements hardly strike one as likely to command public confidence. A million of money is a large sum to play with, and when it is openly stated that even this laTge sum is not by £70.000 enough to satisfy the. vendors for the property the public is entitled to a much, clearer definition of the position of these vendors atfd their agents towards the land r and towards intending shareholders. Is this land unencumbered or mortgaged? What has been originally paid for it, and who are its present owners ? Has it ever been valued -by anybody but the vendors and their agents 1 So much mischief might be done by the hasty formation of a company of this kind that all the facts ought to be set forth."

Spirits 1140 2 6 Cigars 32 5 0 . . .Toljacpo.,^.^ 358.12 6 - Wine ... - ... ... 116 810 Ale 139 2 6 Tea" , ,-... ,' , .182 7 .6 Coffee" '.r. '..'. '.":."'' 6 11' 6 V " Sugar 23S 13 10 - - Goods by- weight - ..-.-287 1 11 ' „ ad valorem - ... 710, 7 6 Qtber duties 92 9 4 £3304 2 11