COMMERCIAL

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13803, 14 January 1909, Page 5

COMMERCIAL

THE PAPARO.VS BUTTER

Press AxKncintinn-]Vr Telegraph-Opvrigu! Received 9.18"p.m.. Jan. TOtli. LONDON, Jan. 13.

A survey of the. Paparoa's butter is proceeding. The contents of No. 1 and No. 2 holds wore affected by smoke. The. damage to No. 3 hold varies greatly, a, considerable quantity of the butter being unfit for rovisumptir.n. AUCKLAND WOOL SALE. A DOWNWARD TENDENCY. Psr Press Association. AUCKLAND, Jan. 13. At the sales to-day wool generally showed a 'downward tendency, the American buyers with-holding support, principally on account of the bad get up and faulty packing of wool. There was a catalogue of 7233 hales, the largest sale yet held in Auckland. Prices ranged for crossbred and J.nlfbred 8.1(1' to 1 fid, ■medium crossbred and Romney 7id to-Sid,- coarse crossbred and Lincoln (id to 7d, inferior and -stained oil. to 53d,. lambs sid' to B.\d, and locks and pieces (in nonr demand) 2d to sd. The top offer of the day was 10' d for 20 bales of particularly choice half bred from the Waikato, but tin's was passed in. • : SALE OF BUTTER Per Press Association. WELLINGTON, Jan. 13. '''Messrs J. J. Lonsdale and Co., butter merchants, of London, iu a business letter to Messrs A. S. Paterson and Co. of this city, make some statements regarding the efl'eet upon prices of butter, which has resulted from the Australian practice of consigning the whole of the shipments for sale upon comm'ission, in preference to selling them in advance to butter dealers. The practice has been followed to some extent iii. New Zealand, and the letter ■is intended to convince dairymen and others that their interests would be served best by straightout sales. The linn states that never in its existence has it known the butter market to be in such an absolutely false position as it : was in if the time of writing (six weeks ago), and by way of explanation the letter attributes the position to the. fact that "so-called purely commission firms had no interest in the trade other than to sell consignments as quickly as possible." The result was tliat the market was never considered by these receivers. ft was a- easo of helter-skelter to sell at any price, and the owners "paid the piper." The letter states: —" This'method of consigning must, at all times, be a- great disadvantage to the butter market generally, and we must certainly take, it into consideration in future operations by making sure that -people- on this 'side have a sufficient interest in the market to make at least some attempt, to stem a- collapse, otherwise purchase at all times will be "very/ unsafe." It is Messrs Lonsdale and Co.'s opinion that instead.of Australian butter having been at 105s per cwt (six weeks ago), there was no reason whatever, save the-.swamping of the market by "purelv commission" sellers, why 11-l.i should not have been obtained.