SHARES & MINING

Observer, Volume XXXV, Issue 45, 17 July 1915, Page 20

SHARES & MINING

[BY OBAOIAH.J

t!HE ; 'bjalf-year's engagements bav- | ing been met there is now an j inflow of gold into the Bank, ot Enklaiidl, last week, witnessing -an increase of considerably over a millioi. . sterling, the total being £52,227,000, as against £51,080,UUU the 1 previous week. There is also an inlc*ease "of notes and coin, and the emulation is better. A noticeable . feajture is the shrinkage of the Government deposits, which have dieclinedW to £67,899,000, due, of course, to* the quarterly payments of interest on the .Rational debt. The total now in hand is«;nq£* more than sufficient to pay the expenses of the war for days, but there is the big war loan f of £900,000,000, the whole of wluch is bound to be secured' presently. Some time .ago over £150,000,000 had been subscribed, and since then we have beeijb advised' of several large subßcriptjfcns, such, for instance, as £5,000,080-each from the Prudential and Guinness and Company, the Dublin brewers, i The Government must, however, rely on, th&stoall sayings of the people, ,* and sipeoM steps*hWe been taken to secure this. There *is no doubt, that the! m«fe&anics and ;a}#isans can furnish) tie whole amoun,!! required it they can be induced to 1 Jend to the Government., The deposits with the. joint stock Wks in the United Kingdom exceed a thousand tfPk lions sterling, and there 'are. ..huge sums in the savings banks,* so that the loan,'largeias it is* Will be readily obtained: .* Furthermore, large foreign subscriptions, especially from the United States, may be anticipated. '*': y■ * The of the New Zealand Govemhs>;ht to place some part of the £10,000,000 loan authorised by ParMarhent .on the local market has disturbep.? -some financiers, who see alii sort&&f. evils that are' likely to aribe.U. One would think that a local loah'laad never been issued before, whfere&s, as a matter of fact, the late M/Seddoii floated a local loan for £500,000, and) secured the whole of the amount, and there was. not so much idle credit then as now. What these financiers and investors fear is the fall in securities,, and ; this view of the position has been voiced. These people, are afraid that their in shares and other securifPS will depreciate, and they are q\ii,te right in anticipating this, but such securities are bound to fall) in any case.?£>ecause they are very much ofer vtpfed. The Stock Exchange efiarei lisss show that investors are 4£ per cent, to 5£ per shares have beeni in yery active demand 1 for some time. Thjs goes'' to show that there is plenty of money seeking investment, and a security such as the Government can offer will appeal to the public. This is not the time when the' Government can consider the demands of a section of the community. The Government must raise some of the loan locally, and the best way is not to fix, any limit, but to accept all 'that the people*care to offer. The£ fear that'there will not be sufficient funds to carry on the trade of the country when' the war is over may be diismissejl, because the end of the war isrjpbt yet in sight, and unless the Allies win we have no trade to develop.

The banking returns for the June quarter are extremely satisfactory, for .they show that the country is very prosperous . The salient features of the returns may be thus summarised': —Fixed! deposits increased £401,752, free deposits increased £2,737,660, advances decreased £157,519, discounts decrees* ed £357,759. These movements are compared with the corresponding

quarter ''<i>f last year. The very high prices that 3ve.ihave received for our produce have brought in a larger income than usual,' andl, owing to the difficulty of importing goods, a very large proportion. of the income has not'beeirk spent: There is thus a very large volume of idle credits, and_ since there is at the moment .©very indication that the war will be pro- . longed oyer another European'winter the coming season's wool, butter, icbeese, meat, .tallow, etc., will again realise big prices, and there will be further accumulation- of credit. We shall, of course, need.large sums to pay for the merchandise -fehat wilr.be •badly wanted presently, but there is morethan sufficient for<that purpose in what' is, in hand and) what.,is certain,,to be obtained, from the new season's produce. Hence, it .is quite safe'to-say that a. Government loan issued locally on favourable terms as to the rate of interest and. currency will be readily taken up.by l the peo- • pie, and may ultimately"' prove to We been, a sacrifice, but Sacrifices have to be made. The Irnpefial Government is anx.ious should help ourselves to the, utmost m this respect, and "we must dio it.. There ;is plenty of money in the country. The people are prosperous and the priospeots are good and the bank re- - turns are;very encouraging indeed. *•' * * • The Permanent Investment and Loan Association of Wairarapa has experienced another good year, as. is shown, by the balance-sheet tor the year .ended May 31st last. There are 1511 investment shares now curterut, 243 shares having been paid off ,<ahd 142' nef; ones taken up d!urrng, the yeatf«?hte net;, profits lor ttia yea.r .t»iWt :: '£.22l7';lßs lOd, which among the shareholders in-accordance with the rules of the Association. The amount advanced, on mortgage - is. now £47 : j9 ; 5'8^65>.7d. .'■' ■?•.«•: * * '-' * ; -te .'oife London wool sales are going remarkably well, and prices are practically up to the highest level yet recorded, and it is difficult to see how it can be otherwise. Lord Kitchener is still calling for recruits, and the Imperial Parliament recently voted an additional 300,000 men. Canada, Australia and New Zealand are calling up men continually, and all the new recruits have to be clothed. There is also the prospect of another winter campaign., and that will mean a .tremendous demand tin woollen goods . Of course, just now the European and North American clips are coming forward, but except in the United Kingdom and the United States, the clips do not amount to Vmuch. The English clip will turn out 550,000 to 600,000 bales, mostly crossbred wool, and this will provide for. much clothing ami other woollen goods required by the War Office. There is every reason to believe that the coming clip will realise handsome prices, and the same may be said for practically all our produce. Another- season of high, prices, and the Dominion will be in; clover as regards money. There will be ample funds for the development of trade and something to spare tor the wounded soldiers and tor the Government's local loan.