TANK OF NEW ZEALAND.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 19 June 1925, Page 6

TANK OF NEW ZEALAND.

ANNUAL MEETING TO-DAY.

■ The annual meeting of the proprietors of the Bank was held at "Vi oilington to-day. , , Sir George Elliot, chairman of directors, presided, and, inter alia, said:PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT. ■ The profit earned from the ordinary operations of the Bank for the past year amounts to £819,286. In computing this profit with that of the previous year, it should be remembered that the year under review is the first complete year during which w<? have had the rise of the £1,125,000 of new capital paid up on October list, 1923, and the accretion to the reserve fund of yearly £500,000 made a year ago. (DEPOSITS.

Our deposits at the balance date totalled 5 £30,079,282, as compared with $30,501,719 in 1924—a decrease of £422,437. Deposits from the public showed a satisfactory increase, but Government deposits are £1,923,003 less than in the previous year. N.Z. GOVERNMENT SECURITIES, show an increase of £887,477. The £l,* -125,000 received from the sale of the new shares issued to shareholders during the year, was lent to the Government against inscribed stock, bearing

interest at s:} per cent with a currency gj ,£en years. This transaction, anil the. maturing of certain other Government securities, account for this fluctuation. AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT SECURITIES at £1,239,096, are less by £545,138, owing partly to the maturing of a portion of olir holding, and partly to the sale of some of our securities in order to ease the difficult exchange position that prevailed in Australia during the year under review. LANDED PROPERTY, PREMISES, -, ETC. There- is an increase of £84,365 in this item, caused by the erection of new buildings an-1 by necessary alterations and additions made during the year.

EXCHANGE AND CURRENCY. In the world of business and finance, two features at least are outstanding since our last annual meeting. The first is the adoption by the Allied Governments of the Dawes Report, which reviewed the financial position, and proposed readjustments with, a wiew to restoring the economic system of Germany, giving her assistance in the shape of a loan, and enabling her to.set up a reliable unit of value in place of the paper mark, the value of which, as far as exchange was concerned, had completely disappeared. The other great event to which I refer has -taken place since the close of our financial year. On April 28th, Mr Winston Churchill, Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced in his Budget speech in the House qf Commons that, from that (late, Britain had returned, in her international dealing, to the gold standard from which war-time conditions had driven her nearly eleven years ago. When the Chancellor made his announcement regarding Britain’s new policy, he was also able to state that Australia and the other Dominions were simultaneously taking the same course of action. This was confirmed next day in regard to Australia, and in New Zealand it has been announced

that, although no change in the legislation, placing restrictions upon the shipment of gold coin is contemplated, the policy of the .Government is to permit, under license, the free export of gold. • i *ij| The immediate result of this change of monetary policy was that the rates of exchange between New Zealand and Australia, and New Zealand and Great Britain, were, within a few days, subjected to the greatest change that had been experienced for many years, the rate for buying bills on London on demand falling from 55s per cent to 30s

per cent, and for selling demand drafts on Australia from 50s per cent to 7s 6d per cent. Bates for other usances, either buying or selling, are in accordance with the foregoing, and all rates are less expensive to tlie customer than the cost of importing or exporting gold. DAIRY PRODUCTS. During the past ten years the output of dairy produce in New Zealand has had a marvellous development, and cows have doubled in number. For the season that ended in 1924 there were in the Dominion 1,312,589 cows of the age of two years and over, and they produced about 72,000 tons of butter and 79,451 tons of cheese. Local consumption having been provided for, the value of butter and cheese exported amounted to £10,445,832 and £7,354,651 respectively, compared with £2,140,010 and £2,195,278 in 1914. The average price realised per lb of butter fat for 1924 was Is 6 5-Bd, compared with 11 5-8 d in 1914. It is estimated that average annual

yield of butter-fat per cow in New Zealand to-day is 1701bs, compared with an average of 3501bs in Denmark and in some parts of America. If .it could be realised, that, for every increase of 10'lbs of butter fat per cow .per annum in our dairy herds, an extra million pounds sterling would result to the dairymen, no one could fail to be impressed with the immense future that lies before the industry. There is no reason whatever why our average should not be brought up to 2501b5. WOOL. The sales opened in November last with a sensational rise in the prices for all classes of wool. In the Sorth Island the average price paid per bale worked out at about £34, and it was correspondingly higher for the finer classes of wool in the South Island. It was afterwards quite apparent that these November-December prices were mot justified, for, at the following North Island sales the average dropped to £25 per bale, and again from that to £l9 per bale. Nevertheless, the average price for the whole, of New Zealand will probably work out at about £29 per bale for the season. The number of sheep in New Zealand in 1914 was 24,595,405, against 23,584,789 for 1924. The figures for 1925 are not yet available, but it is estimated there may be an increase on the 1924 numbers.

While artificial silk is having some effect on the consumption of wool, it will probably in the future have a greater effect on fine cottons, and its continued use will, to some extent, tend io steady the market for both wool and cotton. 'As long, however, as the price ■of wool and woollen goods is maintained at a level fair to the wooigrower, to the manufacturer, and to the public, neither artificial silk nor any other substitute so far discovered cart take its place^

SHEEP AND LAMBS. The high prices being offered by exporters for lamb and mutton, combined with the abundance of feed throughout New Zealand, tended to boom prices of sheep at the various sheep fairs held during the summer. Keen competition was experienced, and high values were the order of the day. CATTLE. An outstanding feature of the season lias been the sharp rise in the price of cattle of all descriptions. This was caused by the cessation of price-cutting in the Argentine, by the slackening off of production owing to the unprofitable nature of the industry during the last few years, and by the enormous expansion which has taken place in the Continental demand for frozen beef. SOLDIERS’ FARMS. It has been pointed out on many occasions at our annual meetings that, the price of land in New Zealand from 1914 onwards was wholly unwarranted by its productive capacity, and the report of the Dominion Revaluation Board, a board appointed by Government in 1923 for the purpose of revaluing land sold by Government to returned .soldiers, confirms this assertion. Altogether the board received 5347 applications for revaluation. Up to Match last it had considered and dealt with 5262. So far it has granted reductions in the capital value of such lands amounting to £1,572,583, and reductions on mortgages of £653,610, making the total reduction of soldiers’ indebtedness to the Government of £2,226,193.

The Government m to be commended for appointing an independent board to take a survey of the position, and also for agreeing to the necessary reductions, even if such reductions mean a considerable monetary loss to the country. THE OUTLOOK. For the year ended March last our imports amounted to £49,821,005, while our exports totalled £54,771,158, the difference in. our favour being £4,950,063. It in .st be obvious that this surplus is quite inadequate to meet the amount which is annually required to pay interest on loans raised by the Government and local authorities outside the Dominion. . '

It is true that towards the end of the financial ye£fr there was a considerable .slump in the price of certain of our primary products, and that a fair proportion of our exports was held over in the hope of a better market developing in- the near future; but, even if prices had been maintained, and all the goods in store been shipped, though the relative position wo-uld have been improved, the final balance would still have been insufficient to justify an optimistic view of the position at the present moment. Any advice as to the need for general e onomy is unpalatable. It has been given so often that I am afraid it falls on deaf ears. In New Zealand there is not the slightest doubt that, in private life, people are spending too much on imported luxuries, and it is time to call a halt and consider the position. I cannot close this review without referring to the lamented death of our late Prime Minister, William Ferguson Massey. Added to a native charm of manner, his honesty and singlemindedness of purpose won for him hosts of sincere friends, compelled the respect and regard of his political opponents, and earned the warm affection of the people at large.

With his death there passed a great figure in New Zealand history.