COMMERCIAL.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16429, 24 January 1919, Page 9

COMMERCIAL.

WOOL. AUCTION'S ADVOCATED. (By Cable.—Press Association. —Copyright.) (Austnlisn and X.2. Cable Association.) LONDON. January 20The executive of the Association of _E.-cpci-t Merchants at Bradford ia _ pressing ior the sale, at the earliest possible moment, and through the ordinary trade organizations, oi Government-owned colonial and wool, by open and free competition, subject only to the neoeseary reserve limits. The executive consider that no Government, wool should be sold to any foreign Government except for purely military purposes. (By Cable.—Prefs Association.—Copyright.) (Australian and X.Z. Cable Association.) SALES OF WAR BONDS. (Received January 23rd, 8.45 p.m.) LONDON, January CO. It is anticipated that the total subscriptions to war bonds, of which the sale ceased on Sunday, will exceed £1,600,000,000 since being opened in October, 1917. SHARES. (Received Januarv 23rd, 8.45 p.m.) LONDON, January 20. Consols are quoted at £60. All giltredged securities are in good demand owing to the stoppage of the se-le of war bonds. Waihi shares, sellers 41s 3d, buyers 33s 9d; Junction, buyers 14s Id, sellers 15s. SYDNEY MARKETS. (By Cable.—Press - Association. —Copyright) (Received January 23rd. 11.60 p.m.) SYDNEY, January 23. Oats—Algerian, feeding 4s 9d to 5s 2d; Tasmenian, white 5s to 5s 6d. Barley—Feeding 53. Maize —Bs. Potatoes —Tasmanian £18 to £20. Onions—£ll 10s to £12. CORNSACKS AND BINDER TWINE. ADVANCES IN PRICES. (press association* telegram.) WELLINGTON, January 23. Information received here shows tbat there have- been two advances recently in the values of cornsacks and binder twine, in which a heavy volume ' of business has. been done. Flour sacks have also advanced from 12s 6d to 14s 6d on srpat, and supplies at present are very scarce.- This position has been (brought about to a large extent by the fact that no information has been - received of the sailing of the steamer that usually brings the November shipment of these goods. BIG PAYMENTS FOR WOOL. (niESS ASSOCIATION 'IZLXGBAM.) • WELLINGTON, January 23. Possibly the.largest sum ever paid in one day' for New Zealand wool' was disbursed today to those concerned, by the Imperial Supplies 'Department. The payments aggregated £635,921. The ncrt largest payment made on one day was also for wool, viz., £558,133, on December 2Sth, 1917. SALE OF STUD ROMNEYS. (PXES3 ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) [ MASTERTON, January 23. ; At the Btud ram-fair, held here-to-day, I buyers were present from all parts of the j North Island. Nineteen Romney isms, offered by Mr William Perry, of Penrose, realised 3245 guineas. The highest price for a single I ram waa 575 guineas. Mr Field, of Gisborne, paid 300 guineas for one of Mr Perry's rams, ! and Mr Seddon, of WaHcato, 300 guineas for another. THE WHEAT PURCHASE. The Wheat Controller haa issued the following- details of the Government's wheat transactions up to January 33rd: — THRESHED. I Bushels. Tuscan or Longberry ..- .. 4,255,593 { Hunter's varieties .. .. 922,483_j I Velvet,or i,Pearl 946,846 | Seconds ..i .. 314,105 j Total' .. -.. .. 6,439,027 Contracts to purchase good milling'wheat total 4,965,130. bushels. . .' .Contracts to purchase fowl wheat total 761,829. bushels. ■ - • • The' 'amounts paid to brokers total £1,469,908.19s -2d. . ■ . , . . , , , THE "PROPERTY . MARKET. | On account of the executors of the .late Sirs E. Telford, Messrs W. E. Simes aad Co. offered by anctioii yesterday a. dwelling of four rooms, situated, at No. 87 Picton avenue. Bidding stopped at £575, and the property was withdrawn. • • . THE COTTON INDUSTRY. A LOCAL IMPORTER INTERVIEWED. • The information conveyed in the letter of Mr Andrew Fairbairn, published in Wednesday's issue,-relative'to cotton prices and prospects of the cotton' market, was in such strong contrast to' the 6tatemonts made in an-.interview on the same subject with a Lancashire representative of one of the largest cotton, manufacturing firms that a representative of "The Pre6s" sought information from the general manager of one of the largest firms in; the city which ..deals amongst other goods with"cotton. The reporter drew attention, to Mr Fairbairn's, letter, and the general manager commented that the condition of the cotton market in America had >very little, bearing on the cotton position in Great Britain: .as far as the. New Zealand market was concerned it ""was the Liverpool" and Manchester markets that , were of importance, and . were the true guides, as plain cotton goods, such as sheetings and calicos,', are practically all imported from Lancashire. Citing the following, sentence from one of-the reports quoted by-Mr Fairbairn: "It is now urged that t&e withdrawal of enormous Government orders will' seriously curtail consumption, and that the export demand may not eflmpAtfeafe for this on account of " a continued shortage of tonnage," he commented that this' statement showed that cotton' in. Great Britain was likely to be scarce and short. Furthermore, the prices in America, as ■ quoted by Mr Fairbairn, had apparently very little bearing upon the prices in Manchester. Ho. produced a copy of the "Drapers' Record"—an authoritative trade journal—dated November 16th, 1918, which gave the prices in Great Britain of good middling cotton. The report quoted by Mr Fairbairn gave the American price on November 2nd as 29J cents (equal to 14Jd). On November sth, on the Manchester Cotton Exchange, good middling cotton was listed at 22.95 d. Mr Fairbairn stated: "Cottonhas doubled, in price since 1894. The increase Jias not been four times pre-war rates." On August 23pJ, 1914, cotton in Manchester was quoted at 7.39 d._ wilh the comment that it was at that price "abnormally high"; on January Bth. 1915, the price wa3 4.74 d; on September 10th, 1915. it was 5.89 d: on October 4th, 1915, it was 6.55 d: on November 27th, 1915, it was 7.45 d; and on December _Bth, 1915, it was 7.20 d. Since then there has been a gradual rise in price; but taking the December, 1915, price (7.20 d), the latest quotation he had (thsit l'or November 12th, 1918), which was 23.4 Cd, showed that the price waa three times as much. This, he contended, waa evidence that Mr Fairbaim's statement was wide of the mark. Another point, apparently overlooked by Mr Fairbairn, was that the wages of operatives in Lancashire had increased 113 per cent, over pre-war rates. Also, under the Imperial Government restrictions, which were, to the best of his knowledge, still in force, the operatives worked only 40 hours per week instead of 54, but 54 hours were etill pari for. The latest information his firm had received, dated December 17th. 1918. was to the effect that "all prices are firm. Do not look for a change in prices at present. Cotton goods rates have advanced slightly since August." Or August 27th, 191?, the quotation waa 25.15 d. Quite a considerable portion of the 115 per cent, increase in wages had be«n granted since the armistice; to the best o; his belief 50 per cent, of the totel increase hud been granted since the armistice. In view of these prices and the information received he did not think it reasonable or possible tliat. there would be any reduction in price in the near future, especially when the enormons demand for cotton in all European countries was also taken into consideration. Or November 16th, 1918, it was reported in the "Drapers' Record," that as far as Lancashire was concerned, larger supplies of Taw material were required so that more machinery could be kept employed. The Government Board of Control bad the matter well in hand, but was not likely to issue ueruiits for a larger number of cpmdles »nd looms until there wa3 a definite prospect of larger supplies from the United States. The Board of Control, it was explained, in addition to_ reducing the operatives' hours, had also reduced the number cf cpindlea and looms.

CHRISTCHURCH STOCK EXCHANGE. YESTERDAY'S TRANSACTIONS Sales reported:—Bank of New South Wales, £37 17s (id; Union Bank of Australia, £61 15s; Mason, Strathers, £1 4s. LATEST QUOTATIONS. Buyer*. Sellers £ s. d. £ »• d. DEBENTURES— ■ 1 .N.Z. Government 4J per cent. (Inscribed) .. 96 0 0 BANKSAustralasia .. •• 125 0 0 — LOAN ANIJ AGENCY— Dalgetv and Co. .. 910 0 10 0 0 FROZEN MEATN.Z. Refrigerating .. 2 9 6 — GAS- n u Chris tchurch .. 6-0 BREWERIES— Ward .. 415 0 — MISCELLANEOUS— Cant. Farmers' Co-op. (Tiraeru) .. •• — -16 0 Colonial Sugar • • 22 10 0 23 10 0 N.Z. Farmers' Co-op. — _ 4 0 Whitcombc and Tombs 6,2 6 — YESTERDAY'S BUSINESS ON OTHER EXCHANGES. (PEESS ASSOCIATION' TELEGRAMS.) WELLINGTON. Reported sale:'—Union Steam (preference), £1 Is 3d.