FINANCE AND COMMERCE.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18892, 6 January 1927, Page 8

FINANCE AND COMMERCE.

WOOL SALE. .26,038 BALES OFFERING. At the second Christchuich wool sale for the season, which will commence in the Caledonian Hall this evening at 7.30, 26,038 bales are to be offered. The quota from the various firms is B6 follows: Bales. Fyno, Gould, Guinness, Ltd. 8107 Farmers' Co-op., Ltd. ... 6105 Dalgety and Co 6065 National Mortgage and Agency Co. 2571 Matson and Co. ... ••■ 2017 Loan and Mercantile Co. ... 1171 There is a surplus of approximately 30,000 bales held by the various firms, and this will be offered at the succeeding sales in February and March.

OIL RESOURCES. TESTING DOMINION'S FIELDS. An important announcement has been made regarding the development of the oil resources of the Dominion. The Anglo-Persian Oil Company, having secured certain options in New Zealand, intend taking steps immediately to investigate the probability of oil In payable quantity being found in the lands covered by these options, which will be tested by boring. Two of the company's leading geologists arrived in Wellington this weekend will supervise the investigations. They will be joined later by other members of the company's geological «taff.

TREND OF TRADE. IMPERIAL FACTORS. POINTS FOR OVERSEAS PREMIERS. (TROU OlTft OWN CORRESPONDENT.) LONDON, November 30. ' The ;'Financial Times" devotes a lengthy leading article to a review of the factors Which go to make up the world's trade chart. It says:— "One of tho effects of the Imperial Confer•nco discussions has been to impart a new atimulus to the study of tho factors that enter into the development and direction of trade. On the' narrower Imperial question of preference views differ, but there is no reason why cognisance of the facts should not be taken and an.attempt made to understand the broad, principles of trade. An example will show the need. "Advertisements have recently beon issued augmenting that the value of our exports to Australia or New Zealand is directly dependent upon our purchases from those Dominions. It is no disservice to the Empire to point out that this is, to say tho least of it, an exaggeration. The goods we ship to Australia may be paid for by sales of woo) to America, who in turn finances her purchases by exports of cotton to Great Britain. Trade and exchange is very rarely a matter of direct sale and payment; it is most of it triangular, quadrilateral, or even polygonal, and the only safe law to lay down is that our exports, wherever they are sent, in the long run balance our imports, from wherever they come. This fact must have been present in the minds of the Dominion Prime Ministers and of thoir expert advisers, but before the recommendations of the Conference are published and we proceed, in. tho manner dear to Englishmen, to adapt them to our own political tenets, we should be well advised to study this broad fact of the trend of World trade.

Population and Production. "Trade depends upon production, and 1 production upon population, so there are three nets of statistics to be studied at once. Fortunately, tlm task has been made easy for ui by a recent League of Nations 'MemoTsndum on Production and Trade.' Tho world is divided into aomo nine geographical areas, which unfortunately cut right across the British Kmpire, but even so, the pamphlet s contains some very ■ arresting information. For example, tho authbc v estimates ■ that tho total population of tho world has increased by 5 per cent., whilo the 'production of raw materials has risen by approximately 17 per cent., the margin between tho two figures presumably representing the improvement in the average standard of comfort. Western Europe, however, which includes. England, only shows increases of 5 per cent. in population, and 5 per cent, in production—■ in other words, no margin hero exists. Oceania (hows an incrcaso of 1C per cent. in population, and 22 per cent, in production, co that Australia and New Zealand have apparently fared better. North America shows expansions of 19 per cent., and 26 per cent., but here tho United States is far and •way tho preponderant partner, so that it is difficult to tell how far theso figures apply to Canada. Africa shows tho best margin of all, the percentages being 7 and 38 per cent. respectively.

Europe's Economic Setback. "The table brings two lessons to light rery clearly. The first is the extent of tho economic setback caused to Europe by the •war. Thii is shown best by the trade figures for 1925. The general increase in international trade over 1913 was estimated at 5 per cent., but Eastern and Central Europe (excluding Russia) show a setback of 18 per cent., while Western Europe has fallen by 1 per cent. Secondly, there has been a genoral shifting of the world's commercial centra of gravity from the Atlantic to the Pacific. North America shows an increase of 37 per cent., Asia of 30 per cent., and Oceania one of 32 per,cent., whilo Europe as a whole . is lower by 6 per cent., and Africa by 1 per cent. Pacific's Commercial Importance. "These figures do not suggest that the aationi bordering the Atlantic are left with so trade at all, but they do afford evidence that the Pacific is increasing in commercial importance. It is statistics such as these that our Dominions Office and the Oversoas PTime Ministers will have had to study, and boaring in mind the fact that our Imperial trade links cut right across tho world, their task cannot have been an enviable one. It can be taken for granted, however, that they will conduct investigations upon broad lines, and remember the salient facts that destination has little "effect upon a country's ■volume of trade, and that exports to one quarter may well be paid for by imports from'another. If so, wo can have confidence that,' notwithstanding the complications arising from the shifting of the world's commercial centre of gravity, their policies will add materially to the prosperity of tho Empire." LONDON MARKET SUPPLIES. fBT CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION— COPHtIGHT.) (AUSTRALIAN „ AND N.Z. CABLE ASSOCIATION.) (Received January sth, 7.50 p.m.) LONDON. January 4. Tallow atocks are 8489 casks. Imports during December were 951 cask 3 and deliveriea 1414 casks. Tin atocks ore 15,001 tons, on spot 525 tow, afloat 1985 tons. Deliveries during December were 1866 tons. Bubber stocks are 48,843 centals.

AUSTRALIAN FLOUR PRICES. (BT CABIJS—rRSSS ASSOCIATION—COPYBIGHT.) (AUSTRALIAN AHb K.Z. CABLB ASSOCIATION.) (Received January sth. 8.30 p.m.) SYDNEY, January 6.

The Kill-Owners' Association has reduced the price of flour by 10s per short ton to CIS a ton.

THE EGG MARKET.

Th* Canterbury Co-operative Poultry Pro■ucars, Ltd. held their regular weekly auction isle of eggs yesterday, and through WPuw being plentiful the market eased a i iutle. The- following prices were realised, V ) S"2?T IS *° fade and quality, first grades \ i H *? u . H\ »<*<" ids I* 6d to Is 7d, dusks i

NURSERYMEN MEET. ATTITUDE ON AFFORESTATION [THE PKEBS Special Service.] AUCKLAND, January u. The conference of the New Zealand Nurserymen's Association decided today to support the principle of afforestation, especially in the development of waste lands, by either State or Municipalities, but the Government's policy of entering into competition with nurserymen in the supply of small trees to farmers and others was resented, and it was considered that if the Government intended to establish a monopoly of the supply of forest trees they should be prepared to allow nurserymen to sell to the State their interests in this branch of the work at valuation.

J. AND P. COATS.

. FALL IN PROFITS! The accounts of J. and P. Coats, Ltd., of Paisley, the great thread Manufacturing firm, for the year ended June last, were submitted to Iho directors recently. The net profit, after writing down stocks and providing for an agreed settlement excess profitß duty, was shown to have been £-2,02-1,589, which represented a decline ri £1,631,111 from the 192J-5 amount. A decline, however, was expected, as the company was bound to hold large stocks anil these must have depreciated heavily as a result of the steep fall in the 2oat o; r.»w cotton. It is also important to notice that the excess profits duty payable has «vidcrt!y been taken out of the year's profit, instead of the balance brought ior*ara, v'.ich was made exceptionally largo for the express purpose of meeting this liability, as the directors openly stated. In 1928-4 the amount carried forward was £398,580, and a year ago it #.is raised to £1,145,030. Now it is reduced to £255,780. The directors decided to recommend a bonus on the ordinary shares of sixpence per nh&ro lij pv cent), making the total return for the year 174 per cent.—the same as for ;:i;,i -s the ait six years. A profit of £2,024,589 is not sufficient to pay this rate, and it necessitates part of the reduction in the balance forward. The bonus now proposed requires £366,75 a, which is included in the amount given above as being required for the ordinary chidend. The net profit reached £4,164,894 in l'j:9-20, in 1921-2 it was £3,270,913, and in V 122-3 £2,889,960. The results in the last three years are compared below:

1925-6. 1924-5. 1923-4. £■ £ £ Net profit .. 2,024,000 3,655,700 3,107,213 Brought forward . 1,143.030 398,580 402,61; Available .. 3,167,030 4,054,250 3.509,803 To reserve .. - - 200,000

Pref. divd. .. 330.000 330,000 330,000 Ord. divd. ..2,581,250 2,581,250 2,581,250 Ditto p.c. .. 171 17§ 17J Carried fonvd. .. 255,780 1,143,030 308,580

CABLE RATES. CHARGES REDUCED. An interesting Btatcmont regarding negotiations for reduction in cable rates was made recently in the Melbourne. "Argus" by Mr E. O. Eroke, divisional manager for the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company. "It is ono of the misfortunes of this company," ho said, "that all its proposals for reduced rates or extended facilities have to be submitted by the Postal Department to the Pacific Cable Board for its consent and agreement. When agreement is reached the Pacific Cable Board is naturally the first aware of it, and it get 3 its public announcements into tho. Press beforehand. In view of all the claims made it will surprise mo3t people to knew that all the main reductions in cable" rates—upon which lhe_ ch'-apcr classes of traffic are based—have be-in introduced by the Eastern Company. I Bpeak with absolute authority, and, as they were all made under agreement, is easily forthcoming. As a matter of fact our last reduction to 2s Cd a word was held back for some: time because the Paeifi.- t?nb'e Board could not como into line. N.« it hud good reason. "Tho proposed reductions set forth in the cable message frcm London would seem to show that at last our competitors have initiated a substantial reduction in the tariffs. But I am eorry to have to deprive them of their little triumph. The schedule of reductions in tho main is not new to us. They wore proposed by Mr Brown, the director of posts and telegraphs, as far back as April last, when he offered a fiO per cent, reduction in the Government share of the tariffs, provided the cable services would do something commensurate. The department urged a2s tariff to tho United Kingdom, but as my company had only recently como down from 3p a word to 2s 6d, it offered to negotiate on a 50-50 basis, bringing the total tariff down to 2a 2d a word. The negotiations suddenly ended, and it was understood that the Pacific Cable Board had turned the proposals down flat, as its lines were already too congested with traffic. Now that its line is duplicated, and being aware of what was in the minds of the Postal Department and ourselves, it has made up its schedule of tariffa and got it first into the- Press. The Postmaster-General does not usually get much credit for enterprise, but ho certainly deserves it in this • instance, and the director's letter 1o me of April 23rd last is worthy of publication. "With tho exception of a small reduction in tho Press rate I cannot recall any important .reductions introduced by tho Pacific Cable Board."

BURNSIDE MARKET. (press association teleobahs.) DUNEDIN, January 5. At Burnside to-day fat cattle cheapened by .£2 per head, sheep by Is 3d, while fat pigs advanced by about 10s. The other lines were practically unchanged. . Sheep.—A penning of 1621. The mixed entry was comprised almost entirely of Bliorn sheep, and included a good many medium ewes and a few extra wethers. _ There was very fair demand at the opening, but It eased slightly, permitting exporters to operate on light-weight wethers. The earlier sales were the better. Prices were:—Extra heavy wethers 37s t< 38s 3d; prime heavy 2Ds to 32s 6d; light 22s to 26s 3d; prime ewes 22s to 255; lighter 14s to 18s 6d. Lambs. —A penning of 310, the quality boing medium to prime. Best lambs made values on a par with those of the last sale of a fortnight ago. Unfinished lambs were slightly easier. ' Prices were;— Extra heavy 29s to 30s; prime 25s to 27s 6d; medium 21s to 23s 3d. Prime wether mutton made 4Jd to 5d per lb; prime ewes 4id, aged 4d; lambs BJd. light and medium 7Jd. Fat Cattle.—A yarding of 347. There were many pens of excellent prime bullocks, but some of the pennings lacked finish. The entry was a big one, and since butchers had a very moderate demand during the Christmas and New Year period, and had a surplus of beef as well as mutton, rates dropped to-day by quite £2 per head. Prices were:—An extra heavy prime bullock £l6 7s 6d; prime uullocks £l2 10s to £l3 to £ll 10s; heifers £7 5s to £9 10s; cows £6 15s to £8; extra heavy bullock beef 30s per 1001b; prime light 32s 6d; prime heifer 30s; light heifers and cows 20s to 22s 6d. Store Cattle.—A yarding of 275. mostly of ordinary cows. From 25 to 30 head of two to three-year-old medium quality steers forward were passed at auction, at prices ranging from £7 to £B. Other cattle sold at about last sale's rates. Pigs.—A penning of fifty-five fats and twenty-seven stores. The entries were small, so competition was good. Fats were dearer by about 10s, and the prices for stores were fully maintained.

GERALDINE STOCK SALE. Theio was a larger entry for yesterday's stock sale, but the lambs arc not coming on as woll as they should, and the quality was not up to the usual. Fat lambs sold at from 23s to 265, ewes at from 14s to 16s 2d, and wethers at 23s and 245, ewes and lambs all counted reached 16s 3d.