FINANCE AND COMMERCE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 34, 4 November 1907, Page 8

FINANCE AND COMMERCE.

THE SHAKE J!;'/ -. . '. The/ share market was without'' 'anihiatibn' on Saturday; at all events, brokers were unable to report any business in investment stocks, and the buying and selling quotations showed no movements worth noting. National; Bank shares wore on offer at .£5 9s. Insurance shares were dull, with Standards quoted at 225. In financial -shares there was >a-. bid-, otw£lo Is. Gd. for Equitable ■■ Building, which re-, presents a slight improvement. . .There- were sellers of New Zealand and River Plate at 295. 9d., loan and Mercantile at 75., and Wellington Deposit-tat-lOs. Gas.shares were without animation , j>:jhe Jully.-paid ..Wellington; Gas shares met with inquiry at A 18145., sellers asking £VH. Sellers quoted 17s. 3d: for Feildmg Gas, and .£25,'£15 10s.,'jancbJ!3'7s.:Gd. for..thp respective, issues of Napier Gas. Meat shares were slow, > sellers asking-XlO- -125... Cd- foil ..Chrißtcluirch. \ Meat, and £a 2s. Gd. and £3 6s. Gd. for.the second and third issues of Wellington Meat Export. Of tho other groups there is little that can be said. Taupiri. Coal shares .were in demand at 20s. cunu*divide.p.d,"<sellers-ho-]ding-for 21s. Wellington Woollens were offered at £3 Gs. Gd., New Zealand Paper Mills at 245., and Taranaki Petroleum at Bs. The,, sales.,for the week wore:—Feilding Gas, '17s.;":.Westpprt; Coal, £1 175.; New Zealand and Itiver-' Plater • 20s. Gd.; Bank of New Zealand, .£9 10s.; Wellington Gas, £18 los. ..,,,.■■■■

MINING MARKET;fW-;. <>" J? There was considerable iri.;.tne-min-' in" section, Tairua BrSkeiu-Hills monopolising the attention. These ss.< 4d., but steadily weakened with-sales;atj-55.,;. and ithe buyers' closing offer being' 4s.' "* fld-. Talismans are firm, with buyers at 485., and. ■sellers at-495. Waihis have r completely, rO.-i, covered, with sales reported , ' on* Saturday at £S Bs. 3d. and Bs. Gd: The closing prices were, buyers, .£8 Bs., sellers, J2B 10s. The course of sales of mining-shares-during the week was:— "'"' "' "" : "" '" Waihi, .£8 55., £8 45., £8 ss. 3d., .£8 4s. Gd., £& 45., £S Gs., £8 75., £8 Ss. 3d., and .£8 Bs. 6d. Talismans, 475. 3d.,. 17s. Gd., 475, Gd., 475., 485., 485., 48s. Tairua Broken Hills, ss. 4d., ss. 3d., ss. 2d., ss. Id., ss. Tairua Triumph, 2s. Kuranui Caledonian,. Is. 2d. .; .-•' : ; ■: ;"/ ;. Ngatiawa, Is. lid. ,■".'.,. - - -. •' - ! Waihi. Extended, ss. 2(1. Big River, 13s. THE WHEAT MARKET. From the latest cable messages from Australia it is apparent that a very gloomy view is entertained regarding the outlook. Sydney has stopped exporting wheat, and is buying from South Australia. Victorian merchants have under consideration the reimportation of wheat Oμ ships.en route for England. This lis very likely, and'not so much because of the poor crop prospects as to the fact that wheat is making ss. llJd. a bushel, in Melbourne, as compared with ss. s}d. per bushel in London. That is, ..to say, Londoners are buying .Victorian wheat cheaper 'than the Victorians themselves, and freight and other charges have to be paid on tiie shipments to London. The more wheat there is retained in the colony, the sooner will tho prices decline. London is not controlling the wheat market; it is, so far as Australia is concerned, being exploited by speculators. The rains in parts of New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia cannot have fallen upon the wheat belts, or, if they have fallen upon.such localities, they must have come too late to be. of any good to the wheat-growers, otherwise the values of the cereal ivould.not.be ascending. The European markets, are uneasy, because of the wild fluctuations in America, and although confidence is expressed in the strength of the statistical outlook, , ; .the Americans are in the- unfortunate position of being forced to sell. They want gold, and must have it. The visible supplies are increasing in America, for, according to the weekly cable .messages, the supplies have been as under:— -'- Bushels. , Oct. 2 5!t,74(i,000 Oct. 9 ... 59,901,000 Oct. IB 58.3G8.000 Oct. 23 ... 61,271,000 Oct. 30 61,788,000 In the past fortnight, which, singularly enough, . coincides with the period of the financial crisis, there is an increase in the visible supply of 3,420,000 bushels, and that in spite of heavy shipment. Hidden supplies, not known to the trade, are being revealed, because of the necessity of selling. ~,,% 5,-, ,'i ~;

PIG-lEON .DECLINING. Many people regard pig-iron as a very good barometer of tlio .economic conditions. When t!io inetal is advancing in .price it' l is evidence of increasing industrial activity which must be broadly beneficial. The price of this.metal has been declining. The (juotation.s-.of-.the past few weeks show the following changes ':■>-■ ,■■ Per ton. . .., ....-.,., £ 5.,d...«-,r. October 3 ~.v ... Y..v i '(:. 2 15'■ 'jBj '~< October 10 ... .„ ..V " ..; 2 W G October,! 17 2 U G October 21 2 14 0 October 31 ... .... 2 11 11 Tn four weeks the'metal has declined 35.,-M. ,iv: ton. In May.'last,:;pig-iron was selling at 6R 4d., and earlier in tho year it was at 575. 9d. It is now<at'thd.lowest level touched diirin.; the ten nionths.-'and it is obvious, that achange has come over.the industrial'isituatibn.". Business is dccreasirig/cspeeiully in'Geimaiiy/ a'lii now with the. Ana'ncinl strain in .America,' oilier trade diijtKb.utin},' dirngors arise.,:';;Thft "Finance Chrdiiicl?,'-' of .New Yorkv'-in-'-jtS' issno of September Instates that the,: make of iron in tho United States in Aiigiist/was nearly as large as in July, being 2,250,'t10 gross .tons, compared with 2;i55,G(i0 tons in .Tuly, and adds: —"Whether it is a favourable feature .that tbc output should be maintained at such largo figures is, perhaps, open to question. There uro fears that at any'moment the situation in the copper trade may be duplicated in tho iron and stool trades. Thus far, mills and furnaces Law been kept active on past orders, and particularly the orders of the railroads, but tho riiilieuds have lost their borrowing power, and, therefore, are giving new orders sparingly. Should this condition be maintained, it "must happen sooner or later that the demand for iron and steel will fall off, just as tlia demand for copper so completely collapsed. I'll" "Manchester Guardian," of. September. i says that the iron trade throughout the world during August was generally dull. Merchunts in almost every department of the industry adopted a;; fcniting attitude, being"for tho most part very uncertain as to the course to be taken by the market in the anturau.

■ The*re-has also been a pessimistic conviction that the'ifuture 'will bring lower prices. J. in 'opirion is likewise expressed that it will be difficult to.avoid u collapse in prices in the ; {Jtited/.Statcs: ; ■ ' ; . '■ THE BANKS AND "ORDERS." - The Sydney "Morning Herald," of a recent •■ dal' l " says:—"Certain changes are being con-tc-niplatcd in regard to the relationship between, bankers and their customers. Hitherto some of the banks have been accustomed to collect orders upon city firms drawn by country 1 clients.■.■■' A pastoralist, for instance, de!siicus of' settling an account wtih a city trtidoshian, draws on the financial institution that handles his wool. The order is paid into - tho bank by the tradesman, and the bank collects the moneys This often involves consider-

able-inconvenience-to the bank,.in so far as_ on occasions several visits are necessary to the financial institution which will not honour its client's order till it has made full inquiry as -to-his position as disclosed by the banks. Ihe ■transaction was accordingly not a very profitable one for the bank, and some of them declined to allow themselves to.be used in this wa' Now it is proposed that; the banks shall ma!.-! an extra charge-of Is. per order over and above the ordinary. exchange which has alwaV. been charged.' Seeing that these orders .aw almost invariably kept'twenty-four hours, 'and oftcnifor two or three days, while the blink's; 1 customer is in the meantime credited with the 'amount, the charge cannot bo regaided'as an exorbitant one. .It is coining to .b.«aTecognised rule of banking practice that the. bank-will perform no service tor its customers' that its customers can perform equally "we'll themselves. In this case it would be quite as easy for the tradesman'to present tho .order.as the bank. Some of-the banks, are alrwidv 'making this charge; others refuse absolutely" to collect these. onlerSj/on any terms. In tho other States, charges similar to this ai'3 made. The Victorian charge is Is. per ecu!;, for ordinary cheques, but 2s. Gd. per cm:, for orders, with a minimum, charge of Is. In Queensland, Gd. per order is charged, iii addition to the ordinary exchange."

'"banks and postal notes. Another modification oi banking practice is contemplate* in'.connection with the collection of postal notes and money orders paid 'into a customer's account. Hitherto depositors have :been accustomed to pay into their accounts a miscellaneous assortment of postal notes, often with stamps attached, some of these stamps being those of : other States. These have at the close of each day been sorted by tho banks' officers, nnd taken around to the post office, whore they were .checked, and eventually redeemed.. Of late this sort of thing has imposed such a tax upon the banks that they have - decided, in keeping with their rule not to do for a customer for nothing what he can do equally well, himself, to make a charge of Id. on each postal note and money order collected by them, irrespective of amount. The idea, of course, is not to add to their revenue so much as to compel their customers to perform this duty themselves. Here, again, the banks are supported by interstate precedents. All the banks have not agreed to this course, though the majority have done so, and sorao ore already making, the charge. If the altered state of ■ affairs'becomes universal the postal authorities will have to provide additional accommodation for the public, for whereas previously they were dealing with 13 clerks from 13 banks, now they will have to deal with hundreds, if not thousands, of these banks' customers. .It M understood that arrangements are already in contemplation for providing more space—". Sydney Morning Herald."

MOS'GIEL WOOLLEN COMPANY. The report and balance-sheet of the Mosgiel Woollen Factory' Company, Limited, for tho year ended October G is to hand. The directors in their report say:—"The company has, notwithstanding'the high price of wool, keen competition, and importation and manufacture of inferior arid shoddy goods well held its own during tint past year, and our products are inns high estimation and demand as they have ever been. Although urged by numerous interested people to supply an inferior quality of goods, yeur directors have steadily adhered to the manufacture of a first-rate articlo, and this Lconrfe !of,.procedure has been amply justified by increasing business. To-day \we aro fully employed, and have remunerative orders in hand to keep us going for some time to come.' , i.ini ,)a,ance : sll «:t shows that, after writing off ■U94 lGs. Gd. for replacements of plant, and ■JSlsOO..for.depreciation; the net profit for the Jear'ainoiiuted'to .£3398 6s;'lid., to which has to be added J!652 Os. lid., giving an available balance of JHOSO 1.'15.. lOd., out of which the directors propose paying a dividend of i per ,I ' l ' l ' , , l ) vil absol ' u JMS Gs., and leave .pis is. lOd. to be carried forward. The dividend is a great deal better than the distribution ot last year, when only 2.J per cent, was p fuwo io . e .f ro3S .'". c , omo fol ' thß y° nr was Al*,s»J, 19.5.■•1d., and the expenses of manage-"pn-iK"' W l "' '-, n , B ln '? rest i,ml discount, totalled .:K)o()S 15s. lid. The paid-up capital of the ™W- '\ -«53.«7 10s.. the reserve fund f "V (1 loans payl[ »k-.*13,000,..and bank overdraft XIOB4 Os. lid. lilt assets include: plant, ,£S9,CG-i 9s. Gd.; land account, .£3795 Bs. e<l.; book debts, .67532 3s! 2d.; : goods manufactured in process and raw material, Bs, lOd. The Mosgiel Woollen tompany,;shows, an: appreciable improve■ffiP.' > l:;.-.-ll>.e-n.ieoJ;?ng i .'ot''sharDholdors- is to be held- in JJuneilin- on November' "G

CUSTOMS COLLECTIONS.

\ w S?""." 11 of: *■}}* Customs duties collected at .Wellington on'; totalled JU-H7 14s. (d.,.as against -MiSlUs; 2d; on the correspond'l}«\Ailtc:oi".!«»{■.■year;':)lto collections for last week aggregated .£11,462 ss. 10d., as romnared with X-lO,™ 10s. Id. for tho corresponding week- in 10(1, The l.eer-duty collected last week totalled 11 i 5 us. !)d.,'against JCIB7 Gs. Bd. for the same week last year. ;

MIiNMNG NKWS.,

[El- TELEGRArH.—ntKSS ASSOCIATION.] Uu.N-KDi.v, November 2.' : Waikaka United (1), 2I)oz. 2<lwt.j Waikakn United (2), '}Boz. 14(l>vt.; Punt, %■/,.; New Trafalgar, 1-loz.- odwt.; lilacluvater Water 38oz -Idwt.; Rising Sun, 5007.. lSilwt.j I'actolus (1), G|O7,. lldwt.; Callaghau's Creek, 320z,. 3d\vt.

AUCKLAND STOCK EXCHANGE

[BY TELEGRATH.— OWX COUUKSrONDENT.] Auckland, November 2. ' 'Vuckland Stock Exchange'principal sales:— Ilikurangi Coal, 17s. (id.; Talismans, 18s. M.; Tairua Broken Hills. ss. 2d. to ss. Cd. Waihis

are ■quoted at. ,£8 Us. sellers, £S 10s. Oil. buyers, and Grand Junctions at -10s. sellers, 38s. Gd. buyers. STOCK SALES. Mr. Newton Kind's weekly auction re.port is ns follows:—At Waiwakuihn, on Tuesday, there was Rood bidding for all classes of stock, springing heifers especially showing a sharp advance on late rates, and nearly cverylhiiij; was sold at the hammer. Calves made Ms.; mixed yearlings, 265. to 335.; steer yearlings, ■Us. to I8s.; heifer yearlings, 255. to 305.; 18 to 20-months yearlings, 355. to ■tils.; springers, cE3 10s. to £b 7s. (id.; store, cows, ■Hμ. to 505.; old cows, 15s. to 205.; spriiiijiiiß cows M. to JBS 15s. At Kaliolu, on 'i'linmlny, nearly everything was quilted either at the hammer or privately. Yearling heifers made 20s. to 305.; steer, 435. Cd.; spriiißing heifers.JE3 lfls. to £T> 155.; store cows, £2 ss. to £2 10s.; bulls, £2 17s. (id. to £S 10s.; store pigs, 11s. LONDON MARKETS. Messrs. Dalgety and Company report:— Frozen meat.—Since our last advices prices are at par to j<l. per lb. lower, nnd the market is dull. An improved demand is expected, provided that the cold weather continues. Beef (fore quarters).—.Market firmer. SILVER.' BY TELEGRAPH. —ASSOCIATION. —COPYRIGHT. London, November 1. Silver is quoted at 2s. 3id.

! i-"'.':.'. SHAKE LIST. > ' .- -i "1 :V : V.v. f Bdeonrtf ft'2. ,.,,5, „• • TRICES. Tlold ... COMPAQ ; ..pj ? p, Man™ g« SS«SSf Buyor. Bolter. gff —r. f ' ■ : ■ banks. .fc : £ -■■. £ : £ ' * ilif : i!i a 6 o io .1) iw% '*. / NaiSr* 013 : £?$&# ' .t -nltd. *■ J * » Jig: * ' ° ' :■■ -Kow Zealand '- ■ • I' :SOO,000 . ; ■ 330,135 . ..8. 8 ,•"• ■■■•■■■' B IS'0' \ BoQth British - -;3 •; 100,000 Bia.400 1 iinjM.- 30 ... . » ■ v ■ Btondara --■■'-.«■ 76.000 •.'-62,163 i unltd.. 10 . , ., .. ... Equitable Building ,.'4 . ■ ,' «5G0 ' 5 5 ] ? 12 0' 0 ' ' Metropolitan Building- : 5--21.(»0« -. r.,2i9 10 ml .1 12UU . : 0 14 3 ■ ' ; WolliniitOD Invost. .'- ~" 50,000 ■" ' ' 3.033 J 3 J . . • 7 ] 0 . 0 -.710 0 5. 6, B i Wol'gton Trust & Loan 101,230 30.G2Q .5' .5. ■ » . 3 5 0 > 3 4,0 ■ 6 5 0 i . National Mortgaso -- 2(10,000 113,250 2 ? JO 330 J.ou 10( . 41 - „ N.Z. and Itivor Plato," 300,000 23O.SO3 1 nil ' 1J 070 ' ; loan and Morcautilo ■', .■*V&,m ..., 157,358-. i -•: fii'■ •■ 5 . ■ ■■ ■ , ; ; , I' Auckland 3 - A" :,* " ■ »j£ » S ' - ■' ' ■■• . Christouurcli - V - 152,000- ->- 65,037...... 5... ,-.ni -, i(J.,-,™ j.-. ,--■•.- -Qjf'3 017 0 '-. FeUdins - - - 10.805 103. 1 ni — Gisborno • : . .- 17,100 9.230 1 .»>1 . j 0 ' n .O Hawora *.*•■■.; - 8,250- 6W ■ J i }0 x 1 " 7 ]5 0 Now Plj-moath - - 18.003 3,1K) 6 nil " M00 ■•' .-Haute - -,,,-..- . . ), ,.- - "I 1 « - IS 10.0 „ - -: - -.-.r .... 49.957 K >.^' 517 :, ,f- ;;. g js'. , .- 376 ■ . i ' PalmorstonN6rta- ■"ct.OOO-- •'•'tfra , '- '-45- J' 10 \l\] %' M ' 0 0 18 15 0 508 i- . Vdlinetoa ■ - - JM , 570 l 67 968 10 nil 10 q -8 14 0 ! ; grsST: : is., x 8 4 J 3 su "" s . l0l0 ° 7M4 ■ . ■ Gear - - - KUB J »-• » .".'J _ e WoUinston Moat Eyp.. ., ., . 5 m , 1- g 52 6 3 C li wWanui ", 45.850 11.-101 5 nil. 8 TRAKSPORT. , , v 220 220 368 - -W.&H. Railway - 170,000 . 121,453 \ K I GOO ■-.-■8tf1« :.S.."S 1 1..3'Ht'."« ';" '"' WOOLLEN.- ... . . .../ . .■..'-.■,■ - Kaiapoi- -" - "'"- 100,000 S2£5t 5 mi. 6 ilossiol- - - - 83.457 17.15! 34 li M | 8 6 0 7 S 6 WoUingtoo'- - '- tO.000 24,368 4 1 " 3 6 b B o u ■ MISCELLANEOUS. .. ' \ ,„ R ' Donaghy Hope ,.- .- 47,000 — 10 n; - a li o > /. LuyEd&O'liilod--:- SS«». ...34,083,, -..1 .-. ni . , 15 ■ .360,. -27 b llauricoville Lima.-' - 7,000 ■•■■-■: Wi -l.-ni.,- B - - J. . NJS. Candle-. - -' 10,000 - ' 10 nil - » ; ' K.Z. Drugs - ■ - £00,000 34,514 ,2 n 1 , 7 210 6 " fl „ ' K.Z. Paper Mills r-V-: 94,755 " 1.177 ,:i .nil 7 -136 11 U lill M.Z.ComonS- - - 40,000. 2,0a '1 ml 8 HOC 1Mb Manntog&Go. - '- 96,000 37,670 4- -1 " -10 i Ward&Co. - - . £0*00 30,655 i 1 M ' " ° . 1 Wsta. Opora Houeo '; 18.030, ■ •-1-.70S-. : -"5; . m • ; ;8 6.,0 0 Wfitn. Fresh Food ' 28.2B1. , .. - "rr-'i.:. , . I , . m '-?•■ „ '-2 iw O ' ' i •■WMtcombe& Tombs- 48,250 £0,153 6 ni ■ 10 i 0 0 <10 0 I ; Eharland.Iiimitea W.BYS B.3U 1 ,;.• ml-:; : 74 ■ .. 01J6