FINANCE AND COMMERCE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 165, 6 April 1908, Page 10

FINANCE AND COMMERCE.

: THE SHAKE' MARKET." J On Saturday the investment market exhibited ' 'an improved tone, and there ..a sale. oi, Taupin Coal shares at 20s. 3d., yielding,; on the basis of the last dividend, £1 Bs. per cent. The buying orders were more numerous and - covered a wide t field, but gas shares, ■ woollen shares, transport shares, and Eomo of the miscellaneous, were weak ' neglected. For bank shares the quotations ■ show no change; thero were buyers oi New Zealands at 125., ; and sellers ,at National Bank shares were on sale_ at X 5 1G Gd.; thero have been no declared buyers for these shares for some. considerable time. Financial shares were steady, but with no quotable change in values. Wellington Trust and Loan'were in demand at '.£7 95., while-r.quit-able Building were oil sale at .£lO 2s. Gd.; andWellington Deposit: at 9s.'-'6(1.; werebuyers for National Mortgage shares at .£-! Is., ■and sellers wanted ,£3 3s. 'New Zealand.and: " River Plate,-.buyers ,£1 lis. Gd., sellers £1 12s. Gd.; Loan and Mercantile,...sellers :ss. lc, In Gas the only quotation given is fpr;Wellingr ton Gas, for which sellers were willing to accept '<£19 10s. Insurance shares wero unchanged. Nationals,."buyers,27s.,' sellers 28s-': New Zealands, sellers ■ 17s. Meat shares were freely'quoted. Canterbury -Frozen Meat, : sellers 25.; Christclnircli Meat, sellers .£lo' 10s.; Gear Meat; £4 paid lip; • buyers X 9 145.,' Boilers .£10; 20s. paid up, buyers .£2 9s. .3d., sellers' £2 10s. "3d.; Meat 'Export, third issue, 'sellers. ss. Gd. Manawatu ' Rails were in demand at 475., cum /dividend. Westport Coal, buyers ,£G 175.;. Tanpiri Coal, 20s. 9d.; Kauri Timber, 15s. paid'up, buyers-lis. Gd.; Lbylarid-O'Brien Timber,, sellers £2 45.; New Zealand Portland Cement, buyers 315.r;6d., sellers 325. Gd.; New Zealand Paper. Mills, buyers 225. 9d., sellers 235. 3d. Ward and Co. Brewery, shares, buyers £i 135., sellers .£4 17s. 6d. Taranaki Petroleum, buyers ss. 6d.

THE MINING- MARKET. -- There , was a "greater appearance- of inactivity in this market than -for. ; some time past, , although the actual business .was restricted to couple of transfers of TaliSman ;shares. The quotations on Saturday were as under:— • ' : i , Buyers. Sellers.' 'SaleS.-'. .£'s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. N.Z. Crown ... ... 0 7 G 0 7,9 . - Tairua Broken Hills 0 3 9 0 -4/ 0 — Big River'... ... -... 014 -9 .0-17 o',-.' —r? Waihi Grand June. 116 0 1 18. 0 — v Waihi ... ... ..: 9 8 0 9 10-0 - Talisman- ... 213 0 214 0 213 3 2 13 G . - THE MONEY MARKET. -•■' ' The London money market continues easy, as judged by the Bank of England , figures. Nearly- .£5,000,000 of the public deposits .have been disbursed, -and the market borrowing's ifrom tho Bank have been' reduced from .£37,248,000 to There has been an outflow; of over a'million sterling in gold, ■: the resrev is slightly smaller, but the proportion of. reserve to liabilities,has increased,' slightly because of the shrinkage of the public .'-' deposits. The open market discount ..rate has been further reduced,- 'and.,now.- .'stands at 'JB2 7s. Cd. per cent.- -The conditions- favour- a further reduction of the Bank'rate,' but wh'ile >\ there is; stringency on the Continent, espcci;- . ally in : Germany; the . Bank ; is-not'likely torecede from per cent. rate. The quotas tions for-Colonial Government securities show very -few changes, and those are mostly of a : favourable character. New Zealand 4 per . cents. are lower by 455., .but tins merely means that a half-year's interest'is being anticipated.' West Australian stocks are lower, and-it is just possible that State may.be a borrower on the London market shortly. NELSON BROTHERS, LIMITED. - Sir Montaguo Nelson, chairman,- when addressing shareholders at the annual meeting ■■ in London, on February • 17, expressed hif satisfaction that, without, any preference being granted to tho colonies, there had been a . gradual increase .in , the ,percentage...of,...dead, meat imported .into -Great Britain,"the - figures' . for 1902 showingVthati-20 per cent! of. .that, - imported ..cameffronn the; colonies, .'While, 'dur.-; ing' 1907, -29 per ;.'cent. was received'fronj the-' :■ colonies, leaving .only-' 71 per cent.; from otheK, countries. 'Referring 'to' a..'new 'Act' passed-' by-. the. New., Zealand. Government,; providing for a graduated ' he, ■ explained; 7 that,' whereas a man 'owning;' <£5000 -.worth of. ■land- - would,-from April,' pay'only one-sixteeritlr of ' a penny in the ;£, the owner 0f'.,£200,000 worth .. would have to\2J.'per .cent. duty.. '-In view jf : this.- tax the directors-had-sold: land . to the amount of-; .£IBO,OOO -or. «£ISO,OOQ, at a good profit, and they,';had-rosoived'*ro v -pay off the. , whole of the debentures, amounting. t0".£M7,000/ odd, with .'the'additiou of the premium of 10 per. cent., "to which ;,the .holders, were entitled. - ANOTHER. GERMAN LOAN. ' Gerih'any is.i/issuing loans, aggregating 42J millions sterling, ,'of which, 12J- millions. ; is -a ' nonconvertible \lmporial loan." Tho" issues are' at 4 per cent., and the minimum price is 991 per cent.-Last year, at about this date/ ..'2o*millions was raised. London is said'to be very much surprised at this issue, and little or no English capital will) be subscribed. London is being so flooded with excellent domestic gilt-edged securities, that there is no need to go outside. The financial embarrassments, of tho German Empire, have been fully discussed' in the European . financial' The "Economist" (London),' of February, "for years Germany has been living on, heavy loans, and the. debt has' risen rapidly to some-, thing like .£200,060,000. To get to their present state the Imperial finances have gone through several stages.. When-the Empiro was. . formed, the Customs and Excise were reserved ' for the Federal Government, and it was agreed, that the Federal Government should confineitself to indirect taxation, and let tho States 'monopolise direct .taxation." 'Imperial,', deficits not me-t out' of loans''were to bs-equated- bymeans of the ntatrieular contributions of the State assessed, according to: population,', but the States were to have. the surpluses' from Customß and Excise. In the first years of the Empire this arrangement : worked ' ex- r tremely badly,, because' of the low revenuo from Customs and Exciso, so that the demands upon the States ; were -, heavy. Bismarck's solution was to increase indirect taxation, with the aid: pf.:Protectionist manufa?-; turers, and from 1879 to 1897. the ImperialExchequer was well' supplied. : This harmony' has been upset by. the-growth of expenditure, ' especially expenditure, upon. the navy; and .by the inadequate yield of protective duties. In " opening the period of naval William II- closed the period when tho tariff

WELLINGTON SHARE LIST.

was'.'sdtisfactory from the point of view of revenue, and made it necessary to discover nefr Imperial -resources." ' THE 'MANUFACTURE OP GEMS. • There arp., about- 5000 unemployed diamond cutters in Amsterdam just, now. This decline in trade and the sharp depression in diamond shares have been attributed by some to the extended .manufacture of artificial'gems; for it seems how to be admitted that diamonds undistinguishable from natural diamonds can be produced by chemical process. In view of this, some accounts-of a IJrench scientist's experiments in this direction may be interesting. The subject has been dealt with in an American, report, which alludes to "the possibility that ,this may'.tyi used industrially for the, production .'of 'certain kinds of precious stones,' at a cost "which will modify the present market values of the natural gems." Professor Bordas claims to!'.have .succeeded, in producing precious stones py Exposing corundum spar to 'tlie'-'. r acti6it of radium. The' discovery, wo are t01d,,.-'was suggested by tho 'fact that the minute glass-tubes in which radium is confined and'kept for scientific iise gradually assumes a beautiful:azure colour, resembling the sapphire. This, was attributed by.Professor BerUielot. to the ,presence of minute traces .of manganese in the glass, which the marvellous projective power of the radium reveals and revives with varying gradesj and tints of ! colouration. Professof Bordas, therefore; placed crystallised corundum of several tints in contact with minute tubes of radium, laid them away in a dark place, not subject to changes of temperature, and found, after lapse of several weeks, that the white corundum . had become yollow. Hike •■:'' ! ,th'e S topaz, 1 tho ,-blue crystals had become" green like emerald,', and the violet had turned to blue like-thesapphiro. This upsetsthe theory hitherto held by scientists .that each of these precious stones lias its own. special colouring oxide, and that the several-oxides—green';- blue, red, or yellowhave no definite relation to each other. These •artificial .stones were then taken to a leading jeweller, wJio.had himself supplied the cortin-' dum crystals. -JETe identified and tested tham, and found that; they 'had been: converted .into a topaz, an emerald, and a sapphire, "which fulfilled -all . the tests : and requirements Of natural stones:"' Othcr'v'experiments were pciv formed, and were apparently, all successful.

t ' '.y.ys.s notes. 1 The Bradford top market is more cheerful, and crossbred .count;, 40's, have advanced from 9Jd. to IOJd. . . - Molbourne is importing oats from Capetown, and up to March'2s the receipts from South Africa totalled about 23,000 bags. i-The GO pe"r"cerit. iritefest of_the Transvaal Government in the Premier Diamond Mining Company's net profits meant last year .£305,673 lls.'9d. I It'is expected that .when the account sales for wool,'sold at the London sales just closed, reaches New.,Zealand!raany woolmen will have •Hwvy.^lari^tipns'lp'meet-. • The next-series of,' London sales will begin on :Mny,:l2i.and tho'.cheerful tone of Bradford has already occasioned: an 'optimistic feeling. There may npt ; be an advance, but there will be no further'fall.,-,',.. . The London ii Cha.mber ( ,of Commerce has appointed a special ' c'oinmitteo '"to consider whether the gold reserves of the country are sufficient, and, if not, what remedies can be suggested." The North 'Germin' Lloyd have been authorised by the shareholders to issue another .£1,250,000 (25 million marks) capital, so as to keep their fleet up to all requirements in passenger and cargo traffic; " its three years | of civil war, which 'ended'.i!in ; -C6liimbia -has been suffering from - depreciated paper. During tho war, sovereign sank to' sispence, and?at-;ihevpTffient' time 500 Columbian paper ,?ddllaV.^;exchange' for a sovereign, and ,100 Columbian'papef-dollars for onj Columbian gold-dolhr; - ",."Accordingi to the-'Finance Minister of Saxony, the German' Empire is" suffering from a chronic deficit, which has now, grown to "annually, and' will this year, owing to'tho failure of the hew taxes, be increased by another.,. tp;.say. nothing of the ,fact that the debt liquidation,.- is utterly inadequate. The eighteenth annual meeting of the shareholders,of..the Queensland Meat Export and Agency Company was held in Brisbane a fortnight ago. . .The directors' annual report .showed;'a.,loss. f0r...,th0 .year of MI,US, the profits! upon-pastoral''properties having been more than absorbed by the losses upon stock purchased and treated in tho factories. The results indicate that _until live stock prices recede to a level which will allow a- margin of profit .on export to London the frozen meat business must - virtually, 'cease. . ' ---The production - of ./copper in the United States of., America was smaller last yedr, than ■in^^l9o(s, i the figures being 895,104,0001b., as against !)17,G20,0D01b. Arizona held the first place in the production in 1907, with Michigan second;' 'Montana,'which for many-years was fust, became third, its production' having fallen to 227,063,0001b., against 299,850,0001b. in 1906.,: The production of copper in Mexico for the year was 126,710,0001b., against 135,800,00011). • tho" previous year. Tho decrease was largely due to the suspension of operations at Canada. "mining.; '• , • ;(nT'>ELEOBAriI. —srsCUL COKBESrOKDENT.); "- Rbeft'on, April, i: Tho New, Big. Bivor mine managerreports .for the weekas follows :—Stoping. has been continuetl over No. 9 main level and branch'levels.' In No. 2 stope going north, on western block, there -is- an average width'of Bft.' of stone, which reaches to the back of , the stope, where it-is being-cut off'by'a hard bar of mullock. In-No.' 2 itopo goiiig south 'the reef is 4ft. iride. In'"the leading Atope; going north, on -the eastern 'block,'-tlie'-reef averages 4ft. Gin. wide, being 3ft. fiin. wide in the bottom of,the stope, and sft. 6in. -in the back of the stope. No. 2 stope over the branch , level has boen stoped to the end of the block. One kjmdied

and thirty tons of stone have been crushcd for tho week. The . gouernl cleaning tip for the month of March took pl.icc to-dny, with the result that 8340z. 17dwt. of retorted gold, valued .it .63350, were obtained from COO tons of stouo from battery only. Concentrates and tailings have not yet been treated. DREDGING RETURNS. (HY TELEGRAPH —PP.IiSS ASSOCIATION.) DuKEnix, April 5. Draining returns: Rise and Shine No. 2, 41oz. lOdwts.: Rise and Shine. No. 1, 40oz. Cdwts.; Alexandra Eureka, 85oz. Odwts.; Golden Bed, 330z. 4dwts.; Waiknka Queen, 30oz. . 6dwts.; Sandy Point, 30oz. 3dwts.; Electric No. 2, 2Goz.; Riley's Revival, 200z.; .JPunt, 18oz. 17dwts.; Olrig, 15oz. 3dwt*. (BT TELEGRAPH. —SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.) Gbeymouth, April 5. Tho Pactolus No. 1 dredge got 770z. 2dwt. for the week, Pactolus. No. 2 oloz. 18dwt. . HIDE AND SKIN REPORT. Dalgety and Company, Ltd., Palmerston North, report having held their usual monthly salo of wool, skins, and hides on April 3, when a fair catalogue was offered to a good attendance of buyers. Wool and skins showed a slight decline on last sale rates. Hides, light lots, declined Jd. per lb. on last month's rates. We quoteWool.—Crossbred, medium, ijd. to 5d.; seedy and inferior,'3Sd. to 3Jd.; lambs', 4Jd. to 5Ja.; dead, 4d.; looks and pieces, ljd. •to 2Jd. Skins.—Crossbred, woolly, 4Jd. per lb.; horts, to Jd.; wools, 3Jd. to 3Jd.; pelts, 2Jd. to '3Jd.; shorn lambs', 3Jd.; woolly lambs, 5d.; inferior and damaged, lid. to 2d.; butchers' part dry and green, Is. 4d., Is. Gd., Is. Sd., ls.i lOd. to 2s. Id. each; lambs', Is. 4d. Hides.—Cows', medium, 4d.; light, 33d.; ox, medium, 5Jd. to 5Jd.; cut and slippy cows, 2|d. to 3|d.; horsehides, Gs. to 10s. 3d. each; calfskins, sound, 3kl. to 4:1. Tallow.—ln tins, 19s. 9d. per cwt. Tips, Is. 3d. per dozen.. EEILDING WEEKLY REPORT. , Messrs. A. H. Atkinson and Co., Ltd., report :—On Friday our weekly sale was well attended. We had'a fair entry of pigs. Forward stores and porkers were well competed for, but rough sorts and weaners were hard to quit. Poultry was in keen demand, and good conditioned 1 birds made good money. Quotations :—Horse and gig, £22 10s. Pigs, small weaners, 35., 3s. (td., Is., 4s. 3d., 4s. Gd. Slips, rough, ss. to lis.; small stores, 12s. Gd., Its., 175.; good stores, 20s. Gd., 235. Gd., 255. Poultry—Hens, Is., Is. Id., Is. Gd., Is. Bd.; roosters, Is. 2d., Is. Gd., Is. Bd., 2s. 2d.; ducks, Is. 4d., Is. Gd., Is. Bd., Is. 9d., 25., all at each. Dogs, 10s., 375. Gd. Cows, <£3. Produce.—Potatoes, Dig, 45., 4s. Gd.; eating, 10s., 135., 13s. 6d. Onions, bag lines, Id.; small lots, lsd; per lb. ' Dalgety and Company,' Ltd., report having hold their usual Feilding sale on Friday, April 3, when they had a very fair yarding of cattle, all of which were sold under' tho hammer. Our principal sales of sheep were2-tooth ewes, small, lis. 2d.; f.m. ewe 6, 4s. 7d. to ss. 9d.; -mixed lambs, 7s. In cattle, a lino of well-bred mother-fed weaner steers brought 315.; 20-months steers, 505.; 18-months steers,' £2 75.; 2-yoar steers, ,£2 lGs.; fat steers, ..£4 155.; fat cows, .€3 lis.; small yearling steers, 155.; 18-months heifers, 2Gs. LAND SALE AT CARTERTON. : At Carterton, the Mutual Trading Company, associated with Dwan Bros., submitted GO sections in the Buckeridge estate, Carterton, to auction on Saturday. There was a large attendance, and much interest was shown in the sale, competition being keen and bidding spirited. The sections ran mainly from one-fifth to onequarter afire. Twenty-three lots were sold at from ,£45 to .£6B each, and two three-quarter acre lots sold at .£ll9 each. 1 The area, sold reached six acres, and the average per acre. >2293. , . . £ONDON WOOL SALES. The Department of Industries and Commerce has received the following cable from the High Commissioner, dated London, April 3:— The .wool sales have closed, with a good attendance. Competition was unsatisfactory, the Continent and America purchasing only a small quantity. The market declined suddenly, but at the close, owinpf to large' quantities' being withdrawn, the demand and prices improved. values are as follow d. , s. d. Superior merino 11 to 1 1 Medium 9 to >0 11 Inferior ... 5J to 0 8i Fine crossbreds, all grades ... 10} to 1 0} Medium „ . ' „ ... 8J to 0 10J Coarse „ „ ... 5, to 0 8

i-A-V " Capital Fandlnd ■§£ s~j- PPTnTW. T'»M C0MP ..' ' Up. Korea"' SUara ' pg Euyor. Ecilor. Investor. HATJT7CJ ' Jf *~£ £ t £ 8, d, £ s, d, £ ,b. d, : £ p. fl, ••reirzitaSf"-. •••-•. {/»&» • -M ' 1 < " ». .'. "? » ° 3 j>° «*. ® ■ 3 J « : r V . Kational .875,000. . 8 ? 0 ' 3U • " lj .12 61,0 6 7 b . 6 7 0 6 32 2 f.ati , on»l • 100 000 E49 ' 333 * unltj. Js 17 0, I S O t ! 2 -V New ZMlahd ■ • nmOM ? 8 o 3 « ® . '»» O Yr:\ . £88 - «a» 1. « •• IS . «« » *•« « . , fclandanl - . • !5,0U0 87,3So. <> . unltd. 10 1 i! 9 FINANCIAL) »c ojn • r . • ■ <a o e n Eqnilablo Building CO,001 ,® J..C. . %J0. 10 . 2 < 6 10 0 0 t» 0 :. ■ . Metropolitan Building 40,561 i ?a ' > " 7 ' •' * n'lfl-O mi s ' r i i ■ Wellington Invest. - E0,(KX1 . «g| » * 6 . • »J? ® «» 5 # « * Wa'gtonTrnst&Lbka 101,250 ."■£». § 5 -8 J®*® -J" « T ® « £ 7 ® . National Mortgage - 200,000 « . ® ' - 10 '■} ® — - £ ® « • ,® « «,} K.Z. and Kiver Plate - 300,003 ' \ ?' 7 1 !1 f - J " B 111b 4 811 - Loan and Mercantile135,221 3 ] 5 ' liU 1 bl - e .0.5.1, [S O 10 0 0 Auckland 3 - . . '160.370 . ®-»® ' f ni ( '18 \ ' „ „ . „ . . Chrisichurch . "• 362,000 * ?! 10 10 2 6 30 0 0 . 5 0 0 VpUfltn/t - ' - *" in ftli 103 • 1 u " 0 13 0 • & - : , ««». . 1 .«H .Ml: • ? <H ..** 0 210 0 -610 0 Hawera • • . 8,253 e !iq | *, 10 , ; ; J , ,.l>evrPlymouth - .. 18,003 8,1d9 .5 ?! 10 , l.apier ..... . ] ; 1® f ,15 v -■ ... ... „ - . . . . 49,9371 ES.1S3 5 & 15 • •• • . v ralmerston North [ 57,000 10 r in mn r ' e n o ;. ..; Valluii'lon - - [ i 21i 5j 0 ' ■' 1 ? 10^ 0 10116 1 3 2 . • 1E3K7 ; M' 0 ! 1 - 74. Bl 8 - 8 0 0. 8.,3,,,0 •••••fffiffieh . .' }«»)"" ,|7,yj 10 niu s 1010- 0 Gear - - I ■ - 1 ' Ul1 - ■ ?« 9 3,. . .210. 3 2 0 0 5 1 3 -■I-; ti.ao} •., ... . 4. d. j«j. 9ii o io o o;X\ ellineton Meat Exp ' I 5 '8' ' ' P® ® ' ' ;. . . .! 1C5.765f . B.767... . 4 ~l . 8 . - 6 2 0 6 2 0 f 6 6 JW.IK.J • • . li .-2J. ,V 6" '-3 '5 <6 :ii 0 f 0 3 Vam:'anni _ <5«3 11.401 b, . : „i- s . • 170.013 . Q' 27 .'® 3® » i ' Jn.Z. Shipping; - • 473,811 S . . D , ® . - . Union Steam - . "60MU)' : J vWv... M »| • Vutu.SteamFeriy. •. " iu.iiJ .. tK) ., . l , n,I, i S Vestnort; 0 1 ' ££0001 li7,'2X-5 ' £i" ' IS "" ' Kl 6 17 6' "'7"b 0 7. 8 0 fi 0 0 ; ; iaS° : ■S 1 WJ' 1 -W. ' u 10 6- -'1'0 0 .10 .3,- 780 j;aiapoR 0I ' r I U 'V" • 100,00)- ;?•?! ,. 6 • ' 6 ' ="•' 1 ••: * ..'• / -'JUosgiol •' I - w,«l < #00 3 3 6 3 -1 0 <10 ( Wellington - - . . by.WJ i 6 300 330 330 712 4 iUSOtiLtAUEOOi.. ■ , „ M l.ona:;in- Hu.u - - - 47,013 ; » SZ. . — 6 2 6 - 6 10 0 u -. ' " i-eyland&O'ilriei . £6,0>J . 1 J"' 'IS H i : 4 0 t.-S 0, 6 17 2 liiauricevilloiiiinj . 7,IWJ i7 s . L.Z.Candle - - ' . 10,IW) • iu "' ••• -•. -r kXDma - - SXWJJ . fM« J 1 " 7 ni 0 !15 f fll, 0 G 3 0 1. .Z. l'aper HiilJ ' W,75i J 1 '' . _ ■ / 7 , ] 2 9 1 3 3 1 3 3 (Of ,-kA.CemonS. - . ' «wu • -.f-'i 1 ,' A ■■*?':■' 111 ", 6 W'« : w/ ■ i.arming&Oa. - " W.uJJ . .. , ' '.10'. .... 3 l'ifi ' ' Wa<SUo. - - ' tu,M> f 1 W i 13 0 tl7 0 . \»,tn OioiaHotm ". Ib.WJ .• *•'•». ' • «--v •»•«, *" T - 'V-V • . \'.an FreslilooJ - 2b,ail : .. ; 1 "[}'"" *'-T " * I . \Sl:iicomLo& Toinbs- 4o.*^5J ! .iO.lJJ « ail 13 4 8 0 'bkuauio, tiuoiwa ' fc.»W . l - u ,* M. 018 6 CIS 0 C18 9 • 0 0