COMMERCIAL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 481, 14 April 1909, Page 10

COMMERCIAL.

THE WHEAT MARKET. _ In the United States a huge gamble in wheat is proceeding, and options have touched nearly a dollar and a quarter. Dollar wheat was hitherto considered very high, so that - quite a new record is established. Whether the preBent American quotations are justified remains to be seen, but in any case wheat is bound to maintain a high lovel for'some weeks to como or-until the crops prospects aro assured. Writing on January 15, "Beerbohm," tho English corn trade authority wroto:—"The United Kingdom and Germany alone have requirements to fill which are. at least 3\ million quarters greafor than their actual imports last season from January 1 to July 31. This urgent need of wheat should prevent anything approaching a slump in price, the moro so as British millers have seldom or ever been so short of wheat, bought or in stock, as they now must be. The past year's imports, as wo showed last week, were the smallest for many years past; tho port stocks consequently decreased 875,000 quarters during the year, and etocks in millers' hands must have been drawn upon to an equal extent. On tho other hand, although we may expect shipments from Argentina and Australia, it is tolerably certain that American and Russian shipments will be relatively small, and certainly much smaller than they were in the first six months of-last year. We' shall, therefore, riot be surprised to find that the liberal shipments from Argentina will fail of their expected depressing effect; there will be apparently too much competition for this wheat in the approaching six months." In May, 1907, there was a big gamble in wheat in the United States. On May 14 there was great excitement on the Chicago Exchange when September wheat touched a dollar. There were enormous transactions and rapid fluctuations iri price. At that time Australian wheat fori shipment was quoted at .345. 6d. to 355. a quarter. In the same month there was considerable excitement in New Zealand, owing to the rapid advance of flour. ■ In Dunedin on May 14 flour wns advanced from .£8 15s. to £9 ss. per ton. Two days later another 10s. rise was established, making the price £S 155., and, on May 29, there was yet another rise of Ills., and on the following day another .£1 was added, making tho price of flour .£ll ss. per ton. There was thus an advance of £2 101 per ton in the. course of. a fortnight, whilo the price of wheat advanced from 3s. Gd. to 4s. 6d. per bushel. In Christchnrch the price of Cour was ,£ll per ton, and in Auckland JEU 10s. Bread was advanced .to 7d, the 41b. loaf in most of the , big cities, and went higher in country towns. Writing of the situation at that date the "Otago Daily Times" said: "So midden and rapid n rise in tho price of wheat givos an opportunity to trade organisations liko the' Flourmillers' Association of New Zealand and the Bakers' Union of Dunedin to line their own pockets by exploiting the public. Rightly, or wrongly both the millers and bakers are commonly regarded as acting in a kind of unholy combination, with one aim and ambition— ito keeping up the price of both bread and flour as high as they possibly can, as in fact a sort of class Socialists who utilise their co-opera-tion to destroy all competition in their particular branches of trade and commerce." It is difficult to«say what is likely to happen during. the next few weeks. High prices tend to check consumption, and there is, therefore} ,a limit to the advance.,. But whatever happens 1 wheatgrowers in New Zealand aro assured of a paying price for any surplus they may have for export. With respect to flour, it must bo remembered that, for. sometime past, a considerable quantity of Australian flour has come on to this market, and this importation is not likely to stop unless tho price goes beyond the importing level. Then again, thero is the of I'JO7 dealing with flour that will ■ prevent any very great advance in flour.

AMERICAN ■_ TKUST . COMPANIES. „. The collapse of so many trust companies in the United States during the recent financial crisis resulted in legislation compelling such ; organisations and State banks to maintain a 15 "per cent, cash reserve. The law took, effect on February 1, and has caused a general reduction in the, amount of interest paid on deposits by j the institutions in question. Some of the comipanies which formerly paid 3 per cent, have cut their rate to 25 per cent., and others that paid 2i per cent, have reduced it to 2 per cent. In addition, other concerns which formerly paid .interest on daily balances, whatever the amount, have announced that in' the future they will not pay interest on balances under .£2OO. Another effect of the new law was. to cause a great transfer,of cash from thejassociated banks to the trust companies, tho latter . increasing their reserves in January by not less than'i9,soo,ooo. This/it is stated,.is probably in excess of the law's requirements, but most of the. money referred to will remain permanently with the trust companies. To this extent' the lending power of the associated banks in New, York is curtsiled, and it is quite possible that any demands by the interior banks would necessitate a reduction in the loans by the central institutions. This continfency may occur as soon as trade in the United tates recovers to normal conditions and cash again goes into circulation. The calling in of loans for the reason mentioned would be of benefit- rather than otherwise to the general community, the recent glut of money having led to borrowings for the purpose of inflating share prices and in order to support coinmoditv values at an artificial level.-"-. ■

WORLD'S COAL PRODUCTION. . ■ Some striking figures relative to the world's production of coal have been compiled by- the Board,of Trade.- The output of the chief coalprodncuig countries for the last statistical year available is given as j follows :— ■ United Kingdom ... ... 2G7,831',000 bermany , 140.885,000 * r . an . C6 '... ... 35,586,000 - r? TTei 7 - 23,324,000 United States ... .... ... 423,890,000 The increase over 1906 was as -follows:United Kingdom, 17,000,000 tons- Germnnv 6,000,000 tons; United States, 59,000,0 M ton£ and France, 2,500,000 tons. The total known coal production of. the world (exclusive 6f ftwninn™ 1 f nd h "J iite ). l n m l was about 1,000,000,000 tons, of which the United Kingdom produced rather, more' than one-fourth As compared with its population, tho production of coal n the United Kingdom still surpasses that in the United StaL, amounting to 6 tons per head, as against 5 tons per head n America, 3J ons n fielgium, about % tons m trermany, and under one ton in France The average value or coal at the pit's mouth was an ncreaso on the .price for 1908. In the United Kingdom the value was Is. BM. higher ill ™;T y th ? . C0 "- e , s P°«<ling advance,™ the !" Bel P«m Is. Bid., while in higher States^he P nce ™» 2d. per ton

JOHN DEWAR AND SONS. ' The report of John Dewar and Sons, Ltd., for the j ear ended January 31, 1909, states that the forward' l£m P M f °il»»f =~Balimo. brought %. 3w f? 6 ; 417 - ■ Profits for the past year, fi! 1 ' 3 /- recommended to dispose of this amount as follows dividend at 1 per cent., .£12,500; directors' Ealaries and in oome-tax, J7988; to reserve {whichwillthen fofatt*™?®. JiMOO;'PVinent ofa din" Pe? cent share ! fo / the ?™ «' » per cent., ,£105,000; payment of a bonus of 15s. per share on the ordinary shares, .£20,250: kav lug a balance of .£31,000 to be carried forward! REPUDIATED DEBTS. fe T w- Co?ncil i of / 01 ? ign Bondholders has been SA'!*. for ?Mly years, and has done ?nm» , i ln l i ldu . c A ng 0K[ Z a Stat <* make some settlement with their external creditors and in protecting the latter from unfair schemes of arrangement. The council'has been concerned in the settlement of debts aggregating not much short of .£1,000,000,000, and vet there remains much to-be done and much debt in arrear, thanks m a measure to the shameful way in which small South American republics years ago were encouraged to borrow, and to borrow again frequently merely to pay the interest on the previous loans Among the worst examples of the lack of honourable principles in a public borrower is Guatemala, which has made threo agreements with the .Bondholders Committee, all of which liaye been repudiated by. the Government. Not only has Guatemala failed to pay anything on its external debt for 9i years, but the Government has deliberately alienated the special securities pledged or promised to the bondholders, and in this matter the council express regret that the United States Government has taken no step to'give effect to the frequent utterances of President Roosevelt with regard to the proper application of the Monroe doctrine in the case of defaulting countries. In the case of Costa Rica, negotiations for a settlement have been proceeding for soveral years past, but no result has been arrived at, and the external debt has now been in total default for nearly eight years. A notorious offender U Honduras, and here the extornnl debt has been in default so long (upwards of 8C years) that while tho principal amounts to ■£5,398,570, the approximate intorest arrears on that sum are .-£16,681,127. Some of the former Confederate States of America also have large amounts of debt and arrears outstanding, and nn unpleasant example of English holders receiving worse treatment than Continental holders is afforded by the terms for settlement

of tho debt of Santo Domingo. English holders received from 12 per cent, to 27 per cent, less than tho French or Belgian holders of precisely the sumo obligations, which tho council describes as the most extraordinary case thn : has yet comb .under its cognisance. Tho council are convinced that these defaulting countries make a' fatal mistake in proclaiming to tho world that they are so extremely impecunious as to bo absolutely uimblo to pay their creditors a.penny. It is certain that tl<constant advertisement of their alleged poverty, added to their lack of honesty, deters tho investment of foreign capital, which they so greatly need. One encouragement tho. council have received in the past year is the settlement of the external debt of Ecuador.

LEVER BROTHERS, LTD,

Tho report of Lever Brothers, Ltd., for tho year ended December 31 last, states that tho balance standing to tho credit of the profit and loss account is JU73.132, and it is proposed to appropriate this as follows i-lfepairs, renewals, etc., .£39,107; depreciation fnud, JH6.23G; insurance reserve, £M 7; prosperity-sharing with employees, .E37,'21G; dividend on tho various classes of preference shares. .£155,571; dividend on tho ordinary shares at tho rate of W per cent., ,£185,000; and the balanco to reserve fund, .£2935. During the year the company has acquired tho business of E. S. Hudson, tho dry soap manufacturers, and to continue it a private company has been formed under the name of R. S. Hudson, Ltd.

Tho Customs revenue collected at 'Wellington yesterday amounted to .£1062 18s. lOd. FRUIT AND PRODUCE REPORT. Messrs. Griffiths and Co., Ltd., report fruit and produce prices at their market yesterday as follow:—Potatoes, 3s. to 3s. Id.; onions, 4s. 9d. to ss. cwt.; cabbages, Is, 3d, sack; cauliflowers, 35., 3s. Gd. sack; peas, 4s. part sack-; beans, 2s. Gd. part sack; tomatoes, Hutt, 2s. to 2s. 9d.; lettuce, 2s. to 35.; plums, 2s. to •2s. 9d. half-case; peaches, choice eating, ss. to ss. 3d. half-case, cooking 2s. to 3s. 6d. half-case; apples, choice eating 9s. 6d. to 10s. Gd., prime eating 7s. to 7s. Gd., cooking, 4s. 9d. to ss. 6d.; pears, choice, eating 7s. 6d.,t0 Bs., prime eating ss. to 65., cooking 4s. to 55.; hothouse grapes, lOd. to Is. lb.; island oranges, 4s. 6d. to ss. Gd.; eggs, 2s. dozen; fowls, 35., 3s. 6d. pair; ducks, 45., 55.; carrots, 2s. Gd., 3s. sack;parsnip, 3s. sack; celery, Is. dozen; beet, 3s. to 4s. sack; pumpkins, 4s. sack; cucumbers, 2s. Gd. per halfcase; walnuts, sd. per lb. An extra largo quantity of consignments was forward yesterday from all quarters,• the market being overloaded for most lines. There is a scarcity of choice desert apples and peaches. Vegetables were in poor request compared with sales earlier in tho week, v Tho New Zealand Fruit and Produce Company forward their weekly report, which is as follows:—Potatoes, 4s. to 4s. 3d: cwt.;swedes, Is. iier cwt.; carrots, 3s. to 45.; marrows, Is. to Is. 9d.; beetroot, 3s. to 4s. Gd.; cauliflower, 3s. to 55.; peas, ss. to 12s. Gd. three-quarter sack; celery, Gd. to Is. lOd. doz.; cnonmbers, 4s. to ss. 6d. case; onions, ss. to Gs. cwt.; turnips, 25.;-parsnips, 3s. to 3s. Gd.; pumpkins, 4s. to 55.; cabbage, Is. to 2s. 9d.; red cabbage, 3s. Gd., ail per sack; beans, 2s. to 3s. 9d. part sack; lettuce. Is. to 2s. 9d. case; tomatoes, Hutt, 2s. to 45.; mushrooms, 2s'. to 6s. banana case; pears, as. 6d. per case, pears, dessert, 7s. to Bs.; plums, 3s. half-case; quinces, 2s. lid. case; apples, dessert Gs. to Ss. case, cooking 4s. to ss. 3d. case; peaches, Is. 9d. to 4s. 3d. half-case, ss. full cases; eggs, fresh Is. 9d. to 25., limed Is. 4d. dozen,; hens. 3s. Gd. per pair; ducks, 4s. Gd. per pair; turkeys, 9s. Gd. per pair; chaff, £3 10s. to £3 155.; oats, 2s. to 2s. 3d. bushel; preserved ginger, 6}d: lb.; peanuts, 225. sack.