COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 745, 18 February 1910, Page 10

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

■-INVESTMENT; BHAEES. ■:'.!' .Sales "of .Bank, of New: Zealand at-£9 12s. ■6d:, and. \7estportrStocktoh' Coalat 7s.' 6d were reported -yosterday, ■;■ National Bank,' buyers; £6 25. ( sellers '£6 3s. 6d.;'N.Z. Loan and 'Mercantile;, buyers.-:3s;'.' 3d.;. N.Z. and liiver Plate, .buyers '£1 ; 155.• 9d.;, Wellington Investment, sellers',lis. 3d.;. Wellineton Trust and-Loan,'.sellers'. £7 45.; Feildmg.Q M , buyers'£l'ls. 6d.;:-w;ollington.Qas, £6 „ «3-„paid..'wUers-'.£«';-.19.j new-issue sellers £2; 155.; National Insurance, buyers £1 8s ;_standard Insurance,'buyers £1 3s:; Chnstohureh Meat, buyers £ll_ss/; Gear Meat,.£l paid, :bnycrs.:£2'lis.; .Wellington few 1 pol s' 'i £ 5 ' p , aid ' bu y er S•' £s: IBs-; Wellington Woollen, buyers £3 os. 6d.--Hi-kurangi. Coal, '• buyers. £i; Is.;. Tanplri Coal, scllers,l9s. 6d.; Westport CoaV-buyers £6sellers £6 Is. 6d. ; . Wcstport-Stookton, buyers. 7s. - 6d., 75.;.. 7d.;- ,Leyland-O'Bricn '3s. 3d:; -N.Z:' Paper Mills, sellers £1,; 3s.j Taranaki- Petroleum, sellers ?s.; Ward and Co., buyers £4125. 6d.ywhitcombo -and Tombs;- buyers £4'lßs. 6d. •

■ , '.. : > . : FEOZEN;a;MEAT;tBAPE.; <■' :-->'" i.Tho report Limited, for the year ended September3o,-.19C9,',i11u5-' .tratos .the'.difflculties .of ,tho, frozen meat trade/ and shows : 'thaf losses do. not' fall entirely .upon: producers. , ,:Tho"' balance-' *» ™ ••' i he , P»st; year .shows a, debt of £32,590, and: the reserve fund -has had to he .drawn upon.for : £50,000 to cover:losses and .pay tho- modest'. r dlvidend 'Of ,4 per ce - n r ■»,£?. Jne"P*eviouß year .the, proflt, Jw»rtt: forward,' amounted-,to. £25,095. A.dividend of 7 per cent. was.declared,' though ..£IO,OOO had to beVfaken' irom.'reserve.' This, however, really came' from the ■ profit on'land sold'by.the company... ..Tho reserve fund,,after this'deduct on, 'stood at £8.2,068, ;but, „with the further deduction of'£so.ooo .to meet the past years'losses, it-is rcduced f t<> acomparatively.- small, sum.-:. The-'Smithflcld'eales-raen apparently suffered very heavily, for it is estimated that their.,losses during the past year totalled a, million sterling. Now w i J l,O4 "**™ claim that thoy also . osfaliont a million,- and-if we. take the losses of 'Argentina and Australia, the slump in frozen meat laet year must have beggared thoeo in .the trade to the oxtont 'of diuto. three millions sterling. In -the course of on intereating review' W w n //„??^ 8t 'tr"de,'ia v l9o9, Messrs! W. Wcddel and.Co. remark that the quiet >M^ Ste ? lmpro l£. msnl ' in'-the 'general trade- 0f..-th«. country, and. especially in «?? I< S^ t: i'?? 10 . 118 -. ■*? .working; clMsea" was reflecUd'in a.',!satisfactory. consW five-demand;but to the, available supply was too much to admit- of. prices^being .maintained at. the high lcyol of J9OB, when importations wero relatively short , While .shippers -and S,E? r i?™i. had A ,m ' unprofitable year mving to. .high cost .prices' and- declining sal! riif* 3 ' ■ D r S' a l lerß .'. gj?' well in ' all • parts' of -Great. Britain. .' The.,consumer, had.been wiTf!! >'' th ? fwenso of thoi producer; and had it.not been for the high prices : ruling; for wool, tallow;: hides,' and sheenskins, shippers' losses would have ''been £« e ? t- "j^??. ol ™"' some: 1,197,843 tdns'-'of beef and 579,410 tons of mutton and=lamb: had been consumed -in ; the\ United Kingdom,,,which „workcd out, at, 59.81b. .of, the former and'2B.9lb. of, the latter per leadof tho'-population. Of the :total supply u.i per cent, consisted of - frozen' meat, 7 6 per, cent, of chilled beef,-and'6.6 : percent; 0 'P' o '%'"?,. asd - sheen-:and, Continental meat . : ' The direct trade, from' Australia and New, Zealand to west coast ports had undergone.-. satisfactory expansidn, but :'its' full developMnt had been checked to some ?,Si :b £ t ne " la<! l [ ; , of shipping fdciHties; indeed,. it .'frequently happened that c.if. could not be executed because the space was already fully booked. Considerable quantities of colonial meat landed' in _ London.' on consignment and. sent direot from ship by rail to nrbvincial centresJ-mei fairly, good markets on the whole, thoueh at times this created an oyer supply and led to low prices beine accepted to; atfect clearances. • "

.'".■■'■'■'"' "NO NEW: MARKETS. \ -'..'"'. No new marke't'for frozen meat had been opened up; indeed,; some' of tho old • out-' lots reduced Quantities or re&SS? d from buying,, which, .no doubt, accounted. in. part for tho augmented proportion Jrf supplies sent to the markets of the United Kingdom. The most serious loss to Bhippers—more eepeciallv Australian and River Plate-had been tho great reduction in the cuantities of meat token .for. South Africa during 'recent years. Shipments from Australia to Mcdi»«Panean -Porta, the Philippine™ and Vladivostok were, about maintained in 1509; but the Continent of.Europe still remained closed to frozen meat, except for a sma 1 Italian trade through Genoa with the River Plate. Even t&.'small trade done with Sweden. came. to ■•ajPuntimel? end, and a promising ouUet.in SwitSna was closed through" a fresh interpretation being put' upon the" existing fiscal- regulations.' ■ : ' 1 '' '■' '- ' ! : " ■'■"'■ '--:""" {■-.■■■

;;.' FBOZEN MEAT ANIKTAEIFF. <' .': The proposals' put forward, more or less,' tentatively,.'on behalf of the .advocates ■ of tariff reform, that an import* duty ;.of 5 per cent. • should bo imposed on all meat from., foreign; countries, land a. less .duty (eay, 2j per.cent.) on .colonial ineats,^had naturally "caused: some, discussion among the men' actively engaged in the trade. While a few hoped that, icsome way, these duties might be laid on the shoulders of the' producers, the great: majority ■ of the traders whothcr. favourably.. or unfavourable to the .general principles of tariff reform, were satisfied that, in the ..cane of meat, the consumers would . have to pay the whole of the duties' through the necessary raising- of retail prices.. (Indirectly this advance would, doubtless, tend to raise the selling value of home-fed beef and mutton, and thereby benefit the British farmerj. but,, inasmuch as. imported meats were consumed practically, entirely by tho working and lower middle' classes, there seemed to be no doubt" as to ,'which sections of the community would bear the direct' burden of this., particular import duty. The idea that.by.giving the colonial producer some preference- hofwould' thereby bo induced ;to increase" his output conceivably, apply to' "some classes of produce. In. connection'with meat, however, it gave no promise of success, because this market for years past had been able to absorb every (surplus ounce of suitable meat available for erport from ■ Australia, Now ■ Zealand, ■ and Oanada.. Prices .secured were alriady so ; much in advance of what, was obtainable auywhero else in 'tho world, that it might safely bo assumed not only that the colonial producer had sent forward to it every suitable animal which hooould.spare from his local markets, but that he wbulil gladly continue to do so in years to couio'.- Tho placing' of a small handicap of (eayj.JJ or

5 per cent, .upon his foreign competitors, when it must bo.accompanied by a raising of the cost of his own ipeat to. hiß customers, seemed unlikely, in itself to bring abont any further expansion in his export trade.

•'■■ FEOZEN, MEAT PEOSPEOTS/ [\ : A general improvement in trade throughout tho country during, the last throe months -of-1909...had-resulted-in a freer, consumption of meat. It was to Unhoped that ,this; wouldi develop as .tho year, advanced, because' there was every prospect: that the ; markets. of the-. United Kingdom would have to absorb practically the whole output of the freezing works of the world. Supplies from all -sources except North America were likely to increase, especially frozen mutton and lamb from Australia and New Zealand, and chilled beef from the Eivcr 'Plate. ; Quotations for all-de-scriptions hod reached a comparatively low love], and' tha better consumptive demand which might- reasonably be expected ought to. bring about recovery: in values generally. .-.■■-..

PRIVATE COMPANIES KEGISTEEED. Tho, firm, of Murray, Eoberts. and Co. was on .Monday last registered,as a pri • vato company,' with a capital of £250,000. divided into 15,000 preference shares of £10 each and 10,000 ordinary shares of £10 each, with £5 paid up. The'company .takes over as a going: concern after March 3!, 1910, tho.businesses carried on at Dun-, edin, Wellington, Napier, and., Gisborne. and elsewhere in New Zealand, under the style of Murray, Eoberts and Co. _A- private company, to be known as Eichardson;' Blair, '■and M'Oabe, Ltd., was registered on February-.14, with a.capital of £5000, in'sooo shares of £1 each, to acquire aa a' going concern tho business of Eichardson and Blair, of Wellington, as oivil, mining, mechanical, 'electrical;' and' marine .engineers,' indent ■ agents, commission agents,.etc. ■.-■•- .: ■ .■•■■.,■■

ATJSTEALUN WIDOWS'' FUND. The balance-sheet of the Australian Widows' Fund Life Assurance Society for tho-year ended October 31, 1909, is to hand. The.'-society appears to'have done exceedingly well, the now business- written during the year-is, with, the exception of the year when -the whole of .the employees of the .Melbourne. Harbour Trust were assured by the: society, the largest for many years.' The|number of policies issued and amount assured for each of the past three years, arc shown below:—:

'." '/. .;Policies. Assuring. J909 ~;...„...._„.......; 2;99°4 V .'•■■■ ■.W.-JB-" •}*!■■'••■• • • -3,034 .V.:"'. 675,237 ' -. >1507 i... ;.,... 3,463 ..,./: 734,729: The premium-revenue', tho'income frbin interest and dividends,- and'total : revenue are each larger than in-previous years, aa the following ...will show:—. , -. ;■'.--.. I -.-

■ ■ , ' - - ; -, : .. . '■■■ 'Total.- ■■ • Premiums.: Interest. Bevenue' , -.- '' : £ \ > £ £ ■". 1909...'.._.-..;.. 210,022 . ■.83,962 " 299,481 . WOB ;..„..;. 201>599 ■'. i, ' 80,252 ' 286,580 : 1907-: :....„.;:;....- 193.309 ■.. ' 77,250 •; '-' 275,830 , The: average rate of interest earned on' the funds • amounted to £4 10s. Id.. per cent., as.against £4 Bs." lid., per cent. In 1908, and £4 Bs. 3d., per cent, in 1907 . . The payments to. polioy-holders or their representatives show the following:— •'■".''.' „ ''• ,'■. ■ ■'■■•■. Total. ■ • Death claims. Surrenders. Payments. 1909... 621741 "10,853 192,963 '1900 ......;.-...,;..•: 53,505' - : ; 8,111 " '159,854■''> 1907 ;....,.'.......... 60,776 .h . . 11,726 ..' :,1»,096 The:accumulated'life assurance,' annuity, 1 accident. and invalidity funds now amount to, £1,930,250, as.'against':'£l,Bß2,736 ihl9CB. and £1,813,303.in 1907: .'ln their'report' tho directors state- that: "The .actuary v has completed his, investigations, into the society's : affairs for.-,the-three years, since the last distribution, of. bonus, and the directors..are glad to be able to report, that; the. surplus shown,:is tho largest yet discloses in any' similar period in .the society s; history." The nert bonus distribution will take place as at October'3l,'l9ll,"' ■ The. investments ,of the society consist in, parti of: mortgages, £1,295,821, • 19s. .Id;,' How Zealand government securities '£53,721' 6s. 5d.; Indian and: colonial: Government -securities, £113,246 its. 2d.; : railway' and other debentures ,ahd debenture, stock, £27,365 25." lid.; house property, £129,237 4s,\ 2d.; caWi on deposit, £839106.'5rt: i'casH in' hand 'anil' ,on. current.'account, '£65,144 17s. sd.' ■

;-. Customs revenue collected at' Wellington' yesterday amounted to £1201175..4 d; •;. '..- -/ :,METAIi-. MAEKETS. ; ' : V- ',' ,' : ..By Teleiraph—Presß-Aesociation*-Copyrißht. - '. London, February. 16. ■ Coppercom the; spot,, is -quoted at £59. 25.6d., a decline of Ss. 9d.; three, months. £59, 185.9 d., a, decline, of-3s.'9d. 'Tin, on;J,he ; , spot,',.£lsl 75.-6 d..'a.rise of £l-7s. 6d'.'j 'throe months, '£152 155., arise ,bf-.£l ,25.-'6 d.','"■''-' ; . ,',; ~Silver, S3.'. 16-16 d. -per ounce standard: • ; TALLOW/' '.'. ■••'.- "At the.tallow sales 733 casks were offered, and 678 sold. Mutton-Pine, dium, 33b. . Beef—Fine, 365.;. medium, -33a.. '''' '■.''"-. ;HIDES MAEKET. ; .[■ '.'-"'-''_. ' (Eeo.' February '17, ;IUO p.m.) ''•' r Ur'Ji'iL ' "'' Melbourne, February 17. In the* hides, market there was 1 a strong demand)-at -}- to■■}■.-.advance. -'-'-Kips, were arm, jbut, "prices were, unchanged. -. .. .-!..'-- v ATJSTEALIAN' -.''■' -.'. ' ;;jief :FebrnaTy''i7^ii:ici.'p.m.)' : ''; ..;': ■ ; '^ : - ii '■■■K : ->'.<* ■> Wheat, 4a.,ldL: to,4a,\2d. , iHour, £10 10a. ..Oats, Algbrian -feeding;";2s. Id.' to"2s. 2d:; .white.zs. 7d. to, 2a: :Bd.' Barley, Oaue,'3s. tp 3s. 3d.-.Maize, 3g.--7d. to 3s. 9d. "Bran, £4 -6a. ' Pollard,-:-£4 -10a.,.- Potatoes,, Tasmfliuan, £5 to £6 10s.; Victorians, £4 10s'., ,-£4-.155..: Omons, Victorianß, -£5 to'.£6 10s. Butter, ,'92s. to. 945. Bacon, BJd. . to 9d. Obeose, 6Jd. to 5Jd..., . .'. ', ■J„ ■ '."' '': Melbourne, February 17. Wheat, 4s. 2d. Flour, £10. - Oats, Algerian mitting, 2a. 3d.; feeding, 2s. 2d. Barley,; prime malting. 45.; Cape,, 2s. 9d. Maize, 3s. 4d.; . Potatoes,.£3 15s. to £4'6s. Onions, £3 6s, to .£4 108. ,- . ■ ■ • • •'. -':' ':"■ -. Adelaide, fFebruary. 17.. ; -Wheat, 45...01 d. ..Flour, £9'105.,. : data; Algerian,.: la. 10d.: . Bailey,':-Cape.' 2s.- t0..2a. 4i;-English, 25.-3d. :Bran, l2jd.' Pollard, 13Jd.l - --.-!.-.?:- -.. v.-, ■ ■'■■--■■-"'::'.■--'.-..,:.,- .;,. ~'feozen.mfat,;maeket.' .'':;-: :: "_. ; ' ■„ ■■• : :' ,-■' Napier,, February 17. ■ ■The 0.0. '■; and D. Company, to-day cable ,the following report:—"The frozen meat market is. weaker, and there is a' decline In, values of mutton of Jd. per lb., and in Jamb id., per'lb. To-day's prices-.—Napier,' Wellington, and North Island mutton, 3Sd.; lamb, 6d. • Beef-Hindß, Sid.; fores, 22d."

BTANDAED INSURANCE: COUP ANY. (By. Tolecraph.—Press .'Association.!

Dunedln, February 17.' The Standard Insurance Comsany's inconio for the past year, was -£U4,030, and the expenditure £103,391.' Of the balanco, £suoo waß carried...,to reserve, an interim dividend absorbed l £2812, dividend' for the half year ended December 31 absorbs £2812 a bonus of 2J per cent.,' £1875, and- £8139 is carried forward.

: TALLOW. '"" ■ The ' New Zealand Loan and' Hercantile Agency -Company, .Limited,, have: received tho following cablegram from their London house, under date February 16:—"Tallow. Wo. quote.-present 'spot values lor the following doscriptions:-Good: mutton, 345. 3d." per cwt;; good ■ beef, 335. 9d. per cwt.; mixed,' '32b; 6d." per cwt. • Market firm." ' . ..,- ; . *~..;.