COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 854, 28 June 1910, Page 8

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

INVESTMENT SHAKES. Transactions in Bank of New Zealand Bhares at £10 2s. 6d. and Taupiri Coal at £1 were recorded yesterday. National Bank, buyers £6; Bank of New Zealand, buyers £10; Equitable Building, buyere £9 7s. 6d.; Metropolitan Building, buyere £12; Wellington Investment, buyers lls. 3d.; National Mortgage, buyers £3 ta 6d.,. sellers £3 65.; New Zealand and Eivor Hate, buy- , ore £2; Napier Gas, buyers £12 55., sellers £12 10s.; Wellington Gas, £10 paid, buyers £18 10s.; Standard Insurance, buyers, 245.; Christchurch Meat, buyers £13 2s. 6d.; New Zealand Shipping, buyers £8 10a.;. Wellington Woollen, ordinary, buyers £1 55.; Taupiri Coal, buyers 19s. 9d.; Westport Coal, buyers £6 lls.; Leyland-O'Brien Timber, buyers £1. 55.; Taranaki Petroleum, buyers 125., sellers 12s. 9d.; Ward and Co., brewery shares, sellers £5. ' ' THE COST OF LIVING. The United States Senate Committee, which haa been inquiring into the increase in the cost of living in America, considers that tho tariff in no way affects the matter, and oven the absolute removal of tho tariff, tho committee considers, would not afford relief. . Tho report attributes tho increased cost of living to the shifting of the population from food-producing to food-consuming occupations. How far ihe committee is right in this matter it is difficult' for anyone' at this distance to determine, but it does not seem to be correct that the tariff is not an important factor. If tho tariff were , abolished the competition of outside countries would immediately have tho effect of bringing down prices. ■ Take, for instance, woollen manufacturers; if tho tariff wall was lowered Bradford would be ablo to eend in tweeds and worsteds which would bo sold at lower prices than is now possible with tho heavy taTiff. This question of the increased' cost of' living has been keenly discussed by economists in America, and llr. Simon N. Patten, Professor of Political Economy in thi> University of Pennsylvania, advanced quite new. and interesting theories. The three most generally accepted explanations for the present state of affairs voiced by . men with broad business experience arc, first, that the present high values are due to an increase in tho supply of gold. The second explanation is that the higher prices aro duo to the slow but steady failure of the natUTal resources of the country. The third explanation is that tho worker is being exploited. Professor Patten maintains that if the increase is duo to the expansion of the. trold supply, then it is a temporary affair, and values will readjust themselves. With respect to the second explanation he holds that agricultural science' is revealing marvels in itho help it afv fords production. Besides, there is a steady expansion In the agricultural lands due to .irrigation and swntin drainage. The third explanation (s advanced, by the .'- cialists, and if true the.only escape from ths situation is' rcyolution. The professor points out that tho urgent unsatisfied demand to-day is not for food but for comforts. His own explanation'of the causes are fourfold, and" there are, first, lack of sufficient capital;' second, bad distribution of population; third, isolation of prodncer and consumer; fourth, : new status of women. Elaborating his points.ho says that "more capital is need- ' cd to supply 'the increased demand for commodities occasioned by the newer standard of living. Tht constant pressure to keep up appearances, along with a decay of the moral instruction emphasising tho benefit? of frugality and saving, has taken from industry tho pcoplo who formerly were tho great sources of its capi- ' tal. The new standard of livinz has ent down on tho amount of savine, as it has 'likewise cut down on the number of children per family. The bad distribution of ■ population and the isolation of producer and consumer apply exclusively to Ame- . rlca, but the railroad trusts emphasiEO . these features by tho heavy charges. With regard' to the last point, Mr. Patten Temarks that forty years ago a, man cou l / 1 live comfortably on £200 a year. Tho wife created more value by industry in the i' home than her husband did out of it. Now all things are done outside the home, and must be purchased with the £200 income." .' ' ' CUSTOMS REVENUE. Customs revenue collected at Wellington yesterday amounted to £1769 19s. sd. WELLINGTON 11AEKET EEPOBT. Messrs. Laery and Co., Ltd., Wellington, report wholesale prices rulinu on the market?:—Wheat,' fowl, 3s. 6d. to 3s. Bd.; feed oats, 2s. sd. to 2s. 7d.; dun oats, 2s. 7d. to ■ 2s. 9d.; seed oats, 2a. 10d. to 35.: Algerian oats, 2s. 7d. to 2s. 9(1.; maize, 3s. 6d. to 3s. Bd.; crushed malt. 75.; fowl barley, 2s. 9d.;Oapo barley seed, 3a.; flour, New Zealand £9 . 15s. to £10; peas, Prussian blue 6s. 3d., split £18; bonednst, £5 155.; superphosphates, £5 to £5 55.; pollard, £6 10s.; bran, £4 ss. to £4 10s.; pearl barley, 155.; basic slag, £4 10s.; chaff (oateusheaf), ■ £4 15s. to £5 55.; oatmeal, £12 10s.; potatoes, table, £6'105.; Tasnianian Up-to-dates (seed), £7 to £7 10s.; Beauty of Hebron, £7 10s. to £8; : onions, 4b. 6d. cwt.; molasses fodder, £5; bacon (factory), sides 75d., hams 9(1., ■ rolls, Bd.;' butter, prime bulk, 10d. to lid. . Poultry, hcus, 3s. 6d.; ducks, ss. to 6s. per pair; turkeys, gobblers 18s. to 205.. hens 1 10s. to 145.: fresh eggs, Is. 4d. per • dozen; preserved eggs, Iβ, 2d, per . dozen; cheese, 53d. per lb.; Akaroa ma-chine-dressed cocksfoot, 7d. per lb.; ' farmers' dressed cocksfoot, sd. per lb.jrye- ' grass, 4s. 6d. per bushel; Italian ryegrass, 3s. 6d. to 4a. 6d. per baohel; wbito clover, 70s. to 755. per cwt. ' ' LONDON MARKETS: By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. i London, June 26. , Copra.—After large business at a decline ' of 155., tho market closed steadier. South ; Sea, in bags, £22 12s. 6d. Copper.—Forward delivery, £55 15s. , Tin—On spot, £148 12s. 6d.; three months, ; £149 12s. 6d.; » HIGH COMMISSIONER'S, OABLE. 1 Tho Commerce and Tourists Division of > tho Department of Agriculture, Commerce s and Tourists has received, the following cablegram from the High Commissioner,, dated London, June 25:— Mutton.—Tho market is quiet but steady, " with no chango in prices. Canterbury 3jd., North Island Jsd. per lb. Lamb.—There is a good demand for all : lamb at last quotations, viz: Canterbury 1 6td., other than Canterbury sßd. per lb. ; Becf.-Tho market is firm, and there Li . a small supply on hand. New Zealand hinds 4Jd., fores 3»d. per lb. Butter.—The market is steady, and a l fair business doing. Choicest Now Zca- » land butter to-day, per cwt., 109s. [Danish, y 1155.; Siberian, 100s. Cheese.—Tho market is firm, with moro * inquiries for white at 57b. 6d. per cwt. ) There is a dull market for coloured at . 545. 6<l. per cwt. , Hernp.-The market is dull and unsettled. Forward , shipment: New Zealand, good 5 fair, £24 55.; fair grade, £22; fair current ! Manila, £21 10s. per ton. The output for h tho week for Manila was 21,000 bales. " Cocksfoot Seed.-The market is firm and 3 speculative on account of the report that 3, Jho American ctod .outlook is vejy noar. J

TAKANAKI PETBOLEUM COMPANY. WHY NEGOTIATIONS FELL THEOUGH. ißy TclecraDh— Press Association.) Now Plymouth, Juno 27. The Taranaki Petroleum Company, in a circular to shareholders, states that the rca-soa why no transactions were completed with various groups of English ' capitalists for the introduction of additional capital into the company was that whit; otherwise the terms proposed by tho Potroleum Company were accepted yet not cno of those treating with them was prepared to put down a reasonable deposit. This meant that if the company had agreed to the capitalists' proposals they could hold tho option over tho company's property for, say, six mouths, and then, if unable to float it on the London market with probably a load of commission, etc., might, throw the property back en tho company's hands without penalty or loss to themselves at a critical stage in the company's affairs, and so bar them from negotiations with other people. Tho company is issuing tho 32,000 remaining shares first to present shareholders, and to make them preferential shares .at par. Of the funds thus subscribed £9000 is to be spent in establishing a refinery of a capacity of 250 barrels daily, and £23,000 for further boring. "In tho meantime," says tho circular, "the prospects of tho wells never looked brighter than at present." MESSES BOWEON BEOS, SALE OF BUSINESSES. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) Christchurch, June 27. Messrs. Bowron Bros., of Christchurch, have disposed of their Woolston tannery business, and the whole of their leatherand grindery business throughout the Dominion. Tho purchasers are a- powerful company formed in New Zealand and r>ew South Wales, and tho price paid runs into six figures. The whole of the capital of the now company has .been underwritten.