COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 956, 25 October 1910, Page 8

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

INVESTMENT SHARES. • Sales of New Zealand Drug shares at 505., and New Zealand Portland Cement at' 35a. 3d. were recorded yesterday. The quo- . tations for investment shares wero unchanged. ' • ' Buyers. Sellers. Sales • : £s. d.- .£ s. d. £s. d ■ ; National Bank ....... 515 6 516 0 — . N.Z. Loan and Mer- . cantile ..: '0 10 0 — — , ; Well. .Trust & Loan 7 10 0 — . — Well. Deposit —. 0 8 6 — Well. Gas (£10) — 19 50. - Well. Gas (£6 155)..,'13 10 0 13 15 0 - • Well. Gas (new) ..; — 212 6 : — Standard■lnsurance 1 5 6,163. — • , Christcimrch' ileat 14 2 6 — — Gear Meat (£4) ... 12,5 0 — — ' Gear Meat (£1) ... 32 0. - , — ■ , Meat Export (525. ." - I 6d.) • : - 3 4 o.'- ' Well. Woolldn (ord.) - 316 0 — Well. Woollen-(pref.) 215 6 :.. - , Le'yland-O'Brien/ 1 7 0 1 7 6 • — > 1 1 Mauriccville Lime., — .0 19 0 — . j N.Z: Oon.^Dental — 12 0. —•• , N.Z. Drug' • — - 2 10 0 N.Z. Portland :,Ce- ■ ' i incut — 115 3 115 3 -j Taranaki Petroleum 0 9 3 , — —. ' j - wool. ; Shearing in the Wellington district is now . fairly general. Operations were to < have cominonced ai Happy Valley yester- < day. Already there are arrivals of new. ■ wool for ,tke Wellington sale, which is to 1 'be held on November 8. Brokers are un- 3 able to estimate the probable offerings, for so • much depends upon the weather per- < mitting shearing operations being carried through.-If 1200 bales are ' catalogued 'it ' will be as much as can bC'cxpected. Wool 1 from. Marlborough,' Manawatu, Wai- < rarapa, and places nearer to Wellington is now in, but the i total Quantity is very l small. Catalogues for the;first sale closo j on November. 3, and tho wool must bo 1 actually in store by that date. This is\ one of the new conditions to come/ into force this season.' Another new feature is that all one-bale and two-bale lots, with perhaps the exception of straight, two-bale lota of fleece and lambs, will be included in the "star" catalogue and offered after oil the main lots are sold. Also "star" lots aro to. be graded and grouped into lots .of equal value. Such lots may comprise any number from 3 bales upwards, and be the property of several growers. To facilitate this, grouping -"star lots aje not to be hampered :with owners' :reserves. ..These, grouped lots .will command more attention , than "star" lots under the old system. ' NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE. .' The values of :tho principal products passed through the New Zealand Custom's for the period from October 1 to 15, as compared with the figures for the corresponding date of last year show as under:— 1 . . 1910. . 1909. '••■'■£ £ . Butter — 67,711 39,007 ' Cheese' 12,570 17,576 Beef .... 7,528 15,883 . Mutton 11,160 40,427 ■Legs and pieces 58 ■■ 4,182 Lamb : 265 ■ 24,119 Wheat 36,049 . 8 Oats 6,566 11,914 ■ Potatoes .'... 89 90 Hemp 9,059 11,735 , 1 Rabbits ~...' 10,330' ' -9,490 ■. ; Tow 897 484 Kauri gum 8,842 • 36,655 ; Grain and pulse ... 3,388 7,271 , 1 Hops : 421 63 , Hides 11,233 4,662 ; Skins - 17,878 , 28.3T6 \ Tallow 16,972 ■, 19,893 : ■ Timber 20,847 13,685 Wool 27,368 38,717 J Gold 62,004 123,054 ' ; £331,235 £447,291 . 1 ... . ' : ! HOUSE-PURCHASE COMPANIES. Comparatively little has recently been ( heard, says the "Insurance Spectator," of ] the system Of house-purchase undertaken l by the "house purchase companies", which ] a few'.years ago ..created no small' stir and ( attracted a very considerable amount of attention and'discussion; but the fact that little' is heard by the man in the street does not signify' that the system is dead or. dying, nor that the activty of the companies, and their representatives is dormant. ,The business is being steadily pursued, and with very successful and i beneficial results, and if the companies ' are pursuing their objects and extending their ramifications without limelight or stage effects they sire none the less working steadily and vigorously, and are gradually educating the public in all parts of the country in the advantage of becoming the owners of their homes and business premises. The Assnranco Companies Act, which came into force on July 1 last, has probably put a stop for the present to new formations, and the field will, for tho time being, remain in the sole possession of the companies already operating. Tho 1 Act requires a deposit with the Govern- : ment of £20.000 before business of this de- ; scription can be undertaken, and it is , doubtful whether a new office could make , this deposit and be in a position to com- i pete with tho offices now working. Under present conditions immediate advances of 1 a certain proportion of the purchase price of the property are granted by most of the house-purchase companies, and if a new office started it would be severely handicapped in this direction by having to J tie up £20,000 at the commencement, which 1 sum would not he availahle for the purposes of the business until its accumulated funds amounted to.£4O,CCO. Consequently, it will he seen that only a company with a very strong financial backing could undertake the business in such a majiner as to successfully compete .with existing institutions which make a fea- : turo of these immediate advances. CONTRACTS FOR ARMY MEAT. The Minister for Agriculture has received ; advice from the Army Council of contracts regarding the supply of preserved meat to the War Office, London, and the supply of .moat'forage to the troops in South Africa, tenders for which closo' on December 7, 1910, and January I and 9, 1911, respectively. A form, of tender, containing all particulars,' ms.y be obtained on application to , tho director of tho Commerce and Tourists Division, Public Trust Buildings, Welling- , ton.

The : final returns of the German Treasury for the fiscal year ended March 31, 1910, wero> published at the end of August. They showed considerably better than tho original. Budget estimates. According .to the latter, it was expected that there would remain a deficit of £14,683,(100 to be covered by tho matricular contributions of the States. Instead of that amount, however, the actual • deficit.

1 turned out to bo only £6,323,000. This re--3 suit was duo to two tacts: First, an in--3 I crease ol the revenues by £3,634,000 over the 'estimates,, and a reduction of expen- : diturcs by £2,031,000. The Treasury, ' therefore, came out better by ~j.665,0CU I than the Budget, estimated. This result, ' however, was not so good as would appcai. ; A saving of £2,031,000 was duo almost entirely to the fact that nothing was devoted to the fund to bo invested as a. basis for insuring widows and orphans, of , labouring men, whereas the Budget had provided for carrying £2,000,000 to'' that fund. Customs revenue collected at the port, of Wellington yesterday amounted to £iii 2 7s. 9d. LONDON MARKETS.' By Telegraph—Press Association-Copyright. ' ; London, October 23. Wheat.—An Australian cargo sold at 355. per quarter. ' Hemp—The market is quiet. Fair grade, September-November shipment, is quoted at £22 per ton. ■ Copra.—The' market is firm; South Sea, in bags, £25 to £25 ss. per ton. Cotton.—The Liverpool quotation for middling upland American cotton is 7.62 d. per lb. Rubber.—Fine hard Para ig quoted at 6s. ■ 2Jd. per'lb. THE METAL MARKETS. By Telegraph—Press Association-Copyright. London, Octotier 23. . Copper.—On spot, £57 7s, 6d. per ton. Tin.—On Spot, £169 per ton; three months. £160.. Lead, £12 ss. per ton. 1 ; • TRUST -AND AGENCY COMPANY. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Rec. Oct. 24, 9.50 p.m.) • 1 . London, October 24." ■, The Trust' and 'Agency' Company of Australasia, Ltd., has declared a dividend of 5 per centum.' ' '