COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 967, 7 November 1910, Page 10

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

INYESTMENT SHAKES. ■ Sales of National Dank, at £5 15s. 6d., and South British Insurance at £3 Is., were recorded on Saturday. Tho quotations were as under:— Buyers. Sellers. Sales £s. d. £8. d £s. d ' National Bank — 516 6 515 6 Bank N.Z 10 5 0 - - Equitable Building 912 6 — — N.Z.'and River Plato - 2 10 — Well. Trust & Loan 7 10 0 — — Feilding Gas — 12 0 - Well. Gas (£10) ..:.. - 19 5 0 - N.Z.. Insurance — 4 3 0 — South British ........ - —'310 Ohristohurch Moat 4 7 6 — — Well. Woollen (ord.) - 315 6 - Taupiri Coal 019 3 019 9 - Westport Coal ...... 6 8 0 - — Leyland-O'Bricn .... 16 9 17 6 - Manning and Coi 4 0 0 — — Mauricevillc Lime — 0 17 0 — Miramar, Ltd. (135.) - 02 6 - N.Z. Con. Dental ... 1 1 6 12 3 — Taranaki Petroleum — 010 0 — Taringamutu Totara 2 3 0 2 4 0 — Ward and Co 5 2 6 5 3 6 - NATIONAL INSURANCE CO. Tho balance-sheet o£ the National Insurance Company of New Zealand, Limited, for tho year ended September 30 last is extremely ' satisfactory. The premium income (less reinsurance and returns) totals £126,602, but an additional £4000 is reserved to reinsure current risks, and, if this is deducted, the premium income i 6 £122,600. The losses, expenses, and underwriting in rates to income show as under:— £ Losses , -. 60,682 49.49 per cent. Expenses 44,156 36.01 per cent. Profit _. 17,764 14.60 per cent. £122,602 100.00, per cent. To the underwriting profit:of £17.764 must bo added interest and rents £18,,258 ;,and unclaimed dividends £14,.making -thetotal profit for the year £36,036.v There was brought forward from .'the; previous year £30,362, so that the -total.' available is £66,398, and this is to be distributed as under;— .• - ■■■■£■ ■ Keservo fund .'. '. 20,000 ' Dividend, Is. 9d. a: snare 17,500 . Carried forward ~.......; '_... 28,898 ' £66,398.; Tho company has experienced a very, good year, and is in a vary' strong financial position. The addition-to.tho'.reserve fund is large, and this exhibits! the cautious nature of tho management. Tho company is prepared for a bad'year if it ; .comes. - NOTES.,,, .:.■■■-. The number of instancesin'which strikes and lockouts have occurred in- Great Britain would lead one to,infer that peaceful methods are at a discount in, tho. settle-, ment of industrial disputes. The Board of, Trade report for 1909, however, does much to i remove this impression, and there is no reason to believe that the experiences oS the current year will prove discouraging. Tho value of the work done under, the .Conciliation Act is shown in the rapid termination of the disputes between capital .and labour, and the figures for last year strongly testify in this respect. According to the statistics just published, tho number <of. strikes and lockouts in 1909 was larger than in 1908, but it was below tho average for the decade, and, what is important, the aggregate duration of working days lost was only a quarter of what was lost in 1908, and was well below the average of the ten years. Spread over the whole_ industrial population, exclusive of agricul-. tural labourers and seamen, this lost timo is equal to less than a quarter of a day per head. The Board of Trade states that methods, of conciliation and arbitration continue to ho more and more generally employed, and that tho number of disputes settled by these 'means in 1909 was the highest - on ■ record;'

The Association of French Silk Merchants publishes data which it has collected with regard to. the silk harvest in. Eastern Europe in 1909, according to which a total of 5,335,000 kilos. is arrived, at. Of this amount Italy.- produced 4,251,000: kilos and Franco 674,000 kik6. The Levant and Central Asia produced 600,000 kilos, Turkey in Asia 665,000; kilos, arid Syria and Cyprus 445,000 kilos..' In the Far East, China produced 8,480,000 kilos and Japan 8,372,000 kilos, the total for the cntiro Far East being 16,087,000 kilos.'- The silk harvest of the entire world is figured at 24,510.000 kilos; as compared with 24,080,000 kilos in 1908. the average harvest for the quinquennium 1904-8 coming out at 21,277,000 kilos. According to consular statistics the value of exports from Russia during-last year was. approximately, ,J5144.851.CC0.-of whiclr total £30,378.000 represented trade to Great Britain, whilst £40,697,000 went to Germany. The aggregate value of imports was £83,099,000, of which only £13,475,000 was drawn from tho United Kingdom, whereas Germany supplied £37,571,000. So that the latter country sent back to Russia goods to within £3,000,000 of the value of. the articles received, and Great Britain's export's to Russia were about 43 per cent.of her imports from that country. . The outstanding feature in liussia in 1909 wao the record wheat, crop, which had" a stimu-' lating effect in most departments of that country's trade. Unfortunately, however, anticipations of a boom following ; on the bumper crops garnered led W much speculation,- which had tho customary reaction. But the general improvement resulted in the flow of a large amount of foreign capital into the country, and the sum, it is 6clieved, will bo still further swollen by the flotation-of ; new oil ventures: In the circumstances it is to be regretted that trading operations between Greht Britain and Russia are not more extensive, and in some items, nt any rate, the position, might he substantially bettered by a little enterprise on the, part of British manufacturers.

■:, CUSTOMS. Customs revenue collected at the port of Wellinston on Saturday amounted to £1389 18s. 10d., the collection for the week being £22,533, 14s. -8d„ Compared with the corresponding dates of last year, the receipts for the past eight week 6 show as under:— 1910. 1909. £' : £ September.'l 7 19,836 9,383 23.542 17,192 October 1 11,171 10,202 October 8 „ 21,318 20,074 ' October 15 _ 10,021 7.320 October. 22' 20,092 15,526 October 29 9.647 12,345 November 5 „. 22,534 16,977 £138,161 ■ £109,019 The beer duty for the past week totalled £208 Is., as against £234 13s. for the corresponding week of last year. FROZEN MEAT. R/ Tele(rrapb-I're*k Association—Copyright (Bee. November 6, 5.5 p.m.) ' London, November 5. Tho Frozen Meat Trade Association's Smithfield market quotations for the undermentioned classes of frozen meat are based on actual sales of not less than one hundred carcasses of mutton or lamb, and twenty-fivo quarters of beef of fair average quality. The quotations are not for selected lines, but for parcels fairly representative of the bulk of the shipments now on the market. The prices which follow are on an average a farthing per lb. more than the value ex ship, this difference representing an average cost in expenses, handling, conveyance, and selling the meat:— Oct. 29. Nov.s. Mutton— d. d. Canterbury, light — — Canterbury, medium ,— — Canterbury,, heavy — — Southland 4 4 North Island, best ...-. 4J 4J North Island, ordinary... 4 4 Australian, light 33 ' 3i Australian, heavy 3 5-16 3 3-16 River Plate, light 38 3J Eiver Plate, heavy 3i 33 Lamb — Canterbury, light 53 55 Canterbury, medium 51 63 Canterbury, heavy : 53 5J . Southland 53 53 North Island, selected ... 52 53 North Island, ordinary ... 53 5| Australian, best — -* Australian, fair — — Australian, inferior ....... — — Hivcr Plate — — tieefNcw Zealand, ox fores ... 23 28 New Zealand, ox hinds ... Zh 3j Australian, ox fores 25 25 Australian, ox hinds 3 3 Eiver Plate, ox fores 23 23 Itivor Plate, ox hinds 3j 3J , Babbits are neglected and unchanged. DALGETY AND CO., LIMITED. DIVIDEND AND BONUS. Advice has been received by the superintendent of Messrs. Dalgety and Company, Ltd., that,. at the annual meeting of shareholders of the company to beheld on Nove'mber 17, the following recommendations will be made:—That a dividend of 3s. per Ghare, being' at the rate of 6 per cent, per annum, be declared; that a bonus of 2 per cent, (absorbing £20,000) bo added; that a sum of £60,000 ho carried to reserve fund, which wili then stand at £380,000; that £10,000 bo transferred to benevolent fund; that £40,000 bo written oil premises, leaving £77,579 to be carried forward.