COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1379, 4 March 1912, Page 8

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

INVESTMENT SHARES. There were no Gules of investment shares on Saturday. The buying and Belling (luoutious were as under:— Buyers. Sellers. £ f. d. £ s. d. National Bank 516 0 - Bank of Now Zealand ... 10 17 6 — fiisborne Gas - 2 18 6 Napier Cas (£5) - 11 17 6 Wei (ias (£10) 18 0 0 18 iO 0 Well, fias (third issue) ... - 12 10 0 V,'n\\. Gas (pref.) 0 C 6 0 9 0 Me.it Kxtiort (£4) - 5 0 0 Meat Export (525. 6d.) ... - 219 0 Union Steam 2 0 0 - Kaiapoi Woollen 5 11 0 5 15 0 Well. Woollen (ord.) — 3 15 0 Well. Woollen (pref.) - Z 19 0 lliliuransi Coal - 10 0 Taupiri Coal 110 Westport Coal 17 0 17 6 Taringamiitu Totara — 2 9 0 Crown Brewery -- 2 10 ])nii:ix!iy Hope and Twine - 12 6 (lolden Bay Cement 1 1 J 119 Manning ami Co - 4 11 6 N. 7.. Con. Dental — 12 0 .Shnrlaml's preference ... - 14 6 Ward and Co - 5 4 0 W.KC.A. (£5) — 7 5 0 W.l'\(J.A. (JED - 18 6

TUB I'KODUOB MAHKETS. The Ri-cat strike oE coal miners in Croat Britain is ehuckin;; the demand for all •■law« of Drocliice, and rotaUcrs a:e re{.tritliiiß opuralions. in view of thu rwluttion of tliu workem' f-pcmling powers. That is the nature of a cable message published in this journal on Saturday, anil the tone (if the several markets emphasised this view. Thus it was stated that trade ill the wheat market was stagnant, and buyers were afraid to operate iinyond immediate! l-wiuircu'.eiiln. liutter is dull, and sii.-ar is weak- Tlie elleel of the strike ran sciircaly be said to have been felt yet. and manufacturers and oilier larse users of coal niiiat have bis reserve stuc!i<i which v.'ill enable them to carry on opora- , tioua tor. a little wlille, but it tic etrlko U

maintained for a week or so. it will mean a tremendous loss to tin- llrilisli, and tho effects- will be far-reachinpr. Jlr. Xormau AnirsJl. aiitlior of 'The Orcat Illusion," in an address to U'.e members of the Institute of Hnukefs, liuuilun. on ■The Effect of Banking on International nidations," showed liow intangible in tho greater part ot the wealth of the modern world-to what a-great cxteiii, it. depends upon thounhampi-rcd activities of Hie. massoftho pupiilatinn—and the very atti'injit to place n population in an unfavoured position, so .is to hamper this ordinary activity would cause- a large proportion of the wealth to disappear. The coal strike cuts at. tho very base of the indu.-lrio.l life of Ureat tiritain, and there miint be enormous loss. Many thousands of employee in various industries have already liec-n warned to expect the clo-=inu-down of factories, and tho railway companies have already tm'tailr.cl services. The effect of this will be Hint money will accumulate, oi- rather there will be vc-rv lit-tl« demand for credit:-, and commodities generally will decline in value. Tho wool i-ales have hail to be postponed, and if the textile industries have lo close down, the deuiniid for wool will case, and prices must fall. Butter has already dropped 3s. or 4s. per cwt., and mist po lower, but cheese, is likely to continue firm, if not advance a little, because a. pound of cheese, besides costinir less money than an ciiiial quantity of butter, rocs a great deal further, and out-of-work people will uontent themselves with brood ami cheese and beer. The metal markets art also certain to be affected. English capita! will, lo a creator extent than ever, seek investment in foi-cijrn countries, and particularly iu the liepunlies of South America.

THE BUTTER MARKET. Messrs. \V. Wcddel and Co., Ltd., in their weekly dairy produce circular, dated January 19, explain the reasons for the liirli prices ruling for butter at that date as "A serious misunderstanding about the cause of the present abnormally hisli prices of butter appears to prevail anions many members of tho provision trade, as well'as the general-public, and it is necessary in the interests of all parlies that the. real cause should be made known. An appeal to the cold clear facts will put matters right. "During the past summer the greatest drought "for the last half mitury was experienced in the butter-producinf: countries of Europe, which practiinlly dcstroved the pastures, and the cows nearly everywhere have had to be fed on artificial fooi'-j and winter f>Mer. This naturally reduced the quantity of butter and cheese produced. In the autumn, farmers everywhere in the area mentioned found themselves with not much more than half the I'sual amount of winter fodder for their milking herds, and, consequently, have had to reduce the number of their cows. "Tho above facts are universally known, and an appeal to the Board of Trade returns for December, 1911, will show that the abnormally hi ah prices are the direct consequences of tho drought. In the three months-July, August, and September—tho total imports of all kinds of butter into this country were 1756 tone; less than in the corresponding months in 1910; but during October, November, p.ud December, the imports were less by 11,140 lons than for the same period iu 1910. This makes for the past three months a dclioit of 21.5 per cent.! This shortage is surely sufficient to explain the prices. The shortagp in the Home supply cannot be definitely known, but it mu.it be a. vtry considerable quantity—probably over 50GO tons."

HIDE AND SKIS SALES. Messrs. Daljcty and Company, Ltd., PalmsiEton North, report on their sale on Friday :-At our usual monthly sale today we offered a larjro catalogue to a full attendance .of buyers, when all lots lr.et with keen competition. Prires, however, ruled slightly easier, with the exception pf hides, which sold at last sale's > rates:Wool: Crossbred, medium to fine, from 7iM. In Bd.; coarse, from 7d. to V'.d.; Eccdy and inferior, from 6d. to 7(1.; lambs' wool, from 7id .to £!d.: seedy and inferior, 55d. to 61d.: locks and pieces, 4»d. to 5Jd.: bellies, from sd. to Si'd.; locks, 3id. to <!Jd.; dead wool, from 6ld. to 75d.; cnitchinsts, 5Jd.; black wool. 6d. to 6jd. Shceiifkins: Crossbred fall-wool, coarse, CM. to 63d.; medium, 7d.; line crossbred, 7Jd'.; lambs, sJcl. to 63d.: dead, sd. lo 55d.; crossbred, inferior and damaged, 3!d. to Ed.; Ticlti= and short-wools, 4Jd .to 5Jd."; bare pelte, 2jd. to 4d.; lamb jielts, 35d.; butchers' Ri-een and salted skins, at per piece, woolly crossbred, 7s. fid.; In.inbr, 2s. lCd. to 3s. Id.; lamb nelts, from 9d. to ltd. each; salted uo'ts, bare, from Is. od., Is. 6d. lo 2s. 2d.; ehort-wooln, from 2s. 4d.. 2s. lOd.. Zs. Ud.. 35., 3s. Id. Jlides: Cows, best liniw, 6?d.; rough and inferior, from sid. to 6d.: ox, heavy, 7Jd. to Vi.il.; medium, 7d. to 71d.: li?ht, 6id. to 6.'d.; yearlings. Sid. to 7Jd.; cows, cut unci siipnv, from 4M. to sid.; bulls, 5d.; dry hides', to sid.; home hides, ss. each. Calfskins: The best lots, BJd. to 9d.; inferior, Ui.: cut. 6Sd.s slippy. sd. Sundries: Tallow, in tins, 235. 6d.; casks, 255.; rough fat, 13s. 6d.: horso lirjr, Is. Sd. per Hi.

Mowrs. fl'iiliams and Kctt'e, litd.. report having held their urual enle in the AVeber yards, when they offered a. E.ood entrv of sheep and cattle to a limited attendance of tho public. Bidding was slow, owiii;; to small competition. We iltiotc as follows:—4 and 5-year ewes, 4-t.ooth to f.m. ewes. P«. Id.; old rams, ss. 6d., Bs. to 10s.; 18 to M-months steers, £5 10s. 6d.; 2*-ycar heifers, empty, £3. Messrs. Williams and Kclfe. Ltd., report havinp held their usual weekly falc in Millar's P>oad yards, Napier, when they offered a moderate entry of cattle ami (?ood yarding of sheep to the usual attendance of the public. With two exceptions all were disposed of at favourable prices. They duotc as follows:—Store ewes, 4s. 9d. to ss. 5d.: 2-tooth to f.f.m. ewes, 10s.; 4-year ewes, ICs. to 10s. 3d.: 4-tootb ewes, l'.'o. sd. ami 10?. 6d.: ewes and lambs. 14s. 3d.; lambs, mixed, ss. Id. to 7e. Id.; cull lambs, 2s. 6d.; fat ewet;, Us.; old rams, ss. to 6s. 6d.

CUSTOMS. Customs revenue collected at the port of Wclliiiston on Saturday amounted to' £997 10s. 7(1., the total for the week being £23,3<0 13s. sd. The returns for each of tlio past eight wccV.s. comparsd with the figures for tlio corresponding periods of last year show as under:- £ £ January 13 24.024 24,294 January 20 13,807 9,«9 January 27 23,468 25.2-J5 February 3 12,125 12,958 " February 10 24,751 7,372 February 17 11,834 21.007 February 24 11.255 27.C01 March 2 13,340 12,614 144,604 139,930 The hosr duty collected during the past week amounted to £237 IC?., as against £275 6-i. Bd. for the corresponding week of last year.

GRAIN AND PRODUCE. (By Telecrai/h.—Press Association.) Oalnaru, March 3. A good many transactions in wheat have been recorded during the week, but mostly i - i small lin"s. A thousand sacks of red chaff sold at 3s. sd. (less commission), at a country station, and a smaller parcel at 3s '.A net on trucks. Velvet sold at 3s. sd. net, 3s. sd. Ices commission, and those Eouerally on the basin of prices. Oats are offering in larger quantities, and this has kd to a weakening of the prices; 2s. net has been paid for Algerians pt country stations, and a,; high as 2s. 0 ! d was given. Dun 6 brought 2s. and Is. llld. net at country stations cavly in the wee!; but Is. lid. was tho price for the nai'or portion of the business, and in somo cases less commission, equal to Is. IOJd.,

whilo some other brands have changed hn.mlo at. li-\ 10d. mid Is. 9Jd. net. \ line of SCO tacks limiting barley Eold at 4s. 3d. net iit ratiirtry stations. Prices for oalcnshcaf chair aro locaJly 45<. to -575. 6il. net on tracks. Potatoes have movcrt oil' in Kmall lota at £3 net on trunks and .C 5 ss. net delivered, but tho market is weaker, cwing to lower quotations at Cliristchurch.

LONDON MARKETS. Now Zealand Loan and Mercantile. ARency Company, Limited, have received tho following cablegram from their London house under dale. March 1:"Krozen Heat: The inquiry for mutton is limited, the market for lamb is weaker, a.!id there is a. modorato demand for beef." BANK OF AUSTRALASIA. By Telesraph—Press Association-Copyright London, March 1. The report of tho Bank of Australasia shows that a bonus of 10 per ceut. was paid to the staff. A dividend of 14 pelcent, and a. bonus cf 3 per cent, have been declared, £SfI,CCO added to tho reserve fund, and £20,CC0 to the premises account. The sum of £16,073 has been carried forward. FBOZEIT HEAT QUOTATIONS, (lice. March 3, 5.5 p.m.) London, March 2. The Frozen Meat Trade Association's Smithfield market quotation! for the undermentioned classes ot frozen meat are based on actual sales of not le6s than one hundred carcasses of mutton or lamb, or twenty-live quarters of beef of fair average quality. The quotations aro not selected lines, but for parcels fairly representative of the bulk of tho shipments now on the market. The prices which follow are on in average a. farthing per lb. moio than the value er ship, this difference- representing an average coet in eipenscs, handiius, conveyance, and. tolling tho meat:— Feb. 24. liar. 2. Mutton— d. d. Canterbury, light — — Canterbury, medium — — Canterbury, heavy — — Southland - - North Island, best 41 41-16 North Island, ordinary... 315-16 313-16 Australian, light 33 3 5-16 Australian, heavy 3 5-16 3 3-16 Hivcr Plate, light 33 Si Hiver Plate, heavy M 31 New Zealand cwos 35 3S Australian ewes ■ 3 215-16 River Plate owes 3J 3 Lamb— Canterbury, light - 59-16 Canterbury, medium — 59-16 Canterbury, heavy — — Southland 5J — North Island, selected... 5S 55 North Tslruid, ordinary... 5 3-16 51-16 Australian, best 43 45 Australian, fair 41 4J Australian, inferior 4ft 4J Kiver Plate, first 4j 4 7-16 Hivcr Plate, Eccond 45 4J BeefNew Zealand, ox fores .... — — New Zealand, ox hinds .. — — Australian, ox fores 3 2J Australian, ox hinds 311-16 31 River Plate, ox fores ... 25 22 Kiver Plats, ox hinds ... 33 311-16 Kiver Plate, chilled fores 3 3,) Jlivcr Plate, chilled hinds 15 45 Rabbits are dull. Best Sydneys, ex store, 15s. to 16s.