COMMERCIAL ITEMS

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1936, 19 December 1913, Page 10

COMMERCIAL ITEMS

INVESTMENT SHAKES. The business done in investment Ehaies yesterday consisted of Bank of New Zealand at'£ll; National Bank at £5 63. 6d.; ami Union Steam, ordinary, . at 245. Cd. Iho quotations were as followi— Buyers. Sellers. „ £ s.'d. £ s. d. national Bank 5 6 0 5 C 0 Well. Investment 0 10 9 — Well. Trust and Loan' ... 7 5 6 Christcfrurck Gas — 7 0 0 Well. Gas (£lOl — 17 0 0" Well. Gas (preference) ... 0 19 3 1 0 u National Insurance — 211 6 Gear Meat (£4) 13 12 6 — Hear Meat (£1) 311 6 Union Steam (pref.) 0 19 3 — Well. Woollen (ord.) — 4 2 6 Taupiri Coal 10 9 — Vestport-Stocktou — 0 4 0 N.Z. Con. Dental 110 — W.F.O.A. (£1) _ i si ' PAPUA PLANTATIONS. Thoso holding shares in the Papua Plantations, Limited,, will be interested in the report of' the directors for the half-year ended August 31, which statos that 26 tons 4cwt. 3cir. 151b. of merchantable ilbro was produced, and the bulk of it has sold jit an average price of £32 2s. 4d. por ton. the aggregate value of the six months' production was approximately £828. The expenses on' both the 7-mile ami 12-milo plantations, have been charged against tho production at tho 12-mile only, while the plant 3 on this area have n<it yet attained their maximum growth. 'Tne balanceehoet asl at August 31 shows a paid-up capital. of £14,889, and adding sundry creditors ±1160, the balanc&isdieel total is £16 C 49. Assets includo leasehold property £2138, plantation account £11,656, fibre £315. cash -.128, income and expenditure account, dobit balance £1009, and other items. At an oxtraordinaj-y meeting held 011 October . the authorised capital was increased lrom £24,CC0 to £32,000 by tho creation of WOO new shares with preferential rights, and 8950 shares of then capital were aleo converted into preference shares. Of thoso preference shares 11000 were offered for subscription, and applications are etill being received. An arrangement ha 3 been made with Jlr. T. H. Wells ta purchase an interest in tho company and to take charce of tho work in Papua. INDIAN INVESTMENTS. Tho investments held by the Indian Government.'on account of tho Gold Standard llcserve. a special rcscrvo established in connection with the Indian currency schaino, included on June 30 last the following Australian and Nov; Zealand sccuriZealand 3J per cent, debentures, £271,400 New South Wales 4 per coat, bonds, £34,000; New South Wuies por cent, inscribed stock, £113,tt0; New South Wales 4 per uont. Treasury bonds, £750,CC0; Queensland 4 per cent, bonds £145,M0; Queensland 4 per cent. inscribed stock. £55,090; and bouth Australian bills, £75,000. The remaining securities consist mainly of flritr ish Government or guaranteed securities. TASMANIAN RAILWAYS. The Tasmaniau railways of lato years have shown <a steady increase in earnings, both gross and net, and tho latest report oi the commissioner shows that thia increase has continued during tho financial yoar 1912-13. The total earnings wero £327,113, or an increase of £14,327 over the previous year, and working expenses £217,357, or a decrease of £3815. Tlie net earnings thus show an increase of being £109,756 against £91,6R Tho increase in revenue is attributed to the general development of the State, a 'coed harvest, and satisfactory mainland markets, also to the increased number of tourists visiting Tasmania. • Tho interest charges for the year are £164,412, against £159,123, and tho deficiency debited to consolidated rcyenue is thus £54,056, against £67,509 or an improvement of £12,tJ53. The system covers a mileage open on June 30 of 507J mike, against 495J miles on June 30, 1912; and I the total cost of construction and equipment is £4,400,292, against £4,253,013, the 'average per mile being £G674 against .£8583. In referring to tho extension of the Western Jinc to Wynyard and Myalla, the commissioner remarks that owing to the heavy co3t of construction (approximately £62C0 per mile), it is not expected that the rc« venue from tho extension for some yearn to como will materially exceed working expenses, and this will tend to increase considerably the annual loss on the railways. Although railways costing so largo a sum may be necessary factor? in developing a particular district, they enn only be expeoted for many years to add to the annual burden on tho general taxpayer, and tho commissioner therefore strongly

recommends that before any other rail* ways or tramwuye are undertaken, tho whole nuestion of of construction | should be thoroughly investigated by a | competent board composed of a representative each of engineer-in-chief's department, tho engineer for existing lines j branch, and the traffic branch, with a ' VI T reducing tho cost of construction ; anrt the cost of future maintenance, and ' regard to tho actual requirements 1 of the public, MANCHESTER AS DISTRIBUTIVE 1 CENTRE. | Considerable dissatisfaction continues . (saya the "Manchester Guardian") to bo felt by Australian and New Zealand farineJs..wl.tl* the limited area of distribution of their produce in the United Kingdom. Instead of having all their ghipnvmts eent direct to London, they would welcome opportunities of shipping to West Coast ports, which Gcrvo such a thickly-populated area. Manchester offers.exceptional facilities for 1 ? J 1 be hoped that the eiforts which are being made by the Australian and Zealand Govornment3 will be productive of eomc.good. Frozen produce can be sorted at tho Manchester" dock? into the markets, and eeparato consignees nt the temperature as it maimainod fn the hold of tho vcs£ol from which the producp has been discharged. It can either bs loaded into covered carts for tho local markets and shops, or into tho insulated wagons for dispatch by rail into tho interior towns. Then there is the additional consideration that .of a popiilfiion of, ; roughly, 45 millions, London can only 1 claim a close proximity to J5 millions, whereas Manchester is tho better distributing centres to the remainder of tho population, The cold-air stores prQvided at vi caste. Miller Street, and in t-ho meat market at Water Street, aro a further indication of less damage being incurred by foreign carcasses at Manchester than at London. This is a matter which weighs very heavily with exporters in Australia and New Zealand, because the claims for dainageo .in London are a serious item in the account sales,"returned to the farmers. THE AMERICAN TARIFF Tho New American tariff known n.s the Underwood-Simmong Tariff, like most documents of the kind, is voluminous, and the exaet application in the ease of many goods doe;* not always appear on the Bur--I'ace. Tho change does riot altogether mean free trade, a 6 the dutiable list is a long one; but qo far as manufactured goods are concerned, it shows a great reaction from the extreme notions formerly prevalent amongst the protected interests; while 111 the oaiso of many articles of food, which are placed on the free list, it indicated that tho American public have decidcd to enjoy to that extent the benefits of froo trade. In gome respccts tho new American tariff is far more liberal than the Commonwealth tariff. Meat, for example, is made free of duty, subject to the various health Acts; whilo Australia imposes a duty of ss. per cwL or a little over 4d. per lb., on moat n.eX; 2d. per lb. on frozen meat, ands.3d. per lb. on bacon and ham. Milk, including condensed milk, is free in America; while the Australian duties on condcneed milk rango fr.om Id. to 2d. per.lb. Butter is dutiable in America at lid. per lb., and in Australia at 3d. per lb. The American duty on chceso fs 20 per in Australia 3d. per lb. is charged. Wheat and flour are made free in America, while the Australian duty on wheat is Is. .6d. per 1001b., and on flour 2s. 6d. per 1001b. Raw wool, which was formerly subject to a high duty on a complicated basis, is now free in America to the advantage, in tho first place, of tho American public. The duty oji wool tops is reduced to 8 per cent, ad valorem, while yarns are dutiable at 18 per cent., whilo the rates on manufactured goods arc on a still higher basis. CUSTOMS REVENUE. Customs duties collected at tho port of Wellington yesterday amounted to £2181 13s. lid. NATIONAL MUTUAL LIFE. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyiirht McfiOourne, December 18. At the annual meeting of the National Mutual Life Association tho report, whieh was adopted, showed that new business totalled £3,647.000, yielding an annual incomo of £132,000 which was a record, and obtained at a lower cost than ever before. The yeaT's total income was £1,395,CC0 which is £101,000 above that of the previous year.- The expenditure totalled £686,000, which is below that of the previous year. .The-reduction was largely due to the fav« ourable mortality amongst members, Tho funds now excecd £8,709,000, tho rate of interest being £4 15a. lid. per centum. Since 1903 tho funds and incomo had' doubled while the ratio of expenses to premiums was reduced by moro than thirty per centum. Tho result of the triennial investigation . will be known early in the New Tear, j Substantial additions to policies are exI pe-ctcd. I The retiring directors were re-elected. j AUSTRALIAN PRODUCE MARKETS. 1 (Rec. December 18, 9.10 p.m.) Sydnoy, December 18. Wheat, 3s. 6d., 3s. 61d. Flour, £8 10*. Oats, Algerian feeding, 2s. 4d„ 2s. 5d.: milling, 2s. Bd.; Sparrowbills, 3s. Id., 03. 2d.; Giants, 3s. 2d., 3s. 3d.; New Zenland'A Gartonfl (store), os. 3d. Barley, Cape malting, 35.; 3d., os. 6d. Maize, 4s. 3d., 4s. 4d. Bran, £4. Pollard, £4 ss. Potatoes, Tasmanians, £7. Onions (Victorian), £8. Butter, selected, 1075.; secondary. IDCe,, 102s. Cheese. sijd., 6d. Bacon, 83d.. 9d. Adelaide, December 18. ' Wheat, 3s. 6d., 3«?. 6£d. Flour, £7 15s„ £8. Bran and .pollard, lid, HIDES. (Rec. December 18, 9.10 p.m.) ' Melbourne, December 18Tho hides market report average supplies, with good competition, prices being firm at late rates. LONDON SHEEPSKINS SALE. Messrs. Dalgety and Company, Limited, havo received advice from their London office that pricea in general aro 2d. per lb. lower. Messrs. Murray. Roherts, and Co.. Ltd., have received the following cablegram from their London friends, Messrs. Sandereon, Murray, and Co., dated December 17:—"London sheopskins rale: Sheepskins, merino, market declined id. to 3d. per'lb • Crossbred, three-quarter and full-woolled! declined id. to 3d. per lb.; crossbred, quarter .to half-woolled, declined id. per lb." , THE WHEAT MARKET. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, Limited, have received the following cablegram from their London house, under date December 17 — Wheat: We have sold an Australian pareel at £1 15s. c.i.f. TheTo is very little demand, owing to buyers holding off. and tho outlook is discouraging. (Rec. December 19. 0.10 a.m.) London. December 18. Wheat cargoes aro dull; there is no bidding. TALLOW SALES. By Telegraph—Pres3 Association—CoDjT.iEfcl ■ Lontion, December 17. At- tlie tallow sales 1111 casks wera offered and 834 sold. Prices wcrs unchanged. SILVER „ , London, December 17. Bar silver is Quoted at 26 U-16d. perounee standard, LEAD. (Bee. December 19, O.SO a.m.) T London, December 18. Load Imports total 18.790 tons (Australian, 7008 tons). Exports total 5333 tons. LIXSBED OIL AND TURPENTINE. .. , • London, Dcccmbcr 17. Linseed oi , spot pipes, .€24 10s. per ton. aurpcntino is quoted at 325. IMPERIAL CONSOLS. T ~ „ , London, December 17. Iraperial Consols oro quoted at £71 55., o. fall of ss. on tho- previous day's (Quotation.