COMMERCIAL.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1949, 5 January 1914, Page 8

COMMERCIAL.

WEDNESDAY'S WOOL SALE. The second' wool sale of tho season will he hold in. tho Concert. Chamber of the Town Hall on Wednesday, beginning-at 3 a.m., when about 12,315 bales will he oflcr«.d. This is, Must' about half the'total offered at the corresponding sale last year, uul the catalogues compared aa under:— Jan., . Jan., 1914. 1913. Hales. Bales. Dalgcty and Co 3,600 7.595 levin and Co ........ WOO 6.076 Murray, Koborts. and Co. 1,900 4,650 N.Z. Loan and Mercantile 1.6",0 3.610 Abraham and Williams ... 1.C40 Z.foO United Fanners <M f™ W. &G. TurnbuU and C 0.... 445 3-14 12,315 25.855 In January. 1912, the ra-tologuea totalled 17,500 bales, and in 1911, 22,700 bales., Tho smallncss of this year's, ofrenn.o- is duo largely to the wet weather delaying shearincr. The quantity to be offieTKl at tho February sales will In all probability show some recovery. . .•-.'■ ' TKA-XS-PACIFIC 'MEAT TRADE. The Sydney "Daily Telegraph" givr3 the following partioulars of the trouDies o. Australian shippers of produce to American, porta:— When some two or three mouths ago. tnc U.S.A. tariff underwent,such «.l,i<sMt:ons as permitted of importation of f.-uaen. laea-i, Sutler, etc., from Australia, c.ylgi lers and producers here viewed with pluir.uro tlio prospects of another buying market or-cn-ins up, and immediate steps wove taken to get into communication witu lrnis- interested in Xew York and '-fen tranusco. That preliminary work over, shippers applied for space in, the refrigerators of. the steamers now trading- to San rranc-;co, and received a rude shock. . . Tho first question of. tho shipping companies was: "Who a T e your eonsitrnecs in America'" Refusal to answer thai-in the circumstances-seemingly. impertinent duration meant, a polite intimation that no spaco was available, while, if the information was given tho companies, it is nlloaed. .communicated the same by .cable to -San Francisco, and. if the- consignee happened to- bo in the charmed circle there, .psrimsr.ion was telegraphed to the Sydney agent* to accept, tho shippers goods.- On the other hand, there havo been refusals tclccro.pb.cd. and' many Sydney eh'™*™ "? beginning to wonder .what use tho American market is to be if a monopoly oE tho right to ship there is to be given to a tew favoured individuals or firms only. So much secrecy and general mssterj aro maintained by the sfippins - .^J?.™™ 3 that it -is extremely, difficult to tret at a rtehnito understanding of the poeit.on.. n w'oms. however, that,, so, far. as the ranadiin-AmstraUan boats, are concerned, the-whole of their frozen space/, ifl controlled by one, firm m f-an Francisco, ana that hrrn decides to what .extent, and to whom,, it. will permit portion of the space to he. booked by;the steamers', agtats here. In order to prevent the .competition of others, the people controlling tho space have, it is said, even gone to the extent on occasions of. .paying dead freight" on unused space, rather ; than permit it to be utilised for goods which.mieht on arrival injuriously affect the. prices 01 .their own purchased. Frozen careo-can-not be hung round the funnel or towed overboard, and there.is. little satisfaction to Australia generally in knowing that another .market is open to . her products, when the means of. getting thoso products to the market arc controlled by one firm in America. . ' ~ ~ In a, strictly commercial sense, the enippini/'companies—whose boats are primarily run with the idea, of paying dividends to. their slrareholdere-are perhaps right in letting tho whole of their space to one firm'and thereby relieving themselves of the change of their steamers running with some refrigerated space pot used. But Australian shippers ask: Why could not the same result be obtained by eivine Australian shippers the richt to enrage certain .•pace- in each vessel instead of tho whole option being given to America? The policy is surely short-sighted on the companies' part. ' It is argued that if no satisfactory arrangements can he made with the present companies, consideration should be given to subsidising—if necessary—a 112W line, or Jinffl. Failing that, it seems that the- Australian trade with the west const of the TTpiled States of America is to be just as limited as the present American firm controlling the space chooses to make it. A BIG sfopPIN.G COMBINE. Further advices from London as to the big shipping amalgamaiifin state that in (ill 25 of the ships belonging to the Port. Tyser, .Star, and Indra Lines, representing 166.875 tons, or an average of 6575 tons per ship, aro to be- combined as the Commonwealth and Dominion Line, with a, capital of £2,000,000. all of which is apportioned In the combination. There is no doubt that the.avoidance of competition and the running of these vessels in rcKular rotation spells for increased profit. This ia an age of-bio-' combinations.-and it is fairly evident that, they pay so long as overcapitalisation is avoided, and that appears to have been avoided In this instance. ;The rmostion remains whether the public suffer. That is n. point to bo determined by tho fares and freights charged and tho accommodation provided. But there will continue to be amplo competition in the Australian, trade, and that is tho safesuarrt.

■At the-annual meeting, of the Orient Company in London. Sir Frederick Gre»n said that the financial.ninch in Australi". was only temporarv. nnrt a, Tonewal of development would follow. Tho financial pinch hero depends in a great measure •iii>on cursives. If wo continue to urgo forward tho exnendituro of capital, and commit revenue to in cjc»3?ivo expenditure likewise, tbi trouble "•ill be. of our own creating. Hut Australia, is bound to pro- ■ ,«'TC.". oven if we move niore circumspectly ■in these directions. Evidently London financially need? a. re=it. just as ranch as •Australian and New Zealand capital docs, at the present juncture./ _■■-■''. CUSTOMS.''.. Customs duties rollectcil at the port of "Wellington on Saturday totalled £4C9 3a. 3d., the o mount for the week being £12,649 2s. 2d. The returns for each of the post eight weeks, compared with the figures for the corresponding period of the previous year, show as under:— .1913-14. 1912-13.

'■■ Th» beer duty collected last week amount-ed ,lo £1W lOfi. 10d„ -aeagainst £254 is. for the I •torrcsponding. week.of last year. SOUTfIEEH. PBODUCE MARKETS. (By Telecraph—Press' Association.) Oamaru, January .1. 'Although the holidays interfered with business somo cood-eazed lines of cereals have, changed hands. 'A line of velvet was t ocurcd in South' Canterbury at 4a net on trucks, and «, line of red chnff at. 3s. 9d. not at n. country station. • Small lines of :North Otago velvet, have'changed hands ot 4s. Id. net on trucks. A couplei of fair--sized lines of A grade Cartons were cold sit, country stations at Is. lid., and another At 2s„ subject to commission. Algerians mid at is. 6d. net at a country station. Two linos of malting barlev changed hands i«t 7.?. 2d. for one. and 2s. 4d. for both, subject to brokerage. WHEAT. ■ The New Zealand Loan'and Mercantile. 'Agency Company, Limited, have received tho following cablegram from their London house, under date January 1:—"Wo 3i«,ve sold an Australian parcel at 355. net. c.i.f. There is very little demand, owing to buyers holding off, auS the outlook is 'uncertain.' FROZEN MEAT. Sy Telegraph-Press Association-Copyright (lice. January 4, 5.5 p.m.) London, Joniuwv 3. Tho Incorporated Society of Meat Importers' Smithflcld market quotations for the undermentioned dosses of frozen meat are based on actual sales of not less than one hundred carcasses of mutton or lamb, or twenty-live Quarters of beet 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. Tho prices which follow arc on the average a farthing per lb. moro than the values ex ebip, this difference representing tho average cost in expense, handling, conveyance, and selling the meat:— Dec, 25. Jan. 3.

Australian, ox fores 4 A Australian, ox hinds 43-8 4 3-8 River Plate, ox fores 4 4 Biver Plate, ox hinds .... 4$ M Itivcr Mate, chilled fores 33 313-16 Eiver Plate, chilled hinds 55 -12 •None offering. 'RABBITS. Small oiTlrals and cold weather stiffened tho market. -Best New South Wales blues. 17«. 6(1. to 18s. ex store. . A few marketed about 2s. 6d. lower. JDTE. (Rec. January 4, 5.5 p.m.) London, January o. Jiiie.—December-January shipment ouotcd at £35 10s.. ■

I p. ■ p. Tforembsr 15 9.675 * 17.9M Xovcmbor ?.?. 25.970 Jt.MK November 29 16.815 10,(!C8 T)ecomI)«r * .... 16.030 23.217 December 13 21.669 1?..W,1 ; December 20 •.....: 15.316 26.501 December 27 12.1X16 5.969 January ; 5 12,649 •• 18.051 530,130 . 125.604

Mutton- . il. <i. Canterbury, lieht * * Canterbury, medium " * Canterbury, heavy * " Bouthlaml. 4J 5 North Island, beat 5 a North Island, ordinary 4J 4* Australian, light 41-8 45 Australian, heavy 41-8 4i Illvcr Plate, liffht 4j 4* Elver Plate,.heavy 43 41 New Zealand ewes 43-16 4} Australian ewca 4 41-16 Hirer Plate ewes 4 • Lamb— Canterbury, lhtht 55 6 3-8 Canterbury, medium 5V fitd Canterbury, heavy 52 53 Southland * * North Island, best * * Vorih T<;iand, oi'dinarr .. * " Australian, best 57 5' Australian, fair .« ,w Australian. Inferior 51 53 Diver Plate, fir.H 53 5/T ' P,ivcr Plo.te, second 51 5i BeefNew Zealand, or fnrw ... * 4 Ncir Zetland, oi hinds,.. 4J (J