COMMERCIAL ITEMS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2441, 21 April 1915, Page 10

COMMERCIAL ITEMS

INVESTMENT SHAKES. Several transactions took place in shares on the Wellington Stock Exchange yesterday. Bank of New Zealand, (old) wore reported to have changed hands at £11 Is.; Equitable Building at £9 10s.; Gisborne Gee, £1 15s.Wellington. Woollen, (ord.), £4 lis. 6d.; Westport Coal, £1 13s. 3d.; Auckland Trams ford.), XI 2s. Quotations were e.ii under Buyers. Sellers, £ s. d. £ s. d. National Bank — 511 0 Eank'N.Z. (£3 65.8 d.) - 11 2 0 Bank N.Z. (£6 13s, 4d.) ... 17 2 0 17 4 0 Equitable Building 9 10 0 — N.Z. and E. Plate 2 0 0 - Wn. Trust Txki.ii, Ltd. ... 7 6 6 — Gisborne Gas 1 14 6 — Wellington Gas (£10) ...... 16 10 0 — N.Z. Insurance 6 10 — Gear Meat (£4) 14 7 6 - Union Steam {pref.) 1 0 9 1 10 Wgtn. Woollen (pref.) ... 3 5 0 — Westport Coal — 113 6 Leyland-O'Brien 12 6 Golden Bay Cement 10 0 — Sharland ■ (ord.) 13 9 — Sharland (pref.) 13 9 — Ward and Co — 6 16 0 MaoriLaiid Steam. — 10 0 Auck. Tram (ord.) 119 — THE MARKETS. A careful, survey of the efcqnomic 6ituar tion fails to disclose any prospect of an early reduction to normal price levels. This may be said to apply to almost every class of manufacture and raw produce. The shutting down of vast industrial areas by the operations of the war, the drawing off of large populations from agricultural pursuits, the.difficulties of transport, not only here, but on the Continent as well a 6 in neutral countries owing to the huge mobilisation of troops by/neutral States, the. difficulties and dangers, of shipment, arid the enormous increase in freights, largely due to the withdrawal from commerce of the huge German mercantile marine, the heavy insurance premiums, the Increased cost of living, and the coneeauont all-round increase of wages, of the diminished numbers of workers, all confirm and justify and tend to maintain the present high level of prices. We see no hope of a reduction except a temporary one in tlio case of wheat if the Dardanelles is opened, until the more onerouß conditions are removed, that Is, not until the natural sources of supply are reopened, the idle workshops of the world re-started, and transport arrangements reorganised and working; in a word, not until peace is in sigbt. • Wo thought 'at the outbreak of war, certain commodities and manufactures might become cheaper, but we soon came to the conclusion that the rise in the cost of production -would compel manufacturers to adjust their prices, even though they had to deal with a decreased volume of orders." • DIFFICULTIES OF SHIPMENT. • Messrs. Laughland, Mackay, and Co., Ltd., of London, writing under date March 5, report as follows on the difficulties of shipment:— "The conditions at the docks and on the railways are as bad as-they have been at any time since the outbreak of the war, and we have the greatest difficulty in arranging for and effecting shipment. Tho railways at the manufacturing centres are constantly refusing to receive goods for transport. The method—or rather want of method—is to relax the prohibition for a few days, granting permission to forward selected goods, often withholding it in the case of bulky articles, and then Buddenly Withdrawing the permit. Despite this haphazard way of arranging the dispatches, the • lines become very crowded, and the congestion at the railway terminals and. docks ie bewildering. Large numbers of packages arrive without being able to be nandlod by the dock authorities. Shortage of labour adds • greatly to the difficulties, and this is getting worse as more and more men join the forces. As the army increases in size,' so the work of provisioning it and providing it with other supplies draws off more and more transport and dock men for ths special service. To show how.exceedingly serious the problem of transport and shipment has bccome. we citc the case of a parcel of Staffordshire iron which has been waiting at the works since December for an opportunity of shipment. Long strings of clerks may be seen every day at the Custom House endeavouring to clear goods and obtain the necessary permitß to ship.

"Owing to the stringent regulations governing shipment of certain classeß. of goods, and the prohibition for export of other goods, the clerical labour has recently increased, while on the other hand employera have been obliged—quit® rightly andwillingly in the majority of cases—to temporarily part with some of their best men, who have gone to fight the Empire's battles at the front. Every employer of labour has to put up with theso unavoidable inconveniences, and public bodies, such . a«. dock authorities, railway companies, and wharfingers, have lost many of their clerical staff, whioh all tends to make the position, more difficult for the merchant and manufacturer. Wo all hope for a speedy and triumphant ieeue to ,the enormouß effort that is being put forth in this country and in the Dominions to overcome the . Germanic power, and we feel that, however vexatious the difficulties apd delays and personal loss may be, it i 6 as nothing oompared to the fate that would be in store for tho Empire if victory were allowed to be wrested from ue." Customs duty collected at tho port of Wellington yesterday amounted to £1852 2s. CANTERBURY PRODUCE MARKETS. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) Chrlstchurch, April 20. Beyond a line of wheat bought at 6s. sd. at a country station, no business is reported im the local market. Wheat that has been threshed has now apparently almoet all changed hands, and very little is offering. In North Canterbury there, is very little unthreshed remaining; in stock, but there i 6 'a fair quantity still to go through the mill.. In South Canterbury the cats. market is very, quiet, and with no change .to note in prices. Oatsheaf chaff is very firm, and at near stations commands £6 per ton. For potatoes £4 is still being paid, but the large quantity offering off tho forks may tend to case the market. Fine weather has been favourable for digging, and tho crop is turning out fairly well. A Homo papor states that there haß been a strong demand since the autumn for perennial ryegrass for export to New Zealand, and that it still continues. Cocksfoot has also been largely exported to New Zealand, this being the reverse of the usual course. With regard to this seed importation® of cocksfoot are mainly for tho North Island. The same paper also reports that chewings fescue imported from New Zealand is being used as a substitute for hard fescue and sheep's fescue. Except for red clover prices for all kinds of grass and other clover seeds are high at Home, in consequence mainly of the shutting off of supplies from the Continent. METAL ARRETS. (By Telegraph—l'ress Assn.—Copyright.) London, April 19. Copper on spot. £76 10s. to £76 15s. nor ton; three months' £77 ss. to £77 10s.; electrolytic, £81 to £82. Tin on spot, £167 15s. to £168 5«. per Ion; three months', £167 10s. to £168. Lead, soft foreign, £20 10s. to £20 15s. per ton. Spelter, £46 to £47 per ton. Silvor.—Bar silver is quoted at £33 lEs.