WELLINGTON NOTES.

Hokitika Guardian, 17 September 1924, Page 1

WELLINGTON NOTES.

Till-: AIOHATOHII'Af. (Special to “Guardian”.) AA'KI.MXGTOX, September Id. It i- sale to say that not tt business matt in the city of AA'elilngton, lint is disappointed at the extension of the moratorium. It is true that the :te(ttal extension is t,, ALareh Hist next and that applieatioiis to the .Sujirente Court in eases ol hardship may he made up to duly HI, but iii effect this mean- an indefinite ptostpumeinent, lotnext year the members of Parliament will 1,, - endeavouring to catch votes and will l,e ready to do any foolish thing to gain their ends. The moratorium favours a lew who do not deserve such consideration, for they have no equity in their [importies. hut hope with the extension of the moratorium to ho able to sell or in other ways get otil of an awkward position. Kvcryonc here is anxious to see a readjustment of land values, which must he effected before confidence is restored. Ihe Government, i.s blamed for gross bungling in this matter. It helped to create the fictitious land values by the scandalous pikes that were paid for properties intended for soldier settlements, and it is I,lamed for not letting the moratorium end last real or even earlier as it should have done. Unless the Legislative Council can make some alterations and shorten the period of the moratorium there will be tt continuance of the lack of confidence in the country. It is stated that transactions on broad acres are lewmid far between, notwithstanding that there are plenty of I (livers. These buyers are, however, waiting for land values to stabilise tit somewhere near their true worth and it was hoped that this would have followed on the lifting of the moratorium, it seems to he the opinion that there will be another spurt in invest nvnt itt local hollies’ debentures, which have recently I,ecu very diniciilt to quit even when the price quoted showed a return of •<! per cent. DULLNESS IN TRADF.

Then* is general < <>:n pinint among retailers of l lie- dullness d!' tr:ul<*, ami there is a lair amount. of unemployment . Hither ill" people have not momy l" spend, or else they are hecoming exceedingly thrifty and economical all of a sudden. There docs not appear, however, to he any contradiction in the amount of money spent mi amusements, and the theatres and picture shows are crowded nightly. The dullness may he just a passing phase and may he in some measure due to the absence from New /.calami ol a number of comparatively well-to-do people who halt lor Knglnnd to see the Km pi re Kxhihitiott. Whatever the cause of it is, the dullness is real. Another feature of the moment, and this has been a recent development, is llie (juiciness on the Stock Kxeiiange. Very little business is doing in stocks and shales and buyers seem to have lost all interest in the. market. Knr days bonds have been very much uceleelcd ami pric es, too, show a tendency i,I ea-c. Hank shares which Pave been such strong lavourites with investors arc now slow ol sale, and the same ecu be said With respect to other favourite shares. It is dill'miilt to aecomit iur this slackness unless it is in;it invotors :in* lioldiiij' "H ~,ar" lift until tlu* whirl ions in in*, min l t;i\ :in* know u. Til K I'i.Xt lIANCK I’lJt fill.KM. .Nothing much is expected to ari c out of the consultation the I’rime Minister is having with bank ollicials. 'I he eNehange problem is world wide and is due to detiliitc causes. I'.xpel l tinaneiei's and eminent hankers have 1 exploring all likely avenues for a solution bui have not discovered a satisfactory way out ol the dillieulty. How In convert llritish pound notes int,, New /calami pound notes remains a tough problem, and this is had lor the exporter who sells his goods ill the London market. There is no dillieulty in changing New Zealand notes lor Krilish notes, ami in this the importer semes for the exchange can he clfoeled at a trilling cost. We have this advantage in New /.calami that, our exchange rates on London and London on New Zealand are lower those riding in Australia. Ihe New Zealand producer is heller oil' than his Australian colleague, lull that perhaps is poor consolation. New Zealand cannot sole'!' llm problem single handed, aolw itlisianding the I’rilne .Ministers , !;ii 1,1 that New Zealand can do what Kgypt lias done. The banks here cannot act up.ii t from the Australian Punks |,.r exi lian ;e wil h Au.-tralin i pressing problem with us. In any ease il must be reinrmbeie.l that only tile Hank of New Zealand has its head olliee here, the other haul, ollicials must, refer whatever proposals may he made to their head ollices. I lie only trim remedy until gold functions again is for the Coveriilm nt and local bodmlo refrain from borrowing in London mid loreiug the banks to accumulate credits there. Wh.-n our impoits plus Ihe amount payable in interest on our I,,reign debi balance mir exports the cm bailee piebhuo will lease to be a problem.