Finance, Stocks, and Mining.

Free Lance, Volume II, Issue 89, 15 March 1902, Page 21

Finance, Stocks, and Mining.

THK Milleis Tiust lias put up the. tlii 1 tub quotation at Southern puce of floui anothei 10s pei ton poi ts h< ing now LS 10s pel ton. If tlue contest between the Tiu^t and those outside tilie 01 ga.n nation continues the price of floui is hound to go up a little higher to lecoup the Trust foi its losses In point of fa<t it is the public tliat i.s being asked to finance the fighting fund of the Tiust and there is one thing to bo said foi the combine it does not Htm to disguise the operation « * * The snuggle is a pretty one. but icia ocrst.lv to the public Still, if the public do light the Northern Milling Compain will be heartih supported as against the Trust The brand of flour known as the Champion" brand is really quite as good as those sent up from the South and householders in their oira interests should make a poant of bllMllg tills floill * » ♦ The Tiusf cannot succeed without the help of the public, and if the householders formed an informal combine ' and boycotted Tiust flour and the bakeis acting in conjunction with the Millers Trust a good deal of reason w ould burst upon the oigamsation. That inteirupted banquet at the Fire Bngade station Wellington la.st week vas no^ without some benefit It showed the sniaitness of the Brigade under conditions that were not altogether favourable The principal feature of the banquet was the sensible speech of Captain Hugo Some cause unknown in the log book of the Fire Bngade means a good deal. It i- the polite expression foi incendiarism and tlus Captain Hugo made \en deai Tlus phase of the insurance question alwa\s escapes public attention but nuclei w liters and fire bi ■- gadesmen know of it A vei\ laige per cent-age of the fires that occur in the colon's is the work of criminals Arson and incendiarism aie rife, and State insurance will not cure this neither will increasing the piemium lates * ■* * A public inquiiv eveiy tame theie is a fire is about the only wa\ of putting a stop to 'criminal fires " The< knowledge that there is no escape from such an inquiry will make the 1 insured yon careful The underwriters also w ould hiave occasion to think seriously No underwriter would like it to come out m evidence that he was a paa*ty to granting undue insurance which is one of the scandals of fire-underwriting. * * * The insurance companies would heartily support a proposal to hold fire inquests, and it is the belief of some tihat the underwriters would not oppose a special insurance tax for this purpose provided, of course the tax is not excessive, and is levied with some fairness * •» * The appointment of Sir James Piendeirgafct to the directorate of the Bank of New Zealand, in the place of Mr J. R Blair, has. been favourably received in commeroiail circles, but there is still some curiosity to know why Mr Blair resigned? Some of the shareholders mCc anxious to know if the promise of a dividend made b\ Mr Blair will now fttand good. * ♦ » The policy -holders of the Austiahan Widows' Fund Society received their bonus oert.inca.tes last week. The promptness of the Society is much admired. It seems that tlus Society has done remarkably well in this colon\ m tih© short period it has operated here and then Melbourne Board is so satisfied with the outlook in New Zealand that besides acquiring a first-class freehold property for the head office about £o4 000 has been invested m New Zealand Goa eminent securities The half--\earl\ balance-sheet of the Bank of Australasia is ver\ satisfactory A five per cent dividend for the half-year is a very large bank dividend now -ar days. The addition of L4O 000 to the reserve fund, and the writing off of €20,000 from the premises account show the cautious side of the management * * * The contract foi the chiect service to South Africa has gone to the Blue Stai line, a Liverpool s'eivice It is not known hwe whe>thor the \csseK aie msulkted foi the carnage of frozen meat or whether the conti actors will have to charter speoia.l steamers to comph with the conditions laid down b\ the Goi rrnment It is \ erv probable, however that titacHliU' Star line will sign the contract If vy the. first of the direct steamers 'idoiild Imi leading the colom at fhr c.nd

ot June 01 eail\ m Jul\, 01 just about the dead season ot the \ oar, when this colom li.is little 01 no pioduce for export The meat that is being sent by the tioopships Kent and Devon, to the ordei of the Beigl Syndicate, loi the British troops m Soutli Afnoa, is paiticularlv good, and lias been graded with extieme caie to suit the special le(jimements of the War Ofhee Theme«t has all been obtained in the North Island, and should help the colom in. obtajning a trade mtioduction that ought to pioveof consideiable value * * *■ Tlie agncultuia.l 1 etui us issued in a supplemental^ Gazette" pubh&hed last week, are \ei*v tatisfaetorA The- total aioa in grass and ciops at the* date of the census was 30,4~)1,942 acres. a.n inciease of (iOB 11(> acies compared with the previous \ ear The increase in the area 121 grass is show n at 685,937 acres, tlie decrease in the area under crop being 77,821 acres leaving the net increase at bOB IK) acres, a.s stated above The total area in ciops of all kinds is gn en as 1 101,137 acies which is, the smallest aiea ciopped in the past six years. The season 1898-1899 .showed the most activity in agriculture when 1 7(> 5 832 acies weie placed under ciou so that in the past season the crop area de-creased bv 264. b90 acres as compared w ith four seasons ago. The shrinkage is large and shows most conclusively that agnculture is not so piofitable .s> other branches of farming The a,iea 111 wheat shows a decrease of 43 003 acres compaied with the previous season and oats a deciease of 43 (>lO acres. Barle\ rvo ma,ize hops, tumaps and lape also showed dene ases. The live stock statistics are also satisfactory. There is an Inclea.se of 13 353 in the number of horses and this appears to be direotlv due to the demand cieated bv the wai in Smith Africa. Cattle show an mciea.se of £1O"3,1O4 head which is the heaviest mcieiaise known few many veais At the date of the census there were 13 887 moiedam cattle than in the previous v ear * * * It is painfulh ewdent that the hog industry is not atti active to the farmeis, tor the statistics show that the number of pigs in the colony deceased bv 2b 90l during the \eai. Even- description of hog is affected notwithstanding that betted facih es now exist for maiketmg pigs. * * Seveial bacon factone.s have been oipened in the North Island in recent veai-s and according to reports, there us a pretty fair outside demand for the products and vet we find little attention paad to the industry bv the farmers * * • Tne mailing market is quiet, speculation being confined to a few choice companies on tbe West Coast and Otago The leturns from Otago continue satisfactory considering the state of the m ers and there <ue hopes tha.t next month the return"; will approach the KM'sntional The dnectois of dredging companies are now taking the humane course of forfeiting shares upon which there aie overdue calls Perhaps thii course is forced upon the companies owing to tlie harsh and exacting and peculiar conditions of the Act of last \eai * • • The Gentle Annie di edge if not aJread\ started w ill begin operations in a v er\ short w hile *■ * * A syndicate with a capital of £12jO, is being formed to purchase the Chatto Creek Company's dredge and claim and recommence dredging operations. * » • The Uppei Clutha dredge has been shut down and the debenture holders of the company are to hold a meeting to consulei the position of affairs.