Finance, stocks, and Mining."MINING

Free Lance, Volume III, Issue 128, 13 December 1902, Page 24

Finance, stocks, and Mining."MINING

BECAUSE at the moment a quantity of suburban land is being got ready for the market, and the columns of the daily papers contain extensive announcements of pending auction aaleis of land, some people have jumped to the conclusion that Wellington as haying a land boom, and the awful consequences are predicted with much shrugging of the shoulders. There is no doubt "tfhat a great deal more land us being ofFerod just now than is usually the case, but. looking at the high city rentals, and the 'difficulty of obtainamg hoaae-room, there does not ajppear to be amy too much land available in the suburbs. • • • Furthermore, if travelling facilities were afforded and another 500 or 600 houses ' were ready for o<xniplaltiD)n, tlhtey would be readily taken by desirable tenants at fair rentals. There is an absolute diemand for building sections in the suburbs, where the rates do not pinch, and it is to supply this pressing demand that we have at tihis moment the anitounoement of so many land sales. This, does not make a boom, nor do the prices indicate that there is a land boom. A great many of the sections are being sold for bona fide occupation, while those who asrei speculating for the rise may be trusted to look aifber themselves. Some of tHie shrewdest men in the community are investing in real estate, and their example is a pretty safe one to follow. As tihe Yankees say, "All sorts of wealth take wing except real estate. It stays right along, and grows in value." * • • If the pessimists are to be believed, Wellington has fcaen enjoying a land boom for the past ten years, and, instead of there being a collapse, values have gone on increasing. Many thought the highest point had been reaielhed years ago, bat they were wrong, and the croakers of to-day are just as likely to be wide of the mark in, tfluedr predictions. No one will dispute the fact that the potxulatiion of Wellington will 1 increase in perhaps a greater ratio than in the past decade, and if there is scarcity of dwelling-places for the existing population, wliat will tlhe increase do for house-room ? The snread of poDulatdbn is bound to be in the direction of the suburbs and, therefore, it is stupid to say that far too much land is being placed on the market, and that there is a land boom. • • • Wellington reflects the prosperity of ttbe farming community, and in that respect is a remarkably fine barometer. Who can deny thaifc the farmers are prosperous, and prosperous to a degree never known before. The mere enumeration of well-known facts will carry conviction to: the reader : — Wool is high, Mutton is selling aJt record prices, Beef is in the same position as mutton, Butter is bringing better prices than last season, Cheese is higher than at any previous season, Tallow is bringing highly-payable prices, Hemp is keeping up well, Potatoes are making big money, Grains of all kinds are at higjh prices. • • * All the leading products ivre fetching really big prices, and the difficulty at the moment is to find the produce for wihich there are buyers everywhere. In addition to this, we have to remember tihat tihe gold production, of the colony is about £200,000 better than last year, and, 1901 was a record for more than thirty years. It is the substantial and unmistakable prosperity of the farming community that Wellington, reflects in its growing trade and increasing populatfcion. And. toi> of all this, there is the expenditure of vast sums of miblic money during the next five years : also the expenditure by private firms and individuals in building operations. Growth, expansion, and improvement are to be noted on all sides, and, because some t>eople are shrewd enough to anticipate the requirements of the population of land for homes, there are others not in, it, who are ready enough to cry out "Land boom." * ♦ * It is simply ridiculous. The incontrovertible facts are there to upset the predictions and prognostications of the pessimists. Nothing is sure, but, on the face of it there are good grounds for saying that one of the safest investments of the day is a section in, the

suburbs. There are, of course, stupid investors in land, as there are in dredging shares, but, so long as moderate prices are paid for sections, there is not much doubt about a land speculation turning out satisfactorily. * » -v The annual report of the North Queensland Insurance Company shows a profit on the year of £11,629, making, with the balance from the previous year, £13,859. A dividend, at the rate of 8 per cent, per annum, absorbing - £4294, has been declared, while £4000 has been 1 added to the reserve, bringing that fund up to £30,000, and there re- ; maims £5564 to he carried forward. > * • • The directors of the Gear Meat Company are always very prompt with their . annual report. It is announced that tihe dividend for the second half of tlhe year is to be 4 ncr cent., which makes a total distribution for the past year of 7% per cent. Freezing companies generally are experiencing a trying time just now, owing to the high prices of beef and mutton in the London market. Values have advanced owing to tihe scarcity of supplies, but. as tihe shipping season is just "openingr/ both in New Zealand and tihe Argentine, the difficulty with regard to supplies will be sipeedily overcome, and prices will fall. Where sales are on a c.i.f. basis, there is practically no risfc, but when, .as it often happens, the companies are obliged to consign their meat, and accept the risks of market fluctuations, there is always the danger of making heavy losses. It is a time for great caution on the part ofthe freezing companies, and tibey are acting very cautiously just now. •** " ♦ There seems to be some slight indication that the prolonged drought in Australia is at last about to break up. Rains have fallen over a vast extent of inland country, and, in a very short time, there will be a carpet of erraiss, and the starving stock will luxuriate for a time. Further rains will of course, be needed, otherwise the conditions will b© as bad as ever. The recuperative power of Australia is remarkable, and, with two or three normal seasons, the country would again be on the high road to prosperity. New Zealand has profited very greatly by the: misfortunes of South' Africa and Australia, but, notwithstanding this, we cannot grudge the Australians the great hopes that the rainsi of last week will have raised. There' is a distinctly brighter outlook than was the case a fortnight ago. * « ♦ The shareimarket is, to a certain extent, being .affected by the better opportunities offered to investors in land. There are, however, still numerous buyers for all the favourite stocks, but sellers/ ideas of values do not harmonise with those held by buyers, consequently business is restricted. Gas shares have had considerable attention, and sales are reported of Ashburton G<as at £4 12s 6d ; Napier Gas, at £19 12s 6d ; Port Chalmers Gas. at 27s 9d ; and Wellington Gas (£5 paid), at £9 17s 6d. • • • In other shares, there is very little dome. but the buying bids are as follows : —National Bank, 81s 6d ; Bank of New Zealand, 64s 6d; Metropolitan Building, £12: National Mortgage, 37s 6d ; Auckland Gas, £14 7s ; Palmerston North Gas, £4 7s 6d • New Zealand Insurance, 795; South British, 100sStandard, 18s 9d; Union Steam, £12 : W. and M. Rails, 295 ; Westport Coals', 116s; Wellington Opera House, 80s • Whitcombe and Tombs, 92s 6d.