Finance Stock And Mining

Free Lance, Volume III, Issue 141, 14 March 1903, Page 25

Finance Stock And Mining

THE suggestion has beeai made that because the batiks hold large sums on, deposit that therefore the Government will have no difficulty in borrowing locally on equitable terms. This is open to doubt The banking deposits axe, to a very large extent, already invested by the banks in loans to their customers. This is one of the objects of banking, and one of the chief sources of profit to the banks. The deposits cannot, therefore, be regarded as idle money least of all is it to be expected that the Government will be able to command this money. • * • If the. Government offered a tempting rate of interest, on short-dated debentures, some depositors might be induced to w ithdraiw from the banks and mvesit in Government securities, but any greneral rush would be checked by the banks offering higher rates for deposits so as to retain them, but in such an event there w ould be a relative increase in the rates on overdrafts. In short, money would be tighter all round. • * • The Flour Millers- Association and the free millers are at loggerheads, and the consumers will benefit by the strupcle. It is to the interest of the general public to support the free-millers, and prolong the conflict. Flour has dropped in price very considerably as the result of this competition and ultimately the combine must fall, even though it is suppoited by the majority of the bakers. There is no doubt that the previous quotation of £13 per ton was an exorbitant pricei, and scarcely warranted by the ouotation for milling wheat. Bedlock has not yet been reached, and will not be reached until the quotation for flour in sacks comes down to £10 per ton,. Bread has droprjed a half-penny per loaf, and a further drop may be expected as the result of the present conditions. • * * The splendid advance that has taken place in the pnces of metals, particulailv in copper and lead, will enable many of the mines to resume work. To Broken Hill, the rise in lead means a good deal, and already two of the shutdown, mines are to be re-opened. To a certain extent, these works will absorb some of the idle labour of Australia,, and there are hundreds of men there walking about looking for a job. • * * Further satisfactory rams throughout the Commonwealth make it very clear that the drought is now a thing of the past The recuperative power of Australia is remarkable, and the recovery from the drought will not be as 1 long as some people are inclined to think. Restockins; the depleted farms and runs will take some time, but the crops of next season should show a bier expansion in area sown and a satisfactory yield. There should be no necessity to import wheat and oats, nor yet should Australia require New Zealand butter. • * * The London butter market, it is satisfactory to note, shows an improvement, New Zealand butter being especially in good demand. The improvement, has come somewhat late, and cannot last very long, because presently European supplies will be pouring in. The Russian exports to England last year showed an increase of 50 per cent, over the previous year, and the total was nearly as much as the total amount from Canada and Australasia combined. Argentine butter, it is to he noted, is selling m London at 2s Der cwt. less than, New Zealand. • • • Frozen meat continues weak in the London market, and by the tone of the Agent-General's message it is evident that a further fall must take place. The supplies from the River Plate are reported heavy, and it may be added that there is every likelihood of supplies from this quarter increasing as the capacity of the freezing works in the Argentine has been practically doubled, giving scope for an output of five millions of mutton carcases besides beef. Further than this, the admission of live stock into Britain enables the meatcarrying steamers to carry a deck load of sheep or cattle. The resources of the Argentine are enormous, and that country can draw upon 120,000,000 sheep and 30,000,000 cattle. A large extent of country remains 1 to be opened up, and tlia,t merely helps 1 us to realise w hat a formidable competitor we have to deal with.

The London wool sales opened on Tuesday, but up to the time of writing this note no advices have been received as to the tone of the market. The indications, judged by other incidents connected with the wool market, point to the probability of a slight drop in values. • • • The South African trade, so far as this colony is concerned, is drooping. The meat trade 1 has received a severe blow through Argentine competition. Contracts previously arranged in New Zealand wdl terminate on the Ist of May, and after that date it is not likely that much frozen produce will go forward. Strenuous efforts w r ere made to arrange fresh contracts, and, although prices were cut down to bedrock, the business was carried past New Zealand, and given to the River Plate, the difference m price 1 eing fully 33i per cent, in favour of the Argentine. If frozen meat is omitted from the cargo, the direct South African steamers will have very little to take, and therefore it is the opinion of some commercial men that this service will not be carried on for three years unless the terms of the contract are rearranged. The Northern Territory, of Australia, is, with its gold discoveries, engaging the interest of mining speculators in London. The Arltunga field is evidently rich, but whether it ts a® rich as the mining reports 1 make out is quite another matter. Picturesque and exaggerated language comes naturally to the mime-boomers, but speculators are getting cautious. * # * However, if finiancial interest in London is roused, the mining industry throughout Australasia will be benefited. The dredging industry of New Zealand, which offers excellent prospects, only needs capital and proper organisation to give handsome results. A mining boom is one of the possibilities of the year but New Zealand investors are likely to operate with extreme caution .