THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5448, 12 September 1878, Page 3

THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

(own correspondent press agency.) Capetown, July 30. Our colonial markets, with the exception of breadstuffs and brandy, have been inactive but steady. The anticipated famine in the frontier and independent native districts was happily averted by the break-up of the drought; but its. anticipation had led to the ordering of immense stocks of wheat, flour, and potatoes from all parts ©f the world, a large quantity of which still remains unsold, and what has changed hands has been generally at reduced rates. During the first six months of this year the importation of breadstuff* and feeding grain have exceeded the total importation of any former twelve months. A cargo of wheat ana flour ex Sunbeam, _from your port of Lyttelton,-was mostly sold privately, but some ninety tons of the flour were sold by auction, and realised 15s. 9d. to 16s. per lOOlbs. duty paid, The speculation in brandy has been caused by the general opinion prevailing for some time that colonial spirits would be heavily taxed to meet deficit in revenue, and this was amply verified. The deficit in the revenue was estimated by the Treasurer-General at £250,000, exclusive of one million war charges. The latter the Government proposed to meet by .loan, and the former by a tax on colonial and foreign spirits of 2s. per gallon, a house tax, a receipt stamp tax, and an increase in the ad valorem duties. The receipt stamp was afterwards dropped in favor of an increased duty on tobacco, and the tax on colonial spirits reduced to is. per gallon, without any drawback on importations. A proposal of the leader of the Opposition, .adopted by the Government, to tax the stocks of colonial spirits on hand, was vehemently opposed by the merchants, but the principle was affirmed by a large majority in the Lower House, and the Bill passed through committee in the Upper House to-day without amendment. Tiie last quotations of wool are—Good Tght greasy,' ; fleece, washed, 9Jd. to 10£d. ; scoured, Is. 4sd. Some superior mohair fetched Is. 7£d., but middling and common remain at old rate?. - Affairs in the Transvaal are still unsettled. The chief Secoceui, instigated no doubt by Cetywago, the great Zulu King, has permitted his tribe to lift cattle in all directions, and serious fighting has been the result. Troops released from Kaffraria, and reinforcements from England, will probably, however, soon bring the natives to their senses. The weather has been extremely cold, with a succession of fierce gales from north and south-east.