COMMEECIAL INTELLIGENCE.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 2, 4 June 1864, Page 2

COMMEECIAL INTELLIGENCE.

Southland* Times Office, Friday Evening. The amount of revenue collected at tho Customs yesterday was £105 2s. 5d., and to-day £19385. lid., araountmg^together to £298 lis. 4d., being duty paid as follows : — ; Brandy, 121. gals. ■ ...£55 3 1 -Wine. 92 gals. = ... ■■ 13 16 0 Wliiskv, 65 gals. ... ... , 29 5 0 Geneva, 33 J ; gals.... ... 15 Oil Rum, 62 gals 27 18 0 . Beer v ur bulk, 750 gals. ... 18 15 0 Do., in bottle, 7GB gals. .... 38 8 0 Sugar, 6103 lbs 25 8 10 Tea. 1910 lbs 32 6 8 Tobacco, 173 lbs 12 19 6 Sundries 29 10 4 £298 11 4 Messrs Morrison, Law and Squires, sold by auction, on Thursday last, at the Provincial Sale; Yards, several pens of fat cattle, &c. Prices for good cattle ranged from £11 to £13 10s.; inferior, £8 to £11. Calves sold at £8. Cows, £10 to £11. Messrs Taylor and Marchant sold by auction, at the Jetty, Invercargill, on Thursday, the lighter New Chum. The price realised was £50. A boat sold : at the same time brought £35. Thereafter, in Hately and Co.'s bond, a lot of Bass' ale (old brew), was exposed, but bidders seemed disinclined to speculate ; only half-a-dozen casks found purchasers, and at the low figure of £4 per hogshead. During the week business here has been conducted on the most limited' scale, tho universal tightness of the money market rendering any transactions, beyond those necessary to meet the demands of a hand tomouth trade, to be scarcely heard of. The up-country trade Bhows no falling off, however, for some time back, bufc the bad state. of fche roads almost precludes traffic. In the auction sales during the week, the prices realised were in every instance very low, and considerable quantities of the goods were bought in at the reserve prices. The latest Melbourne advices will have a tendency to make flour steady in price, holders thero being not disposed to deal, unless afc an advance, and the excited state of the flour market in Sydney will doubtless increase this upward tendency here. The Sydney Mail has the following remarks on the subject -. — "The flour market has been, iv a very unsettled state, nobody being quite certain as to what to expect, and speculators being all in a fever of excitement. The uncertainty all arises from the doubt as to what' ex tent of supply can be exported from California. We know pretty well what can be looked for from South Australia. The official agricultural statistics of that colony have been published, and the amount of wheat still available for export is determinable with tolerable accuracy. But all that South Australia can spare is too little, and we look to Calfornia to make up the balance. There are large stocks m California, ;but then thoy are beiug husbanded in consequence of a drought, whicli creats anxiety as to the next crop. Tlie Charlotte Andrews, however, lias recently arrived with a part; cargo of breadstuffs, and with the news that rain had fallen and that prices had in consequence given way. Bufc the rain was of short duration, aud dry weather had seemed to set in again, so that prices were rising once more. Part of her cargo had been rclanded, there were no other ships on the berth for Australia, and it was difficult to buy wheat or flour. Until we get further news, therefore, it is impossible to say whether we shall be able to draw large supplies from California. Bufc the fact that the drought had broken up, and that some rain had fallen, naturally leads to the hope that more rrin would fall again soon, and if this hope is realised, the shipments from San Francisco will bo large, and prices here wiil be kept down." *