Bank of New Zealand

Taihape Daily Times, 16 June 1919, Page 5

Bank of New Zealand

_ ANNUAL MEETING OF», , A’ PROPRIETORS. ' - !“*."'-‘U “M _(Continued,from Last Issue.) ‘ ' I ‘ A GENERAL REMARKS. ' -' During the year under ‘review, ‘ certain districts were adversely affected ' -by drought (happily since broken), and i this, added to the fact that many freezing companies were unable to take _ stock for trea.t.ment‘when ready, owing 1 to lack of shipping facilities, has in;_flic‘ted somewhat serious losses. on pastoralists. Yet, in pite of thee conditions, the general prosperity of the Dominion is being well maintained. For this we are indebted to the Imperial co'nlmand.eer of our primary produce, such as wool, meat, butter, and cheese. As is well known these commodities have been secured by the Imperial. authorities until practically the close of the 1820 season-, at War prices, which yield a handsome profit to our’ producers, and their prosperity is re- ' flected throughout the country. The ex- ‘ port figures for the produce year ended September 30th, 1918, would have been considerably larger but for the shortage of shipping. For this ‘reason the external trade returns are "of little .yalue. and are not worth quoting. It will be interesting, however, to give the total payments made by the Imperial Supplies Purchase Department'_ for produce iconnnandered and shipped up to .the 17th May last. They are:—--.‘ £ . 4 Meat Cheese .... .. . . 13,709,361 Butter ... . . Wool Slipe Wool V Sheepskins Hides Sheelite ». ... . . 1383540 T ' Other bus’in.e_"s_s 1 1,733,469 Looking to-""t'l'ie‘ .f.utui'e -1t:“'<<5ou1(1 seem’ tllat.,".as“«l'egards g‘e'ii.er’al ea'rgo, there appears every likeliliood of a clearance of all classes o‘ff-‘general"_car'go being -effected 'prior 'to,;th‘e beginning of the _next. season. V -

Dtairy pl'oduce.—'—-Very little butter available for export I'elnains in store, and the mall quailtity will 0 lifted at an early date. Meat-.—Owing to the large amount bf.’ meat in store, it is difiicult to ‘see how a complete cleai-anee can be effected before next season’s operations begin in November; but on a conservative basis, it may be estimated that -Sufi?-eic-11t_ tonnage will be available to clear .fre_ezing companies’ stores to an exfent; {hat will enable killings to proceed. without interruption well into next sea-

The prosperity of the country is further reflflected in the aiilting returns, and it may not be out of place to give the amounts of fhe fixed and free deposits and the advances and discounts in illustration. They are as follows:

In the five years covered, by the war. the deposits have increased by £14,515.576, or about 02 per cent. The deposits in the Post Office Savings Bank during the same period show an increase of £17,031.568 (nearly 9S per cent), and those of private Savings Banks (five in number), an increase of £1,319,423. Of the lai'er increase, £978.000 occurs In the :~TUres of the Auckland Savings Bank t-.lonc. On the other hand, banking advances hare expanded by £5.53(i.59(5. equal to J about 35 per cent. The increase in the advances is due to a variet yof causes. Since the signing of the armistice there has been a falling off in domestic trade, which has had the effect of many ?nerchants accumulating stocks of highly-priced goods, while retailers are only buying from hand to mouth, on the • assumption that, in the near future. there will be a considerable reduction in prices. The accumulation of stocks and the falling off in trade are causing merchants to lean somewhat heavily on the banks.

In the five years there has been an increase in the revenue of* £10,122,711, equal to about 83 per cent, while the expenditure has increased by £6,847,735, equal to about 54J per cent. The •smpluses during the past four years i aggregated £15,090,514, and this amount together with £149,047 carried .over in 1915, and making a grand total Of £15,239,561 is being held by the Treasury in liquid form to meet such contingencies as may arise during the next year or two. It is a splendid , achievement for a country with such a restricted population to provide so large a revenue as £22;352;372, which is equal to nearly £22 per capita. The principal source of the increase has 1 "been due to income tax, while the land tax and death duties have helped considerably. The Customs revenue, which is contributed to by all classes of the community, has not increased to any extent, chiefly because of the extraordinary difficulty experienced in impor- i ting merchandise. [

The debt for 1919 is estimated, the increase being exactly that shown by ‘.1918 over 1917. The increase during ’the five years (i.e., during the war period) is £7'4,474_.550, equal to about 81 per cent. Thehamount stated is approximately correct, for if was r-eeentl_v officially stated that the estimated ‘total of the whole war expenditure of New Zealand is £75."-750.000. The inter. est bill was more than‘ doubled in the five years, and further increase may be anticipated, because further borrowing ‘is ginexitablc. The pensions in ‘ force -at the end of March last, together i with the annual value, v:ere:—-5 i Class of Annual ' Pension Number value "N £ 1 Old Age Widows ‘ Maori _War .. 1,040 47,814 1. Miners War 51,785 2,608,555

The pension list must also expand, and ‘the War pensions at least. must. be regarded by the country as a sacred obligation. ' It will be seen that. from the nature of its liabilities. the State must obtain Large revenue. It seems certain tlmt Germany will be obliged to indemnify the Allies to some extent, and if New Zealand is successful in obtaining a fair proportion of this indemnify, ii’. will be of material assistance to this this Dominion; but in any case, it is probable that no amount recoverable under this head will be received for many years, even supposing that the ‘terms of restoration can be ent'orce(l. Tn the meantime, the necessary revenue must be raised '3O" meet at least interest obligations. U "i’"""""."""“""""-"'°‘"

When the Imperial Commandeer expires, as it will about the middle of next year, it is probahlc that the prices of wool, meat, butter and cheese will decline, partly through the stress of competition, but mainly because our customers, being impoverished by the war, will be unable to pay high prices. ‘A fall in pricfes will affect the prosperity W'e arbfnow enjoying, because it will involve a reduction ill our income, and this can be recovered only by increased production. We must bring more land into profitable occupation, and farm on scientific lines. ' In the dairy industry_. laudable efforts arc being'ma-do to increase Hie number of'products;-'-‘EII other words, to eliminate Waste; and these efforts should be encouraged by the authorities. The manufacturers of dried milk, sugar of milk, casein, etc_, is alrezidy undertaken on a somewhat. extensive scale, and steps are being taken to substantially increase the output of ‘these manufactures. Some of the Wailcato Dairy Companies sent to America, some months ago, a deputation consisting of three experts, to look into the method of dried milk manufacture: and as the result of their investigations, three dried-milk factories are to be erected in the Wai—kato district, ‘[o dcaT’with the sl~:inl—i med milk of not less than 20,000 cows. 1 As regards casein, the Inanufacturers of that article in New Zealand will 110 t ~llood to again enter into contracts with Gmman firms, as ‘there is every r prospect of an expanding trade being done With Britain. Birmingham, it is _stated, has worked up an extensive trade in articles made from casein The casein is chemically treavfved and Solid__ Ifled, and issues from the factory in sheets and rods of Varying thickness. The development of the British dye industry has made it possible to Impart a rich diversit_v of colours to the material, and as the nianufacturers have mastered the secret of polishing it to a fine gleaming surface, its a,dapta=bill't_v for conversion into nick— ‘ nacksis unlimited. The manufacturers have overcmnc all the technical [difficulties and are now sending out in

1:-11-ge quantities a great variety of articles made from casein. I 1: is also being used for carfiage and mb'tol‘—car fittings, and is said to be proving Very useful as an insulator in aeroplane construction.

VVith respect to m(v.=al"/. the British Government Meat Committee is considering Ways and means of increas~ ing the imports of meat. from Ausfra—lasia, and good results from the offorts of this Committee may be expected. _

l The principal, if not the 01113’, 111011ace to the Meat. in-ade is the great American Beef Trust_ It has Sl‘>l'oi’~d its tentacles over Britain, and is quietly doing ‘the same in ‘Australasia. Apart from this, we must expect to meet with keen Competition from South America, and perhaps from South Africa also. During the war frozen meat (including meat from New Zealand) was used in France and Italy, and some frozen lamb was sold in New York. It is the opinifin of some that there will be a permanent Re-rnand for frozen meat on the Continent of Europe; but some of the leadng meat firms (are inclined to boliove that the prices will dcbar the French and other innpoverished Continental nations from largely i'llCl'CaS-I ing the consumption. I'-lowever, '!‘llel'o2 is no doubt. that Nmv Zealand can} make sure of a good market for all‘ the meat that ’can be shipped. Tho! question is rather one of incl'eaSod production. I

| With respect of wool. there is every Freason to believe that the market will lremnin favourable for many years'_ ‘The population needing wool is increasing far more I'api(]l_y than the flocks; indeed. it is“a‘ Tifiestion whether the sheep in the ‘.\'(ir]<l have not In’ftT—terially decreased during the past five years. Prices may not be as high as they are to-day, but they will certainly be at a profitable level for sheepmen who know their business. .The wool clip for the year which will close at the end of the current nl6n'tTl is Valued at the various Centres, ’i'6'§F"rllel- with the average prices, are ofii'c‘léfTy stated as:——

30,000 bales of rough wools will slightly reduce th e average return per bale for the wool clip as a whole. ! The quantity of wool dealt with in last year's wool clip was 522,325 bales of a value of £11,854,822. The age value per bale was then £22 14/, and the average price per pound 14.96d # When the allowance of, say, U per lb-7 for the 30,000 bales of oddments of wool yet to come in is taken into account the value per lb. of this year's clip may be brought down to 143 d. So that there is not very much difference between the two years. Tliis year, as in previous years during the term of the Imperial comman- : deer, the New Zealand woolgrower | will participate to the, extent of 50 I per cent, in profits made by the Im- | perial Government, on account of the sale of its wools in open market. What that amount of profit will be i s not : yet ascertainable. The sales are still , going on. | The following is a table of present , local wool values compared l fcvith j ' those of the past.

March Deposits Advances Quarter £ £ 1014 . . . . 24.030.250 • 23,666,750 1915 .. 26,829,239 L ■23.740,561 1916 . . 81,274,053 • . 23,733,892 ' 19:17 . . 34,356,539 27,694,930 191S .. . i ■ ■;. 35,505.497 i 29,317,S95 1919 '■■•.. .. 38.S4S,S26' 32,203,646

MaTch Net Debt Per Head } 31st. £ £ s. a. 1914 .. 91,689,835 84 2 8 1915 .. ©6,644,455 87 16 3 1916 . ;105,957,433 96 5 9 1917 ,. 125,572,515 114 0 9 1918 .. 145,868,450 132 0 8 1919 ,. 166,164,385 149 0 0

Bales Value per bale Centre No‘. '53 d Auckland 38,032 22 2 10 Tokomaru Bay 7,240 24 10 9 Tolago Bay 6,231 22 11 9 Gisborne 39,564 22 19 O Napier 78,274 23 17 4 Waitara 7,580 23 11 5 Wanganui 37,222 24 7 8 Vvcllington 104,085 24 15 10 Blenheim “ 14,574 22 10 8 Nelson ~ - 7,316 21 5 11 Christchurch 60,382 23 3 117 Timaru7 29,390 23 15 7! Oamaru' 10,310" 21 s 44 Dunedin 43,969 21 9 4: Invércargill , 30,339 _ 19,18 7‘ I , 515,053 Av 23 4 9

1908 1918. Half bred 7 d to 8 d 171d to 19 a Sup. Xbred 6fdto8 d 16 d to 18 d Medium 5gd to 7§d loftd to 17:7d Coarse 6 d to 63d 14id to 16 d Inferior 4Jdto6Jd 13 d to 14 d Pieces and bellies 2 dto3:|d 9Sd to 14 a Locks l"dto2Jd 6§d to 8|d