"ALL IS NOT GOLD."

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 238, 1 October 1908, Page 4

"ALL IS NOT GOLD."

JSTKINUENCY UK MONEY AIARKET. WHAT ARE THE CUNTIUBUTINC! i CAUSES. f COMMERCIAL ~AN1) FINANCIAL WUKW.S. INTERESTING OPINIONS. Until a few months ngn New Zealand ' was revelling iu a wave of prosperity upon which rode buoyantly flier agricultural, nianufaciiiriiig and commercial interests. Money was plentiful and cheap—and all the general prosperity reticulated through a thousand channels. All this was altered by the wave of depression which received jls lirst momentum in America, and which played havoc with tile prices of most of our products. New Zealand is, iu consequence, enduring a period of lnnncl.irv stringency. The haul; returns tell (if straitened circumstances and of the insistent demands of the borrowers. In the shape of advances and discounts, (he banks .'have lent nearly 24 millions, or a million more than they hold in deposits. If tin., vast sum rcallv represented expenditure in developing the resources of the country, it would he an encouraging sign. |, u t does it V The prices of our great staple, wool, have (Implied 50 per cent. Until tilat recovers some of its l,:,v U -ay. f|,.,,. ( . „,,, hardly be any marked improvement in Ihe position. Our imports appear to have been on an unduly lavish scale. , and land vi-lucs, in too manv instances, have been based on their earnings during seasons of abnormal prices? The process of adjustment is now taking place, and helps tihe deadlock. The \i elliiigton Post has endeavored to ascertain from prominent bunk-inn- and commercial men what are the "causes of the present monetary stringency and then- cure. From the general tone of tile interviews, it will be gathered tlliat there is great diversity of opinion among the experts. "TIME TO SIKffiTEN KAIL." The head of a large drapery linn. who declined to have his name publish. Ed, asked: -'What good will it do to • cry stinking .fish?" l)q, ue8 iim? I'n- ; doubtclly there is, and has been for some 1u,,,. past, a depression in trade all round. 1 wouldn't like to venture on an analysis of the causes, and much k-s.s to say when and how will this ■•l.l'ingHicy be removed.' Aly house has ; <-ut down expenditure-, other houses •"•' doing (he same; it is f Ol . the Go- - vcrnni.Mrl._to follow. They must shorten *a,| will, regard to the expenditure • »f public money, iU ,d then the depres- " "ion will not hist lon-." ' WOOL PROSPECTS. Mi' A. 11. Aliles (Murray, Roberts ; .ami Co.) observed t| mt he , ;ll()ll |lt . th(! > .causes uf th,, st ,„. ti t y ~f ni „ne y -l, avo arisen m a much widvir field than this - and are a reaction of the „„ s an(] - downs of the European and American } '"oney markets, the wane of which we - are now beginning to feel." • ''' ""' «f "Piiiio"," Air. Miles c.intintt- . ul. inat the congested condition of the 1 money market m New Zealand is largely accentuated by Hie uncertainties un- • der winch the trading communities are ' working. The dilapidated condition of t the wool and hemp markets forms, of , course, one of the very tangible causes • of our trouble. With wool realising—--1 with many qualities of staple—about ; , one-half of the market price of two or three years ago, wool-growers have now t only about one-half the money to spend - to-i'lav that they have had. I' "'ONE COO IN THE WHEEL." s -The missing half,'' Air. Aides went

on. -forms one cog in the wheel whic vou will have to piece together for yourself, to find the aggregate of causes 'of the -earcit.y of money. The wool sales in London will tell us whether we are to have unv immediate relief of the 'existing tension. About thf'sc sUles there are. in sonic quarters, gloomy forebodings. I shall be surprised, as far -is I Inn justified in expressing an opinion; if w'e do "ol find the better ~;., sses of liidit-coudiium crossbred wools maintaining the full level of the last ' series of sales of this class ol W ° Ul, Till-! HEM I' OUTLOOK. Vt present. Mr. Miles thought the outlook to be by no means hope■f,,\ V & i 0 has been fetching !h««l ™u»«l » ; ™ denUile qmuiutv of that lire 0 U„ nice, soft qualities, to con mo , ;11 „„1 V into use than was the case when"Manila «P>™ «™ on " ] "^

WAXTOK CONfVWM-'K ~„,<■„) vxprossed himself 1,,,. magnitude "Ml.,;p>~, „,.„, i„ hissallc senses,' ho said, <"«< " ln»\v -mil '«'licn U "' sU ' m o™' v " F ll». moncv market ivill '»' removed. V, '■ , ,' v i ,:,■ to solve that problem ewvy ;,; v „r our lives. As for the .■iu.se,. Uicv are innumerable. ' «'»'•■"«" u " .riuV.nal .cause to want of cmiti- ciiee !,„ the part of the investor. Look . t this country; what security is thoio for money'' The fear of mi ini-iva.se „f the niortffise 1«x destroys cnniicapital. «o you Hunk I could safe j advise a friend, if he asked me how lie mifiht invest £IOO,OOO in New Zealand? No; capital has no conlidem-e to-day. TDK BANKS. •'As for Uic banks, I consider they have done Yeoman service: lint you can see for yourself that if municipalities, iml only' here, ibul at Home, embark so largelv'm industrial undertakings tliey do not leave room for Hie employment of private capital. Von nii-ht say, hut why nut enijilov it iu the extension of manufactures? ' Aery well. What do YOU trad all over the world—in dapa':i, turkev, Persia, India, Kussin, America, the .I'l'iilKil Kingdom: initense labour unrest. Can von answer that question; can you sav' that the. unsettled state of llie labour market inspires confidence in people with money'! If yon ca'n I will answer your question."

VALUE Olf' LABOUK. '■Labour,'' continued Mr Natlian. "gives yim less value for your money to-day than it ever did. lam connected with'an undertaking that is paying iCJIHIO ;i year more in wages than it did and is getting less value for its additional expenditure than it ever did. People who have money to dispose of shrink from investing it where there is so much uncertainty uliout its return." Mr Nathan then referred to the, stagnation of the llax industry in the Manawatu. Millers could, he held, sell at from .t"23 to ,C 23 Ills, f.0.b.. but .they cannot do so in the Manawatu and cope with labour demands and heavy royalties at the same time. No one.

he said, could predict with eertataty what llax was going to realise on the London market', although .statistically it ought to advance. And the same held goml with respect In wool, which, slat-i-tieally speaking, ought to advance in price ag.iin. Who could say what influence the wheat prop was going to exert on the money market? Lord Uo'thsehild's utterances upon the waul. «f confidence experienced by tire investor wen' a, true of New Zealand as of the world at large. There appeared to be no si ability at all either politically (in liiirope) or industrially. Mr Nathan referred to the British Liberal (lovevnment. anil observed that

want of conlideneo on the part of lii'il i-h investors and Liberal (.'ovornincn'ts ircnorally synchronised.' The lirst was the natural result of llviti-.li Liberal administration.