COMMERCIAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2812, 7 May 1895, Page 4

COMMERCIAL.

♦- TIMARU HORSE MARKET.

The Canterbury Farmers' Co-operative Association, Limited (per Mr J. Mundell, auctioneer), report on the horse market at TattersaU'B yards as follows: Our entry comprised 68 horses, 5 cows, farming implements, etc. We had a large attendance of those interested in horse flesh during the sale. Young draught stock iu good condition for work sold well, but horses out of condition and aged were neglected; the Sydney consignment, on account of Mr Kennedy Wylie, although rough looking, attracted a good deal of attention, and buyers who were fortunate enough to secure them must have had a profitable investment, as the horses are descended from tho purest strains of blood iu New South Wales. Our quotations for the sale are as follows :—Draughts, young, with trial, £l4 10s, £l6 ss, £lB 10s, £2O, to £2llos ; do., light and aged, £6 15s to £7 10s ; Sydney consignment £l7los, and unbroken horses £B, £9, to £l2; hackneys, £6 15s to £B. Cows, £3 10s to £4 153. Implements at satisfactory prices.

Messrs D. Maclean & Co. report on the horse market as follows: —At their yards on Saturday they entered for sale 35 head, a large proportion being draughts of good average quality, for which there was fair competition, and a consible number sold. Light horses, with a few exceptions, were only second and third rate. They quote medium to good draughts at from £lO to £l6 10s, aged and inferior £4 103 to £8 10s, hacks, medium £6 10s to £lO ss, light and weedy £2 to £5 ss. They have enquiries for dog-cart horses and boys' ponies. SKIN SALE. The N.Z. Loan and Mercantile Agency Company {report that at their usual skin sale on Weduesday last they submitted a catalogue of 51 bales and 40 bags of wool, iq addition to a large entry of skins. The usual attendance of buyers were present, and biddings were fairly brisk. They placed the whole of their entry at satisfactory prices. Crossbred wool sold at up to sd, merino at 4d to pieces at up to 3£d, locks Id to l^d. MONETARY AND COMMERCIAL.

London, May 2. Tenders for the West Australian 3J per cent, loan of £750,000, with a minimum of 99, were opened to-day. There was heavy tendering, and the amount subscribed was £2,860,800. Nivibon'a syndicate tendered for £1,500,000 at £1021956d, and weje allotted 24 per cent. Another syndicate tendered for £125,000 at £lO3 0s 6d. The loan averages £lO3 Is 4d. The New Zealand loan is quoted at from 4 to 4| per cent premium. The offer by the Hull firm of B£d to 6d for rabbits is intended to indicate the present selling price at Hull, not the purchasing price at London. The Agent-General of Victoria has engaged an aualyst to report as to whether excessive freezing or prolonged cold in storage will cause injurious chemical changes in butter. Two samples ex Celtic King, arriving at from 10 to 12 degrees, were found quite pure. An other sample of Victorian, after nine months storage, was pronounced just free of margarine, though apparently deteriorated. Another sample similarly stored contained 14 per cent, of margarine. In order to detect if deterioration is the result of long storage Mr Gillies intends to subject pure butter to exhaustive tests, and have frequent analyses made while it is in store. Great interest is taken in the result. Messrs Weddels have chartered the steamer/Southern Cross to carry 700 head of cattle from Australip.

May 3. Tenders were opened to-day for the New Zealand 3 per cent. £1,500,000 with a minimum of 90. The total amount offered was £5,963,400. There were tenders for £3,210,000 at £94 Bs, which pri6e will get about one-third. The highest tender was 97. The loan averaged £94 8a 9d. One teuder waa for £1,000,000 at par. The loan was not underwritten, the local banks not receiviug any of the money. Financiers believe that its successful raising will result in re establishing colonial credit, and congratulate the Hon. J. G. Ward on the success of the loan. The Trust Agency o' Australasia declares a dividend of 20 per cent, and a bonus of 2J per cent. The total amount of reserve in the Bank of England is £28,598,000, and the proportion of reserves to liabilities is 65.93 per cent. Consols, 105$. New South Wales 4 per cent, inscribed stock 110, do 3J per cent 104 J ; Victorian 4 per cent 105 f, do 3k per cent, 100 J ; South Australian 4 per cent 109, do 3J per cent 104 ; Queensland 4 per cent 109£,d0 34 per cent 102| ; New Zealand 4per cent 109 J, do 3J per cent 104 ; Tasmanian 3i per cent 103 ; Western Australian 4 per cent 116. j New Zealand long-berried wheat is firm j at 26s 6d; Adelaide and Victorian are also firm at 26a 9d and 26s 3d. New Zealand mutton, first quality 3jd; second quality 2 Jd; lamb, average quality, 3}d. New Zealand hemp is unchanged. Two hundred of the Banffshire's sheep sold at 43s each; others at 38s. They were put on the market at s£d per fi>. A good selection waß offered at the wool sales but prices were unchanged. Continental buyers were the chief operators. The Bradford market is also flat, owing to the decline in London. Victorjan turkey poults brought per fb, which is considered very good, as there is little demand. Silver, 2s 6Jd. The Times asserts that a syndicate has induced the public to largely apply for colonial stocks. A Victorian wheat cargo, ex the William Tillie, has been sold at 25s 7id. A South Australian cargo, ex the Haheumaun, sold at 255. The Times states that the advance in the price of wheat is ascribed to the active speculation of German and American buyers based on the adverse reports of tho crops in those countries. At the wool sales there was ouly a medium selection offered. Bidding, howover, was keen. Prices are uncharged. Mr Hutchison reports that tho Victorian Horticultural Society's soft fruit i'x tho Thormopyhu failed. The apples und pears arrived in excellent condition. Tho major portion of the consignmentlunboonstoiYd. Victorian raspberry pulp sold at £25 ]os. Australian choicest, buttnr is increasing ins in demand, and tho price inioir.-d isS'i-. b May 4. Tho Financial Times declares that the success of the New Zealand loan is duo to a well-grounded belief that the finances < f New Zealand are improving. The Time* states that some good judges consider tho financial position of the colony does not justify a premium of H per cent, Mr Ward believes that it is advisable that tho Australian colonics should issue

future loaus at 3 per cent., and is arranging to convert all the New Zealand stocks into 3 per |cents. as near par as possible. He will initiate the operation before returning to Wellington. He intends that the process shall be gradual, as the priceß of stock justify it, and expects that it will result in a very large saving. Leading financiers assure Mr Ward that a conversion scheme will be well received, the market being convenient for dealers and investors, and that it is advisable .that the Australian Governments should take similar action, though federal stock would be the best of all. Mr Ward thinks long-dated 3 per cents, likely to induce conversion, which is to be entirely voluntary. lhe New Plymouth bond-holders have requested Mr Ward to agree to refer to arbitration the question as to the right of holders to regain the origiual endowments, and are dissatisfied with his offer to refer the matter to the Government. The bond-holders are pressing their claims urgently. New Zealand 4 per cent, inscribed stock is quoted at 112£. Ottawa, May 5. The Canadian deficit amounts to 4,500,000 dollars. The Government propose a duty of a half cent, per lb on raw sugar, Melbourne, May 3. The Protection Association is protesting against the reduction of the tariff on a number of articles recommended by the lecent Commission, on the ground that i such action would kill native industries.

Wellington, May 3. The following 1b a precis of an address delivered at Palmerston North yesterday afternoon by Mr B. J. Nathan, in reply to criticisms offered upon his scheme for the amalgamation of the frozen meat companies. The two points considered most vulnerable by the critics of the paper were those relating to the proposed sheep tax and State guarantee debentures. It was held that a tax of 3d per head on the flocks of the colony would be ruinously high and would practically .amount to 2a 6d per head on the sheep exported. It was also contended that while the tax of 3d might not be unreasonable on freezers, on stores, and culls, it would be absurd. To these arguments Mr Nathan replied that the rateß of valuas bb between freezers, stores and culls remained the same irrespective of the current price for freezer**. In other words, raise the price of freezers, and the price of all grades of sheep would* be raised. With regard to the proposed State guarantee on debentures, assuming that the company were able to raise its money at 4} per cent, interest without a State guarantee, the annual cost for the £2,000,000 of debentures would be £90,000; with guaranteed debentures at say 3J percent, it would be only £70,000, or a saving of £20,000 a year. He did not thiak this £20,000 per annum would be toe much of a bonus for the Government to give for such an industry, even if they were called upon to vote it right out, which under his scheme they were not. It was not essential to the success of the scheme, as money could be raised without it, but not so cheaply. Freight on meat carried from Australian ports was lower than in New Zealand, and if the proposed company only reduced rates in this colony to the level of the Australian it would result in a gain of the amount required to cover interest on debentures and to advertise and extend the trade. Another important and highly neoessary effect the company would have on trade was in relation to the grading of sheep. He dwelt strongly on the advantages that would accrue if the Government assisted the trade with a bonus, and pointed out that iu other parts of the world national industries were assisted by substantial bounties. The flax industry of New Zealand would never have fallen so low if it had been assisted in this way. It was contended by some writers that the proposal would in time become an enormous monopoly, but Mr Nathan failed to see how this could happen, as the scheme provided for co-operation among farmers and other interests in its widest sense. May 4. The Government have received a message stating that the loan is considered a splendid, success in London, and has raised the credit of all the colonies. The result was achieved in the face of persistent decrying by opponents of the colony. None of the New Zealand banks got any of the loan.