FINANCE AND TRADE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 4979, 19 March 1895, Page 3

FINANCE AND TRADE.

[Specially compilcdfor the 'Wairarapa Daily Times.'] MONEY. The Colonial Bank of New Zealand lias found it necessary to drop the dividend from 7 percent to 6 per cent, and no one can quarrel with the institution for having done this, on tlie contrary it is what the shareholders should expect if they desire to see the Bank prudently and cautiously managed. It would have been better even if the dividend had been lowered to 5 per cent and the reserve fund increased. The halfyearly report of the Colonial Bank, to mind the fact that quite a nraber of people hold the view that the amalgamation of the Bank of New Zealand and the Colonial Bank will be effected before long. Why the Colonial Bank should seek to be consolidated with the Bank of New Zealand is a little mystifying, for according to its half-yearly reports it is in a prosperous dividend paying condition, while the Bank of New Zealand is subsisting on an endorsed bill, and it may or may not be in a position to meet the bill at maturity. Its ability to do so is a speculative point, if it fails to pay up then it must stand the consequences of default. The amalgamation of these two institutions under such peculiar circumstances would seem to suggest that the byplay will be against the State which has guaranteed the absorbing institution. This question is likely to be before Parliamentduring the coming session, if all the rumours that are afloat prove comet. Tho returns of the Bank of England show the reserve of notes and coin to stand at £2818741000, as against £28,916,000 for the previous the proportion of reserves to liabilities stands at 70'4 per cent. The reserve for the corresponding week of last year was £23,525,000. The following is a comparison of the leading items of the Bank of England with tho corresponding date of last year Feb. 28, Feb. 28, MoveA 1894. 1895. mcnl. A £ £ £ increase Coin and Bullion .. 80,030,000 37,031,000 7,054,000 Notes in Circulation 24,303,000 24,704,000 486,000 I'llbllC Deposits .. 10,135,000 10,194,000 59,000 Other Km • • 29.409,000 32,053,000 2,589,000 UoKrara'tSecuriticj 8,033,000 12,473,000 3,540,000 decrease Other Securities .. 20,520,000 18,774,000 7,752,000 Increase llescrvo .. .. 22,522,000 20,000,000 0,568,000 The open market rate for three months' bills remains at 1$ per cent. :is quoted last week. GOVERNMENT STOCKS. British 2f per cent, consols (Goschen's) have declined ss, and are quoted at 1041. Colonial Govddunent stocks show very little Of the 4 per cent, stocks two out of the Bix denominations are changed, South Australia advancing 5s and New South Wales showing the reverse movement of the. same amount. The following table shows the fluctuations for the week McL Mek Move7. 14 ment . N. Zealand 1929109} 109} N.S.Wales 1933 110} 110 Fall ss. Victoria, 1920 104 101 —— S. Australia 1938108 108} liisoSs Queensland, 1921106f 106* —— W.Austwli»pU2 112 —J

In the.3j per cent stocks, South Australia and Queensland have declined 5s each, tho others being stationary as the following table will show;— Mch. JIcL Move 7. 14 mont. New Zealand 1940 101-J- 101-J- —- N.S.Wales 192-1 102 102 Victoria 1923 S. Australia 1930 102f' 102} Pall 5s Queensland 1924 100 ( 99J Fall 6s Tasmania 19-10 100 j 100 FROZKN MK/iiT, The only change to report is a further fail of jd in sjecond quality mutton, the other quota .tioits showing no alteration. Thopircsent prices are first quality muttcjin 3 5-Bd, second quality 2 5-Bii; [lamb, average quality, 'lid, finest, (Ud. On the 28th ult., the price Jof Australian mutton, average quality, was quoted at2fd, and averagej lamb at 3|d, WHEAT. I The wheat market; shows a slight fall;Nc\vZealand W.g-berried wheat quoted at 25s Gd per 4961b, shows a fall of 3d; South /Australian and Victorian wheat a t 265, have declined 6d. The American visible wheat supply is estimated at 96,800,000 bush els as against 103,100,000, the previous estimate, DAISY f'KODUCE. The buttor m arket appears despoudentstill; chc licest quality Danish is selling at 9/,'s, and the Colonial article at correspondingly low prices, During the pirst five months the imports of bu.tter into the United Kingdom exco eded the imports for the corresponding period of last year by 9,300 tons. Two-thirds of this increase wasiirom Europe, and the remainder from Australia. In this increase wo <jan see the reason for low prices, and if the output continues to increase, as there is every prospect of its doing so in the Colonies, a further fall in prices is inevitable.

In his re port for the year 1893 on the trad c of Denmark the British Consul refe.Ts to the Danish butter trade as fol lows: -" In spite of great "difficultiesiuthe beginning of t-lio "year—ow in?firstly to ice, secondly " to the great cotton-spinners' strike "in Lancashire, and thirdly tothceoal " strikes—the trade on the wholo " succeeded 1 very well. This was " piincipalilydneto the great drought "in Frauce, England, and Ireland, " whereby t he competition of these "countrieswas considerably weak- " ened. At the same time the Eng- " lisli market did not receive so large " a supply fii'om America and France " the imported quantity from these " countries being 12,000,0001bs to " 13,000,000 lbs less thau the year "before. The supply was thus " smaller, an d on the other hand the " demand v;as greater, it being a " fact beyond dispute that in hard " and difficult times the consumption "of cold food increases with the " working population, while in pros- " perous times cooked food in all " ways is preferred. In 1893 the " circumstances connected with the " working 'population were but toler- " ably goocl, but on the other hand " not so binl as not to allow them to " better and enrich the cold food " with gooi 1 butter. There was con- " sequently a great demand on the " English market for butter, and " when the Danish butter only " reached a price of 93 kroner per " cwt. in 1593, agaiust 98 kroner "in 1892, it was entirely due to " to the enormous and constantly in- " creasing supply of butter imported " from the Australian Colonies," TAI.IiOW, The results of the recent sales ave as follows: — Casks Casks medium medium offered. sold, mutton, beef. per cwt. per cwt. £, s. d. £'. s. d. Feb. 1. 1725 1425 1 2 0 1 1 0 Feb. 8. 17-25 lid 12 3 113 Feb, lio, 1425 1100 1 2 0 113 Feb. .'22. IC3O 425 1 2 G 113 Mar 1. 1575 400 1 2 3 1 1 3 Mar 8. - NOTES. The financial year of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Co. closed on the 28th nit,, and it is reported that the receipts and expenditure are about on a level with last year, and the same dividend 6 percent, may therefore be expected. An Australian paper says—" The approximate average value of wool in 1894 was only £ll 10s per bale as against £l2 10s in 1893, £l2 in 1892, £l3los in 1891, and £1415s in 1890.' On the twelve months average,greasy merinos fell a full id in London, and average scoured l}d. Turning to other produce, the year a drop of 3s per cwt in tallow; o:f 'ls (id per quarter iu wheat; of 2s per 2801b of flour; of 20s per cwi; in butter; of jjd per lb in frozen mutton (a drop now fully recovered); of '2d per lb in rabbit skins and basils; of £2 5s per ton in copper; of iSll 10s per ton in tin; of 4|d per o,i in silver; of £1 per ton in mimosa bark; of £2 per ton in copra; anil of 7s Gd per cwt in M.O.P. shell; and against this long array of lower quotations, ox bides, leather and le ad alone can be said to have held thjeir own in this most unpropitious year, There was really no instance of j improvement." The people Jof Taranaki have developed a freezing mania, and intend forming a limiited liability company with a capital' of £IO,OOO in 2000 shares of £5, ;to give emphasis to the ideas of tho ■ leading men. What Taranaki wauits with another lot of refrigerating: machinery is best known to themselves. The Waitara works which' are conveniently situated and easily worked have a capacity that should bo equal to all the requirements of the district for many years l;o come, but the Waitara works are not on the New Plymouth Breakwater, hence the desire for a new concern.

The Melbourne Argttt of the 2nd inst says " Theagents of the various " lines of steamers trading between " here and London having cool " storage accommodation are com- " pcting for the freight in poultry " and rabbits which the department " of Agriculture is sending to Lon- " don. Yesterday, the department " received an offer of space in the " cool chambers of tho Gulf of Genoa "whichleaves hero about the end "of next month," Victoria is developing the poultry andrabbittrade and the producers are being well backed by the government. The output has attained tolerable dimensions and the s.s. Themiopylro which sailed from Melbourne on the 6th insc, took 80,000 rabbits and 8000 poultry. What is New Zealand doing in this respect ? and what is the Department of Agriculture doing? The Hon John McKonzieis Minister of Agriculture, but he must have forgotten this fact or else is too busy studying Gaelic for the approaching session of Parliament, to give any attention to the business of this department. He wants rousing up. Pebcv Pbmyn, .