FINANCE AND TRADE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 5126, 10 September 1895, Page 2

FINANCE AND TRADE.

Specially complledtor Iho" Walrarapa Dally Timca' BUSINESS OR BANQUETS. The disposal of the Bank of New Zealand legislation clears the ground of a part of the weeds impeding profitable business. There, isjtill the tariff awaiting attention, bu&mr heaven-born financial Hon, J. G. Ward has rushed off to hisnativetownto receive the plaudits of the mob and the cold collation which the members of the Ministry persist in calling a banquet. The Tariff can" rip," but Ward must bo fed with public jubilation, for ho lias just just played at the game of statesmanship. The Colonial Treasurer, it is well known, has gone | to Invercargill to preside at the annual meeting of the J, G. Ward' ' Farmers' Association and tlio affaiis of the Colony must wait until this 1 duty has been discharged. TliJf- ' time is not far distant when the , Colony will demand that Ministers of the Crown shall in no way be associated with joint stock companies, jother than as ordinary shareholders. When the present Salisbury Gov- ■ ernmcnt took office. Ministers threw up over GO directorships and trusteeships, and the same plan to be adopted in this country, if wo I are to have that purity of administration which is essential to.Ad government. JE | But the tariff waits, It SKho j subject that will supply the cause for the next political battle. It P would be better for this country if [ the present Government had novor tinkered with the Customs dutks. In matters financial they arc nincompoops, and their followers aro ' about ten degrees more ignorant, and to entrust the revision of the tariff to such a crowd would be suicidal. ' Whatever may be the outcomo, the 8 fact remains that trade is ont of joint-, through the uncertainty that prevails, Traders are running closo to the wind, and purchasing no moro than is absolutely required for immediate purposes. Woshall never have a return of the confidence which is so essential to brisk business until wo chuck Scddon, War.d _ and Co., neck and crop out of office. Q This is now the principal duty tlio j. country owes itself if it wishes to make any progress, After all Ward's banquet may result in good. If the tariff does not come up for discussion until thfcsession is well advanoed, so mucWe better, for then there is a cliaiWof tlio matter being postponed for \ another year, and who knows what will happen in the meantime. Tlio majority in the House now is simply incompetent to view the fiscal question in any but a narrow-minded, how-will-'it-aifect-niy-friends, manner ; it would be better, therefore, if the subject were left severely alone. KIIOZES .MEAT CONFERENCE. s To Mr D.' J. Nathan is due the „ credit of bringing the question of im--0 proving the frozen meat industry to the fore-front. It was lie who first propounded a scheme, and impracticable

though it lias proved, it excited attention, and by common consent a conference on the subject was deemed necessary. Mr Nathan's scheme was shown to be unworkable, and was the first matter under discussion; Mr Hegg's motion for a uniform system of grading is unquestionably the correct thing, it is the only wnyif j which the export of inferior (nM* can be stopped, while at the Ifme time encouragement will bo given to fanners to produce (ho best class of mutton. Regulating the supply by providing storage accommodation in the colony, so that a glut may be prevented is as necessary as grading. For the next few months ship loads of frozen meat will be leaving tho ■ colony to glut the English market, : prices will recede and general coni sternation prevail; in winter tho , shipments will practically cease, and the market being free of the glut prices will again advance. This lias been the history of the frozen meat • industry for the past two or three years, and will continue until there is some regulation of the output. By storing tho surplus mutton in the colony tho export can be regulated and a level of prices maintained, and to that end increased storago accommodation is necessary. The shipping companies arc assisting in the matter by reducing the freighton tho winter shipments to fd per lb; a very good inducement indeed. Two good ideas have emanated from the confereiKe, and if carried out will tend to Ae permanency to the industry h ipher 1 oyel of prices, w h icli wi 11 be less liable to fluctuations tlmn in the past. The export butter trade requires to bo dealt with in a similar manner. Grading by experts appointed by the Government is now a feature of tho butter industry, but with butter, as with frozen meat, tho market is glutted at certain seasons of the year, and prices tumble down to an unpayable level. This can bo overcome by storing butter in tho Colony, and regulating tho shipments so that the market may never experience a glut. Cold storage accommodation for butter, poultry, rabbits, etc., should be provided in nil centres, aud Masterton is undoubtedly in a position toprolitby the establishment of cold stores, If the Wairarapa settlers are evertosolyotherabbit question, it will be by turning bunny over .to tho tender mercies of tho hungry mechanics and artisans in the Old Country. Rabbits would not be such a nuisance if they were converted into a marketable article. Poisoning entails considerable expense, without adequate adjutages, whereas, by exportatioiAe likelihood of a profit is apparel® I would strongly urge upon the people of Masterton the desirability of establishing rabbit tinning and freezing. works, and cold storago for poultry, butter, etc.

NX MAX AND MERCANTILE DEBENTURES, Tiio fall in the B debentures of the Loan and Mercantile, coming' immediately on t-ho Bank crisis, would seem to indicate that there was still a connection between the two institutions; but this is not I attribute the fall to the possibility that the Loan and Mercantile, which has scarcely had time to recover since the reconstruction, njay not have paid the whole 'amount of the interest due on these debentures, Under the scheme of reconstruction, there were created prior lien, and A and B debentures, so that the B stock ranks third, and if interest has not been paid in full on these debentures, it is oxcusable, seeing thalJLo Company has passed through of tribulation followed closely .worst depression on record. Another year or two ought to see matters running smoothly, and iu view of that the B debentnres at 25| ought to be well worth buying, ' BANK OF AUSTRALASIA. This Bank has just declared a dividend of .5 per cent,, a rate which appears to hayo become chronio with the cautious monetary institutions, j There is not rauoh ohanco of Banls

dividends ascending until tbo reconstructed institutions of Australia lmvo passed through the ordeal, which will not bo for sovoral years to corao. In the past, the Bank of Australasia paid it? shareholders handsoino dividends; for the four half-years ended October, 1881, the 'dividends were 14 per cent, per • 1 for the four half-years to October, 1886,15 percent.; to April, 1887, IDs per cent.; for the two half-years to April, 1888, 12 per cent.; to October, 1888, I2i per cent.; for the four half-years to April, 1891,14 per cent.; to October, 1891, and April, 1892,12| per cent,; to October, 1892, 10 per cent,; for the two half-years to October, 1893, 7} per cent,; and to April, 1894,6 percent, TUB J. G. WARD COMI'AXY. Tbo directors of the J. G. Ward ~ Farmers' Association lmvo issued « $50,000 of 6 per cent, debentures, of which £40,000 have been taken up, the balanco of £IO,OOO being open for purchase. There are 15,230 shares in the company, of which 3,000 are fully paid up to £5, and 12,230 npou which £1 per share is paid, so that the uncalled capital amounts to £48,925, Among the assets of the Company, the goodwill account stands at £15,000, but it ii proposed to write this down by £4,000, taking for the purposo the . Jjjfvhole of the Reservo Fund of £2,000 and a similar amount from the year's profits. STOCKS. In Colonial Government 4 per cent, stocks the most noticeable 'feature is the steady rise of South Australian's, which now stand it whole point better than New Zealands, which have receded into fourth position. The table of comparison is as follows Aug. Sep, Move. 29th. sth, inent. New Zealand 192!) ... 1121112 Fall us N.S. Wales 1933 ... 110} 111! Fall 5a Victoria 1920 .. ICS 108} KisclOi S. Australia 1030 .. 112J 113 RisslOa Queensland 1034 ... Ul| 111} Fall 3s ■IV, Australia 1934 ... 120 120 -- In the per cents., New South Wales have experienced a violent ' fall, due, :io doubt, to tbo announce- ' » ment of another loan. South Australia and Tasmania have advanced 5s each, the others show no variation. Aug. Sep. Move29th, sth, men), New Zealand 1910 ... 100* 10W - . . N.S. Walca 1921 ... 10? 100 Fall 30s jJjLVictoria 1(123 .. 1015 101} - Australia 1930 ... 105} 100 l Rise 5a V Queensland 1924 ... 104 i 104.\ Tasmania I'JW ... 10j 105} Riac 5a Percy Pexly.n.