FINANCE AND TRADE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 5150, 8 October 1895, Page 2

FINANCE AND TRADE.

Specially complletlfor the" Wairarapa Dally Times."

ACKNOWLEDGMENT. I have to acknowledge the receipt of the following:—Prospectus of the Karaka Gold Mining Properly; Prospectus of the Taipo Explosive Company, Limited; Report Balance-sheet of the South Britialw ■ Tho Forty-second Halt-yearly Re- . ' portand Balance-sheet of the Colonial Bank of New Zealand. KARAKA CM. PROPERTY. This property comprises 70 acres and is situated in the heart of the Thamesgoldfield. Astamper battery of 10 head is erected on the property V* and the proprietors possess a valuable water right by certificate from the Warden's Court. Thirty out of seventy syndicate shares are to be offered to the public at £75 each and the whole of the proceeds, less brokerage and flotation charges, together with three hundred and fifty pounds to be paid the vondors, is to be sot apart as a working capital, /' and is considered ample for develop- r - ' ing the property. Several reefs traverse tho property shoving pay. able gold.

MINING SHAMS. There Ims been a rocket-like ascent iu mining scrip during the past five or six months, and the temptation, float new Companies has been ver JS strong. For several weeks past, tluT Auckland market has been flooded with new Companies, many of which must in the naturo of thiugs end in a fizzle. It is a question whether theso new concerns aro not mainly brokers' Companies, got up for the brokerage fees and commissions. There must bo amongst the great ' number recently placed upon the market, not a few of the irrepressible " wild-cat" species, investors therefore need to be very guarded. Reliable brokers will not lend themselves to any " hanky-panky " business, and those speculating in mining scrip, cannot be to careful iu elect- ,; ing to do their business through a trustworthy sharebroker. The milling boom must collapse sooner or later, and many who will disregard this fact, will be" left." Those who dabble in mining stocks need to repress their rapacity, to bo content with a moderate profit, pro- . ' portionate to the price paid for tho share, and its relation to the nominal value. No matter how promising j*m* report from a mine may be, it shoul9f* he regarded as sufficient only to advance the price of the shares, and not as an augury of a permanent brilliant future. The excitement of an important discovery or a phenomenally large return, will cause an *•*' advance in price quite out of proportion to the probable permanent value of tho stock. The discreet speculator would take advantage of the temporary abnormal inflation, and sell; this is the only sure road for making profit. By adhering strictly to the rule of selling at a * moderate profit—and I regard 50 per cent, as a fair uuu-gin of profit in mining speculation—the seller may lose a big profit, for it happens occasionally that one may hold Waihi shares, but tho course I lay down, is the better risk to take. The man who buys shares at 2s, aud sees them saloablo at 3s, but hangs on to them in the strength of hopes and bogus prospects of some day getting 30s for his shares, gouorally his very precious shares quoted a week or two, at a shilling or sixpence,

The Colony is on the eve of a mining boom, such as was ncvor known in tho country before, and there will be strong temptation to "speculate in a few shares." Tho boom will not bo confined to the p Auckland district, but will be general throughout the Colony. The Company promoter,.the financial ; fraud, tho mining salters, the market riggers, and the army of swindlers, will again show themselves, and tho honest speculator needs to be en his guard when these sharks appear. Whatever may be the dangers, the gamble in mining scrip will go on, and those who wish to survive the boom will, I hope, givo theso few s , lines their careful study. TAII'O EXPLOSIVE COJIPANT. The prospectus of this concern gives copious information, and tho venture is full of promise. Tho company is being formed to purohaso the patents and patent-rights of the explosives known ns "Taipo" jt and " Dynamo," which are being jt acquired from a Victorian proprietory company called the Acme Explosive Proprietary Company, which, during the past six years, , spent £12,450 in improving and perfecting the explosives. " Taipo " is apparently the better explosive, and is claimed lo be cheaper, safer, to ' '* possess immense power exceeding in' strength " geliginite," the leading explosive of the day, while it is absolutely free from noxious fumes. Tho share capital of this new venture is £25,000 in 25,000 shares of £1 each, of which the vendors take 6250 shares fully paid-up, and £3OOO in cash. The Provisional Directory is a strong i one, embracing some of the business ■ men_of Auckland. There should bo no difficulty in floating this company, more especially as subscriptions are invited from all parts of tho colony. The prospectuses have reached Wellington, and I am indobted to Mr A. T, Bale, sharebroker, for a copy. SOUTH IIKITLSII INSURANCE COY. The balance-sheet of this Company *"■ \ must be a source of extreme gratification to the shareholders, for it V plays exceptional strength and highly profitable year. Tho revenue for the year amounts to £219,062 18s 4d, but this amount is reduced to £30,17318s 7d after raak. ing the usual provision for losses outstanding, and strengthening the ' > He-insurance Reserve Fund The ' dividend for tho year amounts to 16 per cent., £20,000 is added to the Reserve Fund, which now stands at £90,000, the He-insurance Reserve Fund amounts to £72,500. The investments of the Company are of the choicest kind. Nearly £60,000 are invested in Government securities, £55,302 have been lent on mortgage, £18,281 lie at fixed deposit, £7,636 are in stocks and debentures; cash in Bank amounts to £15,347, ' and balances at Branches and Agencies £24,055, The shaies of the South British are strongly held, and are quoted at a heavy premium, the prico being 52s 6d for shares, 20s paid up. Given the same prudent management of tho past three or fourjk, years, there is no reason why the ST** value of the shares should not still ■ further increase,

COLONIAL BANK. The balance-sheet for tho half, year ending 31st Aupust last, shows a decrease in the volume of business as compared with tho previous halfyear, with a corresponding decrease in the profit. Tho net profit to tho 31st March was £20,476195; while for tho period under reyiew th«

.: amount ia £12,935 lis 2d, showing a contraction to the extent of £7,541 « lOd. As compared with tho provioas half-year tho noto-issuo has shrunk by £9,426 j the doposits have decreased from £2,024,313 5s 3d to £1,947,921138 fid; bills payable and other liabilities have dropped from « fer>if??' 44l to * t57,857 i the coin and Jj|bullion bas been increased by' \ '*45,989; Government securities stand at £168,131, as compared with £206,417; remittees in transitu have shrunk from £(384,255 to £548,762; landed property and Bank promises have increased to the extent of £1003; bills discounted have dropped from £2,013,839 7s lid to , £1,731,549 83 7(1. Taking the total v mm tboro isadecrease of £412,497 >, Id's 2d; the balance-sheet to 28th February shews a total of £3,413,784 8s 7d, whilo tho balance sheet to 31st August shows thototalas £3,001,236 12s sd. GEKEIIAI. IJH'ROVEHKN'T. " There are signs all round of Rroatly improved commercial prosper- \ %," this is the purport of the latest ..-• London cablo message, and no ono will deny that there is some truth in the statement. So fur us the Colonies aro eon corned there is every appearance of a general improvement; the advnuee iii the price of wool, together with a stiffening of market . 4R''?'' " lc P ros P ects m uncommonly The prospects, however, are overshadowed by the "reconstructed," fortheseinkitutions, with their dead weiglit of assets awaiting realisation, aro a niouance to the bright prospects; the first signs of a. revival in business will cause the market to be Hooded with all kinds of properly that must be sold, and • tho tendency will be to depress land ; values, Evon without this bugbear, ! I doubt if land will again reach the J high level experienced five or six years ago. The fancy prices of that period will not again bo seen, although there is no doubt tlio snnio > old efforts to boom land valnes will be indulged in. For the present, however, we may be content with tho fact that there are signs of commercial prosperity all round, EXPORT OK I'IIODUCK. 1 Tlies.s. Tongariro tookuway on tho ' , third instant the first shipment of * i- dairy produce which consisted of 467 packages of butter; Victoria , began earlier audi notice from tlio that on the 21st ult., 55 tons of 'Gutter were forwarded to London. I'here is nothing in this, as NewZealand will probaby bo shipping ( quite as much weekly as soon as the ( factories are in full work. The Vic- " , torians beat us in other departments ~ of the export trade, for on the dale , mentioned, 15 tons of eggs, 150 tons ] of rabbits and 200 crates of hares were ( despatched from Melbourne for tbo a English market. In the Government ] coolstoreinFlinders-street,consider- { ablo quantities of poultry were being « received from the country districts, <\ , and it was expected that the a Agricultural Department would be , able to send away from that colony , a first-class lot of poultry including t over 3000 turkeys, Cannot the small farmers of New Zealand con- c j tribute to this class of export? ) There is no doubt they could, but I , am afraid it will require a man armed with a very long pole to wake them up to a just appreciation of ' their own interests.

UAXK OK SEW ZEALAND. It will be a happy day for this f institution when the present session of Parliament comes to an end, for it seems that the House is determined to take away all that it gave just a few weeks ago. What is the use of propping up an institution one day, aud pelting at it the next day, If the Bank of New Zealand is to survive at all, and let us hope that it , will live, its best chance lies in as little political interference as possible. Tho Hon. John McKcnzie, by his unguarded and foolish utterance as to the past accounts of the Bank, has, no doubt, caused n scare, for if it is possible for him him to know the past affaire of the Bank, it is reasonable to suppose that he knows ' what is going on now. The possibility of Ministers knowing the private affairs of clients, is being used to frighten away customers, and the Bank stands to lose more in this way than will be good for it or the country. It was proclaimed from the house-1 tops when the Bank Bill was before , the House, that further banking j was essential to the wellwing of tho Bank of New Zealand, Mid if tho House thinks that by canstantly raking up the affairs of j this institution, a grateful people will rush to it with new business, the House makes a ghastly mistake. All this Parliamentary talk is all very , injurious, but Ministers have them- * 'selves to blame, and the blabbing Jic.Konv.iß in particular. I don't beliove that the lion. John McKenzio knows anything more about the past affairs of the Bank than do most of the commercial people of tho colony, and his threat to show up the state of individual accounts in the past is vain boasting, If, however, Ministers aro in the way of obtaining an r insight into the private business of the Bank of New Zealand with its customers, then it stands to reason that no business man ran have confidence in the institution. No one carts to have his banking affairs known to everyone, much less to the members of the Seddon Ministry.

COUIER TWO-SI'EEII CHILE COY. -' Abl indicated lust Tuesday, shares y in this Company are now being Mered in the Wairarapa for subBtytion through MrD, S, Pap worth, ■ aM I again take the liberty of recommending them to thoso who seek a desirable investment. Tho patent is a good one, and the Company will have the full benefit of a monopoly. '. THE RESERVE FUXU. t The Chairman of the Masterton P.I, andßuildingSocioty.in referring to my remarks on the Reserve Fund, at tho annual meeting seems to have implied that I impugned the securities in which the .Reserve Fund is invested. I disclaim any such intention, but I do maintain that using the Reserve Fund in the business of the Society, takes from the reserve its distinctive character and usefulMiess, What is now called tho Reserve Fund of tho Society is not correctly so, but is capitalised profits, and it would be better to treat the amount as such, I grant that if the reserve was invested in Government securities the return would be confirably less than it is now earning .on the other band the smaller irn would insure absolute safety, and the assets would be realisable in the shortest possible time. The risks iDf fluctuation and loss aro inseparable from every business, and whore a fund has been created to soften the blow of anyadverso contingency, it is imperative that this fund should be placed beyond the reach of tho fluctuations and loss in tho particular business carried on by theindividual :\ or company, This is what the Jf as.

terton Building Society has not done with its Resorve Fund, but lifts capitalised the amouut and is tradins; with it, It is ut fanlfc common to most joint stock companies, aud it is a bad fault, Tbo issuo of moro " 0 " shares is a stop in tbo right direction, STOCKS, Tbo plethora of money in the colonies has caused the flotation locally of several Local Bodies Loans. The latest effort has boon that of the Auckland Harbour Board whoso £IO,OOO loan has heon practically a failure. All the spare cash in the northern City is going into wild-cat mining speculation, and there is nothing left for 4 per cent, loans. Outsido of Auckland, no doubt, tbo raonoy could be found, and the Harbour Board will either have to do that or place tbo loan with one of the Banks.

In Colonial Government Slocks the movement is still of an upward character, the monotony being broken only by Tasmania, whose 3j per cent, stocks have receded ss. Now Zealand fours show »■ decline of 255, but the tfuotatiou is ex-interest, and the price is, as a matter of fact, equivalent to an advance of 15s. The comparison is as follows : 4 rat cent, Sop. Oct, Move2fitli. 3rd. ment, New Z.'ihsilMM ... 113 111-}' Ml 25, NAWaluj 11133 ... 1171 118 Kiso 15a Victoria 11120 .. 110| 110J S. Australia 1W .. 112.1 113 Kino 10* Quocuslond 1!I2I ... 112} 112'; V. Australia 1931 ... 122 123 Hiso 20s 'lix-iuterest. 3i I'KU CENT. Sop. Oct. Move2t)tli. 3nl. nifut. NcivZaiUmlllllO ... 107 107 N.S. lVulea lIL'I ... MM lfllij Kisc k Victoria 1« .. 101' 101!, Km 10s S. Australia 11)30 ... 103 10SS Kise 10a Queensland 11121 ... 101! Wli. Hue 10a Tasmania 1910 ... 107 108} Fall us Pkiicv Pexlvx.