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TRADE AND FIN ANCEl:
An improvement, which may be attri
buted to contributions made to the new
Commonwealth loan, «vis shown in the busi
ness of the Melbourne hankers' clearing
house for the seven days ended Monday
last. The sum recorded wna £12,498,322,
contrasting with £9,051,52.1 lor the pre
vious week, and £10,338,169 for the week
closed th September, 1920. Aggregate
Meibonrile clearances from 1st .lauuary
last to 30th August were £405,858,170, or
£68,181,861 less than for the correp ponding
term of 1920. Clearances ir. Sydney from
1st January last to 21H.li August amounted
to £470,581,049, or £22, ITS, 619 below the
sum for tlie eorresponding period last year,
but £61,723,442 in excess oi tlie Melbourne
clearances from 1st January last to 30th
Augnst. In Sydney during the week ended
29th August clearances were £13,503,953,
or £1,013,533 more than for the previous
week, and £1,023,571 more than for the
corresponding week of 1920.
An exhaustive survey of the oversea
banking and trading position as it affects
New Zealand and tlie Commonwealth, was
made by the chairman of the National
Bank oi New Zealand Ltd.. Mr. W. Pcm-
her Beeves, at the annual ineting in Lon
don on tutli July. He Mlid that from Juljr
of last yoir an unprecedented. stream of
hills on New Zealand lwd poured into the
bank's London office, arid continued with
out ceasing until it was obliged simply to
decline to take in the bills at. all except
under credits or for collection. Whirl
brought fhings to that pus was not merely
the volume of bills in London, but the
fadt that owing to transport obstacles and
other cheeks of the New Zealand export
trade money was not coining across from
the Antipodes in amounts any thing like suf
ficient to make good thr depletion of the
uanuon tunas, fretty well all tne Auscraia-
siin hanks were in a similar position. It
was gradually improving now, but, would
ndt be normal for some time. With the
excessive imports had come a very serious
fall in the price of exports, a fall can ring
in some cases the disappearance of any
margin of profit, lit ' might bo asked to
what extent h?d the banks doing business
in New Zealand risen to the occasion, and
discharged their manifest duty by coining
to the assistance of the trading commun
ity ? The answer lay in a nutshell. Where-
ns last year the banks taken -tocellier bad
suffered a loss in deposits (excluding Go
vernment deposits) of £3,500,000, their ad
vances had gone up by £20,100,000. The
extra drain on their resources had come
therefore to £23,900,000. ' Moreover,
whereas in 3920 deposits exceeded advances
by £13,(529,000, in 1921 advances exceeded
deposits by £5,280,000. The adverse bal
ance of trade must put itself right shortly
and, indeed, was already doing so. Ex
cessive freight charges must and would be
modified. The fall in the public, revenue
i.-ouliT t.-i seme extent be met by economy
A much more difficult problem .was the
drop in prices of colonial produce, because,
though these might recover somewhat,
there was no chance of their regaining the
artificially liigh level enjoyed during the
war. Producers had to face lower returns,
and. therefore, to endeavor to reduce the
cost of production. The latter always took
time. "
The directors of the Commonwealth Oil
Refineries Ltd. have issued their first an
nual report. The Anglo-Persian Oil Co.
Pty. Ltd. holds 249,999 shares, and the
Common wealth Government 250,001 shares
in the company. The proposal to have a
refinery at Newcastle for the whole of Aus
tralia has been abandoned, and the direc
tors are negotiating for land, wharfs, ease
ments, &c, necessary for establishing one
refinery in New South Wales and another
in Victoria. These negotiations will as
sume concrete form immediately. During
the past twelve months tho Anglo-I'errian
Oil Company has beqn conducting .trial
operations at its Abadaii and Swansea re-
fineries with a new type of crude oil still.
Information has been lately received to the
effect that the results of these operations
have proved entirely satisfactory, and this
type of still will bo adopted for this com
pany's operations. Mr. A. Gillespie, who has
had wide oil experience in Burma, Persia
and elsewhere, has been appointed general
refineries. manager. .Mr. Gillespie took up
his duties on his arrival hero in June last,
and is now dealing with refinery cunatruc-
tion matters.
The Victorian Mill Owners' Association
yesterday decided to reduce the price of
brail and pollard by 10/ per, ton, making
it £7 per ton, and increase the price ot
flour liy 5/ -per ton, making it £21 per
ton. Tlicse quotations are net for delivery
in Melbourne or suburbs. The changes arc
due to heavy accumulations of mill offal
and tow prices in other States.
. Imports of --tea to the Commonwealth,
according to country of origin, during
July compared with JidjT 1926, were as
follow:— Ceylon: 1921, 2.222,159 lb..
£107,0.57; 1920, 1.4-17.305 11)., £63,148.
India: 1921, .'571,600 lb., £6654; 1920,
02,509 11)., £4527. China: 1921, 133,491
lb., £6751; 1020. 4345 lb., £423. Java:
1921, 1,393,083 lbl, £42,119; 1920, 19L3C6
lb., £11,795. Japan: 1921, 66 lb., £13;,
1920 (included in '.'other"). Other; 1921,
15 lb., £1; 1920, 2-1,000 lb., £1600. Totals;
1921. 4.120,423 IK, £162, .505; 1920,
1,759;465 lb., £86,403. The exports of tea
during .the same months \vere : — Xui/.
1921, 102,136 lbs, £5102;- July, 1920.
113,129 lb., £9898. . .
Brewery; companies -do not appear to be
experiencing the setback nustaincd by
many other trading concerns.. Tho latest
report of the former in that of T'oohey's
Ltd., which has its head quarters in Syd
ney, with' braneliefi - in Newcastle and Bris
bane. In this instance business for 1920-
21 was better than in the preceding yeir.
Net profits for the- twelve months to Jlst
July, last were £88.274, exeoedjng that of
tlie previous year by £13,594. Witli
£7490 forward, £95,764 is available. Dur
ing the, year' canital was increaaid from
£485,149 to £524,1 19. but, despite this
fact, the company is able to raise its divi
dend from Si per cent, to 9 per cent., add
£25,000 to the reserve, pro vide £ 15,000 for
depreciation, and carry forward £9CS3.
The balance sheet shows increase in sundry
creditors f rem - £01 .320 to £187,844; ill re
serve funds, from £198,500- to £211,000 in
goodwill, from £404,878 to £600,564; In
stocks, from £175,815 to £196,097; and in
sundrv debtors, from £153,445 ./ to
£170,161.
For the first fourteen months, of its
existence as a trading company- Queens
land Primary Producers' Co-opet atb'c
Agency Ltd. reports net profit_ of £7241.
The hoard proposes to write £1502 off pre
liminary expenses, ;pay dividend at the
rate of 7 per cent, per annum, from date
of payment of allotment money, and carry
the balance forward. Issued capital is
£79.122. The company owes the Com
monwealth Bank £27,122, sundry creditors
£24,876. and depositors £6907. Assets in
clude freeholds and leaseholds, £75,357 ;
advances against wool and sutKlry qcotors,
£60,148; plant, stock, &e.,£4846; and pre
liminary expenses, £4296.
Of the subscription of £1,000,000 by the
Mutual Life and Citizens' Assurance Co.
Ltd. 'to the Diggers' Loan, the sum _v of
£300.000 has been allocated to the Vic
torian quota. ' .
The S'.A.. Farmers' Co-operative Union,
for vear to 30th June, made net profit o!
£2R313, as against £48,983 for 1919-20. Tlie
Uim forward is £7074. Diviideml recom
mended is / '.per cent, for the year on the
old share issue, and pro rata on the new
(shares. During the year paid-up capital
«-us,innreasedrom £319,824 to £431,100.
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