MONETARY AND COMMERCIAL. Daily Southern Cross office, Friday evening.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXXI, Issue 5423, 9 January 1875, Page 2

MONETARY AND COMMERCIAL. Daily Southern Cross office, Friday evening.

The chief arrivals sinco our last review of the mirki't, were the ship ' (Jlenloia,' with a full ciryo fiom London, and no Governinent immigrants, the mail steamer ' Macgre«*or,'which came punctual to tune, and brought i 1 irge quuiuty of third olass sugar, and 'hi' ' Hero,' which biou^ht as usual, a mivccll iMeono cargo, chii fly metals and hardware, to meet the requin iiicnts of business firm* 1 ho ' Guy of ud ' is now a full ship, for Ti union, and her cargo will he reported in a day or tw<>, when the vessel clears The ship ' Waitmgi' cleared to day for London, via Lytteltoo, taking a small quantity of South fc>ea pioduce, wool, and manganese from here. She will (ill up .it Lytteltou. The barque ' Condoreu ' has sailed for San franciso, after receiving new mast3 and a general relit. The lettei from Captain Neighuk, which has been published, expressing his great gratification and surprise at the facilities existing m this port for repairing vessels of such lar^e touua^c as Ins own, caunot be too widely uude kuowo. To those acquainted with the shipyards of the province, the announcement will cause no surprise, but there is an amount cf ignorance abroad icgarding the capabilities of the poit in this respect which should be dispelled by every possible means The w<-rk executed on the ' City of Auckland ' some years ago, on the ' Allahabad,' and the ' Condoien ' furnishes sufficient evidence that all ordinary repairs to ships of laigo t >nnage can bo done cheaper and more expedihously in Auckland than in any o'her poit of AudTala^n. When the dock, which is now in a fair way of being carrn d out, is completed, there is no work, either in the way of shipbuilding or repamng, that Ohnnot bo undei tiiken here. Wo notice in the Auckld'id Utter of the Ota^o Guardian some very improper remarks affecting the credit of the mercantile houses of this city. Such statements, made by a resident in Auckland, ean only be denounced as a vicious attempt to do injury from some peisoual motive. Thero is, ia reality, not the shadow of foundation for the insinuations contained in the letter refer i..d to. We are in a position to state th.U, with the exception of the two lirms already reported, one for £22,0')0, and the other £6,000— uot £10,000 as alleged by the scribe who has made himself so conspicuous in this disgraceful attempt t) traduce the credit of our inei chants — tint the financial position cf Auckland is unexceptionable, an I there is no reason whatever f>r the apprehensions contained in the letter rtfened to, and which is calculated not o lly to mislead persons at a distance unacquainted with the fdets, but also to d> our merchants an unwarrantable and uncalled for injury. Perhaps some excuse for the statements of the correspondent of the Guardian may be found in the r>m»rkable and very unseemly results affecting credit that have arisen out of the disagreement among the B-itiks, which ha3 in some instances, to our knowledge, led to the refusal of discount for some of the best paper in Auckland. Such a stite of things could not but result in a want ot confide co, and the sooner a more liberal te.hug is established the better. We have to announce that discounts are now eight and nine percent , which is very detrimental to the intcie->ts of the mercantile community. Rtferimg to geneial commercial waiters we uoto a Fenea of holidays, i>ut on all exci e articles there has been a large business done, and, generally speaking, demand for most classes of goods has been : In provincial pioduce, we have to r port fiat kauii gum has fallen nearly £10 per ton, qu tations at present being no more than OJ to £37. The demand for timber continues good. Wool has reallied at auction here much better prices | than might have been anticipated in the face I of home advices. With reference to i le and i stoi't, we can only repeat our previous remarks regardiug the glutted s ate of the market. First brands, wholesale, can be bouuht from lls to lls 61; *n<l second brands, from 9s to 10d 6d. With lespi ct to breadstuffs an I grain, we notice that some wh at has been received from Ca.iforuh Harvest prospects aie verv good heie, and repoits fr >m Can erbury assure us that the opening puces will be eveeeding'y IoiV in all grams. Flour an 1 wh'.Mt lemiin at lasb quoted rates : oat-<, 6s .11, scarce; bi.m, Is 0 1; mai/e, 58 p r bushel, with goo I stock". CaudN s hav m v-i d m 1 uge uius in tho Auatrdiau inuket-*, bui this h. is not atf- ced prices h 're. Wii'jIcsaI'' v, c m<m >t quote moie than 101 per Ib tor le uling brands. Good Lunimuui h< ps ate required, and are worth Is ii.l per ib. Malt fully supph. d, nt 126 ptr bushel, tanks exuw Gioccnes have bo.'ii sold by auc ion at veiy low | rices. Uils and paints are gieitly ov.T-stoeked, an 1 id ia scarcoly possible to move a line. What sales have been made h we been ma le atv.ij low prices. Provisions • Biut"i .it prj-iuut 18 not wo.th more t'la 1 ! S I tj 101 pei lb, ; provnu lal cheeie, Od ; Southern none; oatmf.il, £2l> , peir ba ley, smupiioe. l,>'iioksiver is very scaiee and much rt quired. I'owder has also run out, and is greatly in demand. Spirits : Honno-sy's and Ylartull's biaudy, in bulk, wholesale canuot be quitlc 1 at more than Sd to Ss 0 I per gallon , case, ditto, at 31* to 32 1 Other brands at very low pi ice^. Uunova, 15 bottle, pro if, J.b.K.Z., 16s. Sugar: We reported in a former issue on the sale of Yarraville sugais, and the subsequent denoueineu'(regarduigthe payments for the same. If such distinctions are to be made iu future, it is probable that any subsequent sales of Yari.ivdle sugvrs will show a very diflerent result fiomthat which chracterised the last sale. It is uunecessary for us to repeat here the prices obtained at the sale. A large quantity of dark Honolulu sugars was received by the 'Macgrogor,' evidently the balance of the last season's crop. The sugars are not altogether saleable here, but und r existing circumstances, will probably find a maiko' at low quotations. What aie really requiitd are fine sugars in kegs. Queensland sugars are in the market, and probably next season Fiji will compete for the supply of our rcq areinenta. Meantime competition iu Au - tralia between the migir conipani ", keeps the prices of refiiv d sigirs in this in rift low. Tea has not been 1 > i" _, < J 3 aided to pei 'Hero,' but stocks are quite aui| le to me. t local leqnirements foi some niontlia There 13 no doubt a larger consumption, but the slocks do not recaure supplementing at present, ,v d any conbi.;nmeiitH would leave an inevitable loss. Tobacco luis hoc n moving mere fi.'fly thin might have bi en anticipated. The 1 oliuf of the market n p irted 111 our last has givt n a Turner tone to prices of good brands, and the market is undoubtedly steadier tlian for some time past. Wiuub : \ laige business has been done 111 clarets and li^lit wines, and there is a prospect of still larger transactions during the next mouth 01 two. |{. Arthur reports a good attendance at his sale to-day; he sold fowls at Is. 9d. to 2s lid • \oiing fowls, 9d. to Is. Id ; Brahma, 2 8d. >o»i. fil ; Duo'n, 2d. to 2s. 21.. tnkeys, 3s. 2d. ; pigeons, Is lid. j pota. to s, 6s, to 9s. per cwt. ; onions, Id. to 1 \ 1. pn lb. ; beef, Id. to lid. per lb. ; cheese,

3d. to 0^(1. per lb. ; butter, Oil. ; bacon, 8J. to 8id. pui lb ; t.-n, Is. 74d. to 2s. per lb ; salad oil, Gu. Oil. per do?eD ; paper bags, 3 J.I. per lb. : chocolate, R 3J. per lb. ; cocoa, Is. 4d. per lb. ; speitus, (damaged), lOd. lb. ; mould candles, fid. perlb. ; starch, 4d. perlb. ; blue, (light and dark), 5£d. to SAd. per lb. ; pepper, 141. per lb. ; black lead, lOd. per lb. ; jams, Gs. {Id. to 7s. per dozen; but httld demand for furniture; earthenware, &c , sold at fair prices. Mr. Alfred Hucklaud held a salo of wool to-day, at which the following prices were realised : — Full wool sheepskins, from 3a to Gs Gd ; lamb skins, 1* lOd to 2-s 6.1 ; longwool, in grease, 0\d to lid ; longwool, washed, lid to 14 Ul ; pelts, Sd to Is ; locks, from 1 !,d to lOld per lb. ; fleeces, from Gd to 10id per lb. ; salted hides, from 4d to 4Jd There was a fair attendance, and the competition was toleiably brisk.