Company News and Views

long account, with the purpose of advancing prices, as the tendency of
a bull is to elevate everything within his reach
The term _bull_ is applied to those who are purchasers of stock for
long account, with the purpose of advancing prices, as the tendency of
a bull is to elevate everything within his reach. The term _bear_ is
applied to those who sell short stock, with the purpose of
depreciating values. The _bear_ operates for a decline in prices. The
broker”s charge for his services is called a _commission_, which in
the New York Stock Exchange is one eighth of one per cent. each way on
a par value of the security purchased or sold. A _point_ means one per
cent. on the par value of a stock or bond. _Stock privileges_ or
_puts_ and _calls_ are extensively dealt in abroad and to some extent
here. A _put_ is an agreement in the form of a written or printed
contract filled out to suit the case, whereby the signer of it agrees
to accept upon one day”s notice, except on the day of expiration, a
certain number of shares of a given stock at a stipulated price. A
_call_ is the reverse of a _put_, giving its owner the right to demand
the stock under the same conditions. A _put_ may serve as an insurance
to an investor against a radical decline in the value of stocks he
owns; a _call_ may be purchased by a man whose property is not
immediately available, but who may desire to be placed in a position
to procure the shares at the _call_ price, if they are not below that
in the open market when he secures the necessary funds. The speculator
usually trades on _margins_. If he has $500 to invest he buys $5000
worth of stock, his $500 being ten per cent. of the total amount. He
expects to sell again before the remaining amount falls due. The
_margin_ is usually placed by the speculator in the hands of a broker
as a guaranty against loss. Although these brokers are really agents
for others, yet _on “change_ they stand in the mutual relationship of
principals. A _margin_ is merely a partial payment, but a broker
buying stock for a client on _margin_ is compelled to wholly pay for
it. If he has not the necessary capital his usual custom is to borrow
from banks or money-lenders, pledging the stock as collateral
security. In foreign exchanges the element of credit enters more
largely into the conduct of business. Where the credit of the client
in London is established his broker does not, ordinarily, call on him
for any cash until the next ’settlement day.’ A _wash sale_ is a
fictitious transaction made by two members acting in collusion for the
purpose of swelling the volume of apparent business in a security and
thus giving a false impression of its value. Stocks sell _dividend-on_
between the time the dividend is declared and the day the books of the
company close for transfer; after that they sell _ex-dividend_, in
which case the dividend does not go to the buyer. When a company
decides not to declare a dividend it is said to _pass its dividend_.
To sell stock _buyer 3_ is to give the buyer the privilege of taking
it on the day of purchase or on any of the three following days,
without interest; and to sell stock _seller 3_ is to give the seller
the privilege of delivering it on the day of purchase or on any one of
the three following days without interest. _Buyer 3_ is a little lower
and _seller 3_ a little higher than _regular way_ when the market is
in a normal condition. _Bucket shops_ are establishments conducted
nominally for the transaction of a stock-exchange business but really
for the registration of bets or wagers, usually for small amounts, on
the rise or fall of the prices of stocks, there being no transfer or
delivery of the commodities nominally dealt in. There are thousands of
these counterfeit concerns throughout the country conducted without
any regard for legitimate commercial enterprises.

the most important portions
Of South Africa as above defined Cape Colony and Natal are at present
the most important portions. Their climate is in some respects the
finest in the world. Their soil is of remarkable richness. The number
of distinct species of indigenous plants found upon it is greater than
for any other equal area on the globe. The same remark was once true
of the animals found in South Africa, which again is testimony to the
great fertility of the soil. But a serious drawback is the
insufficiency and uncertainty of the rain supply. Irrigation, however,
is practised, and wherever irrigation is possible the land may be made
to blossom like the rose. Agriculture, however, is only indifferently
pursued. The VINE in Cape Colony produces more abundantly, very much
more abundantly than anywhere else in the world, and yet neither
grape-raising nor wine-making can be said to be successful. PASTURING
is the principal occupation of the people in rural districts. There
are 17,000,000 sheep in Cape Colony, and 6,000,000 goats. Natal, which
is warmer, has 500,000 sheep. Another principal occupation is
OSTRICH-FARMING. The ostrich, once wild in South Africa, is now bred
domestically. Cape Colony has 230,000 ostriches. Ostrich feathers
fetch from $150 to $300 a pound. The RAISING OF CATTLE is another
principal occupation, and draught cattle are much used for transport
purposes. Cape Colony has 2,000,000 cattle; Natal, 1,000,000. The
principal food crops are wheat and maize, but little is raised for
export. In Natal, sugar is an important product, and also tea. Many
magnificent timber woods are found, but the trees are stunted and
little timber is exported. Much has been wasted by fires. The great
agricultural possibilities of South Africa are WOOL, MOHAIR (the hair
of the Angora goat), fruit, wine, and skins. The breadstuffs of South
Africa will probably all be needed for home consumption.

Most bonds have INTEREST COUPONS attached. These are cut off and
presented for payment as they mature. For instance, a four per cent.
bond for $1000 would draw $40 interest yearly. This sum would be paid
in two instalments of $20 each. If the bond were for twenty years
there would be at the date of issue forty interest coupons, each
calling for $20 and collectable at intervals of six months.

Euroline Partners with AmbironTrustWave Ltd. to Offer PCI DSS Compliance
Euroline Partners with AmbironTrustWave Ltd. to Offer PCI DSS Compliance

exchanges (drafts) on London, and in London a constant supply of
exchanges on New York
In the money market in New York there is a constant supply of
exchanges (drafts) on London, and in London a constant supply of
exchanges on New York.

and free from any element of doubt
It is essential to the life of the agency that its reports be honest
and free from any element of doubt. The public confidence in the
reliability of the reports will determine the prosperity of the
company. Perhaps at first glance it would seem as if the system of
reporting financial information was a serious discrimination against
the men of smaller capital and in favour of the wealthy. But mere
capital is not the only element entering into an estimate of one”s
ability to pay. Character and reputation are powerful forces in
assisting a merchant in determining credit. An agency discloses facts
and not opinions. And it is within the range of possibility of any one
to create and maintain his credit. Capital may grow gradually but
credit is sometimes established or destroyed by a single act.

happened to him in consequence of the negligence of a fellow-servant
Again, it is said that an employe cannot recover if the injury has
happened to him in consequence of the negligence of a fellow-servant.
By this is meant a person engaged in the same common employment. It is
not always easy to determine whether two persons employed by the same
company are fellow-servants, as we shall soon see, but the principle
of law is plain enough that in all cases where they are thus acting
as fellow-servants they cannot recover for any injury. The law says
this is one of the risks that a person takes when he enters the
service of another. Suppose a person is at work mining coal and is
injured by another person working by his side through his negligence.
However severely injured he may be he cannot get anything, because the
person through whose negligence he has been injured is a
fellow-workman.

The next most important item in our list of exports is PROVISIONS.
But, like ‘breadstuffs,’ ‘provisions’ also is a composite term,
including two main divisions, ‘meat products’ and ‘dairy products.’
Practically there are three main divisions, ‘beef products,’ ‘hog
products,’ and ‘dairy products.’ We have in these great products of
our country an export trade of $165,500,000 per annum, and if we add
‘animals,’ a similar item, we have $46,500,000 more, or a total of
$212,000,000 per annum. Our export of fresh beef is nearly 300,000,000
pounds a year. Almost the whole of this goes to Great Britain. Our
export of canned beef runs from 40,000,000 to 60,000,000 pounds a
year. About three fifths of this goes to Great Britain, the remainder
going principally to Germany and other parts of Europe and to British
Africa. We have about 50,000,000 cattle upon our farms and ranches,
and our production of beef is estimated to be the enormous amount of
5,400,000,000 pounds a year, which is between a third and a fourth of
the total quantity produced throughout the world. Of course the
greater portion of this is retained for our own home consumption, for
we eat more meat per inhabitant than any other people in the world
except the English. In addition to our beef we export about 400,000
cattle annually, more than seven eighths of which are taken by Great
Britain, our other principal customers being the West Indies and
Canada. The principal export, however, among our ‘provisions’ is our
HOG PRODUCTS. We export annually of these products 100,000,000 pounds
of pork, 850,000,000 pounds of bacon and hams, and 700,000,000 pounds
of lard, with a value greater than $110,000,000. As with our beef
products, so with our hog products–by far the greatest share goes to
Great Britain. Great Britain, however, does not import largely of our
pork or of our lard. And though she purchases from us over four fifths
of our total export of bacon and hams, she does not pay for them so
much as she does for the bacon and hams of Ireland, Denmark, and
Canada. The reason for this is that as a rule our corn-fed bacon and
hams are too fat–a fault that could be easily remedied. After Great
Britain our next best customers for our hog products are Germany
(principally in lard), the Netherlands, Sweden, and the West Indies
(the latter principally in pork). We keep on our farms from 40,000,000
to 50,000,000 hogs, and our production reaches nearly to 4,600,000,000
pounds of pork, bacon, hams, lard, etc., per annum. A great drawback
to our swine-raising industry is the terrible swine plague which so
frequently devastates our swine herds. Were this plague stamped out by
thorough preventive measures our swine industry would soon become very
much larger and more profitable. The third principal item in our
provisions export trade is ‘dairy produce.’ Our export of butter now
amounts to 30,000,000 pounds a year. Our cheese export, once much
greater, is now about 50,000,000 pounds a year. As in our beef
products and in our hog products so again in our dairy products Great
Britain is our chief customer. But our butter export to Great Britain
is only one twelfth of her total importation of butter, and our cheese
export to Great Britain is only about one eighth of her total
importation of cheese. Our cheese has lost its hold on the English
market because of its relative deterioration of quality, and its
export is not more than a half or a third of what it once was. Much of
our butter also is not suited to the English taste. But both our
cheese and our butter are now improving in quality. Our great
competitor in the cheese export trade is Canada. Canada”s export of
cheese to Great Britain is $15,000,000 annually, while ours is only a
fifth of that amount. Our great competitor in butter is Denmark.
Denmark”s export of butter to Great Britain is $32,000,000 while ours
is not more than a fourteenth of that sum. Our competitors in the
markets of Britain for cattle are Canada and Argentina, but their
exports together, however, are less than a third of ours. Our
competitors in the British markets for the sale of meats are
principally the Australasian colonies and Argentina, but their
principal exportation so far is chilled mutton, which they send to
Britain to the amount of many million dollars annually (Argentina
alone $5,000,000 a year, New Zealand alone $10,000,000 a year), while
our exportation of mutton is practically nil. We do, however, export
$1,000,000 worth of sheep a year, but in this item we are frequently
far exceeded by Canada. CHICAGO is, of course, the great commercial
centre of the continent for ‘provisions’ and ‘live stock,’ and NEW
YORK the great shipping port. Of the entire export trade of the whole
country New York does two fifths. BALTIMORE comes next with about one
ninth. Then (in order) come PHILADELPHIA, BOSTON, and NEW ORLEANS. The
chief centres of our great provision and live-stock trade, other than
Chicago, are CINCINNATI, KANSAS CITY, INDIANAPOLIS, BUFFALO, and
OMAHA.

development and exportation of her natural products
Canada, like all new countries, depends for her prosperity upon the
development and exportation of her natural products. These are of four
great classes: (1), the products of her forests; (2), the products of
her mines; (3), the products of her fisheries; (4), her agricultural
products. Canada”s forest resources, when both extent and quality are
considered, are the finest in the world. The forest area uncut was in
1891 nearly 1,250,000 square miles, or more than one third of the area
of the whole country. The annual value of the timber and lumber
produced is about $82,500,000. The annual value of the timber and
lumber exported is about $32,000,000. Two thirds of this goes to Great
Britain, and over $9,000,000 in lumber and logs goes to the United
States. Quebec and Ontario have unlimited supplies of spruce for
wood-pulp manufacture, the annual output of which reaches 200,000
tons. The uncut lumber of British Columbia, which includes Douglas
pine, Menzies fir, spruce, red and yellow cedar, and hemlock, is
estimated to be 100,000,000,000 cubic feet.