ABRAHAM & WILLIAMS, LIMITED

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2948, 7 December 1916, Page 10

ABRAHAM & WILLIAMS, LIMITED

ANNUAL MEETING

Messrs. Abraham and Williams,' Ltd., annual meeting was held at the office of the company, Palmerston North, on Monday last. There was a large attendance, and Mr. E. S. Abraham, chairman of directors, was in the chair.

Before moving the adoption of the report and balance-sheet, tho chairman referred to the death of Bombardier O. B. Priest, who "was killed in Franco whilst gallantly succouring his wounded officer, and Mr. Walter Rutherfurd, "who had been . associated. with the company as auditor ever since its inception, and yiho, in tho opinion of the mover, had. been materially instrumental in building up the concern into the strong position it now holds, lie moved that a letter expressing the sincerc condolence of tho meeting be sent to . the relatives of Messrs. Priest and liutherfurd. The motion "was carried in silence, all standing. < In moving the adoption of the report and balance-sheet, the chairman referred briefly to the war and the determination of tlio Empire to see the. matter through to a successful conclusion. He aho pointed out the marvellous prosperity of the country, notwithstanding the complaint of the gentleman who was* reported to have made the sweeping assertion that in ,no other country of the .world had farmers been so ilecced as in this Dominion, and notwithstanding the outcry raised in some parts about tho prices we are receiving for our produce. He pointed out as an illustration of his remarks that between 1913 and 1915 our exports had increased .by the enormous . sum of £9,6GQ,CCO, with the result that we now lead tho world iii our export, trade per head of population wliich, including imports, has now reached the sum of £45 19s. per head. These figures showed how dependent we are on a regular. shipping service, and what a huge debt of gratitude we owe to Britain for her command of the seas.

There was, however, another side to the question, aud that was the fact that wo were spending over increasing sums 'of money on. tho maintenance of our troops at the front, and with overy. battle the bill to be faced at the end of the war in regard to tho provision to be made for our grounded men grows heavier. Another matter which the chairman referred to was the present acute shortage of stock. Apart from the high prices being realised for our wool, meat, etc., the which have been experienced in various parts of the Dominion, the reduction of breeding owing to .the demand lor freezing and various other factors, more particularly tho abnormal growth of grass this season, have all helped to prod/uce a state of affairs which, is fraught with a certain amount of danger' to' tho small settlers. Store stock, he said, havo now Teached a figure (more particularly cattle) at which they T\;ill not pay. to buy, and whilst no doubt the grass must' be kept down and farms kept in.order, still every farmer should realise that sooner .or later he must suffer a considerable depreciation of values, and should regulate his expenditure accordingly. Whilst the company had shared in the general prosperity, as is evident from tlio balance-sheet, they had to provide closc on £9000 for taxation in 1915 and 1916. Tho <ost of living had produced tho natural result in a considerable increase in salaries and wages paid. Tlio increase in their travelling expenses, mainly caused by the advent-of the motor car, bad been con-siderable/-v/hilst other items, such as stamps and telegrams, donations and subscriptions and half-pay of officers at tho war, all showed a heavy increase. In all twenty-five of the company's, officers had enlisted, the whole of whom, with tho exception of Mr. Priest and Mr. Gordon Lyons, p who was recently wounded, but was doing well, were either in camp or on active service., • <

Shareholders' would' no doubt have noticed in the papers, and later in'the directors' report, that they had disposed of their Wairarapa and Bush Districts business to the Wairarapa Pa'rmers' Co-opera-tive Association, Ltd., and no doubt they would ' have wondered what called the company to disposo of such a promising business. In the first plate, therefore, tlie directors considered that seeing the probable prolongation of the war and tlie consequent tightness of the money market which must ensue, it was considered that it would be advisable to put tlio business into a very strong financial position. They had also in view the oljjcct of consolidating their busiaess. and the satisfaction of the incessant requests from farmers on the Jloiu Trunk line to establish business relations, at all events as far as Taumarunui, which, of course, necessitated their being in a position to finance clients as they came aiong. They had now acquired satisfactory Dnsiness premises in'.that town, and had started operations there which tliey felt confident would rapidly grow into a large and profitable business.

Ho felt suro that ho would bo ablo to satisfy clients of the wisdom of the step they had taken if they only took into account tho" strength of their position as disclosed by the balance-sheet, which they then proceeded to examine. Capital account showed an increase from last year of £10,506; reserve account an increase of .£SOOO, and stood at £25,000; Bank of New Zealand a decrease of £13,854; sundry creditors, £768; bills discounted, £17,620; and mortgage account, £13,692; profit and loss, an increase of £3477; a total decrease in their liabilities of £27,151. Since their balance-sheet in 1908 they. showed a- reduction in direct .liabilities of no less than £142,470, whilst (luring the same period their total turnover had increased by no loss than close on £700,000| and their assets then stood in relation to their direct liabilities as £29,953 to £177,996, which he thought, could be-regarded as a satisfactory position. On the other side of the balance-sheet, property account showed a reduction of some £20,000, caused by the salo of their Wairarapa properties, and tho large depreciation which they considered it advisable to make in tho rest of their properties whilst they were In a position to do . so. Sundry debtors had increased by £12,835, bills receivable Teducwl by £17,820, and bills for collection bj; £2492. ' These were the main items with the exception of plant account,, which showed an increase of £1357, thanks ,to the motor-car, agaiust which they had. vainly struggled for some' years past. Wool handled last year showed an increase of over 4500 bales.

The chairman referred to the necessity for increasing the capital of the company in order to enable them to cope with their rapidly increasing business, and reminded tho meeting that on the evo of the war they made an issue of preferential and additional ordinary shares. So far they had made no formal attempt to offer these to the publio, as during tho first year of the war the confidence of the public had been too' rudely shaken to warrant them in taking up shares, and latterly tliey had been indisposed to compete with the Government ' War Loan, which they felt should bo allowed to ha,vo full swing. The directors now felt that a serious attempt should be made to disposo *of the whole or the greater portion of these shares. They have therefore decided to push the sale of theiu at par until tho end of Juno next, when tho balance of the shares unsold will be withdrawn, and the shareholders will bo asked to place <i premium of £1 per share'on those unsold. Considering the position of tho concern and the ample reserves established this is quite warranted, and it will of course increaso the value of all shares in private hands.

Another matter which was now engaging their serious attention was the introduction of fat stof.V sales, thanks to the duplicating of freezing works throughout the company's district, and tho increaso of the 0.1. F. buyers an opportunity was now offered of successfully introducing these sales. The chairman said that he had long felt that the North at all events was suffering from very great disabilities in there being no such market established hero • as at Addington in tho south, where those who lay themselves out to grow sheep of the best mutton quality get paid for that auality, as against the system which has prevailed for years past under which an average price per head is paid, though with an allowance for first and second quality. The matter was now under consideration of the Stock Auctioneers' Association, and if they so desired fat stock sales will be started at Feilding early in the year as a trial. As the stock ' will bo sold strictly for spot cash rates of commission will be on a considerably lower ECitle than tho rate charged on store stock, lie hoped that all their shareholders, at all events those who were conveniently situated for tho Feilding yards, would make a triul of this sale,' which ho was quite satisfied would put thousands of pounds into tho pockets of those supporting them, . In referring to the staff, the chairman said: "To a, certain extent we have been rather unfortunate in that' two of our best auctioneers have enlisted, also a number of our most energetic outside agents. Nevertheless, I am sure you will readily rcaiiso that an increaso of nearly £200,000 iu our turnover, as compared with last year, notwithstanding the loss of Pahiatua and Jlasterton lor three months, shows that those left are doing their best to replace theiu, and I can give you my assurance that I have experienced the very greatest satisfaction iu tho results of their work. You will therefore concur in tlio action of tho board, at the instance of Mr. 13cckctt, in voting them a bonus of 10 per cent, on salaries, which was duly paid at tho end of tho half-year. The heavy Tiso in the cost of living owing to the war tells mostly, of course, on people with fixed salaries, and, when the results of their work has been so satisfactory it is only fair that tlicy should bo made free of anxiety as to maintaining their homes in comfort. It is, however, with very great regret indeed that I have to announce that Ifr. A. Holmes, the secretary of tho company, who has been my sheet anchor for tho last fourteen years, has accepted a more important positiou with a northern firm. It is doubtful whether <uiy inomber of tho concern has realised tho

value of Mr. Holmes as I have. During tho year I'JUS, when a serious crisis arose wli.cli materially aUtcted most stock auctioneering linns, it was then that Jlr. Holmes stepped into the breach, and by his calm judgment, enormous power of detail, una his capacity for incessant work, undoubtedly pulled the company together at a, very critical timo of its career, and it was in great measure owing to Mr. Holmes that tile speaker was able to claim to-day that the company •was iu as strong a, position as any concern in the Dominion." Mr. Holmes had beeu appointed a managing director and also a member of the board, in pursuance of the new policy under which those servants of the company who had dono good work and had showed sound judgment would iu future be appointed to tho board as occasion arose, liul for the fact that 11 r. Holmes had been offered such a good position in another concern the meeting would have been asked to confirm his appointment to the board.

The chairman then moved that, the report of tho directors and the accounts and balance-sheet, be adopted. This was seconded by Mr. J. Balsillio and carried. In accordance -with the recommendation of directors dividends on tho paid-up capital of the company, including interim dividend of 6 per cent, already paid for tho half-year ended March SI last, were declared for the year as- follows:—On ordinary shares, 8 - per cont.; on preference shares, 6 per cent. Tho dividends are to be payable on December 6, 1916.

There being no other nominations, tlio following were declared by the chairman duly elected: Messrs. R. S. Abraham S Bolton, P. J. Sladden. T. H. Crosse Messrs. Butherfurd and Connell and Mr. V L. Sim -were re-elected auditors.

The chairman then read the following resolution, -which had been carried by the board, vi 7„: "That this company, whilst agreeing to release Mr. Holme/from his five years' engagement as secretary at a date ■to bo agreed upon with the chairman, desires to place on record its appreciation of the splendid work done by Jiim for the company during his long term of oflice, and will recommend the animal meeting to vote him a bonus of three months' salary in recognition or same."

1 The chairman said, that it was qnito competent for the directors to havo voted Mr. Holmes a, retiring allowance, but they considered that the annual meeting should lie asked to pay him this comnll. ment. He moved therefore: "That this meeting expresses its great retvet at losing the services of Mr. A. Holmes tlielr secretary, who had dono so much in building up the business to its present position, and they, authorised the direc tors to pay him the sum of £250 as a slight recognition of his services." Tho motion was seconded by Mr Selbv and was warmly supported bv Me«sr'V BalsiHie, Beckett, and Guy, who .ill strongly expressed their great appreciation or Mr Holme™ or company

Jlr. Holmes briefly replied, thanking the meeting for the good opinion thev hoiVi of ham, and referred -to the extreme™ happy relations which had always mt vailed betweon himself and tho staff always assisted him to the be«t of their power. ■ uesl

\H. Stevens moved a vote of thanks to the board of directors and staff, winch was seconded by Mr. Hanson and carried unanimously. . The ehaifman journed tllC mctUnL * th ™ ad-