AUCTION SALES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 103, 25 January 1919, Page 10

AUCTION SALES

FORTHCOMING -FIXTDEEo. . .-- TO-DAY. ... lOvin, 1.30 n.m.—Furniture, sale.,(Abraham '/ and.WiUiams). . :7. MONDAY. llangafiao, ::Yardß, Pithiiitua, 11.30 o.m.— Stock 'saio-tWairarapa Farmers'). ■ Shannon' Yards, 1 p.m.—Stock sale (Abra- . - ■iliamvand Williams). -. TUESDAY. - ; ■ 12 Bouicott .Street, 'Wellington,-10.30 a.m.—:. j' Furnituro ealo (A. L. Wilson and . Co.). Tauherenikau: Kemount Depot, 11.30 a.m.— Horse sale (Dalgety and Co.). Levin Yards, 12.15 p.m.—Stock sale (Dal- - - goty and 00., Abraham and Williams). - FARMERS' DISTRIBUTING COMPANY VO . — ,♦. . ANNUAL MEETING . THE CHAIRMAN'S'ADDRESS TIMES AFTER THE WAR j ' ..Th'e annual meeting of the Farmers' Distributing Company was held yesterday, preceded, as the custom is, by , a/luncheon. For the first time the < _ luncheon and the meeting were Held \ .'in the new building in Featherston . Street., , V'l..-, "'-i Sir 'James'''Wilson, ■ who . presided, '• ' ' offered'a ! few words of welcome to mem- ' burs and visitors. In a very .brief reterence to the war and its happy ending, he paid a tribute to the magnifi--1 cent work of the British Navy, which ■ had justified its glorious . reputation. ; :'. New Zealand's effort had been no mean ' one, and it was sad to : think t-hat some '15,000 of the young men who had goiie from here ivould not come back. It was a -terrible sacrifice, but who would ■ -say that the price was too heavy to 'pay for ridding Europe of cruel . tyranny?' The cost in money would be } ' enormously heavy to a small country like New Zealand. It would amount in ' all to about 80 millions- sterling. Our •taxation w-ould have to be heavily in- , and. when prices slipped back to normal this country would have to I exercise the greatest economy. It was 1 . very fortunate for New Zealand that; | v the British Government had purchased ' . all our produce, particularly the perish- ; able produce like butter and cheesu. \ The Imperial Government had purchased our products also for another ■ year ahead," and this must be a source i. of the greatest satisfaction and security H to the New Zealand producer. j ■ ' . -To meet, our increased burdens we ! .must produce more. There was no other I way.' To improve our farming methods i - ..wo .must have better educational facilif • : ties for farmers. ' There were such facilities now for all professions, but /for the farmers, who practised the most ' "important of the arts in this country, y-. ' there were none. The aid of science ! -must also be secured. It was the , . -habit of some among them to think ' lightly of science, but it was none the ' ■■■• less true that science had already . been of enormous, value to the farming industry. The freezing process was .one of the benefits that science had i 'bestowed on the fanners. Veterinary. science, too, had done much to help the fanner. More use must be made also of the inventor, and more lhacliinj ery must be ÜBed in production. Wages 1 were high, and' lio one wished to see ! ihein reduced in New Zealand, but if i ■we were to get value for expenditure | • oil "wages' we must eive, the worker the, 'r- latest and best machinery to use. Per-' 1 haps the development of hydro-electric ! power would assist the farmer in this, but he was not prepared to hazard j, . ' definite opinion, .about it. ,He ceri - taiiily hope<l' that; cheap. power .would i she "available for farmers for traction ; ;and-other purposes.o .-.There was" sure to be in the near ; future a considerable social and political .upheaval. If farmers were to succeed they must have "a-long pull and • a'strong pull." It was deplorable that; .-there should be the continual bickering ;hetween employers and employed.! i . " iThere was, he ,was sorry, to see, a deal ; .of. 'jealousy existing between the towns- ; ipeople and .the farmers, Some of the workers in the towns declared that the farmers were coining money, and often, based their demands for more on this; ■ assertion. St>ino of them grudged the r- "V his motor-car.; This was a. very ;•: i ','moan ' |To, the farmer. V-• / •" '.living in a remote, part of the coun-l ;tl -try, where his.family?s life was lonely, . mptor-par\aii3 ; ..the.,telephone ,ha(l. ,/■' . He would" t .fce glad to ree,-instead of this jealousy j ' a littlemore" co-opera- ; . The'workers-and ibo i.. -. /must * l get : together - ill a. spirit . of' co--operation. „• '-v- : , ■ ! .: There..'ffas i abroad.in Europe a politi-' !': cal .'and' swial iphilpsophy .called ,801- : ! Ishevism. - Nobody • knew exactly' what' [ 1 ;it .meant, but' they all knew that the ; v^liljeWkt>murdering, and rob-- |.. ; ■ "bing"at'.,will, repudiating debts, and so.'. j : pn./ and; having, 'a very'good : ■ time;, from their point of view. There | . . were ; peopJe. here, professing Bolsheviti ; .doctrines,, and', this, movement, was;j greatly to be deplored.- 'p . ,-. . I ' In';a .'last word - Sir James- Wilson - j said that one.of the purposes of the: • ' 'institute'was'tp' bring farmers together, ■ | ' 'and so ito ensure such combination, as r" : would:'inake for prosperity and in-' I ; creas^'production; He. hoped that' this j purpose, would be achieved. J j. ■' ■' ; Dr; : ;,C. 'J. Heakes;"of :the Agricultural- ! Department, being called upon to speak, j merely thanked the chairman and mem-! : bers for their welcome.. He ..agreed j '.with Sir James , Wilson'that although t-;the Agricultural Department had done j' much work already a great deal still t lay 'ahead of the Department. •■■ 'Sir James Wilson, referring to tho • annual report and .balance-sheet of tu'o ' company, said that the business had •' grown to such an extent that the j larger premises now available were all j filled, and more would have to be pro-j i . vided. A proposal to add two addi- ; tional stories to the building Would j come before the directors. Last year i the turnover of the company had been j • £200,000; this, year it had been [ £300,000. For tho success of the com- | panv much credit was due to the staff, | which had worked zealously always for. 1 ; : the good of the company. The sift- ' scribed capital of the company would , in the course of a few years prove to | be quite inadequate for the business [ , ' of the company, but he had no doubt l that the farmers would furnish extra ' , capital if more business was to be done for them. He referred to the great I success of-the business established at | Feilding, saying that the venture had 1 been fully justified. If other branches j which would be-established had similar j. • success, as he they woul.d, r, the company could look forward to a ! large extension of business. He moved ■ the adoption of the report and balancesheet. - , Mr. W. - li. Mathioson threw out a ' suggestion that the company should, for ; the benefit of employees, set aside a ; - sum of money as -the nucleus of a I superannuation fund. (Applause.) If ; it' was in order he would like to see | it done this year, and if not then it ', iniqht be done next year. j The 'chairman said that the scheme ; had not been overlooked by the diroc- | tors. The.v were awaiting the formula- ' tion of a big scheme to cover all emj ploye6s j( .of theiiFfderated:Co-operative J Companies of New Zealand, j .Mr. Ewen Camptpll urged the com- !•• pany to establish, a store |•• ?(■ '-iVancttinpi. - tJ i- 1 ■* 11 ''

The chairman said that he hoped that a store would be established nt Wanganui very soon, Tha Feilding. people had. a store, but v they,, actually found the capital' before -asking to have the stoi'o built. V Messrs, J, Balsillio, G. E. Yule, and Allan Robinson;! the' retiring directors, were re-elected unopposed.' - Mr. Pearce moved that the amount of. remuneration' of directors be £200 per year, with travelling expenses added. An amendment, was moved to , the effect tliat"'the remuneration of directors be £25 each ,in addition to 1 travelling expenses. l The amendment was lost and the motion carried. The payment to the auditor was fixed at £75. A hearty vote of thanks was accorded to the staff for work in the past year.