WATERWORKS COMPANY.

Evening Star, Issue 3417, 3 February 1874, Page 2

WATERWORKS COMPANY.

The annual meeting of tho Waterworks Company was held at tbe A then mum this afternoon ; Mr R. Gillies in tho chair. The following reports of the directors was submitted and adopted;— Your directors, in meeting you onthepresent occasion, have to contrMulate you on the continued prosperity of the undertaking the steady increase of the revenue, and the large and profitable extension of the mains. At the request of tho Colonial Government, the water has been laid on to the ba» racks at Caversham and while taking main pipes thither, it was thought advisable to lay them also in the most populous parts of Kensington, so that the advantages of a good supply of pure water are now being extended to the suburbs, with benefit to the inhabitants and advantage to the company. The following table shows the steady and rapid increase in the revenue of thtfeompany. and a very considerable addition to Vhe revenue during the present year may be reckoned upon, in consequence of the unprecedented number of new buildings that are being erected, as well ns the improvements made by the removal of old buddings, and the erection of larger and more substantial ones in their stead :

Is o exact estimate can yet be given of the revenue from works just completed, as the rates isri °- nly * or P- orti °hs of the year oef ~m aJ n s the company bow extend over miles in the City and 1 j miles in the suburbs, making m all, 27 miles of mains laid. In anticipation of a large addition to the population of the City and suburbs, and an increased demand for water for machinery and other purposes, your directors have considered it advisable to make arrangements for the purchase of land suitable for additional reservoirs for tho storage of water; and though those may not be needed for some years to come, should tho demand for water increase very rapidly, the supplying it will be within the eontrol or the company. The proposed purchase of the company’s plant and works has been finally abandoned by the Corporation, and a special report and all the correspondence on this subject is submitted herewith. The directors have no cause to regret this result, nor the position they have all along taken m this matter, so far as the interests of the shareholders are concerned. The continuing properityof the company-its bulliant prospects, and the actual price at which the stock in the open market, all demonstrate this. Nor is it a cause of congratulation altogether to be despised, that enlighted public opinion generally is unmistakeably m sympathy with the company, Your directors would recommend that in addition to the interim dividend of 6 percent, paid up to the 30th of June last, there should now be paid a dividend of 6 per cent for the halfyear ending December 31, on the original shares and of 4 per cent, on the shares issued under the Act of 1871, making in all 12 per cent, for the year on the original shares and 10 per cent on the others. The directors unanimously recommend that the salary of the secretary should be raised to L4OO, to data from January 1,1873, and that the Auditors should receive L 6 6s each for their services from the same date. They also unanimously are of opinion that the time has now come when the remuneration of the Directors ought to bo 1 j P r ?P. or^on to the onerous responsibffities devdvmg upon them, and to the time an dlab°r expended for the company’s benefit. The retiring directors this year are Messrs R Gdhes, G, W Eliott, and A. Rennie, these gentlemen offer themselves for re-elec- * audjtora also ar « elected annually. Sfiii?®** 0 ™? auditors Mr C. H. Street is willing to continue his services, but Mr H P Morse retires.

The following resolutions were carried:— Ihat the report b# received and adopted, ihat a dividend at the rate of 6 per cent, be rSufl° n +^ he i. Bl if e8 issue £ under the Act of } S2j* for , *he ha%ear ending December 31, Ihlt o i ns I 2 cent * for year. Also, l at i a o dmdend /tthe rate of 4 per cent, (raak--5* ™ pe \ Ceat ‘J or th l year) be declared on thA the shares issued under the Act of 1871, for the half-year ending December 31, 1873, or for such portions of the halfyear as payments of cal« have been made. Dmdends to be payable on and after the 9th inst, and that this meeting confirms the paydividend made by the diwoo /the half -year ending June 30, 1873. R Cl . Strode > Elliot, and Ktiring be the dlrecfcora m the room of those That Messrs C. H. Street and D. ’Rrent be ummS * ad i!%r at \ remu «eration of six • shillings each, and that an additional 3°oST^ 111 nms * bcpai<l for *• T SftS* Salary °f th ? Secret ary bo raised to L4M per annum to date from January Ist,

Gross ExNet Per cent. Revenue. peases. Revenue. on Capital. 1868 ... £3,085 £1,731 £1,354 212-20ths 1869 ... 3,949 1,521 2,428 4 7-20ths 1870 ... 5,839 1,782 4,057 6 ll-20ths 1871 ... 6,980 1,535 5.445 8 ll-20ths 1872 ... 8,148 1,740 e;4os 10 l-20th» 1873 ... 9,833 2,073 7,760 12 3-20tha