NEW ZEALAND SHIPPING COMPANY.

Globe, Volume III, Issue 200, 29 January 1875, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND SHIPPING COMPANY.

The annual general meeting of the shareholders of the above company was held at Mr Charles Clark s rooms at 11 a.m. There was a very large attendance. Mr W, Reeves, Chairman of the Board of Directors, occupied the chair.

The advertisement convening the meeting was read by the secretary, as also the minutes of the preceding general meeting, which were confirmed. The Chairman said he would now call upon the secretary to read the report of the directors. As on former occasions, he should, unless the shareholders desired it, take the balance-sheet as read. Of course, if any shareholder required it, the accounts would be read.

There being no objection to this course, ihe report was read by the secretary as follows:

“ The directors, in presenting to the shareholders their first balance-sheet, embracing the operations from the formation of the company in November, 1872, express their regret th it these have resulted in a nett loss of £14,360 3s lid, which amount includes all expenses attendant on the formation of the company, of special representatives to London, and all charges at head office to 31st December, branches to 30th November, and in London to 30th September, 1874. “ Shareholders will recognise that the policy of lowering freights from London to the colony, and from the colony to London, to nnremunerative rates, which was adopted by" the firms engaged in the New Zealand shipping trade when this company commenced to run its line, fully accounts for the loss entailed on the company. The directors are glad to be able to inform the shareholders that such policy has now been abandoned, and that the three lines are carrying cargo on uniform scales of freightage, at rates which, while recognised as fair and reasonable by shippers, are remunerative to the company ; and inasmuch as all losses caused by the previous policy have already been brought to account, the directors feel that they can with confidence invite the shareholders to look forward to a successful and dividend-paying future for the company. “ Satisfactory arrangements have been concluded for the management of the company’s business in London. An influential and able Board of Advice has been constituted, and an efficient manager appointed. “ The financial arrangements made by the directors will render it unnecessary to make any further calls on capital account during the next six months, and the Board are sanguine that none will require to be made during the current year; but circumstances may arise which will make it needful to call not exceeding 60s a share between July and December. “ The fleet of the company is in an efficient state, and the ships are ably commanded. The directors, however, regret that the absence of profits at this period precludes the writing off of any amount for depreciation, as contemplated by the articles of association. “ For the general board of directors, “ W. Reeves. “ Chairman. “ Christchurch, 13th January, 1876.” The following is the balance sheet to 31st December in the colony, and September 30th in London DRi £ Si d. £ b. d. To capital subscribed ... 250,000 0 0 Less amount unpaid at

£190,737 2 5 The chairman said that before moving the adoption of the report of the directors, it would, perhaps, be as well if he gave the meeting some information as to the general position and prospects of the company. An observation was made to him just a few minutes previously by one of his co-directors, who said he was sorry to see in the report presented by the directors to the shareholders, that they had used the word regret in reference to the loss sustained during the year. The gentleman who spoke to him felt that the word might be misconstrued, but he (the chairman) felt sure that the directors did regret that they had to meet the shareholders and say that they had made a loss and not a profit on the year’s transactions. But, though this was the case, the directors had not lost any of the confidence they always held in respect to the future of the company. This they had the strongest faith in—-(hew)—when he last bad ; the honor of addfemdhg them upon the occasion

of the annual meeting, he had expressed his opinion that the reduction of freights, which was then in course of being carried out by their rivals in the shipping trade, would entail considerable loss and inconvenience to the company if they had to carry freight at the rates proposed to be adopted, which were far from remunerative, and, therefore, if persisted in by the other parties engaged in the trade, would necessarily involve the company in loss. Shortly after the meeting to which he had referred, the opposition gave them an opportunity of learning what their line of policy would probably be, by reducing the rates of freight. They had not then what would have enabled them to cope with the difficulty—a fleet of ships of their own ade quate to carry on the immigration and other contracts, into which at this time they had entered, and to the due performance of which the company were committed. They would doubtless remember the position of the company at the last meeting, when this step, of which they had information, was contemplated by the opposition. The company had taken contracts for the conveyance of immigrants and Government material for public works, in fact, they had secured a monopoly for the conveyance of the Government freight, &c, for six months. They had entered into these contracts then, and they knew that the means at their disposal were very inadequate. They had to charter ships to do the work, and had, in consequence of being new in London and quite unknown as a company, to charter these ships at high rates. But even then the transactions would have been remunerative if they could have obtained the same rates of freight as on the previous year. But the opposition took the company in the weak place ; they knew that they had entered into large obligations to charter vessels, and they then reduced the rates of homeward freight, and the result was the loss which they all regretted, and the causes of which he (the chairman) would now endeavour lo explain. At the meeting held on the previous year he had said that the contemplated reduction would entail loss and inconvenience to some extent on the company, but that the opposition would soon cease, as it would come to be more felt by them than by the company, and that prediction had been found to be correct. As was stated in the report of the directors, the policy of running at, low rates of freight bad been abandoned, and the three lines - had agreed to a uniform rate, which, while not. one that was unfair to shippers, was yet remunerative to ship owners, which was not the case under the former arrangements. This he took it was only carrying out the policy which the company was projected to do. It might be said that they were endeavouring to establish a monopoly, but this was not the case at all. What they wanted was not to press hardly on the shipper, but to get a fair return on their business. He hoped to see this state of things continue, and th«t they might now be enabled to carry on their business in peace and quietness, and be enabled to extend their borders without fear of being driven away. Thus, while meeting the shareholders with a loss on the transactions of the year, the confidence of the directors in the futuie prosperity and success of the company—always strong as possible—was unchanged and unshaken. They had the work of two years before them—the experience of working the company —experience which would stand them in good stead in the future. The starting of a new enterprise such as that was always surrounded by difficulties, but, notwithstanding this, they could congratulate the shareholders on the present position and future prospects of the company. [Cheers.] When he (the chairman) last met the shareholders he had had to announce the probable return amongst them of Mr C. W. Turner. He had now the pleasure of congratulating Mr Turner upon his return, and to take this opportunity of reiterating what the Board had already stated, their appreciation, and that also of the shareholders, of the skill and pluck with which Mr Turner had carried out the difficult and delicate task of initating the business of the company in London under circumstances of great difficulty. [Loud cheers.] Mr J. L. Coster had also returned since last meeting, and they had had the benefit—no small benefit either—of the advice and counsel of both Mr Coster and Mr Turner. [Cheers.] Mr Coster—who deserved the warmest thanks of the shareholders for the way he had worked in their cause—[cheers] —took up the ball from where Mr Turner left off. He had put the London office in perfect order; and beyond that, he had achieved a most important work, one which at a previous meeting had been urged on the directors. At that meeting it would he recollected a shareholder urged upon the Board as a most important consideration, and one deserving serious and careful attention, the formation of a London Board of Advice. This Mr Coster had d ne, and that most effectually, [Hear.] The company now had a position in London, »ad Mr Coster had left matters on such a footing that they might safely say that the business of the company would be most efficiently carried out in London. [Cheers.] He (the chairman) thought that a special vote of thanks to Mr Coster, by the company, should be given for his services in London. [Cheers ] Regarding the matter of the losses which appeared in the balance sheet, he might say that there were two causes which led to it. The first of these was the reduction of the price of freights by the opposition. Another cause, and this a very vital one, was not having a fleet of ships of their own. This difficulty, however, they had gqt over, and they now had a fleet of eight magnificent ships, nearly all of which were in the colony, and all of which would return with very profitable cargoes. The directors, however, did not intend to stop here; they had recently entered into a most satisfactory arrangement, by which they would largely add to the present fleet of ships, without however, pressing upon the pockets of the shareholders. They had made arrangements with a respectable firm of shipbuilders on terms equal to debentures extending over a period of four years, at 5 per cent, Through the want of ships they had been unable to take full advaatage of the- business offering to them, nor to do as much by a long way as they would otherwise have been enabled to do. They had been obliged to put cargo into other persons’ vessels, and get a paltry commission instead of a valuable cargo. He thought the shareholders would agree with him, that the directors had done what was right in entering into this arrangement, because the earnings of the ships would be equal nearly to the price by .the time it was to be paid. I With regard to the financial arrangements of

the country, they might observe that the report of the directors stated that “The financial arrangements made by the Directors will render it unnecessary to make any further calls on Capital Account during the next six months, and the Board are sanguine that none will require to be made during the cm rent year; but, circumstances may arise which will make it needful to call not exceeding 60s a share between July and December.” It was due to the shareholders to inform them that they had made arrangements to float debentures in London, and there was every reason to expect that a satisfactory rate of interest would be arranged. Ao was stated in the report, it was deemed unnecessary to make any farther calls on capital account for six months. He hoped that it would not be necessary, he believed it would not; but still if it was found to be so, it would be all the be'ter for the company as it would strengthen its position. He would now move the adoption of the report, at the same time expressing his willingness to answer any questions which might occur to any of the shareholders present. [Loud cheers] Mr Evan Prosser (Dunedin) said it gave him very great pleasure to second the adoption of the report and balance sheet. Reference had been made to the loss appearing in the accounts of £14,000, but he thought it was satisfactory to find that it was not greater. So far as the directors, he felt that it was no fault of theirs ; it arose from circumstances entirely beyond their control. [Hear, hear.] The company had done a great benefit to the colony at largo, to the wool-grower, and to the merchant, and he must say that he thought the General and Provincial Governments should have treated the company with more consideration than they had done. [Hear, hear.] He had no hesitation in saying that the General Government bad not given the company that consideration to which they were entitled, and more particularly the Provincial Government of Otago. When they considered that this was a purely colonial undertaking, having its shareholders exclusively amongst colonists, and that any profits which might be made would go into the pockets of colonists, and not to a home proprietary, he thought they were entitled to the support of the colony at large. [Hear, hear.] Another thing was that shareholders themselves should take moreinterest in effectingconsignments from the other side, so that a larger amount of business would come into the company than was at present the case, though he believed they had not very much reason to grumble in this respect. So far as the Otago shareholders were concerned, he could say that they would do all they could to cooperate with the directors and the company, though there were some of them who thought that Canterbury had stolen a march on them by having the head office at Christchurch, but he believed that putting aside this little question of local prejudice the Otago shareholders were fully and perfectly satisfied with the position and prospects of the company. [Hear, hear.] He had much pleasure in seconding the resolution for the adoption of the report and balance sheet. [Cheers ] The chairman having inquired if any shareholder desired to make any remarks.

Mr G. Stead said that the chairman had spoken about floating £IOO,OOO worth of debentures on the London market, but he found, on looking at the balance sheet, that there were bills payable by the company. amounting to £24 916 14s; debts due,by the company, £39,695 6s lid; and an overdraft at the bank of £67,246 9s lOd; while against this they had only bills receivable, £2849 9s 9d; and debts due to the company of £28,851 3s Bd. What he wanted to know was how they proposed to provide for the carrying on of the company. How did they intend to do this and meet the liabilities. He could not see how it could be done, unless the company intended to increase the overdraft at the bank.

The chairman said Mr Stead might rest assured that all the requirements of the company would be met both here and in London. The arrangements which had been made were, as he had said, perfectly satisfactory. Mr Sawtell said he saw an item of £4,487 as unpaid calls. Were these calls allowed to stand over ? The chairman said the directors had taken steps to bring in these calls. It was not a very large amount out . of £62,575, and it must be remembered that the calls had been very rapidly made. The directors, however, .would see that the calls were got in. Mr Stead asked the chairman whether he would state to the shareholders what amount of money had been expended in the formation of the company, charges for management, and interest. The balance-sheet was a remarkably bald one, and one which gave little or no information. All that was set forth was a loss of £14,000, but no particulars.

The Chairman said that he had already stated that the cause of the loss arose from the fact that while the company were under heavy engagements with chartered ships their opponents reduced the rates of freights. Respecting the preliminary expenses of formation he might say—and he spoke with sjtne authority on this subject—that for a company to be started in London of such a position, and commanding business like this one, the promotion money would be very much more than the £14,000. In reply to Mr Stead’s question, he might say that the expenses of starting the company, including the special mission of two gentlemen to England and cablegrams, was under £SOOO ; so that the loss was about £BOOO or £9OOO. He might also say that it was not wise in the present state of affairs to publish the whole of the ins and ouis of their business, but the accounts were open to the inspection of any shareholders who might favor 'them by calling at the office and inspecting them. Sir Cracroft Wilson said that when at home he saw the gigantic monopoly of the New Zealand trade held by Shaw, Saville and Co—a monopoly which weighed upon the resources of the colony like an incubus. They had got rid of this incubus, and he was very glad of it; ard he looked upon it that so far from £14,000 being a large sum, the company might congratulate themselves. He felt sure that the balance sheet of Shaw, Saville and Co. would show a much larger per contra. [Hear,] The chairman said that he would now put the motion for the adoption of the report and balance sheet.

This was done, and the motion carried unanimously, The chairman said that they bad now to proceed to the election of directors They had received intimation of willingness to serve, if elected, from the Hon J. T. Peacock, Messrs J, L, Coster, H. P, M., Aynslej-, A. 0. Wilson, Aid John Anderson of Christchurch j

Mr E. Prosser, of Dunedin ; Hon John Johnston, of Wellington ; and Dr Logan Campbell, of Auckland, They bad also received notice of assent from Mr Leonard Harper, but as it had come too late it had been rejected, as informal. The who’e of the gentlemen he had named were eligible for re election.

Mr George Gould, on rising to propose the re-election of the retiring directors, said he desired to take that opportunity of expressing his satisfaction as a shareholder at the report and balance sheet presented by the directors. The work of floating a company such as that was attended with many difficulties, and he considered that the directors were entitled to the best thanks of the shareholders for the way in which they had carried out the work in the face of many obstacles, [Hear, hear.] He, as a shareholder, had every faith in the future of the company, and he believed that the time would soon come when those who had taken shares in the company as a remunerative invrstment, would begin to reap their reward. The thanks of the shareholders were, he thought, especially due to the directors and to those gentlemen who had gone home to England to advance the interests of the company. [Hear, hear.] He would not longer detain them, but had very great pleasure in proposing for re-election as directors of the company the gentlemen whose names they had heard read. [Hear, hear.] The names of those gentlemen were as follows Hon J. T. Peacock, Messrs J. L. Coster, H. P. Murray-Aynsley, A. C, Wilson, and John Anderson, of Christchurch ; Mr Evan Prosser, of Dunedin ; Hon John Johnstone, of Wellington ; Dr J, Logan Campbell, of Auckland,

Mr Stead seconded the motion, which was carried. The Chairman said the next business was the election of auditors Messrs Craig and Lewis were the auditors last year; the former had offered himself for re-election, but the latter had resigned on account of his intention to visit England. Sir Cracroft Wilson moved the re-election of Mr Craig, which was seconded by Mr Gould, and agreed to.

Mr T. M. Hassal moved that Mr A. Carrick be elected as the other auditor of the company.

Mr Stead seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously.

Mr Gould said he desired to mention that there was a very general wish on the part of the shareholders to see the names and tonnage of the fleet] of vessels belonging to the company, published for general information. He thought this would be very interesting to shareholders.

The chairman said he was very happy to comply with the suggestion of Mr Gould. The company’s fleet comprised the following —Waimate, 1123 tons, new, just arrived in Lyttelton harbour, under charge of the Commodore of the fleet, Captain Rose—[Loud cheers] —Waikato (new), 1021 tons, loading at Port Chalmers; Waitara, 833 tons (late Hindostan), preparing to load at Port Chalmers; Waitangi (new), 1127 tons, now in Lyttelton harbour, preparing to load; Rangitikei (late Scimitar), 112f> tons, now on her wav out under charge of Captain Fox to Otago;Waimea(lateDorette)onherhomeward voyage from Lyttelton with the first cargo; Mataura (late Dunfillan) taking in cargo ; Rakaia, 1022 tons, on her way to Canterbury with immigrants. They would thus see that the fleet of the company comprised four new ships, and four as good as new. That time next year he hoped that they would have added four or five more to the list. They had now a fleet of their own, carrying large and valuable cargoes, and had done away to some extent with the system they had to resort to at first of chartering ships. There being no further business before the meeting, Sir Cracroft Wilson moved a cordial and hearty vote of thanks to their chairman, which was seconded by the Hon C, C. Bowen, and carried unanimously. Mr Reeves acknowledged the compliment, and expressed himself as willing to do all in his power for the interests of the company as a colonial undertaking in which he had the utmost possible faith. The meeting then adjourned.

date ... 191,912 0 0 58,088 0 0 To bills payable 24,916 14 0 „ Sundry debts due by the company 39,695 6 11 „ Balance due bankers ... 67,246 9 10 „ Current royages of ships.. 790 11 8 £190,737 2 6 Cb. £ S. d. By company’s fleet of ships— Cost at date 133,947 8 6 Sundry property and stores on hand and afloat 6,053 6 2 ,, Offices, lease, and furni* tore • 628 14 4 ,, Bills receivable on ban 1 2,849 9 9 Petty cash at head office and branches 57 0 2 „ Sundry debts due to the company 28,851 3 8 3,989 15 11 „ Current voyages of ships „ Balance of profit and loss 14,360 3 11