NEW ZEALAND LOAN AND MERCANTILE AGENCY CO.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 164, 12 July 1881, Page 4

NEW ZEALAND LOAN AND MERCANTILE AGENCY CO.

(Auckland Evening Sur— 6th Jnly, 1881.) The annual local meeting of the New Zealand Loin an.i Mercantile Agency Co. was commenced at neon to-day, about 15 sbsrehfj'. .rs be ins? present. Tbe Hod. James Williamson cccupied the chair., lie o;*.nc-.i the proceedings with the follor.inar speech : — Gentlemer — This meeting is n; ore formal tban anything else, the work U3ua! on such occasions having heen done, as you will find from the report published, in London in February, which report is already in Shareholders hands. . I simply rise to add what weight I can to what the Chairman put before that meeting respecting the prosperity of the country, and of this concern in particular. Our business is a very rapidly growing one. From Australia we hare reports of the most promising nature. The business there ia increasing very fast. But there is an old saw whicb says that "good wine needs no hush," and I think that it has a strong application in our case. There ia no doubt that the benefit which the shareholders derive i9 shared in by the people of the country. The Company confers a great boon upon the colony. It has enabled us to conduct our business with a greater amount of safety than we bad the opportunity of doing before its establishment, and it also largely reduces the cost. Mistakes, of course, will sometimes occur in spite cf the best endeavours of the Company being nsed in tbe interests of its clienta ; but I think I may safely say that in oor ease these mistakes are very few io number, perhaps fewer in the present circumstances than would bs likely to occur if there were no such company to rely upon. I believe we have now got over the difficulty created by the monetary panic of some two years ago, which was commenced by the failure of the City of Glasgow Bank, A prosperous course is now before us. We bave bad assurances from all our managers, that business generally is much better. As I said at the out. et this is quite a formal meeting, simply designed for the purpose of assembling the Colonial shareholders in order to lay before them the results ofthe past year's operations. That having been done the next husiness will be the election of two directors t^il he vacancies caused by the retirement oi-*fessrs S. Browning and J. C. Firth, who, however, are eligible for re-election. Upon the motion of Mr W.I. Taylor, seconded by Mr John Probert, Messrs S Browning and J. C. Firth were accordingly re-elected directors. Mr P. Comiskey proposed the appoint ment of Mr W. I. Taylor as Colonial Auditor. The motion was seconded by Mr G-. P. Pierce and agre. d to. . Mr A. Boardtnan moved that a vote of thanks should be accorded the directors and officers of the Company. He was quite sure that they deserved such an acknowledgement at the hands of the shareholders. The success which the Company had achieved had not been that of one half-year merely, but a success extending tbrough a series of half-years. It had been continuous, had seasons and good seasons alike. Much depended upon the wisdom of the directors in securing an active and efficient staff, acd also npon the exertions of that staff. The Company had been of great benefit to the settlers, and likewise to a large number of the English people, whose money it had been the means of bringing out fo the Colony. It had been a mutual benefit to the resident owners of property here and to the English capitalists, whose money it had so wisely expended, agd they, therefore, must be a* mueh gratified at the result of its transactions as we here. Mr Barton Ireland, in seconding the resolution, said he could btar testimony to the zeal and good management of the directors and officers. He was pleased to have seen the C- mpa_y arise from small beginnings to its present position— second to none in the colonies. It occuppied the premier place as a shipper of colonial produce. There was no need _f further comment. The motion was passed unanimously. The Chairman returned thanks for the directors. He had only to say that it had always been the endeavour of the Board to promote the interests of the shareholders, and such votes as the one just passed, would tend to encourage them m the pursuance of the course which had hitherto proved so prosperous. He thought the shareholders of the Company were fortunate in having a directory which held such a large pecuniary interest iu the concern. It was perhaps the best guarantee that could be given that the directors were not in office simply for the sake of premium or honorarium, but for the protection of their own interests, with which, of necessity, were bound up tha interests of their fellow shareholders, as, in advancing the. one, they promoted the other. That was the best guarantee that the shareholders of a Company of this kind could have that the directors were using their best efforts for the satisfactory discharge of their duties. He felt convinced that the common interests would be as faithfully attended to in the future as they could be. Mr F. Battley acknowledged the vote on behalf of the officers of the Company. He said that, having bad an opportunity during the last few months of visiting every office in this colony and Australia, he could say that the Company had a most earnest and zealous staff, the members of which devoted themselves unceasingly to the interests of the shareholders. He felt sure that their efforts for the advancement of the Company's business would continue to he marked by the same energy and earnestness that marked them in the past. The reading of the rough minutes terminated the business.