CO-OPERATIVE BAKING SOCIETY.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4344, 20 February 1875, Page 3

CO-OPERATIVE BAKING SOCIETY.

A meeting of shareholders in the Co-opera-tive Baking Society was held last evening in the side-room of the Odd Bellows Hall, to confirm the following resolutions passed at a former meeting of the society : 1. That the Wellington Co-operative Baking Society (Limited) be placed in liquidation immediately. 2. That Thomas Kennedy Macdonald,. Jas. O’Shea, Robert Port, and John Compton, be liquidators of the, said society. . . Mr. T. K. Macdonald, who was voted to the chair, informed. the' meeting that as the proceedings already taken were scarcely in accordance With the provisions of the Act, Messrs. Izard and Bell, the solicitors to the company, had suggested that it would he better to adopt the resolutions as if they , had been presented to the shareholders for.the first time, in order that the liquidators should be legally invested with power to sue defaulting shareholder's and take such other steps as mi'dit be necessary to wind up the company. In'order that the business might be proceeded with, he would request some shareholder to move the adoption of the resolutions. ■ Mr WonTll said that before that was done, and as this might be the' last occasion upon which shareholders would have an opportunity of expressing their views in regard to the affairs of the society, ho desired to place his opinions before the shareholders an _ o public. In the first place, he wished to point out that the action contemplated m tfie resolutions was utterly illegal,, and, therefore, the sale of the plant on the previous day was illegal also, because the company had not yet been legally placed in liquidation, and no liquidators bad been legally appointed., .Ihe previous meeting of shareholders, at which the above resolutions were passed,,was called for an entirely different purpose ; therefore, any action taken under them could not be upheld, and he wished to exonerate himself, as a member of the committee, from any responsibility connected therewith. He alluded to this point, because he foresaw a great difficulty. The liquidators would of course call upon defaulting shareholders to pay up their calls ; but he was very firmly convinced, that if any shareholder refused to pay his calls, the liquidators, under their present appointment, could not compel him to do so. Ihe last meeting was called, according to the terms of the advertisement, for the purpose of 11 re-forming the society.” Such resolutions as' were laid before the present meeting for confirmation formed no part of the business. According to the law upon the subject, they should be considered at a special meeting called for the purpose. The present condition of the society he felt bound to say had been brought about by the carelessness, obstinacy, and thorough contempt for the rules evinced by a few persons, who had taken affairs entirely into their own hands. The treasurer kept no banking account ; consequently' the shareholders never knew how their funds stood. ( The secretary worked hand: in hand with the treasurer, and the two kept all knowledge of the affairs of the society to the tnselves.jpossibly with some ulterior motive; at all events the shareholders were kept entirely; in the dark. The secretary had published a. statement as to the manner in which the funds of the society were disposed of, but little value could be attached; to that; as they all knew too well that the money had been squandered indiscriminately and had gone no one knew where, simply for the reason that no regular accounts were kept. However, he would not go so far as to attribute dishonesty. There was no necessity. to do that, as the auditors had yet to present their' accounts, and those accounts would no doubt show in what manner the funds had been disposed of. If ' it • did not show that, it would at least show whether proper accounts had been kept. The auditors, he had no doubt, would debit the : secretary with all sums received, and he hoped also that they would give him credit only for such sums, the expenditure of which had been properly authorised by the committee. He would aval'll protest against the action suggested, because he believed by doing so he would be assisting to stop a groat amount of future litigation. They should be done in proper legal form, and he trusted the liquidators above-named would see their way to

nullify the sale of the plant, so that proper steps should be taken. The Chairman, in answer to a question, said any creditor to the extent of £SO, whose claim was not satisfied, could apply, to the Supreme Court for an order to liquidate the society, so that they were only doing for themselves what their creditors might have done for them. - Mr. Archer said the simple fact that the .society had become involved to such an ex- ' ‘teht as it had, in tKe, short space of nine months, during which time their receipts had been very good, showed very plainly .that "there had been something radically wrong in the management of the society. What had become of the money was a puzzle to all of them ; 'but that was not at all sfrange, r as Mr. Moody, their, self-appointed secretary,,seemed to have set the committee at defiance. As Mr. Moody .was present, he would ask him to explain what had become of the money, Mr. Moody questioned Mr.’ Archer’s right to ask him snch a question. The Chairman interposed, as something like a personal setrto seemed imminent, and stated that the auditors and liquidators would examine the accounts and lay the whole matter bare. At present the shareholders were ' compara- ‘ "tively in the dark as to their real position,land really had nothing to discuss ; bnt the auditors would dissect the affairs of the society, and lay before the shareholuers a statement which ; would show th“ir actual position, and then they would have something to discuss. Mr. Clayson said that as several attempts hid been made by Mr. Moody and others to lay the blame of the society’s failure upon his shoulders," he desired to make a.statement as to the real cause of the society I ’s collapse, In the first place, the bboks of, the' society were never available, so that ( the, shareholders might ascertain their actual position. - Mr. Moody," in fact, tbld the committee to their • face that he would not produce the books .. when desired to do .so. Then he struck about fifty shareholders off the list be- . cause they opposed his action. These names were subsequently reinstated when Mr. Moody found that he had gone too far. The sole cause, in fact, of the society’s failure was Mr. , Moody’s persisting in doing as he liked with the money and the business, and setting the committee and the rules at defiance. Readmitted himself that some £3OOO passed through his hands in eight months, but it had never been satisfactorily accounted for; that was to say, the committee were, not supplied 1 with accounts when they demanded - them. No doubt Mr. Moody’s flareing advertisement in the Times threw a dark shadow over him (Mr. Clayson) in the eyes of those who did not know anything about the matter hut he had no hesitation in saying that if the society had been conducted according to rule, they would have been able to trace the blame" to the proper party, instead of allowing the society to drift into a state of bankruptcy. The resolutions were then put and carried, and the next meeting, to confirm them^.appointed to be held on the 16th of March. Mr. Worth informed the meeting, .that although he had spoken against the proposed action, he had no desire to oppose the winding up of the society. Had it been properly conducted, it might have become a flourishing institution. All he desired to do now, was to see the final steps taken in accordance with the mode prescribed by law. To assist the liquidators, he would propose,—“That the action taken by the liquidators appointed at the meeting held on the 11th of January, in disposing of the property of the society, be now affirmed.”—The motion was agreed to, and the meeting broke up.