SOUTH BRITISH INSURANCE COMPANY.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4400, 27 April 1875, Page 3

SOUTH BRITISH INSURANCE COMPANY.

(From the Southern Cross.) The fifth half-yearly meeting of the shareholders of the above company was held on April 12, at the office, Queen-street, Auckland. There were . nearly . forty shareholders present, and W. C. Daldy, Esq., Chairman of the Board of Directors, presided. Mr. A. Boardman, the manager, read the advertisement convening the meeting. The following report and balance-sheet were read-: Tho directors, in presenting their fifth half-yearly report and Balance-sheet to the shareholders, have pleasure in again recording a satisfactory increase in the business of the company. The amount received on premium account for the half-year is £45,220 7s. 4d. The losses incurred show an increase. The burning of. the ill-fated ship Cospatrick caused the heaviest marine loss which the company has yet sustained. A movement has been set on foot iu London to increase marine rales. The investment account has to its credit £81,376 Os. 3d, Your directors have carried £7812 10s. to capital account, making the paid-up capital £50,000; and they recommend the payment of a dividend thereon at the rate of 10 per cent, per annum out of the balance of £14,602 13s. fid. at credit of profit-and loss account. This will absorb £2500. It will be the duty of this meeting to elect two auditors in the place of John Batger and T. Leigh White, Esqs., who retire, but aro eligible, and offer themselves for re-election. The directors-beg to acknowledge the zealous and well-directed efforts of tho various agents and officers of the company, and tho cordial co-operation of the shareholders in introducing business to the company.—For the Board of Directors, _ , W. C. Daldy, Chairman.

The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the report, said : The report, which is very concise and clear, requires very few remarks from me. I may say, as a preliminary observation, that your directors have steadily kept in view the principles upon which the business of this institution has always been conducted, namely, to, carry on a safe business without timidity. This is very essential. Economy, without illiberally, is wholly important, in insurance matters. If we expect officers, agents, and other 'gentlemen to devote their time and talents to the interests of an institution like this, we must pay them for their services. You will notice in the report an allusion to the loss of the ill-fated ship Cospatrick. This is one of the heaviest losses we have ever sustained ; hut I am happy to say that good effects will proceed from even such a disastrous occurrence as that, and it has been found necessary in London and other places that marine rates should be increased. There is a movement in that direction almost throughout the world, I may say, which has been mainly occasioned—especially in Great Britain by the very large increase in trade causing so many thousands of ships to be going about in all directions. One or two of our losses have arisen from collisions in the English Channel, which are becoming more frequent than ever. Last half-year our principal losses were attributable to fires, while this half-year they, have been under marine policies, and I think you will agree with me that it is fortunate we combine fire and marine insurance. The chief item worthy of note in the report is the carrying of £7812 10s. to the capital account, arid making the paid-up capital £60,000. If yon will turn to the accounts you will see that the dividends received upon investments amount to more than the dividend proposed to be paid on this capital. The increase of business this half-year is very gratifying in many respects, and is partly owing to an extension of our operations in various directions, which, we trust, will continue to go on steadily. The directors hope that, in the next half-year, they will, if successful, have the opportunity of strengthening the reserve fund -That, as well as your capital, requires to be in' such a position as to be commensurate with the increased business you do. To my mind the figures look very pretty—£so,ooo, £25,000, and then the sundries afterwards, i It is bringing things to nn oven sort of . state. Of do not know that I need make any further remarks on the report.-and balance-sheet. ,!I have gone over both carefully, and it seems to mo that there is very little room for talk. I now move the adoption of tile report and * balanco-Bhcotj and trust' that

some shareholder will second the motion, and favor the meeting with an expression of his views on the operations of the company. Mr. J. F. Clark seconded the motion. ’As he was leaving. New Zealand in a few days, and had! been identified with the company from its origin, he might, remark, that he.had observed the operations of the directors with a certain amount of jealous care, and had noticed : with great satisfaction the growth which had attended their efforts. He was certain the shareholders could do ho other than regard what had been done with the warmest approval. Had there been,on the .part of the directors anything which he could have looked upon as a. dereliction from .the path of duty, he would have been one of the first to have raised his voice,against it, but there have been a combining of prudence with courage, and the directors had not hesitated to do what they thought was desirable to extend the business of the company. .When' he looked at the figures which had,been placed before them, he, in common with other shareholders, if not all of, them, could not but consider them exceedingly satisfactory. He was aware that there might be amongst the shareholders some who had bought into the company for the purpose of speculation. Such persons might have been disappointed, but, if so, no blame could be attributable to the directors or the manager. He thought to the bona fide investors the result must be satisfactory in the: extreme. He begged to second the motion for the adoption of the report. —The motion was put and carried unanimously. , AUDITORS. On the motion of Mr. Joseph Wilson, seconded by Mr. S. Hughes, sen., Messrs. ■ John Batger and T. L. White were re-elected auditors. VOTE OF THANKS. Mr. Reader Wood, M.H.8., said ,he had a duty to perform which he thought they would agree was of a satisfactory character, and he was quite sure they would have great pleasure in supporting the motion he was about to make. It was a vote of thanks to the directors, manager, agent, and officers who had been engaged in the business of the companyduring the last half-year. So large an amount of business as was shown by a premium income of £45,000 in one half-year, must require very considerable exertion on the part of the officers; and he thought the least the shareholders could do was to give them their best and hearty thanks. He begged to move a resolution accordingly. Mr. Richard Hobbs seconded the motion. While upon his legs he would express the extreme satisfaction which he felt.as a shareholder at the manner in, which the business of the company had been conducted. He hoped the directors would not think he was in any way slighting their claims to the thanks of the shareholders, when he said he believed the success which had attended the operations of the company had been mainly attributable to the indefatigable exertions of their manager. In fact, lie was of opinion that Mr. Boardman- worked so hard in the interests of the company as to endanger his health, and he trusted' that that. gentleman would not allow his zeal for the company to be the means of its being deprived of his valuable services. Their manager was a gentleman in whom they could place implicit confidence. He trusted they would all strive to make up for the losses of the company. If the shareholders endeavored to put all the business they could in the’ way of the 'company, and_ supported the directors in their wise and judicious management, there was- no doubt result of the operations of the South British would far exceed what they had yet any reason to suppose, and it would be one of the greatest concerns in the-Southern Hemisphere, He had very much pleasure in seconding the vote of thanks. Mr. Batger, as one of the auditors, would like to make a remark which might be of interest to the shareholders. He was very much struck, and he believed his coadjutor was also, with the clear way in which the branch accounts of the agencies were kept, and made to tally with the general accounts of the company. It was not only what they saw before them that was worthy of praise,-but the management of,,the company in all its branches —nob Only in -Auckland, but elsewhere. The agents, ho believed, were included m this vote ; and it was with a special view to their merits that lie made these tew remarks.

The motion was then put, and carried unanimously. • The Chairman,- in returning thanks on behalf of the directors, said they depended very much on - the support of their . shareholders for success. Up to the present time there had been a deep interest displayed in! the company by the shareholders, which had been one of the main causes of the extension and carrying on of the business throughout the colony. He trusted they would not relax their efforts. They might depend upon it the directors would not relax theirs, in extending the company, and making it what they all hoped it would yet become. By prudent management and proper push, with an avoidance of improper ventures, it might be made one of the first institutions of its kind in the South Seas. There was no reason why it should not. : They had as good a stand . and as good a prospect as any other institution of the kind. He might say with'regard to their manager, that the directors felt they were very much indebted to his unwearying exertions on behalf of the company ; and he himself fully endorsed the remarks which had fallen from Mr. Hobbs, that Mr. Boardman’s mind rested continually on the affairs of the company. He ventured to say that no other institution of this character in the Southern seas could show a clearer or a bettor state of accounts and statistical information than the South British could. That condition of things was duo to Mr. Boardman. With regard to their agencies, be thought they need be proud that they had so many energetic, talented, and able men—able as business men ho meant—who were carrying on the branches of the institution. Their accounts would show, from the gradual increase of business, that they were not relaxing their efforts, but were doing everything in their power, consistent with tho instructions they received, to push business in a proper and discreet manner. They had now agencies established in Adelaide and Queensland, as well as Melbourne and Sydney, and he might say, with regard to the gentlemen in charge of our agencies, that, so far as the directors were able to judge from the accounts and correspondence, which were very carefully gone into, they seemed to take a delight in the business. The greatest confidence was reposed in them by the directors, who had on no occasion seen any reason to withdraw that confidence. He might say, oh behalf of the directors, that should they feel any want of confidence in any of the agents they would not hesitate to tell them at once. When it had been necessary to call tho attention Of the agents to any little matter requiring notice, the communications had always been received by them with the utmost good feeling. The directors, the manager, and the agents, in fact, were all working together harmoniously for the benefit of the instituU °Mr. Boardman returned thanks on behalf of himself and the officers of the company, who as their respected chairman had said, had all worked harmoniously together. The manager and directors of any company must depend, to a very great extent, in the departmental work, on the efficiency of tho subofficers Tho agents and heads of departments had been doing the best they could, but ho spoke very feelingly when he said that the company had capital sub-officers, who had worked very hard obtaining the beat risks they could, and malting as few losses as possible.. With regard to the, business of the company the progress had been as follows Premiums, £l4 000 tho first, half-year;. £17,900 tho second, £31,000 the third, £37, the-fourth, £45,220 tho fifth. So that there had been a, large increase of work since they commenced business, and the. premiums had increased by more than 800 per cent, during the, five half-years. There had not’ been a single loss due to- the carelessness of any agent. /‘All inariiie' insurance I offices in the various parts of the world had suffered to an exceptional ■ ,'degree, .'.and,' according ',to the balance-sheet of one office, it had suffered very

much more than the South British, there a loss on- the -half-year’s operations, which he hoped this company would never show. ±±e begged to return- them his thanks for the confidence expressed by the vote of thanks, and also.for the, conduct of the shareholders m fostering' the interests of the company. He trusted they would not forget' what the chairman had 'said—that success depended very largely upon the shareholders. If they had only had a small body of shareholders they should not have had so large a revenue ,in premiums. He therefore trusted they would continue to give the'officers of the company their assistance. -He would remind them that the dividend would be payable at the office at ten o’clock next morning, and at the agencies on receipt of advices. The Chairman said there was one remark he would like to make with, regard to the Cospatrick. They would remember that immediately on receipt of such telegraphic information as they could depend upon regarding the fate of the vessel, they notified that the losses payable in the colony would be handed over at once. , From what ho heard he believed the directors acted Vrlscly on that occasion. The course they adopted had been beneficial to several of our tradesmen who had insured in the South British; by’ giving them the means to procure the stock without any delay which they had expected to arrive by the Cospatrick. Traders would know that they could insure in the colonies as well as elsewhere, and have their losses, if .they pleased, payable at their own ports, and on receipt of the intelligence of loss, they would get their money with promptitude and without vexatious delays. He merely mentioned this matter for the information of insurers. # The minutes of the meeting were then read and confirmed, and the meeting terminated. .

The Coloring op Flowers. —The Journal de la Societe Oentrale d' Horticulture de France contains some interesting particulars on the artificial coloring of natural flowers : —“ Those that have a violet hue will gradually change color and turn to green under the influence of the smoke of a cigar. This is easily seen, for instance, on the petals of Thlatspi, or shepherd’s purse, Iheris umbcllata, or Hcsperis matronalis. This change is owing to the ammonia contained in tobacco. Starting from this circumstance, the Italian professor, L. Gabba, has made a series of experiments on a variety of plants with that alkali in its natural state. His apparatus is a very simple one, merely consisting in a plate into which he pours liquid ammonia, covering it afterwards with a reversed glass funnel. The flower to be tested is inserted into the tube. In this way he has seen violet, blue, and purple turn to bright greenj intense carmine red (of the pink) become black ; white turn yellow, &c. The most extraordinary results were afforded by variegated flowers. When the latter, immediately after this exposure, are dipped into pure water, they will retain their new colors for several hours, after which they simply return to their former state. Anotlier cunous discovery of Professor Gabba’s is, the flowers of aster, or starwort, that are violet, and have no smell, acquire a delightful fragrance, and turn red under the influence of ammonia. We know that the Japanese, by means of injections which they secret, can color or whiten flowers, and obtain wonderful variegation. The Chinese have also secrets of their own, among which is one for reducing large trees to a dwarf size. The Garden of Acclimatisation has at this moment an orange tree, a hundred years old, and imported from China, no bigger than a rose tree ; its fruit scarcely attains the size of a cherry.”

Balance-Sheet. To capital paid up £50,000 0 0 To reserve fund .. 25,000 0 10,504 0 To balance £100,226 13 9 By investments £81,370 0 3 By balances at agencies By cash in bank By accounts owing .. .. By office furniture, stationery, &c. .. £100,226 13 9 Balance down £14,662 13 9 Profit and Loss Account. £24,635 15 7 To re-insurances, commission, salaries, . minting, advertising, stationery. 2,109 7 6 To carried to capital account .. 7,812 10 0 To balance 14,662 13 £60,671 9 6 By balance from last half-year .. £12,778 15 0 By fire and marine premiums .. .45,220 7 By interest, dividends, &c., 2,635 2 By transfer fees 37 B 0 £60,671.-9 6 Balance down £14,062 13 9