PATEA S.S. COMPANY.

Patea Mail, Volume VI, Issue 514, 1 May 1880, Page 3

PATEA S.S. COMPANY.

The annual meeting of this company was help yesterday, at Carlyle. Present: Captain Wray (in the chair), Messrs Tennent, Williams, Adams, Gibson, Contts, Christie, Taplin, Williamson, and H. C. Horner. mixed accounts. The Chairman said : The directors regrot that they will not ho able to present the usual report and balance sheet, owing to the fact of some discrepancy having occurred in the accounts, wliich the manager states he is not in a condition to explain at present. In fact the general meeting would have had to be postponed for a week or two, had it not been discovered by the Act that unless we elect a chairman and directors to-day the old directors would have to hold office another year. Feeling this would ho objectionable to many shareholders, wo have determined to hold a meeting to-day, and the principle business will be to elect directors for the ensuing year. Mr Tennent: I think it would be satisfactory to the meeting if the manager were to make an explanation as to the cause of delay ; for, if I recollect right, the meeting last year hud to be adjourned because the manager was not ready. When the shareholders met the rule was altered, and in order to give the manager ample time to get everything done, a mouth was allowed to him, and it was decided that tho annual meeting take place on the last Thursday in April. Wo are now asked to adjourn it still farther. Mr Harris,'manager, said ; Tho cause of delay, bj' which-1 am not able now to put the balance sheet and report before the meeting, lies in Messrs Turnbull's account. The cross entries have some errors; and they are very difficult to find out. There are twelve months’ statements to wade through, and these take considerable time. I have not yet found the error, but fancy I have got pretty near it. I have not been able to get read}’ in time for Mr lllack to complete the books, but I should judge a fortnight would do it, and give me ample time to prepare them, and to have the report and balance sheet printed and circulated to shareholders.

Mr Wi'liams: Are there any discrepancies between your account and that of Messrs Turnbull ?

The Manager : No, they have forwarded statements, and the amount they pay out should be credited to themselves—to the freight—but by some error an amount 100 much ;bas been credited.

Mr Williams : That is to say, there is a discrepancy between your account and theirs ?

The Manager : There are three kinds of charges, and somehow Messrs Turnbull have got credited with £3O or £35 too much. Whether this lies in having shortcharged Turnbull & Co., and in crediting profit too much, or whether it is in charging expenses too much, I cannot prove yet. At all events, freight has been charged too much, and Sclanclers & Co., have been credited too much. Thay now stand almost level to the company, and thei.i proper balance should be about £47. The amount duo by them should be between £lO and £ls—rather the amount 1 lint is 'defficient, that they are not debited with, is that ; and the amount they are duo to the company is £47. 1 feel assured the error lies in the cross entries between working expenses, charges, and freight. In entering Tnrnbnfi & Co}’’s statements against them in the different accounts, I charge the different accounts with the amount of the freight, and with the amount collected by them ; but by some moans an error has arisen in the credit, and it is very wearing going through the statements to find out what it is.

Mr Williams : Then Isuppose when they collect any freights, they pay themselves ? The Manager ; They pay themselves out of accounts collected for the company. Mr Ch’istie : I have been always under the ’.impression that these persons furnish their accounts monthly, and that the manager checked them off as they came in. I fail to see now how there can be such a difficult} 7 in balancing the statement. Sorely I misimdorstood the manager when he said he had to wade through statements for twelve months past? The Manager : Messrs. Turnbull and Co. do, but Messrs Sclanders do not. The mistake is with Messrs Turnbull. Their monthly accounts are not corrected by their statements received afterwards. There are errors in their monthly sheets which have to be carefully looked up at the time, or they would run all thiongh the book. If they made their own monthly accounts correct, there would not bo so much difficulty.

J Mr Williams : Would it not be better to correct these errors at the time, instead of allowing them to run on twelve months? Tii'o Manager : The statements are noted •very time the} 7 come in, and are corrected, but, as I say, there has been an error.in them.-

I . i’ A LOST SUBSIDY. Mr. Tennent: There is one other question. I understand the Government subsidy which was allowed from the time the Patea commenced to run with mails, at the rateof £3OO a year, has been discontinued. Has.the Government discontinued-it, and fdr'w'hat reason ? The Chairman ; The reason was, in shoit, that the vote lapsed. ‘ The Manager, said that was so, and read correspondence showing that on the Bth Jun«, an application was addressed to the Government for a renewal of the subsidy, to which a reply was received saying the Postmastei'-Geheral could not comply with the request because no provision for the subsidy was made in the appropriations voted by Parliament. Other letters had been written by the manager, including one to Major Atkinson, but they had not been answered nor the receipt acknowledged. Mr Tennent : It seems to me there was a certain amount of neglect on the part of the directors in ! allowing the subsidy to remain. so long as it apparently did. It is well known that if any body of persons wishes anything to be put on the estimates, it is necessary to do so while the House is in session. We knew, perfectly well before that the subsidy was only for one year ; and I think the directors, while the House was in. .session, should have taken; proper means, mbave brought, the matter, under the- notice of our member, and not waited, till the House had sat, which was evidently then too late.: ' The Chairman It appears to have been an oversight. , , Mr Gibson ; Was there not a reminder from. the chief clerk of the Postal Department,- calling the manager’s attention to the fact that the subsidy would lapse, and that it would be necessary to apply The Manager While at; Wellington; I was reminded by Mr Hutton that it would be necessary to make application again, but I forgot all about it. - : .The Chairman : Reminded you about taking farther steps ? The Manager: No. Mr Gibson : Mr Tennent can scarcely blaui'p tlie direetdris for that oversight. We can scarcely undertake, tolook after all the items of correspondence.

Mr Adams : It is a loss of £3OO to tho company. Mr Williams ; I would like to know, if it does not rest with the directors, whom it docs rest with ? The Manager : I consider it rests with me for my want of memory in not attending to it. It certainly would have been my duty to have attended to it, and also to have looked after any interests of the company, Mr Adam* : It seems to me that some of the directors knew all about it. Mr Gibson : When tho manager came hack from Wellington he explained that Mr Hutton had reminded him that it would he necessary to apply again ; and I presumed that it was a friendly reminder, and that he certainly would not have neglected it, Mr Williams : Hut would our officer have been justified in doing that without the consent of the directors ? I think he would have been taking rather too much upon himself, unless the directors had instructed him to do so. Mr Taplin : If I remember rightly Mr Harris explained what Mr Hutton had told him. There was no resolution moved, but we agreed to leave it to tho manager. We were surprised when wc found that no letter had been written about tho time wo expected it would be written. Mr Gibson : The directors would never dream that such a matter as £3OO a-yoar would be neglected ; and it only cropped up after wo found the time had gone by. Then followed the correspondence. Mr Williams : How is the subsidy to bo regained ? The Chairman : We must take care to remind the House next time. The subject then dropped. New Directors, On tho motion of Mr Taplin, the number of directors to be elected was reduced from 7 to o, and 3 to form a quorum. The now board of directors was elected by ballot as follows :—Messrs Gibson, Tennent, Taplin, Christie, and Foreman. Mr J. Black was re-elected auditor. The £3OO Again. Mr Williams : What about that JC3OO ? Mr Williamson : Yes, that is a serious item. I was going to propose that tho manager and directors make it up between them. (Laughter.) That money would go a long way towards paying our insurance. The meeting was then adjourned to the 14th May.