TARANAKI PETROLEUM CO.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 81884, 10 November 1906, Page 2

TARANAKI PETROLEUM CO.

To the Ed tor. Sir, —In rep y tu "Shareholder's'' letter appear ng in your i-sue of the X-li mst., wish .jig to know the difference of opinion between myself and the directors of the Taianaki Petroleum Company, L'mitcd, I may state the matter briefly as follows: — At my own expense i had proxy form- primed and posted to shareholders (many of them friends and acqua! n'ances who f had induced to take up -hates in the company). My own name was filled in as holder, and ill nearly all cases an endorsement on the back requesting that the forms be returned to the secretary. This endorsement was ih view of the tule of the company, requiring a'l proxies to bo :in the secretary's hands hours before the date of the meeting. Some fortnight later the d rectors instructed me as secretary to send out tite notice convening the statutory meeting and to enclose a blank proxy form with the notice , in the case of non-resident shareholders. Those in-tructions were duly carried out. My engagement with thecompany a- secretary was to terminate at the statutory meeting, and I made no seciet of the fact that 1 proposed to stand as d leetor. The drectors appear to think that, being at the time secretary, I had no r gilt to lake the course I did, and this f gather from the circular signed [ l:jy tho eliai.i'man and the present' secretary is the head and front of my offending. I hold that my po-ir on as secretary was no bar to my standing for director after ceas : ng to be secretary nor to my sending out proxies. The veryexistence of tile company I believe even the directors wiil admit, '.s due to my exertion of floating the Moturoa Company. 1 hold a large interest in the present company, and I feel my-elf more than ju-tified in tnv own and other shateho'ders' interests in taking the steps 1 did with the object of securing a change in the constitution of the present Board, as 1 consider the management of the affairs of the company up till now have been far from satisfactory.—l am, etc., D. LAING.