TARANAKI PETROLEUM CO.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 297, 25 January 1910, Page 2

TARANAKI PETROLEUM CO.

AXXL'AL MEETIXG OF SHAREHOLDERS. The at!' :danee at the adj. filmed annual me. ,if the Taranaki Petroleum Comp... . :'e,l. which took place j yi'sK'i'.lii. . .-'her smaller than usual at ... . . I'lings. .Mr. 11. | Okey, ALL*., ; L .. . of the director i ate, presided. I HEAD DRILLER'S REPORT. | The following report was read from I Mr. L. Keith, head driller at tile works ! at .-.loturoa: — Since taking charge oi the work.* ai Moturoa uii me lbla November hu-i. 1 have to report as follows: Xo. 1 bore.—The casing which had been broken at the bore, at a depth ei about 100 feet, has been recovered and replaced by a new piece. The bore is now ready to he cleaned out and drilled deeper. Xo. 2 bore. —This bore has been sunk I from 2350 feet to 257U feet, with live j inch easing witllin seven feel of I he bottom. The formation gone through j has been practically oi eot't sandstone. with very hard streaks. The pivsMi'.v I of gas has increased very much, and j there has been a continual llow oi oil. I silt and water, with a frequent blowout of about 15 to 20 feet above the top of the derrick. From one tank of (lie oil and eilt 25 barrels of first-class oil have been secured. Drilling is still being continued, and the plant is now in good working order. On Friday, the 14th inst., the gas caught lire but owing to willing voluntary assistance was sup- , pressed after aoout three hours' hard lighting. Xo. o bore. —This bore has been worked continuously and has caused a great deal of trouble with the pump, owing I to the heavy pressure of gas. About a I hundred barrels of oil have been pro- | cured. The pump is now in, and workI ing well. ' Xos. 4 and 5 bores.—Xo work lias been done. A complete inventorv has I been mad 0 of all the plant and handed | to the secretary. | ELECTION OF OFFICERS. The meeting proceeded with the election of two directors in lieu of Messrs Kingswell a«nd Okey, resigned. The candidates nominated were' Messrs 1). Berry, J. J. El win, P. X. Kingswell and 11. J. Okey. A PERTINENT QUESTION. Mr. W. F. McAUum was given permission to ask the candidates a question. Article 04 of the articles of association provided that any director might personally trade with the company and receive payment for services rendered. The law of the land, however, precluded any such practice between a town council arid its individual members, and most companies forebadc it also. He ■was oi opinion that the articles should be amended, so that instead of "any" director it should read "no director may," etc. Would the candidates give their views on the matter? The chairman said it would have been better had Mr. McAllum given notice of motion, but there was nothing to prevent the question being asked and j answered. THE CANDIDATES' REPLY. ! Mr. Kingswell was the first to reply. He said that he had not known until that day that the articles gave such power. It was not the usual provision, although as a rule a director could trade as a member of a company. He was distinctly in favor of the amendment. It was very unpleasant for the other ■directors when one member was personally interested in payments, besides 1 wiiich the practice caused a certain amount of suspicion amongst the shareholders. Mr. Okey said he would favor the amendment. Mr. Elwin was quite at one with the -previous speakers. At the same time he thought the whole business was irregular. "I think everybody in the room is of the same opinion," lie said. Mr. Bewley: We like to hear it expressed, all the same. Mr. Berry said he would be prepared to give his answer when the question was properly introduced by notice of motion. lie remarked also that had the directorate not been allowed to deal with ite own members —Mr. Bellringer and himseif—the company would often I have had to wait a fortnight or more for goods which they had been able to nrocure in half an hour. As far as his ( business with the company was eoncern- | ed. the whol e of the money he had received was-not worth one Saturday's trade. . Mr. McAllum: Mr. Berry, are you the agent for Stewart and Lloyd? Mr. Berry commenced to protest, but the chairman asking Tor fire sharehoblcould not allow cross-questioning. Mr. McAllum haiT no right to ask his question "•'across the floor of the house." LOCAL VOTIXG. A show of hands was taken for the candidates, and the votes in the room wer e given as follows:- —D. Berrv 43. J. J. Elwin 37, P. X. Kingswell G0,"ll. 3. Okey 76. Mr. Berry demanded a poll, and upon the chairman asking for five shareholders in support, Messrs D. Pen warden. Erlandson, T. Bransgrove, G. Bianchard, Hickman F. Russell, and Johnston stood up. SPRINGING A SURPRISE. The chairman asked the secretary cf the company to ascertain whether these gentlemen represented one-fifth of the capital present in the room. as provid.d bv the rules. Mr. Berry questioned the procedure. - Mr. Okev said he was carrying out the provisions oi article 73. Air. Berry: lias it ever been done previously? And it' it hasn't, I suppose all oii r previous elections were invalid. The chairman said the point had never been raised before. There was delav while the share list we.s examined. . Mr. Elwin suggested a great deal of time might be saved by allowing flk; names to go in of all those in the room who wished for a ballot. Only live had been asked for. but quite a lot would have stood hail they known the position that was to arise. Mr. -lames ( Inglewood): I insist upon the question being decided according I lo the rules. |L Mr. Berry questioned whether it was in the whole room to get five who could comply with the reHe h'mself represent:'d shares. He maintained that this of conducting the business. had never previously been adopidone to suit Mr. Kingswell. PASSAGE AT ARMS. : You asked for the : I do it again. I say wit'icontradiction that this step

is iieiiiH taken io ineel Mr. Kingswe'l. | Mr. I''. .1. Morris .-aid it was only fair to uiie Mr. I.oitv a lair show. The had "sprung this upon him," when illey ought, in fairness to hiai and the meetine, to have made the po;i. 1 ion piite ch'ar before asking the li>" sTinrehoM' i's to sland up. "You idlo.iid treat the shareholders honestly. Yoil it on I hem. Not one halt' of Hie peonie in the room know the arlicles. Mr. Okey: Mr. Ilerry lias been cha.rnia:i of the "ompan\ relit through will! ! Ite exception of twelve 111 on 1 lis. and he oiiu 'll to know I he art ieh's by now. Mr. Berry : The <|iie<-l ion has never been raised belor". Nou've been a dire,'tor, too. Wiiv diiln'l you know it ? Mr. Okev said lhal if I he company llad had illegal ehvliolls lielore lhal wr,s mi reason \\||, I lie prc-eiil. "ll'' sli e.lhl lie run on I lie S'lmc lilies. Mr. I'.ranserove wi-iieo lo wiihdn v biN mi iiio in mi the live, in favor ol *ou:eii'i,. else. Tile ehatrma u: i I is I no hi I e now. At this si vi,. Mr. T. Mills, who iiaii been sentviiiii". 111" shaivlist, advaucen lo I be front of the si age. arid said lhal whil'-l. ii wneM be a lengthy bu-ine.s to eel at m?c actual position it was i;11iI,, umlniibled Ilia' (he five geiulenien who had -|ond up were comne; en I lo deiii'ind ill" poll. The chairman, however, said he could not accept, (he haid assurance of M.\ Mills. I!,, must, have Hie actual figures. Mr. Mil's retired to continue the count. ' Mr. Kiugsw'cil, bv permission of th? ehVn'inan, rose lo make r. personal explanation in regard to Mr. Perry's remark that the course of action had been •adopted a" his ins'.,ga tion. "1 emphatically denv. that statement, whiai: is like a 'o' oi other ialse statements. Mr. Morris rose to a point oi order, and protested against any more washing of dirty linen. Mr. Bransgrove supported him, and Mr. Kingswell's' further remarks we e drowned in uproar. Mr. Berry wanted to know what question was the meeting. itr. .Morris complained that it wasn't a fair thing at all, and adjured t'ae chairman to "get 011 with the busines." Mr. -Tames said ho had distinctly heard Mr. Kingswell s name mentioned as the caus,. of the business, and ha should have the right to explain. Mr. Kingswell should be treated as a gentleman by the New Plymouth people, and not have his character disparaged in this way. Mr. Fagan thought it only fair to uiiow Mr. Kingswell's explanation. He was sorry to see the personal element introduced. Mr. Okey agreed that it was-r't advisable I" wash dirty linen here, .ou thought the meeting was entitled to 'hear the explanation. Ife would leave it to the shareholders themselves. Mr. W. Bewley considered that by all the rules of fair play if one man made an accusation against another that man was entitled to an explanation. Mr. W. T. Jennings, M.P., said that as a considerable shareholder though a stranger to annual meetings his feelings were best expressed in the words of Shakespeare, "A plague on both their houses." -He had in the past twaive months been all over the Dominion, and everywhere there was a mistrust of this company, mainly due to the bickering at the meetings. He wasn't going to ventur e an opinion as to which side was right. But the directors and Mr. Bernhad fully placed the position of affair's before the meeting, by circular and in the press, and why should they listen to them further? As sensible men, let them go on with the business. The chairman then gave the meeting his assurance that Mr. Kingswell was not in the least responsible for the methods adopted. Mr. Mills announced that it was quite impossible to have the scrutiny complete in a reasonable time. and the ballot was thereupon proceeded with, Mess™? C. T. Mills and E. W. Griffiths acting as scrutineers. DIRECTORS' HONORARIA. Mr, Bewley proposed that th e directera be voted an honorarium of £l5O foi their services during the past twelve months, ft was Jess than last year, rtc said, 7)ut in view of "Elie company's fin ance tfiey could not afford to pay at much. This was seconded. Mr. Elwin said he was sorry to hav( to mwe an amendment that the direct ors be requested to give their service: for nothing at all. Unfortunately tilt company was in an impecunious posi tion. They had only something ]ik( £7OOO with which to complete th work, and therefore they must conservi every penny. He was sorry that th< directors should have to give their sc: vices for nothing—or rather that i should be necessary to ask them to d< so. As h e had said on a former occa sion. when there were some appreciabh results of the operations lie would h pleased—if he were not in office—*-< move that they receive a very consid erablc honorarium. 111 the meantime however, th e shareholders were jusr.i fied in asking them to carry on th, work "for the honor and glory of th' thing." Mr. Bransgrove seconded. It was pointed out that this was : ilireet negative to the motion, and there fore could not be accepted as an amend mont. The motion was carried by at) vote to 38. Air. Okey explained that the nomini -tion of Mr. Glegg, though evident 1.1 posted in good time, had not reach'" the secretary at. the hour lived for lb closing of nominations. It was in 1h power of the meeting, however, bv ; unanimous vole, to have his nomiuatioi accepted.—Mr. Glegg withdrew his nont illation. Messrs Ifiigh Pailv and C. T. Mill, wet',, re-appointed auditor?., the remtiu oration being fixed again at seven gui ncas each. ■ The voting resulled: I). Berry l-lllfi •1 .1. Elwin Pjtltl, 11. Okey USOii. P. N Kings well 1-2'Jl. AFTER Till'. POLL. Mr. Okey returned I hanks hj, til' shareholders who had supported hii-can didaiure. Although no longer a mem her of the direetoi'ale he would at nl times do all lie could for I lie company which lie hoped would be carried on ?■•: as lo be most benelii inl to the share holders and to the district. Mr. Kingswell, in returning thanks said lie hadn't come from Auckland will the object of retaining his seat 011 tlu direct orate. lie said that he r:'specter a wnrihv foe. Nobody knew belter than he did that a little opposition waa good thing 011 a directorate, opposition was th e life of trade, in oil com--1 panics as in other things. Having Mr | Berry on the directorate would be no I loss, so long as Air. Berrv did not set ■what he wanted. He trusted that when

the next meeting was held, Alt'. Berry would have done all those things th;>s lie promised to do, and which lie accused others of not having done. He blaui. Ed Air. Berry in several respects. For instance, when he came do v. 11 here tor . the annuai meeting it was at .Mr Kerry's i special request. WhilsL here he it .id been successtui in arranging a compromise by and with the consent of Mr. Berry, who Knew then, as he k:v.v now. that Air. Kingswell's occupancy of ;i seat 011 the directorate was only temporary, pending the settlement of a little dillicuiLv ai. that time, lie didn't know then, and lie hadn't been able to ascertain yet, who was at fault in that matter. Put what he would say, in justice to Hr. Knight, Air. .1. J. Craig am! liintseif. was I hat Messrs Berry an.i Elwin ill thei r circulars to shareiioldets ami their letters to the Press, had nia'.e statements that were entirely iucorrec,*. inferring that these three were responsible for what had happened during ;h? ' three years, before they took •olTk'J. That had affected the views of tie; shareholders i.at'side. Mr. Perry should have taken up the cudgels against the direetorat.,. holding ollice since dune la-t and shown up any mismanagement. ;f any, which had occurred in that time. It was quite unfair to connect the new directors with THE FAILURES OF THE PAST, lie would like to say that he had. never yet been on a directorate of any concern which had failed. He wouidn't say :te had never made mistakes, though. But he objected very strongly against the course pursued by Air. Berrv in infer- 1 ring that he and Air. Craig and Dr. I Knigtit were responsible for the previous mismanagement oi the comnaay. Mr. Berry should not have gone beyond .June last, for ii there were any mismanagement ie tore that dale Air. Berry , hiiie-elf. and he alone, tuns: and should take tlie revifnsibiiity f;iv it. (Hear, hear;. Mr. Itcrry was uoublles- a g0,..! , man to have 011 a directorate, but, owing to hi? being over-sanguine, overenthusiastic. or something else, lie ALLOWED PERSONAL MALICE TO ENTER into the thing. But lie had been living in e. fciiuul town, and had become very narrow-minded 111 this respect. He was very sorry to have to say it, but he would say it to his face. (Applause). Why, he had even declined to speak to Mr, Kingswell when they met J in the street! The speaker didn't think -there was anyone who had more at stake- in the company that he had, his interest being about .EltiOU, and he had done what he could to get the company .out of trouble. He trusted that Air. 1 Berry would learn wisdom —learn that i two heads were better than one, even i /f they were only cheep's heads. If he found hims-'if opposed by six directors, i as he nad done, then he ought to give th e other six credit for having some little hit of sense, and not persist that he waa the oniy man who was right. When Mr. Berry learned that lesson he •ivouhl learn a lesson of the greatest benefit to hnnseif, and to the company. (Hear, near). He expressed great faith in the Taranaki Petroleum Company, and was sure that with commonsen'se management it Mt'ST DEVELOP SUCCESSFI'LLV. l'ne tinvat oi "liquidation staring shareholders ill ihe lace," as contained ill oily of the letters to the Press, should never have been made by Air. Berry or Air. Elwin, or any other shareho'tder. That he would say to their faces. He believed that the company would yet get payable oil, and then Taranaki would "hum." Returning to Air. Berry, the speaker hoped he would remember that he was not unanimously elected; that he was not the only director; not the only pebble on the beach; and that life opinions of his co-directors were its good as his, until proved wrong. Air. Kingswell said he appreciated opposition. He wasn't one for a "family party" directorate, where everything was unanimously 'carried. A little opposition put a bit of life into any eontern. He drew the attention of the new directors to the fact that this damaging sort of newspaper correspondence did not intend to advance the industry, and he hoped that Air. Berry wouid take this little bit of advice from a younger man. Afr. Berry returned thanks to the shareholders, local and otherwise, wiio had returned him to the directorate. He wouldn't review or repiy to Air. Kingswell's speech, which was that of ' a defeated man. He would not reply to the harsji things that had been said, 1 but would assure the shareholders that • he would give his very best services. H a had never spared himself in the past ,'n ! interests of the company, and lie ! was not likely to do so in tlie future. ! Mr. Elwin also returned thanks. He ! had felt rather sore in ha vine to oo- • pose Air. Okey, but trusted ° that ' ; t ' 'Would not affect their friendship. In ' regard to Air. Kingswell, he said that he had little knowledge of him. bavin"' : seen him oniy at the company's meet- ! ing, but he and others had objected lo i the tone that gentleman had adopted at the meeting. Although Auckland j might be so much bigger, Air. Kingsweil " should know that Taranaki people still had some self-respect, and the people ' of New Plymouth had some idea of how they would like their own affairs conducted, without the interference of 1 outside folk. The tone that Air. Kingswell had not raised him in the speaker's ■ estimation. i :\[R. ELWIN RETRACTS. Air. Kingswell asked Air, Elwin to - withdraw his statement, made in a let- ' | ter to the Press, that Air. KingsW'.'ll lj was a company promoter, lie was not *. one. and never had been, his connection ■ with companies being that of managing 1 director of three of the largest concerns i in the Dominion. The retraction was forthcoming, Air. Elwin stating that when he made the ? statement he believed, from the facts • in his possession, that his statement • was a correct statement of the case. THANKS. Upon the motion of Alcssrs J. C. Davies and F. W. Fagan. a vote >J thanks was accorded the retiring directors. > Air. Okey. in acknowledging the vote 011 iiehalt of his colleagues, said that 110 one could have taken greater in- | terest or worked harder for (lie concern , than the directors had done. Those ! just retiring had not taken up the stand that they should dictate to the manager, but reckoned to give the ex , | pert his proper place. What was the • nse of paying a man ,C7oo a year and I then "ordering liim about, teiiing him I what to do? He was pleased to say ' that the directors had every confidence I in Air. Keilh, who succeeded Air, Simp- ' son ill November hist, and he believed the ehang,, had been in the interests of j the company. He didn't infer that the . directors had 110 confidence in Air. SininI son, but thought a change now and then was advantageous.

TEE EXTRAORDINARY M EETIN'.':. The extraordinary general :r,c-:ii:g 0 f th'i cemnanv was then held. Mr. (ike. was again elected to the chair. The business of lie- meeting was ,!)(• e'en ion of live directors, in jihice •'! \'e--r- C. E. Brllringer. ('. Cuner. .i. CrrAg. •"*. 15. Roy and Dr. !'. Knigiil. •vh'.i bid resigned their -cais in a-eeri nnc" with tile agreement arrived ;ii ci tlie ordinary meeting in November ja-i. All V.t Dr. Knight were re A s>ow of hands resulted in th" j lowing votes being recorded: .lo>-o ; ih Little 111, ,1. ,T. Craig 87, .1. P. Rov 7:!. W, T. Jennings 72, C. Car ter (>7, (.'. ii. Pic'Trlrgor 54. James Wi'sou 20. Me--rs J. J. Elwin and P. Per:", | - manded a poll, and the request was sup. nort"d bv Alcssrs T. Bvan-vrove, V. Morris. If. Julian, Ceo. Blancliard. and P. N. Kingsweil. A ballot was then taken, -uid Hi" Jii c * 1 11 1 ; e' adjourned pending the an-neu-.'emcnt of the re-nlts by the -engineers. Alcssrs A, If. Johnstone and W. A. Wood. Shortly after 0 o'clock the result of th" '-<llot was announced, as follows; • "o-!'?di Little, llotirmiller. Sentry I fill. 1272; J. "i. Craig, merchant. Auckland. 12''2: J. B. Roy": solicitor. New Plymouth. 1240: C. ('aider, grocer. New! P|vn'o.,th. 1107: C. E. 'P.dlvinger. ire.e | .monger, 1122: W. T. Jointing;. ALP..! HOG: Jas. Wilson, brewer. Now Plymouth. 74,1. The ,Irst live wero declared elected. Votes of thanks to the scrutineers were enrried. and on beha' f of th- directors At'-. Bellringer vehirne 1 . thinks {n the shareholders for (heir continued coa. lidence.