Stratford News

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 61, 30 July 1912, Page 3

Stratford News

| from cur Resident Reporter. ' THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY. ANNUAL MEETING OF STRATFORD SHAREHOLDERS. The annual meeting of t!ie Stratford Farmers' Co-operative Association was held yesterday, Mr. R. Dingle, chairman of directors, presiding. The attendance, which was small at first, rose to a little over a liuudred.

j The chairman, in moving the adoption I of the report and balance-sheet, commented on the paucity of the attendance. He said that the annual meetings were useful as giving opportunity for clearing up misunderstandings which had arisen during the previous working year. He thought tliey could congratulate themselves on the splendid prices still ruling for butter and cheese. During the year, acting on the recommendation of the shareholders, an independent tester had been appointed, and by acting in conjunction with the Midhirst Company, the cost of this officer had been only £6O. He believed that the tester's work had given satisfaction. Referring to the resolution passed at the last annual meeting that a site on the Skinner road would, on account of the water supply available, be suitable for the main factory, the chairman said the directors had inspected the site suggested, and had come to the conclusion that it "would not be in the best interests of the company to move. The company bad, .is they knew, purchased the Huiakama Company's plant and property, and he understood that there would be an increased supply of milk' there in the coming season. He thought the farjners there could congratulate j themselves on having merged into a bigger company, giving them better returns. "Cheese v. Butter" was briefly touched on, Mr. Dingle saying he had heard that some shareholders intended breaking away from the Company if butter manu-

I faeture was continued. As shareholders ljnew, a special meeting had decided against changing to cheese-making. He hoped that they would not break away, for it would probably not be good for I them, or for the .C-ompany, cither. It might be well to call another meeting to discuss the matter. But nothing could •be done now. He would say this, that if the present his>h price for cheese was maintained, and the disparity be- \ tween butter and cheese, shareholders I would have to consider the matter. I The chairman mentioned that the company's product liad graded well in the past season, and Stratford was third on the list at the Moturoa grading works, with 93.52 points per cent. During the season, after the fire, the directors had considered the advisability of jnoving the creamery to Huiroa, but (wild see no -advantage in doing so, and the jmatter was dropped. The suppliers some 00 chains of mud road to traverse, and-they were getting tired of it. There i\as a danger that these farmers would break away from the company unless something was done to have this road jnetallcd. He had advised them 'to take steps to approach the County Council in order to have the metalling done. The work would cost .£SOO, which meant that each supplier would giVe about the butter-fat of two good cows. At their request he (Mr. Dinglo) had seen Mr. < Hine,,M.P., pnd lie had promised to do Ipis best to obtain a Government subsidy Of £ for '£. Jfr. Dingle thought it would Jrobably be to the advantage of the oiiiphpy to shift the creamery about a Aiile.'iip the road, a'nd this was still b?in,T oonsidered. Such removal would simplify Ijhe' conveyance of the cream to the railway liiie. During the year tne directors fyad, raised the s'alaries of the manager and secretary, recognising that to keep good men it was necessary to pay them frell . (Hear, hear.) A sum of £IOO Had been spent in necessary alterations qjt the main factory. Referring to the, Auditor's note that in his opinion the amount written off for depreciation on | ttuildings was inadequate, the chairman j Explained that alterations, renewals and new plant were all charged to working ijccount. Comparing the condition of affairs ito-day with that of former years, sr, Diflgle?said that whereas a few years apo'they were paying interest on £i2,000 or £13(000, to-day they had a Credit to , interest account. The chairman referred tp the operations of the Egmont Box Company, of which the .Siw'U'oi'd JP ury Company was one of the shareholders,

fjnd the secretary read an interesting report by Mr. C. Sangster upon the Egjjs oni' Company's .mill and bush at Ohutu,

qn the Main Trunk line. Reference was made to the labor unrest all over the world, hut shareholders were to be congratulated that so far the dairying industry had had no trouble. The relations between employers and employees iti the industry had been of the best, and «b long as the professional agitator could be kept out there would be.no trouble, deferring to the National Dairy Association, the chairman said that bv mak-

ing it compulsory for all members of the Association to contribute to the cost of the Home agent, the company's contribution had been reduced from £45 to £2B per annum. , Coming to the vexed question of the disposal of last season's butter, the chairman said the directors had closed with an offer of 11 1 / ad per lb, thinking it was ■too good an offer to let ,go. In the past, when they had "turned down" a, big price they had subsequently to accept less. Of course, had they liehl oil and consigned, they would have done better, but at the same time he thought that had the shareholders had the matter to decide they would have closed on the. liy a d. (Mr. Rawlcs: No, no; you tried that on i two years ago, but failed.) Mr. Dingle j said that there was a great deal to bo | considered in this matter. Had the strike I and the slump occurred two months ear- [ licr the prices realised would not have been so good. On the other hand, they had new markets opening ,up—he mentioned the Continental demand and the prospects of trade with Vancouver. The fact, that butter for the Continent had to ! be bought had had the effect of raising | prices. Much of the unsalted butter ■ from here was bought for the Continent, j Mr. Dingle applauded the action of the I National Dairv Association in sending | Mr. ,T. 0. Uarkness to Vancouver "to spy j out the land," and he prophesied that Vancouver would provide a market for a ! good proportion of our produce. 11l answer to si. question, the chairman said the directors had estimated that to move the factory to Skinner road would cost, roughly. ,£IO.OOO. Mr. (!. Sangster was of opinion that \ "with cheese staring lis in the face" it j would be inadvisable to move. Rut il I the company was to continue makins j butter then he was not so sure that il j would not pay to get on to the new siti j suggested. ; Mr. "Rhodes inveighed strongly againsi ■ the action of the .directors in selling th 1 output, and more strongly still agains . the secrecy surrounding the transaction ( Tin diil not think the directors had don I rii/hl in ring secret the fact and th | " .» sale. To carry out th I i,m>! ' ' ojeration. at. any rat 1 in the speaker's opinion, immediately j sale was effected, or the .factory's pr< i duce disposed of in any way, the chai ' men of the different companies in tl district should be notified, and thi

would, not have, as they had had last year, a rich lirm making "a scoop of a quarter of a million out of Taranaki" as a result of the secrecy observed .by a dairy company's directorate. Mr. Thos. iVei.b also spoke on this matter, criticising the action of the'directors. He said he understood that the sale was actually effected in a motorcar— £05,090 worth of produce sold by the directors being approached one after the other in a motor-car. Next year he supposed it would be done per airship, and shortly by wireless. (Laughter.) He believed in such business being transacted at a properly constituted meeting of the directorate.

Mr. Lehmann, one of tlie directors, denied the motor-car allusion. At the same time he opposed the policy of secrecy, and said tliat ,in future, as soon as a sale was effected, and whether the buying firm urged secrecy or not, he would tell the news to any shareholder who asked .him, believing that this would be good for the industry.

There were five nominations for the .directorate Messrs W. H. Were, J. Milne, J. C. Robson, W. Phillips and J. Bonner. The first three, the retiring directors, were re-elected in that order.) The elected directors briefly returned thanks, and the chairman .thanked the shareholders for tbeir mark of renewed confidence in the directorate. The usual honorarium was .voted to the chairman of directors. It was announced that the main factory at Stratford, and creameries at Skinner road and Toko, would open for the season on Monday next.

A vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the shareholders' meeting. At a subsequent meeting or the directorate Mr. K. Dingle was re-elected chairmaji.

CRIBBAGE. . Stratford and Ngaere cribbage teams are girding up their loins for their third match «if the season to-night at Mr. Payton's rooms. Each has a match to its credit so far, and to-night's will settle matters for the year. The Stratford team comprises Messrs. Kelly, Jonfes, Harstoh, Collins, D. Butehart, Mills, J. Thompson, C. Speck, J. Croft, C. Jackson, T. Law son, R. Boon, H. Masters, H. Wilson, Yandle, Styles, P. Speck and J. Butcher.

STRAY PARAGRAPHS. A young gentleman who was alleged by the partner of his joys and .sorrows to have stated his intention of finding, fresh fields and pastures new is likely to he given an opportunity of ma-king* $n explanation upon oath. _ •* ' l * Friends all over the district will sympathise with "Granny", in the loss of her cottage by 'fire at Toko yesterday.

. Stratford is getting a name for doing things; wall. After the A. &P. show letters from'exhibitors shower on ttie secretary, thanking the Association's officials for courtesy and attention. The Jersey Breeders' Association subrbranchait Stratford, whose management includes some of the men who have made the "A. & P. show famous, is now in a like position. Among the letters received by the popular secretary, Mr. J. W. Healy, appreciative of the good time m'ited- out to the delegates to the annual meeting of the Association at Stratford a week or so 'back, is the following from Mn Wm. Tapp, of Auckland, president of the Association: "I must thank you most heartily for the great reception you gave us at Stratford, and I will always be pleased to see any mentfbefs who may call this way. I have yours of the 2 t 3rd inst., also the bundle of circulars, for 'which I thank you. •' Hhey are the very- thing I wanted, and I inlisfri'cflmmend your branch for their forethought in having them printed. I am posting one to each of the members of our branch—thirty-one' in aM." I

BERNARD'S PICTURES. "• 1 To-flight the great detective drg.ma, "Zigomar v. Nick Carter," will pi east! another delighted audience, and/if" the writer knows anything of the Stratford people, Wednesday's crowd will be bigger • still. "The Ace of Spades" is a great Western Selig dfamA, full of exciting episodes. The comic section, besides "Hogan's Alley," includes "While the Cook Slept." The latter is a very clever trick film, showing where the cook, having received final instructions for- the dinner, is left U>y his mistress" to carry them out, but is no sooner*" left* flltme than she proceeds to finish an interesting tale in the "Weekly Love Teller." , Mary soon falls asleep, and the diiffler at once j proceeds to prepare itself without any j assistance in a marvellous way, rtnd when the cook awakes with a start, slue is more than delighted to see the dinner quite ready for serving out, but is much concerned as to how it was done. The scenic films, "Tripoli" and "Picturesque Holland," are gems of cinematography.