T. L. JOLL DAIRY COMPANY.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 August 1918, Page 6

T. L. JOLL DAIRY COMPANY.

AimifiL MEETING, The annujj meeting ojf the T. L. Jolt Dairy Compauy was held at Kapuni yesterday, Mr. J. B. Murdoch (chairman of directors) presiding over an attendance of about rib shareholders. CHAIRMAN'S ADDRESS. In moving the adoption of the report (as already published), the chairman said that the season had been a very satisfactory one, considering the war conditions. The price paid out this year was 1* lOYtd, as against Is I'l-Jd last year, and tome shareholders rather wondered at Ibis in view of the fact that the Imperial Government had given them 106; for their output this season as compared with 9|d for the previous season. The: previous year, however, the Government, bad only purchased two-thirds of their citput, and the other third went oil tho open market through the usual channels, and realised as high as 12% d, bringing the average price for the season to> 10 3-Bd. As far as manufacturing was concerned, the increase in the cost of recjuisites, was an eye-opener- Coloring and rennet was £4838, as compared with £IO3O the previous season, having in--creased from £2 13s per keg landed cost up to £29 per keg, and prior to the, formation of djie Rennet Company, some of the firms were asiking £35 to £156 per keg. Although the Rennet Company had not been very successful in tibe manufacture of rennet, it had done good in keeping down the price. Step 3 were now being taken to manufacture the rennet, and he understood it was turning out satisfactorily- They had expended very little capital in the Rennet Company, and nad found out that from lambs' and calves' veils sufficient rennet could be made to supply the whole of New Zealand's requirements, so that if they obtained a man who could turn out the rennet satisfactorily they would be independent of foreign companies for their supplies, the bulk of the rennet coming from Sweden and Denmark, and only a e-mail quantity from America. Salt also showed an increase from £451 to £997, and the'increase would have been greater but they had a good stock to commence the season. Salt had increased from £4 5s to £l7 per ton. due largely to the cost of freight. In England there were tremendous quantities of salt awaiting shipment They had applied to the Government and the Imperial !tuthorities to rilow this to be shipped, but without effpct. There was now on the way salt that had been waiting shipment for IS months. Other requisites which he enumerated had also increased, as also had railage. Other charges only showed a reasonable increase, except insurance. This showed a great increase, owini? to the fact that, whereas the Imperial Government last, rear paid all charges from the factory to f 0.b., this year the factories had to bear the charges, and insurance on this item alone totalled £IOOO. apart from the insurance >n the grading stores. The Imperial Government had not lost one farthing the Tirevious season from the time the produce was DUt in the factory until it reached London, and the producers therefore intended that the Imperial authorities shouM take that responsibility off their shoulders. Factories had. under present conditions, to take out i>olicie9 for enormous amounts. The directors had iust taken out a policy of £SOOOO on the prodiicp carried over from last season, and probably within the next month or six weeks the, policy would be increased to £SO.OOO. Premiums were high, and it was becoming difficult to get insurtnoe companies iff New Zealand to take up risks, as they alreadv held such enoi mous risks on dairy produce, meat, wool, flax. etc. Thev weTe now fighting the position, and hoped that a settlement would soon be come to.

He traversed the balance-sheet, and showed the sound financial position of the company, pointinjr out that at present they onll - owed the .Toll estate on the purchase of the concern £620. and had a credit balance in the bank of £4447.1 is Bd. The balance-sheet stood out on its own, as most other companies lad an overdraft. It had been the business of the directors to see that everything was kept up to the highest pitch of excellence, and all charges necessary to do this had been charged against the rear's working. The result was that their position was now so sound that they were able to carry some of their owii insurance. He congratulated shareholders on the strong financial position, stating that they could replace all their wooden factories' with concrete and still he in a better financial position than many of' the companies that surrounded themHe spoke at length on the position regarding the West Coast Refrigerating Company, in which the company carfied £2747 6s 4d liability. The company had originally put a few hundred pounds into the Freezing Works, and the profits had seen placed to the redemption of flhare liability until now they had £3224 13s & in the Refrigerating Company, which Pad been of great assistance to the dairy factories of Taranaki. Twelve months b„o when they were faced with the shortage of storage, the directors or lolls had considered providing accommodation at their own factory for 15,000 nates at a cost of £OOOO. He had, however got in touch with the chairman fc „d directors of the Refrigerating Com,ianv who overcame the difficulty by providing additional .storage «t Patea and Hawera, and all it cost Jolls m cash was £240. As far as he could see, this would give them sufficient storage for the present year. He considered this was more satisfactory than erecting stori age at the factory, as had been done by I two or three companies, because in the latter case they had to find the machinery and an expert to run it, and though the Government grading staff recognised these temporary stores as grading stores, there was no doubt that as soon as times became normal they would only grade at Moturoa and Patea, and the stores that had been erected would not be of material use and result in treltendous loss. It would, tnereiore, Be to wipe off tne cos\ oi any additional storage in, say, two years. The West Coast Refrigerating Company had built extra storage at Patea and obtained the big hall from the Winter Show Committee to store 25,000 crates in Hawera at a low rental, and this storage had since been increased t040,000 crate?. It was recognised that the Winter Show 1 Committee had done a big thing in letting the hall to them when it was required for Winter Show purposes, and as an appreciation the Joll Company had taken up* 40 shares in the Winter Show Company. Regarding the prospects for the pre sent year, he stated that in making tl./ sale to the Imperial Government durinr the season just closed, it was estimatec" tb*t IOcI was the relative value of Nefl i Zetland cjjeese as compared with thai

had this year given Canada an increased I price, and it was contended that New Zealand should be given at least 10 5-Sd, and negotiations were now in progress, and it was hoped would be settled in a lew weeks, Referring to the test, he said that the company tested suppliers' milk accurately, and gave every encouragement to suppliers to verify the test. Some companies with a higher average test claimed that they could pay out more had the test been lower. That was not so. They paid out all that was in it and could not do more. The pay-out depended on I the yield per pound of butter-fat, less the cost of production These statements were made for a specific purpose. Mr. A. C. Johnstone seconded. THE DISCUSSION. There was very little discussion. In reply to a question the chairman stated that it was hoped to make the additional payment of 4%d in one sum within two months. Second grade cheese was only R. 06 'per cent, of the output, as compared with 15 per cent, the previous year. It ranged from practically nil at the main fßctory to 28.10 at Palmer Road. The cartage showed a decrease of 4d per ton. The report and balance-sheet were then adopted, ELECTION OP DIRECTORS. j For the three vacancies on the direc- I torate there were five nominations and < the election resulted: T. Walsh (re- . elected) 419, W. F. Lyndon 413, W. Slat- I tery 278 (elected), D. P. Hurley 183, L. Houlahan 167. Messrs T. Shearer and F. Lye did not seek re-election. For the vacancy caused by the retirement of Mr. J, D. Crowley, who had gone to the war, there were five candidates, and the election resulted: J. ,T Kissick 219 (elected), L. Houlahan 138, A. J. Luxton 108, D. P. Hurley 95, T. Knapton 64. In this election Mr. Luxton declined to utilise his proxies on principle. The chairman remarked that proxies took up a lot of time. They were all right for people who could not come to the meeting, but they were liable to be abused and he considered they should be done away with. (Applause.) Mr. A. C. Johnstone gave notice to move in this direction. Mr. W. P. O'Callaghan was reappointed auditor, the fee being fixed at 20 guineas. GENERAL. The chairman stated that the directors had made arrangements to obtain a supply of benzine sufficient for suppliers, at least to run their milking machines, i In reply to a question, the chairman said the directors wanted suppliers to save all the veils possible. The same price would be given as last year. The pay-out was Is 10y 4 d per lb for butter-fat supplied, nnd in addition shareholders were securing 5 per cent, interest on share capital, which was equivalent to another eighth of a penny on butter-fat, bringing the pay-out to Is 10 3-Bd. Votes of thanks were accorded the chairman and directors. The chairman, in expressing thanks,

work done by tlie manager (Mr. Eraser), who, he said, liad more tlian justified his appointment, the secretary (Mr. A. Lccs) and the staff. The chairman was accorded three hearty cheers at the conclusion.