WELLINGTON FARMERS' MEAT COMPANY

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10429, 21 September 1911, Page 5

WELLINGTON FARMERS' MEAT COMPANY

ANNUAL MEETING OF SHARE-

HOLDERS.

The annual meeting of shareholders in the Wellington Farmers' Meat Company, Ltd., was held in Murray's Hall, Masterton, yesterday afternoon. Forty-five shareholders were present, and' tile' chair was occupied by the Chairman of Directors (Mr J. O. Cooper). THE ANNUAL REPORT.

In formally moving the adoption of th'e .annual report, (a copy of which has already been published) the Chairman of Directors (Mr J. C. Cooper) dealt at some lengtQi with, the capital expenditure of the Company since last annual meeting. At that meeting it had been proposed that a freezing works, wool iplant, and store, with tallow and wool plants only, should be established. j Since theari the Directors' have I found it absolutely necessary to build I and equip a skin-ouring plant. A | statement was made that they might, I and probably would require a skinI curing (plant. This had also been ■built and equipped. Further, an additional large.wiool .store, anenginj eea-'s cottage and a boarding house, , together with additions to the stockmen's residence, and a large general j store Ihiad been erected. Acting on the advice rf the engineer-in-charge and the construction engineer (Mr A. S. MHtche.ll) it had also been decided to make the following tfurthfer additions : Another large boiler to meet the requirements of the pelt .curing and preserving departments, and the bacon factory now in cour.se of erection ; a duplicate electrical generating set; another largo- wool-drier, with the necessary accommodation. These, with an extra freezing chamber which was being constructed , within the cool store, were estimated to cost another £4ooo'. In addition to these a large snumjber of improvementis and internal fittings l had ibeen provided during the season, and charged against the earnings of the Company. These, of course, did not appear in the balance sheet. The cost of the works, with, all additions to date, and additions to which the Company had' committed itself, was £54,000. Of this amount, subscribed capital of shareholders amounted to £40,000, and the .balance of £14,000 would have to.he provided for by overdiaft. PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT.

Dealing with the profit and loss •account, Mr Cooper stated that the value of the unrealised con.signine.nts was £36,742. These values had heen arranged' by asking the Company's agents in London to assess the values. These were received by mail, and were on a higher basis than | those appearing upon the balancesheet. The a.c£ual realisations had 'been in excess of the valuation;?, placed, upon the consignments at Home. The stocks and stores in hanfl amounted to £13,193, which inchided a large ajmount of goods required for the o-umning of the Company. Amongst other items they had in i&tock £ICCO vcrtih cf ircat bagfe. To show, that the valuation® placed -upon the stocks had been on the safe •side, Mr. Cooper pointed out that the valuation placed upon first quality mutton in store was 3d per lb, with all charges deibited against it. The actual c.i.f. realisations Jiad (been as high as 3Jd. It would thus 6e seen that the debit balance really rep/esented a small credit. In any case, the earnings of the Company during till© month of July were sufficient to wipe off any deficit on the year's operations as appearing in the balance sheet. BUYING OF STOCK.

At the inception of the works it had not been the .intention of tine Directors to buy on the Company's own account; but merely to act as agents of others. Circumstances had arisen, however, which made it necessary for the Company * to either purchase stock or close the works. As they Iliad no brand ; established, tliey (had to take ike c.i.f. basis of other companies as a" basis for purchasing, and trust to the good quality and grading to bring them out right. ThSsi would undoubtedly have happened had it not been that certain Home 'buyers, finding the market gjluttedl (by heavy shipments afloat, and a persistent statement that the heavy supplies would continue, had succeeded in hearing the market (almost to the low level of the year 1909. Although, they were obliged to sell some of their shipments at the low levels thusi created, they were enabled, hy storing in 'LonoW and locally, to avoid' the worst .period of tliese low prices. With' (the better .sales they had .made ■towards the end of the .season, they had isuooeeded in almost recouping themselves for any loss they had, .made. This would not appear to be the case iby an examination of the Company's books, which showed an apparent loss of over £3OOO on *the purchasing acpount. The .major portion of .this less was due to an unfortunate Mock at the works through the temporary inadequacy of ,the freezing plant, and to the fat stock drafters failing to draft in accordance with their instructions. These facts', added to the fact that a number of shipments leaving at this time were not up to the standard of condition, were the principal causes of the loss in the trading account. After allowing for these circumstances, -which, might he expected to I arise with any Company just ist'art.img, there was still a balance of £4146. In addition to this a number of improvements and internal fittings, already referred to, had come out of the year's pjrofits. Nor sjhfould they overlook the fact that in the first few .months, owing to the inexperience of a great number of the employees, the cost of production was higher than it otherwise would have been. In the face of all the eircumfetanees, Mr Cboper said

it must be agreed that the short season had been a 'ugHy satisfactory one. OFFICE EXPENSES. ' A sum of £3176 appeared in tho balance sheet as charges of management, salaries, etc. As a matter of >fiact only £B9O of this amount would be charged to salaries. The whole of tli© remainder were writings-off of one kind and another, including books, advertising and preliminary expenses. In doing this, Mr Cooper considered they had written off a fair proportion for the first year. HIGH VALUES.

The good: position which the Company had attained was largely due to the higfrl values placed upon its products. As an example, he stated that tine whole of the shipment, ex Tongariro, had been sold -at 3§d, ex ship, which was equal to |d per lb better than fcr best Canterbury at that date. (Applause). The same thing applied to their wool, pelts, and other products. CAPACITY OF THE WORKS.

I Dealing with the capacity of the j works, Mr Cooper stated that they j had originally been designed for a j maximum of 1520 sixty-pound sheep, ) or 2000 mixed sheep and lamibs per j diem. They had started off to put through this mumber, but after runI ning through the early part of FehI ruary at tlusi rate, it was discovered that the freezing machine was not doing the work tihiey had been given to understand, it capable of doing. After giving the engineering staff a reasonable time to discover the defects, the Director called upon the contractors (Messrs John ChiunJbers and Son) to demonstrate the capacity of the machine. After some de-. lay, their expert made a thorough investigation, and gave an undertaking to put through a larger quantity of stock than that contracted for per day. Unfortunately there was not enough stock forthcoming at the end of April to enable a thorough test of the capacity to be made. They bad, however, a report from the chief engineer of the works, stating that in his opinion the capacity of the works for the ensuing season would be 1500 sixty-pound sheep or ! 2200 lamb's, or of mixed sheep (half 551b sheep and half 331b lamibs), 1900. Mr Cooper wished it understood, however, that there was a time list year when, even with this capacity, theworks would ha-vie been unequal to the demands upon 32ieni by shareholders alone. Statements had been made that if they had dealt with shareholders' stock only, the capacity of the works would have been sufficient. To show- that this statement had not been correct, Mr Cooper stated that he had before him a return showing that between January Ist and March 14th only 1951 sheep and 982 lambs had been put through for other than shareholders. During the month of January thtey had taken all sheen- that offered.

MR FOSTER'S REMARKS. While on the subject of capacity, Mi* Cooper said he had before him

the remarks made by Mr W. 6. Foster, Managing Director. of. the Wellington Meat Export Company, dealing with the capacity of works in the Wellington Province. Mr Foster •stated that .the capacity of the works m the Wellington Province w&s 17,000 per day. They found, however, that Canterbury Province had a capacity of 28,000 per day, and the output in the Wfeßlington Province was increasing rapidly. As an example, he pointed out that during the six months beginning January Ist and ending June 30th", 1911, the exports of Wellington had been 375,572, and •for the same six months of the previous year had been 246,504, showing an increase for the past season of 129,000 sheep. In lambs, the export for the same period of 1911 was 481,108, and for 1910, 460,258, an increase of nearly 21,000, or an aggregate increase in sheep and lambs of nearly 150,000. Mr Foster had further complainedi that since the Waingawa works- started', the Export Company's works had showai a marked decrease' in, the output. This could not have been • due • \xr the Waingawa competition, as, after deducting the 115,500 prat through: at the Waingawa, there was ■■ still an increase of 35,000 as against the previous, year. Mr Cooper proceeded to state that Mr Foster had done goodl work in connection with the improvement of the conditions of handling the produce at the other end. This had resulted an the appointment of a Dr Robertson, a man with wide experience, to look af ber the interests of meat producers. ONCiLTJSION.

Mr Cooper concluded with a special reference .to the staff of the Company, upon which! so imuch depended, and which was one of their mpst vaJiued assets, as proved by the experience of the past season. DISOUSf&IDN.

In seconding the motion for the adoption of the report, Mr F. W. H. Kumimer congratulated the Directors upon the success of their first year's operations. The Wanganui .Company had made <a very substantial loss. He was somewhat surprised at the success which had attended their first year's operations. He ihad been prepared for a fairly large loss, and was pleased to find that they had come out about level. He was. of opinion that they would have to increase the capacity of their works. '■

Mr F. 0. Matthews, asked if it was true that, a loss had been sustained through the grade of one of the shipments being altered by a Director.

MV Cboper stated, that it was true - that one of tluo shipments Lad rot been graded as lijgh a& it should have been. He had been informed that certain Directors had advised the grader that lie had been grading ttao high'. Mr T. Hedging said that he, as a.

(Continued on Page 6.)

(Continued from Pago 5.)

Director, kid stated at a Board meeting that he Relieved tlie standard of'igrading was a little too high. He had never given the- slightest instruction to ithe grader. Ma- Matthews asked df it was a fiact (that -the pr<esient grader kid complained that lie .had been interfered with by two Directors.

(Mir Cooper .stated that it had been reported that some of the Directors had spoken to the grader. He believed, however, that they had merely expressed an opinion to the grader, and had given no instructions in the matter.

iMr Matthews expressed the opinion that the shareholders had not supported! the Company as they should have .done. One of the most wealthy shareholders, and a Director at (that, had not consigned a hoof. Mr Cooper explained that they had been compelled to purchase as they had done. A small! pi-ofit had been shown, on the buying operations of the year. Mr Matthews asked what they proposed: doing in the coming .season. Mr Cooper : In my opinion we have nothing to fear." We have our brand on the market. "We have our staff, and I am not afraid of any opposition. (Appillause.) In reply to a question by Mr B. iR. 'Biayner, it was'stated by the chairman .that it was proposed to provide ispecial storage accommodation for bacon, etc. Mr. Matthews: Are- wo to understand that' in future you <aire going to buy entirely,,and mot to consign? ' Mr Cooper stated that tflitey would rather consign than buy. Mr Matthws: How can you expect shareholders to consigui if the Director& do not do so ? (LaughI ter.)

IMr T. Hodgjns stated that, as a Director, every hoof of his stock bad ben sent Home on consignment. iMr G. Pain said 1 his sheep, hud been bought through Mr Sutherland in the >usual way. He was not aware that they had! been oold until tho<-' were on the hooks.

Messrs. J. Franklyn, R. D. McKenzie, and R. Clepluahe explained the cirairnstanees under which their stock lijad b'een shipped.

The motion for the adoption of the report was then put and carried unanimously. AUDITORS. The Chairman stated that the Directors considered) it desirable that there should be on© auditor instead of two. A certain trouble bad arisen last year through there being two auditors.

Messrs Heckler and. Palmer expressed; the opinion that _ there should be two auditors. . Mr Hodgjns moved, and Mr I Bourke seconded, that one auditor onfly be appointed.

Messrs Badham and Biss, tind G. W. Sellar, were nominated for the position.

The Chairman took a vote of those present, which was strongly in favour of Mr Sellar. At the request of those shareholders present, however, it'Ttfas decided' that a poll of all shareholders be token, and that the election take place in three weeks' ffcime.

'On the miotion of Mr F. W. H. Kummer, the Hilary of the auditor utos fixied at £75.

In answer to a question, the ehairmlan stated • that the Directors favoured the appointment of Mr. Badham, because Mr Biadhlam had been I .associated .with the Company from the start, he had large experience j with the freezing .companies, and the balance sheet would not hlave been accepted an some quarters without his name attached. (REMUNERATION OF DIRECTORS In regard to the remuneration of khe Chairman and the the JChlairman stated that, under the articles of Association, this had to he taxed -by the shareholder's, i Mr T. Hjodlgins stated' that the Ditretotbrs were of opinion that the salary of the Chairmlan should be (increased from £350 to £SOO per aninum. This, was not considered adequate payment, "but the Directors (considered it fiair under'.the cir<sum(starices; success, of the Oom{puny was diue almost entirely to the i&fforts of Mr Cooper. (Applause.) i 'MJr A. G. Pilmer moved that the

{salary of the OliairmJan (of Directors , ibe increased to £SOO. He stated i ffcJiJat without Mx Ciooper the Company would, not be in existence. .< Applause.) , Mr J. F. Heckler seconded the re- \ solution, which was carried unani- I imoufiliy. _ x On the rotation of Mr J. F. Heck- J ier, seconded by Mr A. J. Percy, the .remuneration of the Directors was j fixed at £1 Is per meeting, and trarelling expenses. j THANKS. ' * • On the motion of Mr Hodgins, .seconded by Mr Matthews, a< hearty vote of tGiianks wtos- passed! tio the, otaff of the Company for its loyal }?ff'oi»ts during the yer. Mir J. Milne acknowledged the vote on behialf of the staff. & rote of thlanka to the Chairman terminated the meeting.