WAIRARAPA FARMERS'COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION, LIMITED.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4224, 21 September 1892, Page 3

WAIRARAPA FARMERS'COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION, LIMITED.

Half-Yearly Shareholders' - Meeting,

The first half-yearly moeting of shareholders in tho Wairarapa Farmers' Co-Opcrativfl Association, Limir ted, woa held in the Temperance Hall, Y Masterton this morning. There were present:—Messrs M. Caselberg (chairman), L. J. Nathan, Donald Donald, D. J. Nathan, A. W. Cave, and L, Caselberg, directors, and about twenty shareholders. - The Report and Balance Sheet for the six months ending 81st July, 1892, wero presented to the meeting. The following is th'e text of tho Report:— '' Tho Directors have much ploasuro i in placing before the Shareholders their L£rat Report, together with the Balancehalf yoar onding July 31st, 1802, and congratulate tho Shareholders on the result. The Association has been rogistorod six months, and during that tiuio tho business has shown a regular und continuous growth, necessitating alterations and additions in Grey town and Pahiatua, and your Directors liavo also found it desirable to increase their storage space in Masterton for produce, and have taken advantage of securing from Mr J. Wngley, his Waipoua proporty on favourable terms for that purpose. -.The total Net Profits, aftor doduoting -Mil expenses fnr carrying on the business, and further after deducting tho necessarily heavy preliminary expenses incurred in' tho Formation itegistration, Stamp Duty, Advert Ling, etc, amounting to £4OO, leaves available for division £3,619 8s 6d, which your Directors propose, with your con sent, tudivido as follows:-8 por centper annum on paid up capital; I por cent, on paid up capital carried to Heservo ; 0 per cent, Bonus returnable on Shareholders' purchases; 5 per cent. Bonus to Employes on Salaries; And payment offivo Directors at £25 each. After dividing the profits on this basis a balance of £278 will bu left which your Directors propose carrying to next year's profit and loss, thus making a total of £1528 carried to Reserve. Your Directors wish to point out that tho promises made in tho prospectus have beon fully carried out, and tho business done by the Association in tho first six months of its oxiitcnco will compare favourably with tho most successful Co-Operatiyo Associations in Now Zealand or elsowliere.

Your Directors whilft congratulating you on tho osults ot the past half-yoar i|eel iiure that better results can ho accomplished by the hearty co-operation tho Shareholders in supporting the Association not only with their purchases, but also by placing their produce in tho hands of the Association, either for sale in the Colony or in London, as they can safely promise that tho work will be equally and as economically done through them as ohenhcre, and thereby saving tho Association tho cost of exchange which is a considerable item, and at tho same time carrying out more fully tho system of corporation which is the chief aim of this Association. Your Directors also wish to impress upon the Shareholders tho importance of pointing out to their friends tho advantage they are receiving and induce them to tako up eharca. The Association is prepared to make liberal advances on all produce placed in their hands for sale. Your Directors keeping steadily in view the importance of the dairy industry have now completed arrangements for tho opening ot a- Butter Factory at Dreyerton, : It is the intention of your Directors to re-open the Share List on Ist October and issue 4000 New Shares at a premium of 6s per sharo, to equalise the new «liowith existing shares, The prelum received to be added to the amount already allotted to tho Reserve fund." The Balance Sheet showed th t the subscribed capital oil 31st Jul 1892, was £54,780 in 10,946 shar at £5 each. That of this there h been called the sum of £32,119, which £351 represented outstandi calls, leaving a total capital paid of £31,768. The remaining capital stands at £22,610, Th principal figures to the debit of th profit and loss account were:— Departmental expenses, £3168; Generat management and directors' expenses, £422; General charges, printing' advertising, incidental, etc, £637 Preliminary formation, legal and registration, £881; Legal costi, £l6Fire insurance, £140;. Bad debts £l7. While on the credit Bide were: Gross profits on sales, £8,214; Profits on consignments, £BS; Interest, and discounts, £149; Commissions, £2B, tho balance showing a Oftt profit for tho ball year of £3,610 ™ 6d, In the Liabilities and Assets tho chief items of Liability are :- Sundry creditors, £10,965; London . agonte, £183; Bills payable (being acceptances against English ship- - raenta), £2,709; Sundry liabilities), railage, salaries, etc., unpaid, £295, and a contingent liability, for bills under discount, of £3,124, On the Assets side are shown as tho main assets of the Association:-Freehold properties £9,137; Keroseneaad powder store, '£2B; Stock on hand and afloat, £24,527; Machinery, plant and fixtures, £1,066; Bills receivable, £492; Sundry debtora, £12,683; Consignments of produce to London, £762; Cash in band, £628; Bank balances, £36; and Unexpired pro ' portion of fire insurance premiums, £168:

MrM. Caselberg, the Chairman, mentioned that tho first statutory mating had been adjourned from 18th May to the present date to allow completion of stocktaking and to bring '■Wtlie balance sheet. ■Ut Gapper would like to know why two of the Directors were absent, They were paid £25 for the six months' duty, and they should be there. If it wore too much trouble for the gentlemen appointed to attend the statutory meeting, they were not worth their honerarium. The Chairman: remarked that the best service of directors was rendered -4Bi board meetings, Both those now absent had attended regularly, especially so Mr Cave. Dr Hosking's professional duties rendered his occasional absence unavoidable. The Directors had rendered good service as a whole. They had to meet once a month, and it was thought that £SO a year was a moderate and fair recompense to direotors who had the management of such a largo company. Mr Gapper still maintained that all the directors should be. present st a meeting of thiß description. ' The Chairman regretted their absence butthey had beenmostassiduous UjJheir caro of the Association's invests, (Mr Cava subsequently tnteredjheroom,) It was then moved by Mr Dalrymple and seconded by Mr Gapper that theßeportand Balance Sheet be received as read.—Carried unanimously. ....... Tho _ Chairman .said that indisposition would prevent him from making a long speech, but he would gladly answer any questions, The balance sheet indicated a very favorable state of affairs. It showed assets of L 50,000 while their liabilities were only about 114,000, including everything. Thus for every single, pound

owing they had L 5 2a 6dto pay with —a position hardly possessed by the Bank of England. He had been asked why thoy slwwed so big a profit-one equal to 28 per cent per yoav. It was this. The busiuoss, it should be remombored, was twenty-five years old and was extensive before cooperation had led to a material increase of it by the large ucoeasion 1 of shareholders. This prosperity indicated that the public had appreciated tho undertaking, It was also easier to work a largo business than a small one, and the expenses were necessarily less. Tho 8 per cent dividend for tho six months absorbed ; £1,200, £1220 was carried to Rosorvo, and smaller amounts were allotted respectively to a bonus on shareholders' | purchases, a bonus on eroplojoi' ( salaries, and tho payment of five directors at £26 each, The speaker i also briefly alluded to tho other constituent items of the Balance Sheet. ] Continuing, ho said that next year it : was expected that the refund to ous- i tomers, with tho increased number of ; shareholders, would be one of the largost items. He need hardly im- , press upon them the advantage of a i largo reserve fund, A good substantial reservo allowed the fostering of i industries, such as butter and cheese factories, which would be of iuesti- ; mablo service to tho district. The i importance of this in the Forty-Mile i Bush and such localities ho need i not enlarge upon. The way to get a fair valuo for butter and cheese was to make thoso products I scientifically in factories, und then a j good pricecouldalways b« relied upon i from over the sea for all tbey shipped, i There would he room, too, later on I for jam and pickle factories j wool mid i tallow also could be dealt with. Such j industries wouhl bring people into the district, and would utilise both mate- ( rial and labour and he of advantage t to everyone. They should all sup- , port thi> movement for all would bem-fit. Referring lo nn assertion which had been made, he might say , positively that it was not the case that the large profit was achieved by r increasing the retail prices of the ■ goods they sold, Tho facts were that tbey bought in the best markets and at the lowest prices for cash ;and, in any case, the surplus was returned to shareholders in their participation in the results of the business. He could • assure them that they did not have to 1 make up tho margin by paying high prices for their requirements, Allud- n ing to tho progress whioh was being made be might say that it was the Association's intention to open an office in Wellington right away, with a man there who would sell the produce of the farmers—butter, eggs, cheese, chaff, and everything tbey had to i dispose of, This office would be i opened in a week or so. The man would, as well, attend to theshipments of their exports to England, They also intended, as had been previously intimated, to lend money on crops and wool, possibly even on cows, at tho lowest rutos ruling, and at a minimum of expense as regards costs, j! both legal and otherwise, The main t ' principle in lending money was to i seek safety and avoid loss. People , had said that they could not believe, 1 for instance, that' the Association had only lost £l7 on the of • the last six months. He had always been careful in his own business, and thoreason for such immunity from loss was that tbey opened no accounts unless people were settled in the district, and be could see that they were in a position to pay their way, Tbey were most particular in this ' respect, and reference in such matters ' was always made to him personally by i the staff. The item £12,683 for J book debts had also been the subject of remark, But to this he would say l that these wen old debits.and they had also been guaranteed to present shareholders by Messrs M. Ca'selberg and Co. and Messrs Joseph Nathan and Co., tlio latter for those affecting the Tcnui branch, These original outstandings did not alter the fact that the bad debts made during the last six months had only been £l7, Thoy were talking of lending money on produceand wool, In this connection he might point out that it was useful to pay for the goods they imported with wool, They savid from £3O to £4O in every £IOOO worth ot their imports by doine. so. It was to their interest, therefore, seeing that this was so, to meet shareholders in the most liberal way as regarded advances. It would be noticed that tbey were issuing 4000 new shares at a premium of five shillings per share. This addition was to equalise tho value of shares with those originally issued, especially so when in the meantime they had added materially to their reserve fund, They had received numerous applications since the list was closed, and they had decided in opening the new share list to allot shares to only those likely to bring trade, and as they did not want capital they would let them be placed in small lots so as to extend business, If the whole 4,000 shares were sold, and he thought they would be, LI.OOO would accrue Irom the premium to go to the reserve fund, They had decided, also, to take money on deposit from shareholders at a rate of interest to be fixed upon and notified. It could be at call, or at three months, or for six months or for longer. The advantages to the depositor were obvious for tho money was readily available in case it was needed again by its owner, This money they could lend to borrowing shareholders, If they got it at 5 per cent they eould lend it at 6 per cent—a merely nominal advance, Their object was not solely money-making. They wanted also to help shareholders and make them prosperous. The safety of the Association as far as the depositor was concerned was certain, It was equal to that of any bank, The large margin shown in their assets ensured this, Their main policy throughout was to strengthen the reserve and open up industries, whioh would benefit both ' the Association and the district, 1 The increase in business since the 1 Association had started had been \5% to or about 8s to 3s 6d for 1 every pound whioh bad been provi- ' ously spent with them, This hi 1 led to extensions at both Greytown ■ and Pahiatua, at which latter they I had bought a business already estab--1 lished, while at the former tbey had made extensive additions to the buil- ' ding, It was also contemplated mak- ! ing alterations in the Masterton store, ■ whioh was already unequal to their ' requirements. It had been suggested that when this waß done a comfort- ■ able shareholders' room, with' newsr papers and writing materials, should a be provided and where business could • bedisoussed. They intended to have this. The ladies, on their.part, would • not be neglected, and a refreshment i room, where tea, etc., ceuld be had, 1 would be there too, He bad now b exhausted the material for remark, - and would invite questions, He s would, however first move the adope tion of the Report and Balance Sheet, " The Chairman's motion that the 1 Report and Balance Sheet be adopted

was seconded by Mr D, Cameron, and being put to the meeting, was carried unanimously. ' ' ' Mr Daliymple asked bow many employGs there were previous to the Company being formed, and how many now, so that tbey could see how many employed had benefited by the formation of the Association, Tho Chairman, in reply, said that now tho Association employed and paid wages to fifty-six people, a large number of whom wero married and bad familios, Tho increase in number had been fifteen. By the end of another year, with manufacturing in hand, it was expected the number would bo doubled,

Mr Lett asked how the profits of the Tenui store compared with tht other portions of the business. Mr Caselberg said that there was a profit above working expenses, but it *as not so large as the profit made by the other branches. If Tenui did not show so large a profit, it helped them to buy in larger xuantities. The profit made there was from eight to ton per cent. It might bo pointed out that itwas the worst hall year for the Tenui store. The election of two auditors was then proceeded with, Mr D. Cameron proposed that Messrs R. T. Badhain and Wi B. Chennells be appointed at a salary of I of £25 per annum, Mr T. P. Lett, seconded. Both gentlemen were elected. In answor to Mr Blatchford, Mr Caselberg explained tbaton all matters affecting tho company in connection with which it became necessaiy to take a poll, members of the association voted according to the number of Bhares they held, ouo voto lor each share. A vote of thanks to the Chairman concluded the proceedings and the meeting closed,