NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4690, 9 April 1894, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS.

I Tk Shp and Wool trade. The following is a return of sheep and wool carried .by rail from the Wairaropa for the several years ended March 31st as under •

Masteiton Bkehmith and |. WhMlwiiqht Company, : Annual General Meeting. The annual general meeting of the Masterton Blacksmith and Wheelwright Company was held on Saturday, in the Temperance Mall. Mr J. Sluokeywas in the chair, and amongst those present were Messrs J. McGregor, T.P.Lett, Wai. Perry, W. H. Beetbam, T. E, Chamberlain, S.Watson, E. E. .Chamberlain,J. Blatchford, and others. ■ MINUTES.

xhe minutes of the previous meeting were rend and confirmed, HEPORUND BALANCE BUEET.

Mr J. Stuckey in moving tbe adoption of ihe report and balance sheet, wbiok had already, been circulated and were taken as read, said it waa_ satisfactory to learn that the business had. increased by over £474 during the past year, the Company was working at very reasonable rates and: had not charged extravagant prices. The bank overdraft wag £BSO lens than in the previous year having been reduced from £492 to £142. Owing" to tbe small capital with which they worked the directors had kept down, the stook as muoh as possible. The buildings had been inoreased in value by £53, a new fwroace and forge having been.added to cope with the inoreased amount of work. Tbe book debts were £7oi, £302 being added since February, and he did not consider on their large turnover that it.wastt heavy item, The same difficulty had oropped up again this year, namely the [want of capital. They were not able to'" do all -the - business thev might with a .capital of ove'r |£l3oo, and to turn over £SOOO with the capital employed was very creditable. He hoped, in deolarin? the 'dividend proposed, that they, would get more shares ',aken up, Then they•' couldpiirchasemore machineryfor the work rehired. He would move the I adoption of the report and balance sheet..

.Mr J. McGregor, in seconding the motion, said they had been hampered and cramped very much for want ot capital, and the business justified an increase. The directors had been accused of b want of interest in the . undertaking, aad he himself had been asked, "When are you going to get a siearn hammer ?" : They could not j purchase these expensive'tools without more capital, and if only that could be increased the Company would be even a greater succesa in" tho future than it had been in the past. Motion carried unanimously, ELECTION 01' DIRECTORS.

Messrs W. Perry, 0. E, Daniell and Donald MeKenzie, retiring Direo. tors, were unanimously re-eleoted en the motion of the Chairman, seconded by Uc W. H. Beetham. Messrs ft, Brown and A. Hathaway were re-elected auditors al a rej numeration of three guineas each. GENERAL. j The Chairman said he would be , glad to answer any questions or listen , to any suggestions. ) Mr W. H, Beetham said it ms i doubtless a great drawback for any ! company to work without sufficient j capital. He felt sure of the success of the company if they could get the necessary tools. f Mr Watson asked the Chairman if ; he had seen the leading article in the ; Wairarapa Daily Times on the Com* '< paoy's position. i The Chairman said he very rarely read the articles that appeared in ! local papers. Mr Watson said it was stated by the Daily Times that the Company ; was virtually dependent for its work- : ing capital on Bank advances and the overdraft was £1,600. This Ought to , he contradicted if untrue, for many • people did not understand balance sheets. The Chairman advised Mr Watson , to take the balance sheet and compare jit with Mr Payton's statement; he [would find that the overdraft was £142. With respect to newspapers generally, it was impossible to follow them without getting into a fog for onesaid one thiagandone another. Mr Watson said 75 per cent, of the shareholders did not understand the balance sheet, though he was speaking for the benefit of others and not for himself. Mr W. JJ. CuenneuV eaid as an officer nf the Society and a shareholder he wished to explain, Mr Payton had taken the bills payable and sundry creditors £670, aad,the hills discounted £774, and tho overdraft £142, and maintained that that was the extent to which the bank had assisted the company, bat in this ho was in error. The bills under discount, must be shown as liabilities until they matured. Ab the bills matured ' they would be paid off. As for news- ' papers, the public know yery well ! that if an account of anything wore given in five or six newspapers, they would have five or six different ao counts, It ™ hopeless to try and put them right. If shareholders were dissatisfied or ooull not understand anything, they should go to the office whence ibe report was issued and get an explanation,

Mr Watson; Can yon afford time to explain?

| Mr Chennells: lam paid for it | and I'll do my beßt. Mr Watson suggested that it would be better to insert a correction in the-paper from which the statement orginaled.

Mr Stuckey maintained that it was irapoastble for the directors to be reI sponsible for what newspapers said, or for the conclusions drawn by the Daily Times from the balanco sheet. He asked Mr Watson if ho drew the same conclusions as MrPayton had done,

Mr Watson :i could make neither head nor tail of the balance sheet. Mr Beetham did not bolieve that Mr Payton was misleading thepublic, he simply drew their attention to the insufficient capital with which the Company was trading, and so far he was inclined to agree with Mr Payton. The Chairman added that if Mr Watson was dissatisfied, and wished to dispose of his' shares, he (Mr Stuokey) would be vary pleased to buy tbem, if the articles of Association were altered to enable him to do so. Mr J. Blntchford considered there waß no benefit in being a shareholder; it mi R bfc he true per cent interest was paid, but that could he gqt in anything, and the work performed by [ tlie Oompany was not cheap. MrStackey thought people forgot the reduction in charges brought about by the formation of their Company. Charges'throughout the dis« tnct had certainly been redooed in the four years during which the Company had been in existence, During the past year they had made 19 per cent on the capital invested, but the direq. ors thought it would not bo a good fing to divide tfcat amount, seeing "}attb.ey had not sufficient capital Uowas perfectly satisfied with the position, ».

_. Mr' Blatohford said there was no inducement to become a shareholder since no bonuses were deolared, and, ' ftß for cheapness, work could be done ohpapor elsewhere,'

Mr E. E. Chamberlain expressed bis satisfaction with the condition of affairs, and maintained that the work was done more cheaply than elsewhore, Mr McGregor considered that if only £5 was >' dividend was declared it wulNkjjittMMg well invested. He had exannirHPSH books before the company had stalled J and fpnnd on comparing them with the present ones, that a saving was effected of between 12 and 25 %. If settlers did not appreciate the benefits to be derived, they had less intelligence than be gave them credit for. . *

Mr T. E. Chamberlain explained that some shareholders had-no work done, and they had been induced to take sharesi with the assurance of receiving 7f per oent dividends.

Mr' Stuokey, in answer to Mr Chamberlain, said they had broken the ice uoW| and there was every reason to believe factory dividends ,woCl;;; be'Teolaredi Lji - Votwof.tliankß'totk°jjni|Jßyfll to whom a their efficiency and zeal, and to direotors, brought the meeting to a close. ''...■."*

YEAR. 6IIEEP NO, WOOL BALES. 1884". 85,996, 8,146 1885 141,694 8,175 1886 , 148,179 9,655 1887 144,202 11,2151888 165,577 v 10,865..188^ 167.192 ' 11,701 1800 171,472 . 12,001 .-:■ 1891 218,622. 14,310 1892 ■185,389 15,800 1893 220,955 19,414 18W 238,858 '21,714