BANK OF N. Z.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXIX, Issue 9633, 13 June 1919, Page 6

BANK OF N. Z.

ANNUAL MEETING.

Mil H. BEAUCHAMP'S ADDRESS

WELLINGTON, June 13

The ordinary general meeting of the iProprietors of the Bank of New Zealand was held to-day. Mr H. Beauchamp, Chairman of Directors, presided.

With the consent of the meeting, the Report of the Directors and the Balance Sheet were taken as read.

The Chairman, in moving their adoption, referred to the satisfactory results of the past year's operations, and said:—"After paying interest on ■ the Guaranteed Stock, providing for the annual grant to the Provident Fund and for a special grant to the.Fund, paying bonuses to tire staff, writing oft £50,000 from Premises and Furniture Accounts, and making all the necossary provision for Bad and Doubtful Debts, and for depreciation in the value of other assets, the net profits for the year amount to £388,022 as compared -with £336,607 as at March 31, 1918.^ The amount brought forward from last year was £145,702, which gives a total of £428,724 to deal with, after deducting the £105,000 pai4 away in the 6 per cent, dividend of December last. We now propose to ■ pay"a,'further-6 per cent, and a bonus of 3 per cent, on the Ordinary and "B" , Preferential Shares, making with the dividend paid in December, 15 per cent, for the year), and a further 4 per cent, on tho "A" Preference Shares (making 10 per cent, for the year). This will make the total of dividend and bonus foi- the year £237,----500—the same as last year. Of the amount remaining—viz., £296,224— we propose to place £150,000 to credit of the Reserve Fund and to carry forward the balance of £146,224 to next account. Th<3^ sums paid by way of rates, taxes, and note duty, this year . have,, absorbed £386,272 of our earnings;,' .as compared with £346,384 in the previous year. , 1 would like to draw your attention to the continued growth in our aggregates. Our assets in this balance-sheet total £43,213,706. The figure for the.previous year was £40,838,682. The increase since Marcli £18,<813,456, or upwards of £3,750,000 per annum. Continuing, Mr Beauchamp said:---Of the total number of our officers, who joined the Colours, namely 500, we had at the 31st ult!, 259 still/on leave with the Military forces; 203 Jiad xeturried to the Dominion and resumed duty. Seventy have been killed. A total of 136 have been wounded. Women clerks continue to take a substantial part in the practical work of ..the Bank. At 31st ult., the number on the roll wa5,296, a. reduction compared with the total of a yea.r a,go. Several ladies have retired voluntarily. We have not, so. far, iound.it necessary to dispense with the services of any desiring to remain v/ITn us, and are "hopeful that adjustment in the numbers will bo effected automatically. A proportion of , women clerks will, in any case, be permanently retained on the Bank's staff,, as it has been found that in certain classes of work they are very efficient. DOMINION'S PROSPERITY. During the year under review, added "Tvlr Beauchamp, certain districts were adversely attested by drought (happily since broken), and this, auded to tho iact that many freezing companies were unable to talce stock for treatment when ready, owing to lack of slapping facilities; has inflicted somewhat serious * ; losses on pastor alists. Yet, in spite or these conditions, the general prosperity of the Dominion is ueing well main Lain eel. For this we are indebted to tiie imperial Commandeer of our primary products, such as wool, meat, outter and cheese. As is well known, these commodities have been secured by tho imperial authorities until practically the close of tlio 19:40 season, at war prices which yield a handsome pront to our producers, and their prosperity is reflected. Throughout tho country. Looldng on the future it would seem that, as regards general cargo, there appears every likelihood of a clearance .of all classes of general cargo being uifected prior to the beginning of the next season. Uwiug to the large amount of meat in store, it is diHicult to see how a complete clearance can be effected before "next season's operations begin in .November; "but on a conservative basis, it may be estimated that sum-/ •cieut tonnage will bo available to clear freezing companies' .stores ( to an extent, that will enable killings to pro- * ceed without interruption * well into next season. ' . , The prosperity of the country is further reflected in the banking returns. In the five yeara covered by the war, the deposits have increase! by £14,818,----5/0, or about 62 per cent. The deposits in the Post Offioe Savings Bank during the same period show an increase of £17,031,568 (nearly 98 per cent.) and those in the private Savings Banks (five in number), an increase of £1,319,423. Of the latter increase, £978,000 occurs in the figures of the Auckland Savings Bank alone. On the other hand, banking "advances have expanded by £8,536,896, equal to about 35 per cent. The increase in .the advances is due to a-var-iety of causes. Since the .signing; of the armistice, there has been a falling■oti in domestic trade, which has had the effect of many merchants accumulating stocks oi; 'highly-priced goods, while retailors are only buying from hand-to-mouth, in tho assumption that in the near Future there will be a considerable reduction in prices. The accumulation of stocks and the fallingoff in trade are causing merchants to lean somewhat heavily on the banks, j Another direction in which the prosperity of the country is reflected is in the revenue of the Dominion. TAXATION. In the five'years there has boon an increase in the revenue of £10,122,711, ■equal to about 83 per cent., while the expenditure has increased 1 by £0,847. 'i'6o, equal to about 54-J- per cent. Tho surpluses during the past four years aggregated' £15,090,5.1.4, and tins amount, together with £149|047 carried over in 1915, and making a grand total of £15,239,561 is being held by the Treasury in liquid form to meet such contingencies as may arise'during the next year or two. It is a .splendid achievement for a country with .such a restricted population to provide so forge a revenue as £22.352,372, whiclu is equal to nearly £22 per capita. The principal source of tho increase has OetMi the income tax, while, the land tax and the-death duties have helped considerably. The customs revenue, wliiyli is contributed by all clashes oi tho -community, has not increased to any extent, chiefly because oi the ex-

traordinary difficulties experienced in importing merchandise. Thus it will be seen that, during the financial year ended March 31, 1919, the moneyed or capitalistic-61.8(55,;- in which are included salaried- and professional persons, land-owners, manufacturers, companies, etc., contributed in ißcometax alone, £6,219,336 out of a total revenue of £22,352,372, or about 28 per cent. But this does not show the true incidence of the burden, to appreciate which we must look to Paper B. 22, laid on the table of the House of Representatives last year. According to those figures, the amount that should have been paid in the year 1917-1918 was £5,742,582, while the amount actually received in the Treasury was £5,6.1.9,561, or £123,021 less, this latter amount representing the sum unpaid on March 31, 1918. A demand tor the revision of the incometax, in the direction of alleviating the burden, is bound to arise, for the tax is pressing heavily on some people, it |is to be hoped that the Government will be in a position to appreciably reduce, if not altogether abolish the Special vVar tax in j.917, and it is reasonable to assume that this relief would be made good by an increase in customs revenue when conditions become once more normal.

When the imperial Commandeer expires, as it will about the middle of next year, it is probable that the prices of wool, meat, butter and cheese will decline, partly through the stress of competition, but mainly because our customers, being .impoverished by the war, will be unable to pay high prices. A fall in prices will affect; the prosperity we are now enjoying, because it will involve a reduction in our income, and this can be recovered only by increased production. We must bring more land into profitable occupation, and farm on scientific lines. MEAT AND WOOL. ; ( With respect to meat, the British Government Meat Committee is consiaering ways and means of increasing the imports of meat from Australasia, and good results. from the efforts of this Committee may be expected.

The principal, if not the only, menace to the meat trade is the great American Beei- Trust. It has spread its tentacles over Britain, and is quietly doing tfie same in Australasia. Apart trom this, we must expect to meet with keen competition from boutJi America, and perhaps from fcioutli Africa also. During the war frozen meat (including meat from New Zealand) was uaed in France and Italy, and some frozen.lamb was sold in i\ew i'ork. It is the opinion ot some that there will be a permanent demand for frozen meat from the pontinent of Europe; but some of the leading meat firms are inclined to believe chat the, prices will debar the French and other impoverished Continental nations from largely increasing the consumption. However, there is no doubt ciiat New Zealand can make sure of a good market for all the meat that can oo shipped. The question is rather one of increased production.

VVith respect to wool, there is every reason to believe that the market will remain favourable for many years. iiie. population needing wool is increasing tar more rapidly than the flocks; aiucted it- is a question whether _ the sheep in the world have not materially decreased during the past five years. ii'iices may not tie as high as they are co-day, but they will certainly be at a proiitable level for sheepmen who'know wieir business. The wool clip for the .year which will close at the end of the current month is valued at £12,000,----000. LABOUR PROBLEMS. Now that Pence has been practically consummated, the world has to face the Dig problems of reconstruction ana liquidation of indebtedness. war has not only used up huge amount?! of tho world's wealth; war has also stricken the world's man-power, iiie position in this country, as in many o'uhers, is that with a temporary less of man-power the production oi ciie " effectives " has to be increased in order that . comfortable conditions may be assured for those who have been maimed by the war, for the dependents of the dead and disabled, and lor the community in general. Further incroaso of production is also necessary to meet -other heavy obligations of the war.

Unfortunately, just when the country is faced with this vital need of an increase of production and a decrease of waste —waste of material and waste of power—some extremists in the ranks ol labour aro cxerthm themselves to check production. By their tactics they aro cutting down production; they arc reducing the quantity of goods for general distribution ; they are lessening the. share per head of the population; that is, they are increasing the cost of living, for it is essential to fix the mind on that cost in terms of goods for distribution rather than in terms of money, the over-varying medium of ex-

change Experience, lias nroved that the persons who, like the Russian Bolshevik, wish to take a short cut to the millennium, nre usually unwilling to listen to reason. They 'hnvo a disposition to regard any friendly proposal from_ the other side as either a si<rn of weakness or the beginning of surrender. In New Zealand this irreconcilable unreasonable element in labour — though temporarily prominent—has not imposed, its impet.uo.ur< reckless will on the »reat body of Lnbonr. An apneal to reason c:>n he made with workers who know that a steady maintenance :vm! increase ni" Jirr/wtkm nre necessary to assure ]:il)inir's welfare; men who know, too. +hat. a cast-iron restriction of t-heiv individuality cannot make For personal contentment. These men l.mw it in Their unwor to assure for themselves :m in finitely better future W:an the d><-!vcii\-f and destructive tncti'-'s of t.hei.r r::s3i leaders could Iv.ri'"K-

T'o'-niMv!) rnnfh strife and. turmoil, the Old Oi::!(ry v^rns ro ho feeling its way t-iivrrr 1'! :i «'ilntir-n of the inrlusl rial nrr-M'^v The InLet proposal is to establish ;i 'MTni;>i'"ii{ Industrial Council, o" n:i /V-vn^lv of representatives of Lnlvvir an-! Caudal—in other words, a Parliament cT Tndus*try—by which all f|'ie-ti'-U'; fiflWtl:!<_•■ Labour arc! Capital '•thnil Im< d ■"idee!. Probably alony; s/>me ouch linos; the .solution of the problem 'ifs. T*. seems clear that the method 'litherln pursued in this Dominion no loiurer mc'ts Hie lveossities of the case.. Our country is snffi'iin^ under a continued rirnress or wa^e-raisinji', as r resnU of appeals to Lhe Industrial and •r*nrH]i!it;mi ConH.s hy the various T":ides T'rinns. Every increase, awarded to workers automatically increases tho prirro of the articles produced, and, ':->« '.■> result., tho ii:oren«e.d cost of production is nassed v.w to Hie consumer. r''!-n---quont]v. \v;i"-es nud prices are pin-nii"-- o-'di other in an unending circle: ni!'l. in +llf> final results even the vrjrkers (■hf!>\'--elvo«. in whose interests 1,!;^ j-invoriien(\ w;;<; (.rininrilv made, <!>;- yWry liM.lo n Y nr> 1)"!!: ■!!(■. whilst CC'l'tilis! classes of the community (namely, the

class consisting mostly of brain workers, who belong to no Trades Unions, and the class composed of people with fixed incomes, which do not move upward in sympathy with tho upward movement of prices) are -largaly in .straitened circumstances or suffering hardship. It would be folly to think that this state of fellings can continue. The time is past when any one trade can be allowed to settle its working conditions, remuneration, e-tc, irrespective of the effect which the nroposed modification will have upon the community in general. All such Trade Union appeals as I have indicated should be dealt with by an Industrial Assembly in which workers and employers should have equal numerical representation. Such an Assembly should be presided over by men of judicial mind and wide industrial experience, ranking in the social order on,the same footing as Judges of the Supreme Court. Men of this calibre could^guide the deliberations of the Industrial Assembly, so that the decisions arrived at might not prove abortive or operate unfairly to any sec.tion of the .community. LAND AND PRICES. It is, I consider, imperative that a vigorous policy of land settlement should be pursued in this Dominion. Tho Stata is doing excellent work in settling soldiers on the land, and some very satisfactory results have already been obtained.

Something more, however, should be done. There is still a vast area of Native land that is lying more or less idle and unproductive. The State should deal with this land on tho principle embodied in the West Coast Settlement Reserves Act, 1892. The heavy loacj of taxation that the country has to bear as the result of the war vnal:bs it necessary that no means of increasing the earning-power of the country should be neglected. The settlement of the vacant lands of the Dominion is one of the principal means by which that earning-power' can be most readily and expeditiously increased. But this land settlement and increased production will bo impossible unless further facilities for transport and communication are provided. Therefore roads, .bridges, and railways become essential, and the country should endorse a comprehensive policy that will speedily secure to the pioneers in settlement these necessary conveniences.

Owing to the present remunerative prices of produce, due mainly to the war and the Imperial Commandeer, farmers are buying and selling improved lands at very high prices. With our main markets 12,000 miles, away, with new and formidable competitors in the field, with Europe impoverished through the war, and people educated to the use of substitutes, such as margarine, it is hardly, possible that our dairy products can •maintain their present values when the Imperial Commandeer ends. What, then, will be the position of those who have paid high prices for land and burdened themselves with heavy mortgage charges ?

The value of aiiy farm land must bs determined by what can bo got out of it by a cempetpni farmer. At present this is largely a matter of guess-work, and a farmer, with a biased mind, may easily persuade himself that he can obtain better results than the farmer who is selling. What is primarily required as a guide to the real valuo of land is a more exact system of farm book-keeping. No business can be suc-ccsi-fuDy carried on without a proper book-keeping system, and' farming, being a business, is no exception to the rule; but it is to bo feared that at present farmers' books, where kept at all, are by no means accurate and are of little use as an index to the value of the hind the farmer is working, and therefore not entirely reliable as a guide to his true financial position.

The question of proper methods of Farming accountancy is engaging attention in other narts of the world, and it is to be hoped that the outcome of the consideration that it is receiving will he the evolution of a satisfactory system by which the farmer will be able to ascertain the true results of his operations and to determine the true value of the Innd he is working, or may be pronosing to purchase.

Mr BeaueiiPTnp concluded by paying a tribute to Great Britain's financial methods, and to the great part played by the Empire during the war.

Mr It. W. Kane, in seconding tho motion for the adoption of the report and balance-sheet, referred to the expediency and need of calling up further capital.