WHITAKER V. TOLE.

Auckland Star, Volume X, Issue 2925, 29 August 1879, Page 3

WHITAKER V. TOLE.

AN ELECTIONEERING FALSEHOOD REBUTTED. (To the Editor.) Slß,—Permit me to say that Mr Whitaker's statement to the electors assembled in the Grafton District school last night, viz., "that a block of 2,240 acres, held by the Tole family, had been surveyed by moonlight," is absolutely false. The survey was made by myself in broad noon-day, a fact which the chaiuman, who accompanied me on the occasion, can fully testify.—Yours, &0., EDWAUD I". ToLE.

The captain of a vessel just arrived in harbour, directed one of the crew to throw the buoy overboard. He was stepping into the cabin. On his return the captain inquired if his order had been obeyed. The man with great simplicity, replied " I could not catch the boy, but 1 threw overboard the old cook."

rjNIUN BANK OF AUSTRALIA. 'i'ho forty-first tinnual meeting o£ the shareholders of tnis Company was heM yc.-terday at the ollico of the Bank, llank Building?, JjOthbury, Mr J. Sheriff Jrlill in tlio chair. The meeting was numerously attended. Mr Jlewburn, tho mauußor, read tlio reoort of the directors as follows :—The accounts for th« P'-riod upon which tho directors lmvo now the plcasuro to report have admitted, aft-r ainplo provision for every bad and doubtful debt, of tho declaration of a dividend of seven per cont. for tho half-year aid a bonus of 53 per share, being together nt the rate of Rixteun percent, per annum, and of tho transfer ot tho sum of £10 600 to the reserve fund?, bringing the total of those funds to £SOO,OOO. The depression that hassolonj; prevailed in tho commercial world has been intenailled in tho Australian Colonies by the etl'ects of unfavourable seasons, together with tho decline in the value of wool and other productf, and great stringency of money. Under these circumstances the directors consider that it speaks much tor the soundnoea of trado that such a trying period has been bo far j'asscd with comparatively few important failures. They are happy to ndd that at the snles o£ wool which have recently closed prices were rather better than those obtained ia February and .March. Upon tho important question of limiting the liability of the proprietors tho directors arc advised by eminent couuipl that tho JJ'ink cimnot practically avail itself of any existing Act, but, that the "Hanking and Joint Stuck Companies Bill," now before Parliament, will be available, subject to certain slight modillcatious to adapt it to a bank having distant tranche. Tne directors will continue to give their attention to this subject with the view of obtaining limitation o£ liability a< early as nviy bo practicable. Jlr Arthur Flovvci1 md Sir Charles Nicholson, Bart., are tho directors who retire on this occasion in accordance with tho jrovisiocis of tho deed of settlement, and oiler hemselvcs for reelection. Jt is always a pleasure to the directors to refer with antisfoction to their stnifbtth abroad and at home, who do3erve the best thanks of all parties interested in the Bank. Tho general manaxer, the chief ofilcer fur New Zealand, and the L-mdon manager, have had anxious and trying times to contend against, and their able and careful management call for special commendation, 'the annexed balance sheet presents a net amount ot protit of £114,131 1-H -'d, out of which the dum of £10,500 has been transferred to the resorvo fund-", and tho balance, viz , £127,1)31 Ms 2d, is available for division. Of this, tho dividend und bonus on 59,000 shares will absorb £ll!f,000, leaving £S,G3I 11s 2i to be carried forward. 'I'ho dividend warrants will bo transmitted by post on tho 21at instant, and tho dividoud and bonus will bo payable in the colonies at such time as the General Manager shall fix after receipt of telegram. STATEMENT OF LIABILITIES AND ASSETS. AT TTTE BRAKCnuB ON THE 3JHT DECKMBER, 1878, iXD at the London Okfick on' this 30th Junk, 1579. HAIJILITIE3. Capital .. .. £1,500,000 0 0 Less — 500 now shares not taken up, at £25 each .. 12,500 0 0 £ J. 487,600 0 0 Reserve funds—as per Etatement 800,1)00 0 0 Ci:culation 115802 0 0 Deposits 7,732,951 0 10 Bills payable and other Liabilities (includingßeserves holdagainst doubtful debts) 1,268,976 0 10 Balance of Undivided Profits .. 127.C31 11 2 £11,832,800 15 10 ASSETS. Specie on hand, and cash bal- £ anccs 1,313,897 15 7 Bullion on hand and in transitu 23,471 3 8 Bank premjsos nnd iTppcrty .. 2(>1i,500 0 0 Government eccuri'iea ..' .. 515,333 13 3 Local bills, bills iereivab:e, and securities .. 0,707,058 3 1 £11,832,800 15 10 Statement of Profits. Balance o£ undivided profits at & 29th June, IS7B 117,133 0 0 Out of which a dividend and boni.s wero declared of .. .. 110,000 0 0 Leaving a ba'anec of .. £7,133 G 0 Moiety of Julv.lßiS,diyidend and bonus on 1,030 new sharps not taken up at 3:ith June, 187S, and returned to "profit .. .. .. J,(KO 0 0 Prollts o£ tho past year, after making provision for all bad and doubtful debts _. .. £107,251 1 9 Less: Remuneration to the ioc.il director*, and salaries and allowance-) to 'he colonial £ staff .. ■■ 81,902 19 8 General expenses in tho colonies, including rent, ftcxes, stationery, ct,c.:. ■'~. 28,955 16 7 Remuneration to "" ' ■ • tho Board bt Jiirectors. salaries of London ollice stall", rent, . taxes.stationery, and general expenses .. .; 18,129 11 3 Income-tax.. .. 1.300 9 7 273,905 7 8 Deduct: " 252,6,08 11 2 Amount transferred 20,000 0 Q to reserve funds in January .. .. 20,000 0 0 Dividend and bonus paid in January ..m^JJ, Q o £111,131 11 2 Amount now transferred to reserve funds 16,500 0 0 BalancßOf undivided pro/its at this date £127,631 11 2 Stathmbnt of Reserve Fdnds. New Zoaiand Imperial 4: per Cent. Debentures .. £200,000 0 0 Canada Imperial 1 p-r Cent. Debentures 350,000 0 0 Colonial Government Debentures £150,000 0 0 Bank premises and property .. 266,500 0 0 J3c!ance of reserve.. "rondii not specifically invested .. 33,500 0 0 '. ; 300,000 0 0 Total reserve funds .. . £800,000 0 0 London, 9th July, 1879. ' '(Signed) R. J. Asiit n, " ': Chairman of Committee. ~ W. R. MhwiJorn, Manager. „ R; Buckler, Accountant,

The Chairman, in moving that, the report and statement of mwounls he r> reived and adopted, paid when h" last had the honour of occupying that rhair fir directors 1> d , i-cnnimended to tho s'harehoM- r.n an incrcKSc in the rnpital of the bank, which proposal wns agreed to, but some of thepio;'i-.:'tor.sc-\!in'.--K;'.l l«ars that that incream n- capital would result i» a decrease of (iiud.nd. t'auj'i!) those fcr.rs had nor, been realied. They hod continued to pay them the amount of dividend which they had been accustomed to namely, sixteen percent.; atthesame time they liad liiado considerable additions to tho reserve fund out of profits-, and they now mid beforo them a balance-sheet showing the hiv-est annual proiir. nnidc in the history of the hank. All th.it luid occurred since had tended to conlirm th» opinion of tho directors that tho cimrso they then recommended for adoption was a wisi! one. Tliey would fieo by tho flgu-<; lh.it the business of tho bank had Increi.sjv: iv proportion tn tho inereas-) of the capital, I >r whorea«i twelve months ago the ligurcs on no 1: sides of the account, amounted to ten inillio-i . they now nniounted to twelve, wli -mist lie ass:itisfu(!toiy to the share holders was to the directors. Before making a low . . rkson thoßubjectof the accounts, he would r .urtoone or two very important matters wlii.;h formed the subject of discuffion at tlic last and preyjotis meetings. In the first place tho board had bad much pleasure in complying with the wishes ol tho shareholders by circulating a few days before the balance-sheet and statement ot profit and loss. Then several proprietors at the last meeting expressed a wish tnat the reserve fund should be invested apart from their general business. That was a subject which had before been considered by the directors, and since (lit! last meeting they had further considered it, and the result was that £500,0U0 of their reserve fund was now invested ii Government securities, besides the S':l£Q.:>"A) in bank premises and property, lcavlrg £33,500 not frpecially invested; and ho was mire it would be a pleasure to thorn to hear- that, in estimating tho value of tho Govonmpnt securities, they had nottaken them at tho price of the day, but, at the lowest price rlioy would fall lo even in an extreme punio. (Hear,) Then there remained the two Important questions uf limit'ition of liability and audit of the accounts. On the subject of limitation of liability ho bad iitllo to add to what Was contained in tho report. No section of tho shareholders c-.uUl bo more desirous than the directors were of bringing the bank into the category of limited brinks, and they had hailed wiin yatMaclion the Government Bill. With certain modifications that Hill mijht bo made, applicable to tbo:r ense, and if It passed they should lose- no time in submitting for their approval a scheme to bring the bank under its operation. If they enmo under tinoperation of the Act they would have what was termed an outside- audit. They had no objection to an outbidc audit. At tho fame limn he did not think that ai.y audit they could have would bu fo cll'ectivc as tho audit to wlii'-h their accounts wero now subjectcl. lie would brie-fly state what thoir pro cut audit wns. In tho tirst place ovciy one of thulr branches made out every week a nlaicmcut called the weekly return, which was forwarded in dupliciito to Melbourne and to London. Those returns contained tho particulars of overy transaction, and they were certified as correct by the olliecrs of each branch. By these roinrns and tho constant correspondent ho bad with the branches theGcncrul ManiigeratMclbournc wns enabled to their transactions, nnd be Inn under him an efficient stall'wliob* business it was to constantly check these returns. In addition to that ho had two assistant inspectoi'B ifor Australia, and a chief olllccrand one assistant inspector for New Zealand, who weri! constantly engaged in travelling about to the various branches counting; tho coin, checking tho securities, and verifying ibe weekly stutcineuts. In addition to that six-monthly returns wern sent lo tho London olllce which gave the transactions In great dot.nl], and those accounts wore carefully examined by a Committee of the lion I'd, who gavo much timo and attention to the work. Tho result was, as ho said beforo, that he wns at a loss to conceive how it wns possible they could havo a more strict or more porfeet audit. (Hear, hear.) I'urning now to the report, it was a matter of extreme regret that they had been obliged to refor to the depressed state of trudo which had prevailed and still prevailed in Australia. Tho cause waß not far to seok-soveral bad seasons, the dopreseion in the price of wool and ot other products, and a great stringency of money, which was no dnubt the reflex of atl'aira here last autumn. As the result, failures havo been numerous, but he was happy to say that important failures had not been numerous, and it siiid a great deal for the stability of the colony generally that the large bouses had withstood the prc3auio well. Tho piiht fit months hart been a period of anxiety, not only to tho directors, but, to tho chief managers of tho bank, to whom bo was 9nro thoy would accord that vote of thnnks to which they were so justly entitled. An'l now, with rcgnid to the statement of accounts. Tho ileponits Blood at. .-£7,7:12,931, which was an increase of over £80(1,000 during tho imst six n onths. He thought that would ho regarded as

fiuiafuctory as Bliowiiif,' they continued to command Hie confidence of Uib moneyed clauses j the bill« payable and other liabilitie-" ainou .tud to ;GI,26S,U"(J. These, with few exceptioua, worn acceptances of tho drafts of the colonial branches. nn tlio otlv r hand, the bank premises and p. operty limned I'm1 £2Gli,flOO, which was an inur.-iisi rf £30,000 since the last report, that beinf,' the result of a periodical valuation, which \v:n made! oncn in every four or live years. That addition of £SU.OUO represented tho cost of twelve new buiidit.if i, and iS new sites, includhi" the cost of one in t lie centre of the city of Melbourne which had been acquired since tho lust valuation four years ago. This item of .v 'hi; .100 represented much less than the cost price, of these b. ilii ink's, ami considerably less than tho act mil saleable value us estimiited in February last. Tho nest item was "HoveniinentEceuriticH, .i.ii.i,:;:;:!." 'I'lie item which followed was a very laive one. "Local bills, bills recivable, and other securities. £!),707,(iJ5." Ho had ivcoived a lettHi- from a shareholder requesting Unit that item should bu urivon more in detail. If they were, as they hoped to bo Itoforo tho next meeting, under the operation of tho now Banking Act, thia item would be given more in dutail. The directors had not seen it advisable to make a change now in the accounts, but he would stato tho items to tho meeting. They were tliese:—Hills receivable, in London, £l,'j:)2.OIIO; loans ill I omlon, of which Jatti.T £180.000 was at call, und three days' notice, and the balance at not exceeding fourteen days' notice: bill discounted in the colonies, .-CI.'JIH.IWO: advances to eiKtomors on s.-enrities. .Ci.'iST.OOO; and loana toUovernnients, £S'J.OOO. Then turninetot ostatementct profit and loss, they would see Unit tho total Rross prollts were £107,-'."'l against .<::w.;V.l;l last sear, BhoWMiK an Incraasu o( about fourteen per cont. 'I'lio expenses had increased from £117,59.") to £125),K)0, or about ten percent., und as I he result of tho bank's operations the net profits had iiicr.ii c ' ivom £^:i7,7(!.'> to £252,6C5, or about 13j.orccnt, (11. -ur. huar.)- One sli irebolder had written lo ask for jidelaili-da. count of oxpouditure in tin- Imvo item of .CSI.HO-' included under the head of "remuneration to I ho local directors iiud salaries and al'owatices to the. colouinl (■lull." The local ilkectoiM only lUureil for about £1)00. The rest was lor salaries of tln> stull'. The sum of £28,953 was miule tip of miscellaneous expenditure, such as. rates and taxes, which were heavy, and law chaiKOP, Sec. Tho remuneration of the London directors was ■Cli.lil'O a year. He had Riven these explanations an bo was anxious to anticipate nnv questions that might bo asked, but if thero was any othur point on which any shareholder wished for information ho should bo glad to give it. (Hear, hear).

ill'W. Hotly seconded tin) motion. Ho said the statement which the chairman had made was perhaps the most satisfactory that had ever been made to them before. As regarded the liability, of coni'6o they wero all anxious that it should bo limited, but ho believed it would be found that the class of pcivons who hud been W by tho recent scare to dispose of their shares whs mainly t nistees and executor?, Mr Wilkinson expressed his satisfaction that the reserve fund was specially invested, and fa d ho thouglu it should now bo regarded as having renched its maximum, and that the future profits Bhould be divided amongst shareholders.

The motion was then put and unanimously carried.

Sir V~. Nicholson and Mr A.. Flower, the retiring dirctors, wera then ro-olected, and a dividend of £1 103 per share und a bonns of. Os was declared.

Air Body moved a voto of thanks to tho general managers and the colonial stall' for tho Zealand ability they had ditplayed in tho conduct of tho business of tho hank during the past year. Mr Pork seconded tho motion, and it was unanimously Hgrecd to. Mr Mewburn briefly retnrned thanks. A vote of thanks wan then Riven to tho Chairman and director, which brought the proceedings to a close.