NORTHERN STEAMSHIP COMPANY.

Auckland Star, Volume XX, Issue 129, 1 June 1889, Page 2

NORTHERN STEAMSHIP COMPANY.

__cc following business was transacted yes-' day afternoon ab the meeting of the shareholders of the Northern Steamship Comffcany. Owing to the lateness of the meeting,-only the results appeared in ■ •yesterday's issue. j • 4,. The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the report, referred to this -duty as a pleasure, the prospects of the Company, in contradistinction to the years of depression hitherto experienced, being,Jgeneraliy hopeful*, i He referred to the aatisiactory settlement of the difficulty whicb • existed for some considerable time between the Company aud the Seamen's Union, and to the change which had been effected in the managev nient. • The heat evidence of how beneficial this change had been would, he said, be •iotind in thez-accounts just submitted, in 'which the contrast between the last two yeare was so clearly set forth that very little comment was necessary. The injcreased prosperity was not attributable, however, to any .increased volume of "trade; it was not due to a lifting of the cloud of depression, nor to the conclusion of the difficulty with the seamen, the Storm bird having only been withdrawn in November la3b. The directors rather attributed the success ■ -achieved to ret'orms inaugurated under the Bnfewj management, and to a generally im•proved tone in the conduct of the Company's affairs. When Mr Ransom took office as manager, everything had 'been run' very low, and the money required to put the Company's boats . in an efficient state of repair considerably exceeded expectations. This expenditure, some of which was of an fjextraordinary character, had ail to come s s>onV of' revenue. The state of the Com "patty's bank'account, and their ability to place juatlaouble what they did in the pre* ■pious balance-sheet to depreciation and insurance, were among the features which ?,"would commend themselves to shareholders. They had added to their iieet by the purchase of the Chelmsi'ord, and this vessel had I been found well adapted for the Bay of cPlenty trade. Commenting on the claim .toad© by Mr W. A. McGregor and the award rof £852 14s 9d by the Court, the Chairman that anyone who took the trouble to (i read the particulars of the trial would have the same estimate of the merits of thab claim as the directors did. In the \ j clause of the report reterring to the revaluation of tho Company's steamers, the directors had estimated the deficiency at '£50,000, nothing like a sufficient sum having of late been written off for depreciation. They thought, however, that the time had now come to re-value, Md&king no allowance for goodwill, but simply setting down each boat lit what they considered its iair market Iprice; to-day. If this . Riiggestion Were adopted, steps would bo taken to deal with the question as speedily as possible. There was no doubt that the outlook was the first two months ot the present financial year showing up very well. The present balance at the. bank was in credit £1,800, and in tne course of a few weeks' they* would pay £1,500 off loan account, thus reducing that liability. No extensive repairs were anticipated, with the exception of providing tho Argyle with new , boilers, and the directors hoped, with a continuance of prosperity, to resume the payment i>f dividends very shortly. • Mr Douglas seconded the adoption of the report. He considered it gratifying to find '£9,200 gross profits for tho year, especially 'when they remembered the fierce opposition encountered from the Seamen's Union. They all knew that the country still suffered from depression, so that the profit must have .resulted from ; good manage'thent rather,,,than increased trade. When :ithdy considered that £3,000 hod been paid-; off in the shape of bank interest, and still something' like £2,000 left at the credit of the Company aa well aa £300 reduced from the loan account, together with the purchase of the Chelrnsford, he thought that things looked satisfactory. With regard to the Chelmsford, he considered that it would have a large trade shortly, which would pay well He was of opinion that such result spoke exceedingly well for tho management, and he felt inclined to move a hearty vote of thanks to both directors, manager end ptaff, captains and men on all the vessels, for having contributed towards such a satisfactory result. • Mr Ross 3aid that some people were very easily pleased. Ha, for one, was not. He wanted intoi - est foi , ' his money, because for the last eight years ho had not got any. He would call it good management when |he directors could pay a good dividend. Mr McGregor drew attention to tho fact that the balance-sheet was nob presented to the shareholders until the last day of the month, although he noticed that it was dated the 14th of May. He thought it ishould be placed in the hands of the; shareholders earlier- in the year. Mr McGregor then read the following quotation from the directors' report: — •-•» As you are aware, the disastrous times ,and adverse circumstances through which thfe Company has passed have prevented us, for several years, setting aside an adequate amount for depreciation, md the re■cent change in the management has been iJeemed a very fitting opportunity to have •the entire fieet of the Company re-valued, has been roughly dona by the Company's officers. The shareholders may, however, desire to have an independent valuation. We find (hero is a deficiency of /some £30,000 between our valuation and thab shown in previous balance-sheets issued during the late management. The -writing off -of this amoupt is a very serious thing to the Company, ati|l'*we havo postponed doing so until j the matter has been submitted to you and the shareholders at Home. It must be dealt with before we can resume the position of a dividend-paying company, either by ■writing off an equivalent from capital ac'couttij, or waiting until the amount can be covered by annual profits from the future working of the Company." He said he drew their attention to that clause in particular as it reflected on the old management. Did that mean to insinuate that the late manager had wilfully, or in ignorance, milled the Company to the extent of £30,000 with regard to the value of the fleet ? 'Mr J. M. Clark, in reply, said that the directors had no wish to insinuate that the 'jlate managing director had deceived them with regard to the valuation of the boats. It was known both to the directors and | the shareholders that £1,000 per annum was not a sufficient sum to set aside for depreciation, but they were, not in a position to set aside more. This bad been explained to the shareholders before. The boats had been over-valued, and .this was j considered a favourable time to re-value. Previously the valuation waa allowed to r pats as ib waa thought, thab the goodwill i was worth something. Now, however, it had been proved thab it was not worth a goodwill. They knew tho feeling of the late manager and his friends. "MrMcGregor: "Question." -Mr Clark said that there was no question | about it. If they had allowed bha matter ! of depreciation to goon fora year or two j and than mentioned ib, then it would have : been, " There, we told you so fror|i the bef inning thab you would make a mess of it." 'or that reason the directors had! deemed it advisable abonce to value the boats and start fair. Aβ far as tjie report was con- „ corned, there was no insinuation against the ■. manager excepting in the prooif that the • Company had been mismanaged in the past, .Instead of being managed It had been eimply a question o£ muddle and drift, .Mr McGregor said all thab was nob any ;; answer to hie question about depreciation, Hβ wanted to know if ■ all that was the fault

of the old management. Was it nob a facb bhat bho late manager showed the directors thab when the shares were 12s 6d their real value was 8s 6d ? The Chairman: "Thab, gentlemen, is wholly inaccurate. Captain McGregor persistently answered the directors when they talked about depreciation—' Are you going to throw the boats of the Company away? If you sell them at auction to-morrow you would get 8s 6d per share.'" Captain McGregor: " I.deny that in tolo, and you know thab, Mr Melville." Mr Melville said that it was Captain McGregor who objected to the sale of the boats.

Captain McGregor: "That's nob correch."

Mr Rose again reverted to the action of the directors. He thought that there was. nothing very satisfactory in the report - . Mr McGregor said that the previous management had had to smuggle against the Seamen's Union besides other difficulties. JEEe criticised adversely the present management, especially the purchase of the Chelmsford for £2,500. He maintained that fully £4,000 should have been written off for deprecation. With regard to the fleet, some of the vessels required several thousands expended upon them. It would require an exceptional amount of trade to put the Company in a position to pay dividends.

Mr Clark said ho wished to refer to the matter of insurance for the vessels. The directors had allowed 3 per cent, per annum. Hβ was in fayour, of 4 per cent., but he had noticed in an article in the "Nineteenth Century" Mr Plimsoll recommended 1 per-cent, in cases where the ownere kept their vessels in repair. Therefore he thought 3 per cent, would be ample. Mr Douglas asked if the Chelmsford had been frequently on the bar. Thomanagor said that she had only been on the bar once. Mr Duffus aaked how the insurance fund was invested. The Chairman said "it was invested in their own company. Mr McGregor : " Then it's a myth." The report was then adopted. Mr Ross objected to the directors being paid honorarium unless they could pay dividends. Mr Douglas said that as the directors had not been paid in the past they were entitled to some small remuneration. He learned that on one occasion the directors returned the honorarium. Mr McGregor : " One ! the only one." Mr Douglas moved that a vote of thanks should be accorded the diractors, manager and staff,'captains and men on the steamers for the manner in which they had contributed towards the success of the Company during the past year. This was carried with acclamation.

Mr Ransom, the manager, briefly returned thank.-! and expressed the hope that the succeeding years would show continued progress.