MEETINGS of COMPANIES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXII, Issue 93, 23 April 1891, Page 5

MEETINGS of COMPANIES.

A meeting of shareholders in the Stanley Gold Mining Company was held on April 17th at Mr H. Gilfillan's office, whon ifc was resolved on the motion of the chairman, 2vlr H. Rees George, to voluntarily wind up the Company.

The eighth ordinary meeting of colonial shareholders of the New Zealand and River Plate Land Mortgage Company (Limited) was held ab the office, New Zealand Insurance Company's Buildings, on April 7, for the purpose of electing two directors in the place ot Sir F. Whitaker and Mr T. Buddie, who retired and offered themselves for reelection. Sir F. Whitaker occupied the chair. The annual meeting of the Company had been held in London on January 14th, and copies of the annual report and balance - sheet then adopted were presented to the colonial shareholders. The report showed that after providing for all bad and doubtful debts, the net profifl for the year ended 31sfc October, 1890, including £1,667 4s 8d brought forward from the preceding year, was £21,644 8s 4d. Of this sum an interim dividend was paid at 4 per cent., amounting to £8,000, leaving a sum of £13,644 8s 4d, which was applied as follows :— To payment of a dividend of two per cent., £4,000; to reserve fund, £8,000; to be carried forward, £13,644 8s 4d. Sir Frederick Whitaker and Mr T. Buddie were re-elected directors, and Mr A. Boardman. auditor for the ensuing year at a remuneration of £15. Mr Peacock asked whether any more recent information had been received concerning the Con? pany's affaire in the Argentine P^*. 1 public. The Chairman said the docurr ents already presented to shareholders gf> dVQ the most recent information. He ex*pr e g S ed a hope that they would have a b etter re p Or j, to present next year. The, revolution in the River Plate had not ejected the Company's interests there, the interest being paid in advance, T.h<i meeting concluded with a \rot» of than&s to the Chairman.

A wire from Dunedin states that there was a long and at times lively meeting of shareholders of the Equitable Insurance Association on April 2nd. The chairman moved the confirmation of the agreement! with the Union Company, and in reply to a question said the liability in connection with, the life department had been reduced from about £70,000 to £25,000, and it was expected an agreement would be concluded shortly with a powerful company to take over the policiea. Mr Russell (Christchurch) moved an amendment to appoint a committee of investigation, but after a long discussion, withdrew it, to allow the motion to be carried, which was done unanimously. Mr Russell then moved his amendment as a resolution, which was adopted in the following form : —" In view of the heavy lossee shown by the Association's position, and of the doubtful result of thewinding-up as proposed by the directors, the shareholders are of opinion that a committee of investigation should be appointed to inquire into the whole of the affairs of the Association, such committee to have full power to make inquiry into all matters relating to the Association, the advantages or otherwiseof the proposed sale, and to call for all papers, hooks, etc., the following gentlemen to form the committee :—Mr J. Bevan, Mr J. Gore, Mr G. W. Russell, and two nominated by directors." It waa at first proposed to pay the actual expenses of committee. This it was pointed out) would be illegal. The directors intimated that they had n6' objection to the committee, and courted the fullest inquiry. They would accept the motion as binding on them. It was decided to appoint Mr A. Maxwell as liquidator at his present) salary tor a few monthe, and £300 additional. The meeting lasted from three to half-past eijjht.

The annual meeting of the Mutual Life Association of Australasia was held ab Sydney last week, and the annual report) has been forwarded to us by Mr W. T. J. Bell, thelocal manager. The Association continues to make steady and wonderful progress year after year, and it would appear that) the life insurance business is increasing at a greater ratio than the population. The report states that " During the past year, 3,421 proposalsfor insurance have been made for sums aggregating £858,730, of which 969 were declined, thus leaving 2,452 proposals accepted, for sums equal to £596,335. At the close of the books ab the previous an-, nual balance 157 policies were not com-, pleted. These have been completed during the past year, thus making a total of new business added during the year of 2,609 policies for £632,510. Of these policiea 184 . were for endowments for £32,934. The new annual premiums added to the Association's transactions for this business are £21,402 19s. The Association had in existence at the close of last year 15,791 assurance policies for sums amounting to £4,144,007 11s 2d ; 979 endowment policies, for £145,654 ; and 22 annuities, amounting to £593 3a ; making a total of 16,792 policies of all classes, amounting to £4,290,254 14s 2d. The annual income is £147,100 14s 9d, and the annual interest obtained from the investments made is £47,909 4s, making a total yearly revenue of upwards of £195,000. The mortality statistics recorded are considerably under the expectations, showing that the! tables framed are considerably on the side' of safety. _ At the end of the present year the actuarial investigation is to take place, and it is anticipated that! the two and a-half-years' business will be of such a character as to afford a substantial bonus to the policies then in existence, and as this fact is usually made a feature of in life assurance business, ib may be expected that this circumstance will add to the increase of businees during the current year." At-, tention is drawn to the fact that no money haa been, advanced on personal