P. & O. PROGRESS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 14, 18 January 1899, Page 2

P. & O. PROGRESS.

AUSTRALIAN V. INDIAN PAS-

SENGERS.

CRABS AND THE 'CHINA.'

The fifty-eighth annual meeting of the P. & 0. Company, held last Friday, under the Presidency of genial Sir Thomas Sutherland, was of the usual •happy family' order. The Chairman had nothing unpleasant to tell the shareholders and the shareholders had no unpleasant question to ask so the proceedings were commendably brief. Sir Thomas opened his review of the year's doings with some semi-jocular remarks concerning the salving of the China, now safe in Perim Hcarbour. It appears that the divers'employed to stop the immense number of leaks in the ship's bottom had a difficulty to overcome which was not foreseen by the wisest of nautical authorities. They plugged the holes with welltarred oakum, came up for a 'blow,' and returned to their job to find their work undone. They were puzzled at first to-discover the reason for the disappearance of their plugging material, but. setting a watch found that, as soon as they had left the scene of operations the repairs were covered by huge crabs, ■ which promptly annexed the oakum and left the leaks. Sir Thomas presumed the crabs took the stuff medicinally. Anyhow, they took it, rendering the operation of making the China watertight a much lengthier one than was contemplated. The Company, said Sir Thomas, had contracted for another vessel of the China type, which would be the second vessel of 8,000 tons which they had contracted for in a remarkably short period. Adding to the cost of these vessels the cost of others, he found the total outlay on these ships amounted almost exactly to £2,000,----000 which had been expended in connection with the new mail contracts. The total carrying capacity of these new ships amounted only to 30,000 tons, whereas if they had spent the £2,000,000 on cargo vessels of the highest class they, would have carried 250,000 .or 300,000 tons. This threw considerable side-light on the work they had to do in carrying out these mail contracts, and the demand they made on capital. After a few remarks upon revenue and the increase of Canal dues and mileage account per passsenger the Chairman said there had been an agitation against the Company going on for some years in India under the auspices of the Cheap Passenger Association. Their latest, developments were by no means honest or straightforward, inasmuch as they ignored facts. One charge, against' the Company was that its Indian passengers were charged exactly tho same as the Australian passengers. He had gone into the figures for the last twelve months, and found that the Company had obtained from the, Australian traffic a higher rate by 48 per cent, than they had charged their Indian customers. Sometimes out of evil I came good, and perhaps they would have reason to feel obliged to the Passenger Association for calling their attention to the low and unremunerative rates they were charging Indian passengers. (Laughter.) Turning to freights, Sir Thomas remarked that the small increase of £13,251 was a great disappointment. It was due partly to the fact that local trade between China and India had diminished, and partly to the slight relapse in the Australian and China trade. Dealing with the future, the Chairman said great expectations had been formed owing to the rapid progress made in China, but it was impossible to ignore the fact that a new Eastern question had been developed in connection with this country fraught with great political difficulties on many sides. All would be well if these difficulties did not end disastrously and retard the progress so ardently desired. The loss in exchange this year was £43,417 less that for the previous twelve months. Coal, including freight and all charges, showed an increase of £65,986, and there was an increase of £B,SOO under the head of salaries and wages. The European staff in the Far East had been . paid half in silver and half by gold in • England, but during the present year I arrangements had been made to vay iaU in gold. F J I In conclusion, Sir Thomas welcomed j public criticism, and remarked with I satisfaction tha,t while Consols went i wobbling up and down, P. & O. stock 1 hardly moved, because the market price was not governed merely by dividend, but from public estimation lof the solidity of the assets and prosjpects of the Company. The motion for the adoption of the report was agreed to and, a declaration of 2i dividend on Preferred and 6£ on Deferred stock having been adopted, a vote of thanks to the Chairman and Board concluded the meeting.