TAUPIRI COAL MINES.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 113, 12 May 1920, Page 7

TAUPIRI COAL MINES.

THE YEAR'S OPERATIONS. j PROFIT. OF £12,104. : The twenty-first annual meeting of shareholders in the Taupiri Coal Mines, Limited, was held this afternoon at the Chamber of Commerce, the chairman of directors (Hon. E. W. Alison) presiding. In moving the adoption of the report I and balance-sheet the chairman re- '■ marked:—The profit and loss account I showed that the profit for the year available for distribution was £12,104 13/7, as • against £10,658 9/2 in the previous year, an increase of £1,446 4/5, To the actual profit had to be added the sum of £1,572 16/7 brought forward from last year, making a total of £13,677 10/2. Of this amount £1,584 4/6 hud been paid to the holders of preference shares, leaving a balance of £12,093 5/8, which amount the directors recommended be dealt with as follows:—■ By payment of a dividend of 1/6 <per share, £9,075; .by transfer to Accident Reserve Fund, £2,000; by carrying forward to next year's account, £1,018 5/8. The payment for rates and taxes amounted to £8,404 11/7, as against £7,059 17/5 last year, an increase of £1,344 14/2. There was a movement on 1 the part of the Huntly Town Board to obtain increased rating powers, and also in addition to induce the Government to impose a coal royalty or duty, of Id per ton, on all coal raised to the surface, such royalty to be used to augment the incomes of the local bodies in whose district the coal is raised. The result of these proposals if given effect to, would be to differentiate between coal com- : panics and other ratepayers. The {directors, feeling that the proposals were unsound in principal*- and unfair lin their application, had lodged their protest with the Government, accordingly. It should be clearly borne in mind that should a further royalty be levied on coal won, this, as the Town Board frankly admitted, must be handed on to the public. In addition to rates and income tax the company is by law now compelled to pay a levy at the rate of a halfpenny per ton of coal to the Miners' Relief Fund, the amount payable under this heading being £462 3/11. The amount paid by the company last year in local taxation was £616. The income tax still absorbed the large amount of 7/6 (more than one-third) out of every pound of profit made, and as far as could be seen at present, this taxation was not likely to be reduced.

OUTPUT OF COAL. The output of coal for tlie year ending March 31, 1920, after deducting the mine consumption, was 221,855 tone, being 1,801 tons lees than the previous year. This -fall in productioji °was not the result of decreased demand, which was, in fact, very much larger than the supply, ■but mainly to the effect of the "go-clow" policy 'which was in force approximately between five, and six months, and which necessitated an increase in the selling price of coal. There was also a shortage of miners, and this, notwithstanding the high earning power of the coal miner, still continues. ' v The cost of production had largely in'creaeed, necessitating a further considerable advance in the selling price of the company's coal. This increase in the cost of production is due to the still further rise in the cost of materials and supplies, and to the large increase granted to the minere and other workers. Since the opening of its Rotowaro Mine the company had built 13 comfortable cottages, and had let a contract for the erection of 12 more. A number of ■ the miners had availed themselves of the scheme initiated 'by the company for -building homes, and were thus enabled to live at a very low rental. DEVELOPMENT AND LABOUR. Discussing the price of coal, the chairman pointed out that the BoaPd of Trade report bore out his forecast that no undue profit had been made, but that, on the contrary, there had been insufficient return on the total capital invested. After referring to the creep that occurred on the north-west side of the Extended Mine, causing a temporary stoppage and the abandonment of that section of the workings, 'Mr. Alison declared that special efforts would be necessary to open up fresh workings in which the size of pillars mould require to be increased. The developments at the 'Rotowaro Colliery continued to be very satisfactory, the output for the year being 70,000 tons, an increase of 31,000 over the previous year. The output from both the Extended and Rotowaro Mines could be substantially increased if additional labour were available. The cost of production being so high, it was important that the output of both collieries should be increased, for it was only 'by increased production and efficiency and economy of working that any reduction of cost can be brought about. •

The chairman concluded with a tribute to the excellent services rendered by the different staffs through a tfying year. The directors aleo had done their best to overcome all difficulties and to work for the welfare of the company.-