"ARAPUNI, LIMITED."

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 222, 19 September 1930, Page 5

"ARAPUNI, LIMITED."

| INQUISITIVE SHAREHOLDERS. | MOCK COMPANY MEETING. THE FLOATING CAPITAL. ! — A more inquisitive oody of snareholders has never attended a meeting | ihaTi those present- at the Auckland [University last evening, when the an- ] rraal report and balance-sheet of the I directors of "Arapuni, Limited" was | presented. It was a mock company j meeting of the University College comj merce students, and so many questions ! were asked of the chairman, Adam E. 1 Rosion (Mr. H. C. Robinson) tiat at I half-past nine it was decided to adjourn i tie meeting sine die — Monday J next." Tn presenting tie baiance-sieet, siowj ing huge assets and even more iuge liabilities, the chairman said that sharei holders eould place implicit trust in j tie directors, as tie latter had shown, j as would be seen from the items in the 1 balance-sheet, that they could look after I their own interests very well, and men ] who could do that were well able to look after the shareholders. Much had 1 been said about tie Arapuni dam scheme, but he could assure them it was not a washout.

Tie chairman called upon the secretary to read the minutes oi the last meeting, bat, these having been lost, the secretary was asked to give his impressions of that meeting. The secretary remarked that he did not have a very clear recollection of the business done but he remembered perfectly well there was nothing of importance. The date of the meeting was either February 30 or April 1. He also remembered that the directors were to go on holiday and visit the works. The statements of accounts were of no consequence, and he did not know what became of them. The auditor read his report, which he said he did not feel inclined to certify as correct. He intended to query one item—sinking fund, £50,002 —but discovered that the amount was for sinking the dam. The stock, too, he was a bit dubious about, but accepted the vouchers of the directors. The liabilities were shown at £19.999 and the assets £20,000 worth of buses. A Shareholder: Are the buses stiH running? The Chairman: What? Why I chartered one to come to iriS; meeting. The chairman went on to say that, to show what capable men the directors were, matters that shareholders ' said I could not be done had been done. A shareholder asked for some information regarding the item "general exj peases, £5000." The chairman replied I thai this was the wage of a general | employed at the company ; s hostel When the directors' travelling expenses were questioned the chairman said they could be taken as correct, otherwise they would not figure in the balance-sheet. Most of the travelling expenses were incurred in the shifting of the company's offices from building to halloing. A shareholder mentioned an item giving gate receipts as £10,102 and asked if this was the result of a League match between the jockeys and barmen. The Chairman: What's that? The shareholder repeated the question. The Chairman: I'm sorry. I thought von said the jockeys were in league with the barmaids. Questions were coming from all parts of the hall, and after the chairman had mentioned that the Seating capital of the company comprised a number of canoes, and that the reason why shareholders had not been given seven clear days' notice of the meeting was because it was impossible to get seven "clear*' days in this weather, the meeting adjourned sine die—till Monday next."