BANK OF NEW ZEALAND.

Press, Volume XXXI, Issue 4291, 1 May 1879, Page 2

BANK OF NEW ZEALAND.

'• £" K<wZealsad Herald," April Esth.3 The ttnrty-fifUi ttaK-Te&rly meetusg of the shaxenoldere in the Bank ot 2»ew Zealand was held yesterday, at neoa, in the Bankaog house, Queeri jtreet. There v&s a large attendance of shareholders. Dr. J. X*. J^aafbeltjjraaded. . TtE ssnattree of "the rrevions meeting were read aitAeonarmed.

~ The Director*' report cv read, as follows :— 01 tee Directoes op the Bass of w«r Zeaia3tc>, to ths Half-tkaklt Gsoekax. Miaauni of ths Peopkietoes, held at tee Bijrene Hor-sK, Accexaxd, os Thcbspay. 24th April, IST9. The Directors jb&Te tie satisfaction of akblb eabmitticg to Shareholders the result of & sncceaEfnl taH-yew'e cpesitiocs. The oet profit at Sist March, after . aaaUsg very {nil appropriations forererT bad ordocbtfnl depea- ; Seaey, 'W*4 tie -oral seductions - ia Baii premises said furniture accounts, (uaonnte to - ... „. ,£ 6 of nndivkied profit at 3Cth September, I&T3 .„ ... fl 0 Hairing a total available fordiri. i "WMcb it is now recemmenSed should be appropriated as follows — To periafint ot diii- T J dSfattberateoflO pa cent, peraimum 0 0 To bonus of Sβ per .-...: ehare,e<iTaltosper ■_ . *i cesi. pet asenan ... £SSJ2S 0 0 To proceed increase ■ i To btUaaoe carried to . . Mia loss new _ .... ... - • ffiiidead «aa bonna wiH =be payable at the fcesd offic?, Auckland, to-day (Friday), and at bncdiee on receipt of adrioe. - '. . JPot tU* Board ot JMreetow. j; IiOGAS-CutMSix, Preeiaent. AeeXSEATB OF T*" s BuiK OF KEIF SXIX«SI> At 31Sr KXECH. IBT9, tSCEFDUfe XiOOTDOX OmCB AT SIST JASTAEX, 1879 r — 3Dr. £ S.H. IQgiM .a ... .„ ... ... 725,000 & 0 JEaberrePcnd .„ ;„ . ... „ 35Q/VM ,0 0 Xotes in drcalatioa ... „. ... SS7S77 0 0 KDsieyiJjletßcircnJiaon 2,246,760 15 2 ... 7.715,«7e 4 7 olp«jabaiid toes at Sep- - temherSeti, isra — ... . f. SSBB 9 0 » 2?etj*ofitforlalf.j«u- . ... ... ' sojUo 2 8 - Qf« 0 ft A - Oris «ad task belaaces ... ... IJB*SiS-!7 S Bnllioa on hand sad in traaeita. ... 197 410 1 J GoTermneni securities -... ... 629*221 7 2 —BSi* TeeeiYsble, and eecarities in IdaSeet projier^-,, Boiilt' uteniises, - -*^ tanitaw,*c..:. i ■-...-- 168,857 0 16 Bills discounted, andotttar debts <3ne to Uie Bank ... „ „. 7,511,581 8 ', . '■ I tzoixi xss loss iicousT. :■ i ' Trr. " ' ■ ■''-■'■■''&.' u'.a. I To diTidend at the rate ** W pee : i oeot. per amram ;.. .„ ... 0 b i To bosms of 5s p*r eiiaxe ... 0 0 To prvyyed iatgga&y .to- teagrjre " i „- fmjd „. ... - _,' 25,000 0 it To t»2aaee carried to profit Etrl lose,"e«wftceouat" ... t ... 9,753 11 8 £S9>I3SU S

<. Cγ. £ ■- d. 9 balance of profit and less at 3lst „ _ *Urch,lßTO... •> 80.210 | 8 By batance from last liell-year ... . N 8,868 9 * ~ i £BW»U 8 RBSTBTB FCKD. ■■■.."■ . Tjj £. 8. d. To balance WMMO_O_O JES7S.OQO 0 0 Cr " c B.d By balance from last statement -. 3».<K*> 0 0 By proposed addition 25 - [>oo ° ° £375.000 0 0 Audited. ToNIS tS. BeowkikS. directly interested. It will be in your recollection meetin? the annonncement had been made ortne hilureof the City of. Glasgow A*k, and there fol[owed* period.of financial disturbance and distrust, such ashed not been experienced fer ; many years, and from which there has been a slow and gradual recovery. The disclosures in connection with this failure shoot credit and conndance to their foundation, and it is only a natural result that all Bank stocks became more or letwj prejudicially affected. When your directors at lasfr mefiting : agted and obtained your authority to issue 17 SGO njew shares, the conseqaencca 6f theCity of. Bank failure bad not been realised, aad; could it have been anticipated that this dieasfer would hare been followed by such a calamitous period of depression the issue would either have, been very much restricted or altqgether;postpon«SM< Bat the issue has been a -decided success, notwith* (tanding the untoward state of things to which.. I have alluded, and which, at last, came home t? ua here in an intensified IJrnT. Contending againsf many adverse influences, it is a source of eongratu* latkm to be able to record that, of the 27,500 new shares, " onjy 3984 remain | unallotted- » Of ; these, 948 consist of " remainders.", not dosorbsag by the-proportions in which' the issue wee madef and these-will be pet in the .market at a favorable opportunity.' Then there are 1503: share*; which. BM"lseTd"oia"l>ehalt ■of-Bhareholders. travelling,, and otherwise beyond reasonable distanoe, iwf to whoo the direototß yet accord a further period of grace. The number, therefore,-of shares not. taken np, as far as jet known, ie only 1535. .Thatthe price of shares became prejudicially affected was only a necessary conAequeixce arising from tltef peculiar juncture at which they were leaned. Btrt It is worthy of remark, that, a*; compared with nesrij esery other Colonial Bank, the depreciation inx>ar shares in.Xondon.was very slight, and the local depreciation was sufficiently accounted for b/tffe? extent of the issue, the large proportion of ehafeff held in the colonial, and,the prevaflingscarcity pi, money. . Arid besides these inflrieuces thftqewer*' others Which more or less affected the Value of our share*, for reports were <?lrej»l»t*{y that this institution,was a heavy losef ,D£ the git* of Glasgow Bank. So contrary was this- to. facts;, that we .have not-lost one shilling by that Bank** failure ; and when it stopped we only held 363000 of its paper, Tislfor wldeh wtta . cavered.by balances we held, and we had bills foFcolleetiottM excess of the total amount involved. Beyerting'to the /figures In the baliiooe-eheet it' will be noticedthat notwithstanding the increase of -our capital it., stands the same as in the last report,, because the, new capital, as yoo are ao doubt aware, was only' payable on 31et March, the day on .which our books' were closed for the half-year. Had it been, correct jbo (how the increase as capital in the present statement, there could only have been Bhowntheamopnt paid in New Zealand, as the Australian and London* branches had dosed their bookeat a previous datßjg , Aβ payments from shareholders only became daf dead-bearing from Ist April, these coald, not be regarded as capital until that date,and have therefore in. the statement before you been incorporated under the heading " deposits and other lianuities/' -The? deposits appear to have fallen £$20,-000, but tni»'ij| wholly dneto the decrease of Government Sbeld by the Bank, as there has been to actual in* crease of private deposits amounting- to 4168,000, irrespective of payments on account of capital. Pl% wDl'be observea that as compared with laSthalacp* sheet, there is a very material increase in coin «na cash balances, the directors having .considered it: prudent to hold larger reserves dnrine the disturbed state of the money market, to which Ihave allndejL. In the early prt of the half-year we: theref st\ fortified onr London account, allowing colonial balances to ran. low, but at 3T*t March we had mode. lp-gur Colonial holding of coin to £769.000, and the balance was held in London. The amount Bank's advances decreased is proporiaen to flic diminution of deposits.' The amount'of piflnf ■brought to acoouat- for the half-year is slightly lese r than last half-year, but I may remark that in view of fhe-ekisting.and. prospective condition of business in this and adjoining colonies, it has been"eonr sidered advisable to make more than. o;ual prqvif eionfor bad and doubtful debtfl, and .should snch proviajon, prova over-estimated, there >rilh be in esirlir, return of the snrpJos to' profit r orid' loss. Shareholders will, no doubt, approve the intention of. the Board to .continue increasing the,reserve, fond, the directors considering the a-ngmtnt&tion of this fund as of than the pay* ment of increased dividend. It Will no doubt interest you to know that tho late rniscbievorxe, competition amongthebanks fordeposits has ceased, an understanding as to rates having recently been arrived at, and it may be hoped that the experience of the past may prevent a recurrence of a conrsf or procedure which most be regarded as alike impolitic on tUe part of the Banks, as it was eubverr sive of the best interests of the colony. The scarcity of money now- -preniAKnjf-throughout ell' the colonies must be well known to yoa : aUJ Various causes have arisen-.-to produce notably over-speculation in land, orer tion, leases in Btockfrom seTerltyof lastwlnterina snbseqnent : floods, short crojw; ton protracted, drought during summer, and, chiefly, tKe-«*xi»* *? 5 *- in valae «f oar staple ; jirodno4e. : The financial, plneh has no doubt proved severe-o« ltma Z. ,) !? ■CTj iui u*~ -A. corrective remedies, the after effects may prove salutary aaff more *>"». 'compensate for the present incotfvenienoe. It is to be regretted, that a more cheer-: ful picture of the present aspect of hnsinesS in that; colony cannot be drawn, but do not Suppose that 3> take any gloomy view of the f ufcurei J A repetition of snch a combination of adverse influences as I have reconntad-need not 'be apprehended. On the contrary, there are manifest sigas of progress in many directions, for population, and settlement axe rapidly increasing, and the resources of the colony" are being- steadily and securely developed. Let US have bet a moderately good season, with .that recovery in the value of our products which may be reasonably expected—let "the Government exerdee a judicious and careful foresight inproeecntiog-the public 'works policy, a policy r-whiah has achieved an unprecedented advancement in oar material wealth by the. development of oar agricultural and. pastoral resources, and the colony, with that vitality and recuperative power which has ever distinguished it, will ebon recover from existing depression, and taking to heart the- salutary- experiences we have just passed throngh, there i»no reason why our prosperity in the future should , not be «fi great as it has"been in the past. ■ With these remarks I beg to move the adoption of the report and balance-sheet as read. ■ -The Hon. Janjee Williamson seconded the resolution, and eaid —I have much in seconding the motion for the adoption of this report end balance sheet. I think that, all circumstances taken into consideration, we have a right to be proud of it. As to the depression that has existed here for some time, the fy<*"»-°«»™ has explained the cause of it, and we look with good faith, and hope- for the renewal of prosperity in thit place. I hive seen a great deal of the interior of the country here, and [ do a good deal m-vself towards bringing •it into a state to produce'the necessaries of. life without haviag to send ontof the province for thenu, ■• What is wanted to ensure the rapid prosperity of this part of New Zealand is the completion of the publio -works undertaken some jears ago. Onr'railways cannot be expected to jay unless fhey are connected with the rest of the eoantry. I thiik "that with » vigorous prosecution of these public wtrkstovpxils completion—to make us at all events connected withTaranaki —would in itself create a remarkable effect in promoting the prosperity of the country. Oar chairman ~t&a gone so fully intqr the subject before the meeting, that I do not feel it to be necessary I should sayaiiything further upon it, and will content myself with formally seconding the motion tor.the adoption of the: report and balivnoe-sheet. . ■ ■ The motion was agreed to nnanimonsly. Colonel Fraser said—-After the very aatislnctory ■ report we have received, considering these'de- 7pressed times, I think we cannot do better than, re- r torn a vote of eincero thanks to the directors.'and officers of the bonk for their services during the past half-year. ■ "'" r -Captain Daldy—l Eecond the motion pleasure. I feel confident that the report which! lias been lead here to-day ivijl disperse many a cloud that had begun to gather about the prosperity of the country. For a -very long time there ias been no such important report emanating from the directors as that we have received to-daj. ThU result is to be attributed entirely to the directors and officers of the Bank. [Hear, hear.] ' . The Chairman returned thanks on behalf of tho Board of Directors. ' : -. . : itr D. L. Murdoch, General Manager, returned thanks for the staff. He said—Tho chairman has alluded to the troubles of the fast season, so td speak. I'may say that there hasieen a good deal of rowing against the stream. Too may, thereforej understand how welcbine it ie to hear from you a word of encouragement: lam sure the officer* -will receive your vote of thanks with and that it wfll stimulate them to still further exertions .on behalf of this institution. : .-•::.: f> This concluded the business of the half-jearly meeting. Tie draft miimtes were read, sod.the prooeedings - * ~~' ' " . . : -