MINING NEWS

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 470, 31 March 1909, Page 10

MINING NEWS

, TALISMAN SHAREHOLDERS. AUCKLAND'SECTION ANGRY. (BT TELEGRAPH—SPECIAL COURBSPONDENT.) i Auckland, March 30. Auckland shareholders in the Talisman Consolidated are angry. .The reason is that they ire opposed to. certain , new arrangements regarding "colonial.-' representation 'supposed , to have been made by tho representatives. The position. is' thus put by-Captain .James Smith.m a letter to the press:— "I aui advised by the/board of directors in London that, they propose, to dispense-with che services'o£ Air. Hanha .and myself-as attorneys for; the'company under Mr. Stansfield, and no reason 1 is given '.for, the change.'. y.'While this is a matter.or'np importance at all to me, [ wish to' conitnpht! oh", the reason for it. I learn from a' thoroughly reliable source that Dr. Knight and Mr. 'i. Shailer Weston, of Wellington, and-Mr. G-"JJ- l'eacbcke,'of Auckland, are to be appointed ;a. local -board of advice at a salary 0f,.£210 per annum each and travelling expenses to. and from the mine. ■: I am. one of >. the original,shareholders.*-Invent through the consolidation, and ;I think-1 am the second, if not the largest Holder of shares' in the Dominion. I have the utmost confidence in the future of the mine, but I view with alarm, the recent developments. I attended a meet--1 ing'in Mr. Hannas office,'when Messrs. Weston and Whvte were present, and a certain line of notion was agreed upon.. In all good faith that agreement was accepted, and matters were allowed to rest. That agreement ww that the Wellington shareholders should nominate one director and the Auckland shareholders one. Now. it appears to me, that the Wellington shareholders.'dominated by Messrs. Weston-and,

Knight (for I cannot for a moment believe that the bulk of them havo thought about the matter), propose to take charge of the mino, and appoint themselves local directors at a i salary of JE2IO per 'annum and travelling oxponses to and from Karangahake. What they are. going to do at Karangahake is a mystery, for they are suroly not going to intefero with Mr. Stansfield, in whom all shareholders havo the utmost confidence. If they attempt that, the result will bo friction, and I havo no hesitation in saying ..that friction with Mr. Stansfield will be disastrous. It appears to mo that tho only thing this agitation, prompted by the Wellington shareholders, has done has beon to reduoo tho directors' honorarium,' a legal charge paid to them, and one which- our Wellington friends would havo taken no exception to if they had been directors, but they were not directors. Now, having docked tho honorarium, they are going to appropriate the saving themselves. So tho shareholders gain nothing by tho agitation. What tho directors lose the Wellington agitators gain, and that is the sum and substance of the whole business. I would nrgo shareholders throughout the Dominion to think for themselves." The Stock Exchango havo also taken the matter up, having decided yesterday to call a meeting of shareholders to discuss the situation.' In moving in this direction, the chairman (Mr! 6. A. Buttle) said it would, therefore, appear .that the Wellington shareholders 'were in favour of doing away with tho. local attorneys, Mr. A. Hanna and Captain Smith. If that were so, the only conclusion was that tho idea was to romovo the office of the Talisman Consolidated to Wellington. Sir. W. Colbeck seconded tho motion. He considered it high time some action was taken by local shareholders to protect themselves from the attitude which appeared likely to be adopted by, the Wellington shareholders. Recalcitrants amongst the Auckland shareholders had. to some extent, brought about the present position. It would be absurd, in his opinion, to move the local office of the Talisman Company to Wellington, when the mino was in tho Auckland district. True, the Wellington shareholders had informed thorn that.they had no wish to have the advisory board in the capital city,. but judging by recent reports he could onlv see that such after all was their object. The meeting will be called for Thursday next.

STATEMENT BY ME. T. S. .WESTON. Mr.-Weston, when shown the foregoing telegram,'said: It:is absolute news to me, although I have just received a letter from London by | the Brindisi mail. It might be that Captain j Smith and Mr. Hanna are merely delegates of Messrs. Bewich, Morcing and Co., under a power of attorney given to that firm as managing engineers of the mine. •If so it is only right ' that the attorneys in New Zealand of the Talisman should •be appointed by the company direct, and not by the company's mining managers. The appointment of Dr. Knight and myself as a local committee last August was due to the desire of the Wellington Committee to furnish shareholders who lived at_'a distance from the mine with a safe and reliable source of information as to its actual state. Previously they had been influenced to a great extent by underground information, which was generally exaggerated one way or the other, and sometimes tinged by interested motives. Neither of us have as yet received any remuneration, although .we have both expended some pounds in travelling expenses and answering letters and telegrams from shareholders. During the last nine months we have often had to correct information kindly supplied to shareholders by members of the Auckland Stock Exchange. These latter hold very few shares in the Talisman mine, although they have always claimed to raise l a loud voice in. the management of its affairs. As regards the removal of the share register and local office from Auckland to Wellington, this has never been thought of by the Wellington Committee, and is' merely a nightmare of Mr. Buttle's. Those Auckland shareholders who have been working harmoniously with our committee know this. The psjint' raised by Captain Smith of danger of interference wi'th Mr. Stensfield is too absurd. A London letter to-day speaks of the loyal and helpful manner in whioh Messrs. Bewich,, Moreing and Co; are assisting the directors nominated by the Wellington Committee. ~ Dr. Knight and myself are on the most friendly terms 'with Mr. Stensfield, and have far too high an opinion of his ability and 'straightforwardness to desire to interfere with him. This, however, is not the first time that bogy has been raised by the members of the Auckland Committee, but those Wellington shareholders who were present at the interview with Mr. Loreing, the Australasian head of the firm of , Bewich, Moreing and Co. know that there is not the slightest chance of any action of the Wellington shareholders having the effect prophesied by Captain Smith.

~ .NEW BIGpRIVEE. (BX TELEUBAPH—FRE6S ASSOCIATION.) '■ _, ' Reefton, March 30. The manager of- the New Big Eiver mine reports for the week:—No. 9 winze has attained a depth of 100 ft,, with no change in the ground to report since the previous week." ' No. ■ level, East Eeef: This level has now been proved for a length of sft. The reef in the .face is Ift. -wide in the floor, and 7ft. wide at the roof of the level. Coarse gold can be seen in the stone. There is no change to report from No. 7 and the immediate level. The crosscut from No. 1 level has been connected with the back of the drive on the same level. A new outside wall to the battery dam is being built as speedily as possible.; All .work in the mine has been stopped,. owing to' shortness of water-caused by-the present dry weather. Both the mine and the 'battery paddocks are full of stone, and to find'further storage room on the surface would'entail, additional handling and consequently ■ expense.

DREDGING RETURNS. "■■' tBI TELEGEAPH—rEESS ASSOCIATION.! Reefton, March 30. Dredging returns;—Paotolus, No. I, 135 hours, 18oz. 7dwt.; Pactolns, No. 11, 172 hours, 31oz. 18dwt.. ." STOCK EXCHANGE. (BT TELEOEAPH—PBESS ASSOCIATION.) '■ • Dunedin, March. 30. Stock Exchange sale:. Rise and Shinej ,£1 10s.