LONG DRIVE GOLDMINING COMPANY.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVI, Issue 3897, 17 February 1870, Page 4

LONG DRIVE GOLDMINING COMPANY.

A spbctas Meeting, oalfei afc the request ©f certain shareholders in this company, Was held in their office, Shortland-street, yesterday mornin*, at 11 o'clock. There W*« a large attendance, there being about SlX<^ shareholders present. Captain Harrison said, this meeting having been railed by certain shareholders, in consequence of acertafn newspaper report, if would be necessary to hay* a chairman. He would therefore pose t/iat Mr. Header Wood take the chair. Mr. Bseton spcondpcl the motion, Mr Wood having tiiken the chair, Tile Secretary read the notice calling the meeting, and the rule referring to the Jpeoiai meeting. The Chairman then said they had neard the letter read convening the meeting, together with the rule under vhich the business was to be conducted. Tfipy would perceive that there was no notice of the special business to be gone on with given in the advertise mrnt. But he thought it competent under that rule for any shareholder who wished for any information to state wh^ he wished, and he had no doubt t'^,^ t, oe directors were fully prepare^ t0 qj ye any information that mipr^X be wanted He would call upon fuose gentlemen signing the requisition to state the purpose of the meeting, and what information they particularly wished to be given. He then proceeded to call upon each of the gentlemen signing the requisition. Captain Harbison said his reason for signing the requisition was that he with others thought that other companies could crush cheaper than the Kuranui Company did. Then why not give other companies a chance 'i If other companies couH crush Bs. or 10a. cheaper, why not give them a chance ? Then again all the gold was given to one bank. He thought there should be soise opposition. Mr. Breton said there was one particular point to which ac would draw the attention of the shareholders, and impress ;upon tbem the advisability of finding out. He came up the other day to the Office, and asked to see a report from the mining manager. The legal manager refused to allow him to see it. Wow he thought the shareholders were as much, entitled to see the report as the directors themselves. (Hear.) He subsequently had some conversation with two of the directors, and one of them certainly said that the shareholders ought to be contented with the information given by the directors. But the directors had given them no information— not an atom—at least that he was aware of, on these matters, The rule No. 22, bearing on the point justify ing the refusal to allow the reports of the mine to be seen .satisfied nhn atthe time. That rule stated that the books of t\ccounts only n-ere to bo open to inspection. Apparently, therefore, he was put oo f of Court;. But the next rule provided a penalty for any one lefusing to show any of the books of the company. He presumed, thufc reports came under that ljpad t If the directors were entitled to nilnhold information, the shareholders bad better sell their shares for what few penre they could get, and ]pfc the directors have all to themselves. Certainly, cases might arise in which it might be advisable to suppress information. In tbe case of encroaching on boundary, for instance, a shareholder in the claim encroached upon might, for example, purchase a share for the purpose of obtaining all necessary information respecting his own mine. He would be one to back up the directors most strenuously in withholding infor niation in a matter of that kind, but as a general rule it would be better, lie thought, to give every information to the shareholders. Mr Saundeks sai d his object in signing the requisition was to enable the shareholders to ventilate certain points. For one thing, he thought there should be a good plan of the underground working of the mine. Another thing, a monthly report should be prepared and published in the papers, signed by the Working manager, showing the actual work done during the month. It would also be desirable to have a monthly report from the directors, showing the financial position of the company. He mentioned that for this reason, that some friends of his, knowing that there was only a few pounds dividend, were not aware that a sum of money had been carried to reserve account. If this were done it would materially assist the company. Colonel Balneavis said his reason for signing the requisition was that he knew nothing about the mine. His simple reason for signing was to gain information upon the general business connected with tho mine He had heard that, the manager had been, dismissed—he did not know for what reason. He found that tho dividends were sometimes high, and sometimes low : why was that ? They also found that a certain sum was kept back, and small things of that kind which could be furnished if a proper meeting was called. If the regular meeting lapsed, it was for the shareholders to cat! this present meeting. The directors should also inform them on this matter. They found that Buddenly the shares went down in value, and be could not ascertain from what cause. He found the mine still giving tbe same retui'ns, but they found a large sutn kept back. It was a very prudent step, perhaps, but they wanted iuformation respecting it. _ Mr, F. H. Troxjp said his reasons were •ilniiar to what had already been given. Captain Harbison said the reason he subscribed to the document was a paragraph or article which" appeared in the Meralcl of February 1, and which he produced. This paragraph caused him lome alarm. It embodied a number of questions which had been asked by the gentlemen who had already spoken. He "Would like to know how far that letter j was true. They, as shareholders, ought to be enlightened about this. An article like that appearing in the paper was likely to alarm the shareholders. Perhaps the Secretary would read it. Mr. Aitken suggested the propriety of producing the writer first. Mr. W. C. Wilson said be might afc onoe state, to save trouble, that the letter was written by a discontented shareholder. Mr. W. Aitkkn thought that instead of reading newspaper paragraphs the shareholders should put their questions in, writing and let them get on with business. Mr. Abbots proposed that the article be accepted as read. Major Bishop said his reason was that he understood that the 3ast report of the manager was not permitted to be seen. He thought that every shareholder should know the state of the mine. The depreciation in the value of shares was so very large and so very sudden that it made every shareholder uncomfortable. Further he thought it would be advisable that a financial statement should be occasionally published, in order .to know "What debt existed, if any, and what reserve fund there should be ; and again the mining manager ought to furnish a xeport monthly. Captain la. Mottee said his reasons had beea mainly given by the foregoing

speakers. Buf; there was one question on which lie would like some information —Were the Thames Goldmining Company allowed to have four directorships in the company for the number of shares they held in the company P— as, if they held four seats in the directorship, they would be able to overrule all the other directors, The Off airman referred Captain La Mot tee to the first rule of the Articlefof Association which empowered any in | corporate company holding- shares in this company fo be directors in it. Mr. 'luorp paid, in * ngjisb companies, persons before being 1 eligible for directors should hold a certain amount of shares in a company. Ib was a most absurd thine: that a person holding perhaps a single scrip only should be a director. Colonel Elliot said that the object with which he signed the document had already been stated* He heard that a shareholder had been refused a sight of the manager's report, and, the officers of the regiment having a desire for some knowledge of the cause of the depreciation of the property, he thought ib light that Ilt . should sign, so that the information might, if possible, be got previous to their departure from the colony. Mr. Abbott asked what price the mine received for its gold. He was a believer in fair and honourable competition. Did the company take any steps to offer the gold for aale to the various banks? A strange power of gravitation seemed to draw it all to one njace. Oa what principle was the reserve fund augmented? Was there a fixed and intelligible principle on which it was augmented ? Had Mr. Kowe received any snlary in connection with this iniue, and, if so, for what purpose; and was he still receiving a salaiy? Did any other person, irrespective of the recognised officers of the company, receive any salary ? Mr. Mx'EvoY: Previous to the appointment of Mr. Walker, two shillings I ( a ton was paid for the cartage of stove j to the battery, and two men were eraI ployed to fill the carts. When Mr. Walker was engaged, he got it carted and the men to fill it tbemselres for one I shilling and threepence per ton. He , wished to know if that was correct. Colonel Balnihvis : Has the manager given any securities? The Chairman : No. Colonel Balneavis said then he would suggest, if the shareholders would agree j with him, that the directors should be j requested to take some steps in the ! matter. Mr. Teoup said he believed that the manager had offered security. Colonel Balnea vis said that would be i a step in the right direction. ■ My. Weston inquired if Colonel Balneavis meant both the managers. j Colonel Bainka vis : Yes; both. i Mr. We&ton : ±iow could you get it from a man of straw, aa working managers generally are ? Colonel Balneavis said there was a i gentleman r\ho was a legal manager to , two companies (and he believed three). He hold a promissory noie, seized in his capacity of sheriff', and, if he pressed I im, the money must come from somewhere, , and he might take it from oue of the ' coTpanies. Mr. Isaacs said he could, unfortunately, bear <'olonel Balneavis out in I this matter. He waa a shareholder in a company in Victoria, and there the ; manager was putting one-third of the I gold in his own pockets. They were well convinced of this, but had not sufficient legal proofs. He was fully satisfied to be discharged, losing the portion of salary then due to him. He thought therefore ifc was absolutely necessary that some security should be given. j Mr. Kissling said that some gentlemen were busily spreading it about tonn that the directors were paid. If &uch was the ca^e, how touch, weie they piuil ? He Mould also hlco to know how much had been received oui of the claim I during tiie past six mouths ; aud how much paid to shareholders in dividends. A report was also being freely circulated about the town that the directors had sold out at a high figure, and bought in again at a low figure. ("You cannot blame them.") Mr. Abbott : It is quite right for them to do that, but it is not right that they should withhold information from the shareholders which caused them to do so. The Chaibiian said he would give ] answers to the various questions seriatim. With reference to the annual meeting that ought to have been called in August last, that was an oversight and a mistake. In August last everyone was busy, and Mr. Tothill had only just "been appointed manager. It was not till after the date of the meeting that he noticed the overeight. That was one of those things which would possibly happen in all managements. He admitted there waa a certain amount of blame attached to the manager and directors ; but he did not think anyone would suppose that it was anything beyond an oversight. As to the question why the Long Drive paid a larger sum for crushing than other j mines, it was questionable if they did so. tionie time ago they had a Jarger quantity of stuff coming out than had been the case previously. They then entered into a contract with the Kuranui Company that they should supply them with ten head of stampers at twenty-Gve shilling a ton, less ten percent, discount. All that time, that was ailower price than any other machine charged, but, a month or six weeks after, an offer was made by the Thames Crushing Company to crush for 15s. Under the contract they could not take this offer. The Kuranui Company, instead of enforcing their contract, now allowed them to crush as much as they liked for twenty shillings a ton. The machine was not only the best on the field, but the beat in any of the Australian colonies ; a u d for that reason it was cheapest to use it. It was peculiarly well adapted for the Long Drive Company, being | situated at the mouth of the drive, and I the stuff was therefore sent to it at a very small cost. The next question he ; would deal with was : Why was the gold always given to one bank ? There, again, j the report was not correct. The gold ! was not always given to one bank, but, ! although the quantities of gold had been unusually large, there were numerous instances where gold had been offered to other banks for competition. The course adopted was this : Gold was sent to the Sank of New Zealand, at Grahamstown, and there smelted. From the smelted gold a clip was sent to the other banks to , ascertain its value. In a few instances they got a penny an ounco move, and in I one instance 2d. more at the Bank of New South Wales. But the Bank of New Zealand told them that they were perfectly willing to assist them in any way, but they would not smelt for them for nothing for them to send clips to other banks and take advantage of the penny or twopence per ounce, which was about the cosb of smelting. He thought that was very reasonable, and since that time the Bank of New Zealand had taken the gold upon the assay of their assayist, one of the first and best men employed at the < Thames. When the directors perceived I

that the difference was so very siuali, they certainly thought that they^ were not injuring the shareholders, \>y aeiling with the Bank of Bew Zealand. How this was to be avoided, he certainly did I not 'knowi irnless fcb§ gold was to be put u^) eVery month to auction. If they looked at other mines they would find it the same. The Shotover sent its gold to the Union Bank { the Grolden Crown the same way. They first employed the Australasian, and then the Australian Bank, and tbten the Bank of New Zealand. If they looked at the matter properly, they would find that ifc was very necessary to employ only one bank. They had nl^ays received every facility from the Bank of New Zealand ; any valuable specimens they had had been put in the strong room of the bank at Grahamstown without difficulty and without charge. This matter waa simply a bugbear, jn which people were very fond of making reports. Mr. Teoup : What becomes of the silver? The Chairman : They buy the gold as it come from the retort. Mr. Tsotrp : Yea ; and we pay half-a-orown an ounce duty on that silver. The Chairman proceeded: The Act provided that any shareholder who wished to see the accounts of the company could do so, but it said nothing about correspondence, nor was it usual in any company to exhibit books and documents to every shareholder that might come. If the office were to be seized every Monday morning by every shareholder wishing to see the books, the work could not be done. \ The better plan would be to send the reports to the newspapers every Monday morning, and have them published. Mr. Saundebs wished for a phn of the underground workings. There was the plan on the wall, both ptan and section. (" How long has this been done ?") Within the last fortnight. Mr. Tboup : The mine has been working the last two and a-lialf years, and this is the first plan. The Chaibman said that he was very glad the shareholders were satisfied. The last conversation he had with some | of the shareholders, he wae told that the j directors were throwing money away on such-like useless works. Colonel Bal- j neavis had made a remark that the dividends were unequal. The directors had paid the dividends, not with regularity or equality certainly, but the yield was neither regular nor equal, and they thought when they had money ifc was best to divide it. Mr, : But the moment the yield became small was the first time you made provision for a reserve fund. The Chaibjian continued : Mr. Troup asked if the bank paid interest on the reserve fund. He believed they paid four per cent. In reference to the article in the paper, it contained nothing else but the questions already put and answered. With reference to the crushing of specimens, the Kuranui Company charged so much a day for the use of the specimen stamper. Mr. Aticin : How much per day ? The Chairman : The charge varied from £5 to £3. according to the length of time occupied. The same rate was charged to other people. If they used the one-Btamper, they paid the usual charge, about four shillings an hour. They took the stamper by the day, not according to the quantity crushed. Captain Habkisok said the Shotover sent their gold to England, and drew agaiiißt it from the Union Bank. Tf the Long Drive were to do so they would be gainers. Mr. White said this was the case, and it gave a profit of about ninepence per ounce. The CHAIRMAN : Major Bishop had ashed for a financial state nent. That had already been laid Gn the table. The price of the gold varied from £2 10s. to £2 los. per ounce. The specimens yielded generally belter gold than the ordinary crushing [assay notes produced]. Mr. Abbott asked what principle was observed with regard to the reserve fund. Since October last the directors had placed about ten per cent, to the reserve fund, which now amounted to £1,250 Mr. Abbott: Has it been augmented by the last crushing ? The Chaibman • JN"ofc yet ; but ifc would be. Mr. Abbott wished to know the purpose of such a large reserve fund. The Chaieman said if any gentleman looked at the section plan he would see that above the water line there was at least one-half of the Btuff taken out. When they got below the water line it would be necessary to have pumping machinery, which would entail a large expenditure. This reserve fund was for the saie of having funds to supply the necessary machinery whenever it was required. (" Very wisely done.") It would take £4,000 or £'5,000, and therefore this was necessary to save making calls on the pockets of the shareholders. It would probably have to be done in twelve months or less. Mr. Isaacs : Everyone would be satisfied with that, I should think. The Chairman: With regard to carting, the rule of the directors has been to leave the minor details to the mining manager. Mr. : We may leave the mining manager too much to his own resources. What is the use of directors if they do not go into these details? Mr. Howe said there was a great difference between the price of labour and carting now and what it was at the time this arrangement was made. The carting then was principally from the far shoot: now it was nearly all adjoining the ! machine-house, not one -tenth of the dis I tanee, and done with less than half the labour, as far us horses were concerned. And, besides, the road was infinitely , better than it was two yeais ago. Then the stuff had to be carted through the tide. Now it came from the long drive close to the house. If a new arrangement was not made it ought to be. The Chaibman went on to answer the / remaining questions. He said Mr. Howes salary ceased at Christmas. He was paid at the rate of £100 a year. The mining manager was not under any security. The directors were not paid. With regard to the manager buying or selling shares, that was a matter into which the shareholders had no right to enter; they would be quite as well justified in asking kow far they had overdrawn at the bank, As to Mr. Abbotts remarks, they referred to him personally. He sent his broker to him, and he did not know that it was Mr. Abbott who bought the shares from him until he saw his name in the books. If he had known, Mr. Abbott would never have had them. Mr. Abbott said if he had known that they were Mr. Wood's shares he would not have bought them from him. He did not wish, to have any dealings with Mr. Wood, The Chaisman: No, I should think not. Mr. Abbott, after requesting the re. porter to lake down, his speech, made a long statement, winding up by saying that the Chairman's reply was merely Mr. Wood's ipse dixit, unsupported by any evidence to substantiate it. , Mr. McEyot suggested that three or {

four hundred tons of stone should be got out, and six baljterieg should hare fifty tons each, and whoever produced the most gold at the least expense should cr ueh for the (kJinpah£t Mr. Lascel&es asked if there was any resolution before the meeting. He presumed that it was a friendly meeting, the principal object of which was that parties should Bee themselves in print the next morning. (Hear.) He was a shareholder, and had investigated the subjects entered into by the letters in the papers which had been referred to. He happened to be an unlucky director in several companies, and he Believed that many batteries would be extremely dear At Un shillings a ton, while otherß would be cheap at twenty five shillings. As an instance, he might state that, in one company of which he waa a director, at one battery they only got an ounce to the ton, and from the same heap of stuff, at another battery, they got seven ounces. But the position of the mine, the quality of the battery, and the facilities for carting, were to be counted before crushing. The Kuranui was the nearest battery. There was a good road to it, and it could be crushed there better than anywhere else. One gentleman bad said that there was no evidence brought forward to support the statement of the Chairman, But there were no evidences to support the allegations inadeon the other side. Would any one come forward and show where the other banks had offered a shilling* an ounce more than they were getting from the Bank of New Zealand ? As to the reserve fund, the Chairman would have been quite justified in telling them that yesterday the reserve fund had been increased some £350. This was an example that many companies miyhfc have taken a lesson from. Much stress had been laid on manager's reports not being published. They seemed 10 forget that the state of the manager's mind ruled his report. He might be in a bad temper, or have been on the spree the night before, or a hundred other things might influence his report. The reports of mining managers were never placed at the disposal oi shareholders. If anyone looked at the largest mining journal in the world, they would find that only three or four lines of reports were published there. His | own opinion was that the meeting had been called to depreciate the value of Bharea. Mr. Tkotjp : Have you a retaining fee for that, Mr. Laseelles ? Mr. Etjssjjll : Order. Mr. Tboup : I mean to tell you, Mr. Laseelles, that is a gross libel on us. You are very fond of that sort of thing. Mr. Howe said he supposed that the object of the meeting wa^ toelicit informamation, and to learn what bad been done with the Long Drive from the beginning. He had a connection with it for a considerable time. He had been a director, and had also had the management of the work. He was, therefore, tolerably conversant with its proceedings from the commencement. For a time he was paid at the rale of £50 a year, and afterwards he received £100 a-year for general management. From what had passed at this meeting, it appeared to him lhat something had caused dissatisfaction. First, as to the crushing, Mr. Wood, he thought, had completely answered that question. At the time that arrangement waa made, it was the best that could possibly be made. He had no doubt that the directors had from the beginning been as willing to promote the interests of the company as the shareholders possibly could be. As to the specimens, the statement made in the paper was wrong. Specimens never were crushed by the ton at that battery. They were crushed by the hour. They perhaps had frequently heard of specimens producing four ounces to the pound, and three hundredweight of specimens crushed. Now, he very much questioned the accuracy of those reports. If those three hundred pounds weight had been put into the scale, they would probably have weighed double that. The richer the specimens the longer they took in crushing, and that was one reason why the cost of crushing specimens might have been a little above crushing specimens elsewhere. With reference to the plans, it is Mr. Troup's own fault if he has not seen them. 3 hey have been on the claim foy the past eight months, and might have been seen by the shareholders at any time. The plan in the office was a more complete one, having been brought to the late9t hour. With reference to a mining report, nothing could be more fatal, nothing more ill-advised, nothing more wrong, than to publish the mining manager's reports for every shareholder. The mining reports would come to the office say every Monday morning. They would be open to the Auckland shareholders. The disposition of the manager, as Mr. Lascelles had justly remarked, might influence that report in a great degree. But, if not, the shareholders in Auckland could come nnd take advantage of the information contained in it, while the gentlemen he represented in the South would suffer by it. In going into mining speculaHons, gentlemen should satisfy themselves on the ralue of j the property. Mining properties, above all things, fluctuate in all parts of the world, and it was for the shareholders to satisfy themselves of the value of the property before they invested. Jt was certainly the duty of the directors to publish a periodical statement. It was done in England, and that frequently ; in some cases monthly — in others quarterly. Thafc was a duty devolving on the manager. He would ask those gentlemen who found fault ("We don't find fault")— it must be obvions torfjvery shareholder that the directors must be as deeply interested in promoting the interests of the mine as" any shareholder could be. la the financial report then on the table they would see that a sum of £70,000 had been got out of the mine, and a sum of over £60,000 had been distributed as dividends. He would ask any man did he ever know a mine in the old country in which so large a dividend had been disbursed where so small a cost had been incurred ? If in the financial part of the business the directors had m maged so well, was it not to be expected that they would take the best possible care to promote the interests of the company ? Mr. Abbott : Are you a shareholder P Mr. Eowb said he represented a pood many interests, for which he held proxies and powers of attorney. Mr. Abbott : Produce them produce them. Mr. Eowb continued: Calling this meeting showed a want of confidence in the directors. If that were the case, the ordinary course to be taken was to investigate the state of affairs and elect other directors. (" We know that as well as you.") He knew that the directors from the beginning had striven to do the best for the company, and to keep down the expenses to the lowest possible point. (Hear, hear). He did not believe that five gentlemen could be fotmd who would conduct the affairs of the company so efficiently, economically, and well as they had been conducted by these directors up to the latest hour. Ho regretted that the reierre fund had not been begun six

months sooner. jßut he must repeat; that np> to the present time'- the affairs' had been conducted honestly, fairly, and well. ■ . ' ' Mr* BnETOtf : Yon are defending the directors when they are not attacked. Here every on© almost commenced to speak together in the same Btrain, and confusion seemed inevitable, *wheu the chairman interposed, rand r and -ultimately restored order. Mr. Howe : These interruptions were not a manifestation of pood feeling, or of very good taste. But if any dissatisfac« tion was expressed, it was totally without foundation. Mr. McKvoy said he must emphatically cUnjf huving expressed any dissatisfaction with the directors. His object was to elicit answers to several questions. A monthly report should be published, at all events, together with <i report of the financial position of the company, signed by the directors and the legal manager. Mr, La. Mottee said they could not find out the value of their investments, unless they had a report of the position of the mine. Mr. Teotjp would suggest that a i general meeting be held at the end of this month, and then they could psss resolutions condemning the directors, or otherwise, if they so wished;" then they would find out whether Mr. Kowe's five members satisfied the company or not. Mr. T. Russell said he would not go through the whole of the questions fully, as they had been completely and fully answered by the chairman. The firat thing he held was that those gentlemen who called the meeting, however much they might wish to disclaim the position they had taken, yet upon the face of it the calling of the meeting was really and truly a vote of want of confidence in the directors. (Cries of " No, no.") There was no use in mincing the matter. They might not have meant it, but, as men responsible for the actious they took, signing their names to a requisition of that naturedid amount to a charge against the directors. Every one of them, however, must be glad to hear the disclaimers on all sides. He himself accepted them, and he would leave the matter. Cf at a future meeting they brought a charge against the directors, he would be happy to meet them. He wished to refer, in the first place, to the question proposed by Mr. La Motteej and that was the right of the Thames Groldnrining Company to have four directors at the board of the Long Drive Company. Under the rules of association there are five directors, and under the same articles it is enacted that any incorporated company holding shares in this company may be a director. This company was the largest shareholder in the Long Drive, holding ninety shares. Therefore, any member of this company might be elected to be a member of the Long Drive board of directors. They had only onemember ontheboard. He wassure that it was not the wish of the shareholders to disfranchise that company, which was so large a shareholder, for having one member in the Board of Directors to represent them. A good deal had been made of withholding information from a shareholder. He had only heard of this charge being brought against the directors during the last few days. When he first heard of it he asked the legal manager if any shareholder had been there and had been refused information. He said no shareholder of the Long Drive had been refused information at that office, save and except one gentleman, and that was Captaiu Breton. The particular document he wanted to get was a letter written by a panic-struck manager -a man who said that he could get a ton of gold out of the claim, and then a few weeks afterwards wrote and said he found he had made a mistake. la the face of that, how could they say they had been refused infoz'mabion ? He thought this statement was a complete answer to that charge. With regard to publishing reports, the charge that the directors get information and withhold it from the shareholders, if the directors wex'e dependent on information received from mining managers he could only wish them better luck in their speculations. Their information must be betier, earlier, and more complete than could be got from any mining managers, or they would not succeed in their private speculations. Wo information from mining managers was worth anything, compared to that which could be obtained earlier and from better sources. It would be au uncertain method of valuing shares to depend on managers' reports. It was extremely unreliable information on which to base the value of Bhares. That must be fixed from a variety of sources, and not from the opinion of one individual. He, for one, had been willing to lay every document before the shareholders, but the Act under which they were incorporated expressly stated what they were to exhibit, and, as it ap* peared to him, with very good reason. Whafc was allowed to be exhibited were the books of account, the bank book, and the pay-sheets. All these were in the office, and any person could come and see these documents and ascertain the exact financial position of the company, the return, of gold, and every piece of infoimation, except the thing he had mentioned, and the minute 3 of the meetings of the directors. These were all open to any one who wished to see them. As to the plans, plans of the Long Drive and of its workings had been iv existence for the past eighteen months. He had seen them iv this office, and on the claim. Then let them come to the office and get information whenever they wanted it. The question of crushing at the Kuranui Company's battery had been disposed of, and, he hoped, to their satisfaction. As a director of the Kuranui Company, he could state that they nevor sought the Long Drive crushing. When the ten head of stampers were given to (he Long Drive, they refused another company on the same terms, and gave them to the Long Drive. A great point | had been made about the gold. Mr. Troup had been very particular in his arguments as to whether the bank paid for the silver, and that the gold should bo ' sent home. The Bank of iN ew Zealand paid the Long Drive the full value o^ the gold and silver in London, less one per cent. ; and if the Long Drive shareholders were to send their gold home they would not get one penny more than they did at present, ("That is just what we want to ] know.) Then, if they wanted to know that, why did they not come and inquire ? Mr. Eabl said that the books were virtually closed to the shareholders, inasmuch that any shareholder wishing to see the books was required to hunt up the directors to get an order to do so. That was rather hard. He was of opinion that the Long Drive ought to have had the best-finished machinery of their own on the field, and especially from the situation of the ground, as they would have then secured the patronage of all the surrounding claims. With regard to the specimen crushings, look at it in any way they would, whether they paid by the hour or by the ton, the amount paid did really amount to £20 a ton. As to the giving the gold to one bank, that was all right if ifc were only done under a proper system of checks, He did not wish to

e>sfc any imputations ,on the directors, if 6 would expressly disclaim against; anysuch intention; bub still he thought the Shareholders were quite ' justified in calling that meeting. Mr, Tothih said he had always laid the books of accounts open to any share-^ holder who wished" to see theni. < Mr. Earl said he had made application' to look into certain aceouuta. r Mr. Tothili's clerk had told him that he could not allow h'm to see them unless he had an order from the directors. Some gentleman, he said, had been previously on the same errand, and refused. lt£i\ ToTHiKi said he had never heard of anything of the kind. Mr. Breton : About what time were you wishing to see the accounts ? Mr. Earl : About ten days ago. Mr. Bheton said that was about the time he applied to see a certain document, and was refused by Mr. Tothill, who was borne out by the directors ; but he must say that he was informed that any books of accounts were open to him at any time. Mr. Russeli. said, as to the cost of crushing specimens, the company charged at per hour for crushing, and the mining manager uses his own discretion as to the length of time for crushing specimens. But whether the Long Drive or any other company went to that specimen crustier, the charge was uniform- The richer the stone the longer it took to crush it. Colonel Haultain said he was a director in the company, but so recently an elected one that he had all the feelings J of a shareholder, and, assuch, sympathised i with them ; and he approved of the I questions put to the directors. He thought the directors had been to blame, inasmuch as they bad not laid before the shareholders the prospects of the mine - what it had done, and what it was likely to do. They had been to blame in not calling the general meeting at the proper time : and, failing that, they should have put forward some general statement to the shareholders. It was the want of that statement which had caused this panic. They had all heard that a certain report had been received from the mining manager, and in consequence of thafc being kept back a general panic ensued. People naturally believed that things were worse than they really were. He had had some- intention of proposing that the report of the mining manager be read, but, after what had taken place, he thought it would have a very bad effect if the report of a panicstricken manager should be published. But, on the other hand, when the directors had reliable information, they were bound to communicate it to the shareholders : if not, he thought the directors should be people who had no interest in the mine. He, therefore, must say that the directors had been somewhat to blame in nob furnishing general information to the shareholders. But the explanation given by the eb^rman and Mr. Hassell must be satisfactory , to the shareholders, and he had no dembt that the majority at all events would admit that the explanation was full and satisfactory. He was inclined to think, with Mr. Traup, that there should be another meeting, or that the directors should have a report of the present a?jd future prospects of the mine printed and distributed among the shareholders. The Chaiem.an said the simplest course seemed to be this : the directors could not see further into the earth than any other of the shareholders, but he was sure they would not hesitate to direct the mining manager, who was a skilled engineer, to prepare such a report as the one required. Mr. Jdowst said the very plan suggested that day with regard to the gold had been pursued for some time. They got the gold melted at the Bank of New Zealand; then a clip was sent to the other banks, and in nearly every case the Bank of New Zealand gave the most for it. The banks after a time refused this system, but; ultimately t-hey agreed to this — that each bank should assay the gold, charging for the assay, and then that the Bank of New Zealand should give the highest price offered by any of the banks. After a vote of thanks to the Chairman the meeting separated.