EQUITABLE BUILDING AND INVESTMENT CO.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 30, 5 February 1908, Page 2

EQUITABLE BUILDING AND INVESTMENT CO.

ANNUAL MEETING*. Tlie thirtieth annual meeting of the aoovo company was held at the Chamber of Commerce last ovening, Mr. G. M. Kebbell, chairman and managing direr tor, presiding. REPORT AND BALANCE-SHEET. The report stated :— "The profit and loss account shows a credit of £9496 Ids lid. An interim dividend of five shillings per fthare has bean paid, and £2500 has boen carried to reserve fund, leaving a balance of £4495 13s lid to bo dealt with. The directors recommend a further dividend of five shillings por share, ab-o:bing £2500, carrying forward a baK ,u.e of £1996 13s 11 d. Messrs. Anderson and M'Lean are tho retiring directors, and, being eligible, ofiur themselves for re-election. With fsreatf s reat regret your directors have to announce the retirement, in June last, through ill-health, by Mr. J. H. Otto Schwartz, who ahlv filled tho position of secretary of tha company for nearly thirty years. The board' have placed upon record their appreciation of the long and faithful services rendered lo the company by Mr. Schwartz, and havo made him a suitable rotirincj allowance. Mr. E. A. Liddlo hos been appointed secretary of the company." L URMAN'S SPEECH. In moving the adoption of (,ho report and balance-shoet, the rlnirma-n said :—: — "In presenting our fhirlioth annual statement your directors havo to repnrt another snccoßsfrl period. In looking o\er our previous baJfcnce-shcrts, 1 find that this is the racord— ono that 1 think it will bo hard to surpass. If I may be allowed to foreshadow tlie coming year, owing to tho tightness of money and rise in "the dcpoMt rate, we pp.n scarcely expect to equal our pro>E"m, bitance. You vill observe that our reserve fund, together vitli our undivided profits, erjinls' £48,000. Sh'ulri wo be ir> a position to put by ££COO to our reserve fund this com in c; year, th?n tho ••csprve and the unr'ividfd profHs will bo equal to our capital. Your direr tors will thru have attained th^ object that they havn b°Vn striving for ; and the position of tho company may havo to bo considered, as it v, ill- not be necessary to go on adding to the reserve so lonrely as we have dono. Before ooueludi.ia, 1 must allude to the chaiif.o that h-is tikon place in th" peisonucl of our staif. Mr. Lidc^e, who has been with the rompany for tvonfv tv.'o years, lips become sectrtury in 1119 place of Mr Schwartz. Mr. Schwartz wis taken ill' last May, and hatk to bo relieved after having sorvcl the rcpnmy faithfully for a psriod of about thirty years, and no doubt the success of the company is due in a great measure to his efforts and .business cp parity." tie would like, .added the clnirman. to say a word on the Jjalincc-shret. The deposits had decreased this year by a nmill sum— from £268 030 to £26? 000. As loiijr as the deposes kept up to about a quarter of a million, the directors wore p»rfectly mtisficd. Mr._ 11. Bfauchamp, in seconding tho adoption of the report, said, as the chairn-uv had pointed out, the report •md balance-sheet disclosed prcat streiiQlh on. the part of tho company ; luit he would liko to say this : that the futiirr; policy of the company had so f.ir not had tho rcrious attention of tho • directors. The cHirmau had. said that when the reserve fund "reached £50 000, it might not bo nccesrary to go on adding to th.it fund quite r,o rapidly. In that connection, hs wovld like to say that in • liis opinion they ought to po on nti onrthemng thn jessrve fund ns rapidly as thny could. (If ear, hear.) In a. company such as th;it vhidj wri per-fpc-tly-dependent f6v its pio.sperily upon the frr-3 mon<»y lent to it, tho greater tho attraction should be to placo money on deposit with the rompany. He would like to point out tb?t whi'n'lhcy trot the reserve # fund to a very big amount, they might generally depend on gotting 5 pur tent, on tint fund. That would go a long wnv towards tJio maintenance of steady and satisfactory dividends. Tho mport aud balance-sheet wero adopted. On the motion of Mr. 11. Benuchamp, seconded by Mr. L. Slowe, iM^ssrs. Andcr&on and M'Lean were re-eloctod direo'fcorp. On tho • motion of Mr. , E. Bucholz, Messrs. D. T. Stuart, r.nd S. Carroll were re-appointed auditors. On the motion of Mr. E. 11. Dean, a resolution was passed of sympathy with Mr. Schwprtz in his illness, and a hope for his speedy recovery. The resolution was seconded by Mr. J. M. Richardson, supported by Mr. D. T. Stuart, and was unanimously agreed to.