A SUCCESSFUL YEAR

Hawera Star, Volume L, 20 June 1930, Page 9

A SUCCESSFUL YEAR

FARMERS’ CO-OP. SOCIETY

ANNUAL MELTING HELD FUTURE VIEWED OPTIAIISTIC ALLY. A successful year of trading and ' - sound prospects for the coming year 1 were revealed at the 16th annual meeting of the Fanners’ Co-operative Organisation Society, held at Ha.wera . to-dav Air Alex Hunter (Hawera), chairman of directors, preaded over an attendance of approximately 200 shale- , holders one of the biggest attendances! for some years. OH AIRM AN’S REVIEW. “I think you will agree- with me that it is very satisfactory indeed,’’ saw the. chairman in referring to the annual report and balance-sheet ('Previously p u bl i s lied ). “The first half-year was very favourable. in fact. the. whole year was from a. turnover point of view., but the latter half .has been very difficult, with falling values. This is a continuation of the general deflation, accentuated by _ the financial and industrial upheavals in various parts of the world. “Our main exports have' come light back on the average to the .1.914 level. Wool has been much lower, dairy produce iust about touched the level and meat had a little more margin. Fortunately, wool has already recovered to some extent and the prospects lor dairy produce l look a little better, but meat lias declined further and m now down to 1914 values. . . ‘ ‘ The res ult ant sfri tigen cy i si hen n g felt very severely at the present time. There is no moratorium to protect, the man in difficulties, nor on tho other hand 1o make possible the abuses due to its operations, and which caused sen. oils trouble as an aftermath. It would appear that- •pre-war values of commodities are likely to be the eventual result, and we must prepare- to face the future on that basis" and reduce the costs oi production. How. to reduce the costs is no easy undertaking. Wo are told b\ politicians to increase the production, and one Iras to admit that there are possibilities there as there also are in improving the quality, but tnere- art manv points to be considered in that/ programme, the first being that the cdst must be such that the profit is increased, instead of as i® often the case, reduced. , ■ “In reducing costs the interests bid is perhaps the most important, then come labour, cost of living cost of marketing, etc. Interest is high and money not easy to get at present especially on this' side cd the world, laai is a. local condition, -however, and as tfo© financial barometer is remarkably sensitive, the balance .will soon be -e stored. Money is plentiful m Britain, and a further drop in the bank rate was expected a week ago, and would almost certainly have been made but i<>r the flotation of the huge German reparation loan. Britain’s £20,000,000 share of that was river-subscribed m three hours. The fact that the money mar ket is tight is not always proof that j monev is scarce. Australian conditions haveinade it so here, but experiences in the immediate ipast. have made the investing public- in Britain .shy of putting their money into industrial concerns, either 'in companies or on their own account, and they prefer to Et it out at interest. 1 think, therefore, 11. at money will be. cheaper. “With commodities at lower values, the cost of living is necessarily tower, and if the cost of living is lower, then the workman can .sell his labour far less and be eoually well off. It may be asked, wifi that tend to create a boom r I do not thiink so, for it is the comparative absence of speculation that makes the monev available, and on the other side the lower values for commodities provide a. deterrent to the borrower. It therefore appears to me that there is nni'fih reason for hopetn'meiss. I’he period of adjustment must- be passed through, and the more directly we lace it the less painful will it be. “Eclouomv is absolutely necessary private, for it- begins like cliafnty. at home civic and national. AY© all know that there is a great- deal of extravagance and waste from the home and farm, right throughout ’loca-l and rational government. I seriously doubt the efficiency of all artificial means to secure stability in the financial, labour, or commodity markets. I do not mean that no effort should be made to obtain the best prices for produce, labour or money, as the case may foe'. I am nc apostle of drift. But in endeavouring to secure: these things, if the- fundamental 'laws of economy are -disregarded injury will be done to many innocent people, and eventually to- those in Whose ’supposed interest, the action was the course adopted a few years ago. a'copy of the audi tons’ report was sent with each balance-sheet-. It o-iveis a good and easily understood analysis of the figures, and some very interesting, comparative tables,, and! enables y-ou to come to the .meeting with a o*cod grin of the 1 position, and to take -ai more intelligent part in the discussions. , , “The directors’ report- recommends payment of a dividend of 5 per cent. You will, I think, admit- the wisdom ol the cioiive followed in the two previous years, making it possible to increase by steps up to the present figure instead of being forced to reduce if. 1 do not wish to'" lead you to suppose that -it u the directors’ fixed -policy to continue increasing the dividend by one per cent, per annum though it might be very nice. You will also, I feel sure, approve the proposed ,payments to reserves. They are not- large, but- we hope they will grow. , . “In connection with the balancesheet. the assets have increased, the properties .stand at lower. values thus .showing less tied-un 'capital 1 . A portion of the land at Inglewood was solid j for £740. additions were made at New j Plymouth. Kaponga and Wa-verloy, ag-, otelating £920, and the 'sum of L—CvjiiU written off on depreciation. “The results of the past year liavr been secured under very trying conditions and it. is oulv through the corn stunt and keen watchfulness of our resr'nusihe officelts that it bins been possible to make nidi a good shoving. II w u ns nniie on the card-s that the falling markets of the latter half of the year would enl- up the- profits of -be earlier rar t and it is a great credit to the staff that this has not only been avert-r-1 but that a certain amount of further profit lms been made The. team w-wk bns been .good. and our beet thanks, are ( lr to them tor their effort--1 on onv behalf.” < The -rhairmail then moved the- ac10.,,of the report and foil la me-sheet the pavinont- of a 5 per rent dividend I ■-<i(l --.-trnvmt to reserves as rerommem,- ; r A in the report. balance-sheet discussed. Mr. X. B. Fryday seconded the - adoption of the report and balanco- - sheet. . I Questioned by Mr. AY . AY lckliam. 1 the chairman said that the- turnover 5 in the general business had been

£955,0U0, while the turnover in land sales had been approximately £132,000.

Were the company’s stores profitable concerns? asked a shareholder. The chairman stated that they were, especially daring the past three years, it was, however, hoped to increase the profits from them and the facilities to shareholders. Mr. W. G. Reid considered the bal-ance-sheet to he a model one, and added that one of the greatest assets, and one not shown, was the efficient management, and in the general manager '(Mr. Hewitt) and assistant general manager (Mr. C. G. Trotter) the organisation had two executive officers of outstanding ability. Replying to Mr. Reid, the chairman stated that it had not been found that outside business had detrimentally affected the organisation. Combined Buyers shares had not been the assets expected and thev would realise about os per share. The other companies in which the organisation was interested were sound. For the past year the valuations had been made by the executive and the branch stock-taking had been carried out by the town staffs on a very, conservative basis. There was practically no dead stock, and what there was had remained from the 1921 slump and had been completely written oft. If the 'business had increased, so had the expenses, and it seemed to hnn that the profits would be eaten by them eventually, stated Mr 'Wickham. The chief business <>f the organisations should) be to give the farmer his requirements at the cheapest possible rate. He desired to know if sufficient tion, especially in connection with the allowance had been made for dcpreciasaleyards. , , , Advertising lmd been increased by £7.11 said the chairman in answer, and actually 'more business had been done, although values were lower. Commissions paid, had risen over £llOO, principally on car sales, but casual labour costs had* decreased. A very heavy depreciation had been allowed lOr all properties, plants, and salevards, and the general manager had said that, at the present rate, they' would 1 be written off in nine years. A sum of .£ll9 for droving fees was a new item. Some of the dairying districts did not warrant the appointment of agents, and droving agents had been appointed. Insurances had increased by £l2l, and land tax had shown a decrease of £35. Rates' showed an increase of £ll6, principally on account of the New Plymouth motor' department and the Wanganui wool store. Repairs and maintenance had increased by £486. Salaries had increased by £2828, hut were accounted for by the expansion of the departments. “The directors think that it is not wise to have an, officer who is not worthy of a good salary,” added the chairman. The increase in expenses, was £5653, less £Bl4 of increase in income, leaving a nett increase in expenses of £4813.

WOOL CARRY-OVER

Mr. G. L. Dickie considered thai 11 l detailing the turnover, one tiling nad ueen overlooked —the large amount or wool carried over.

Tne cnairman remarked that ovei ckaav Dales sun remained, unsold, wliilt prices Intel show'll a big decline. The association had handled 400 more bales tins year than last, xlaving congratulated the management on the results’of the past year, .Mr., j. S. Tosland asked what the association was doing in the matter of dairy produce consignments and the possibility of an extension of motor and machinery business at Opunake. Mr. Trotter replied that in regard to dairy produce, the association had been working through the overseas federation. At the beginning of the last year tiie Australian interests had broken away to join Air. Goddfellow. The result was that the association had now linked up with the firm of Andrew Clements and Son under very favourable arrangements. If directors could' obtain equal returns by consigning through the association, then they would assist their suppliers who were shareholders' of the association because of the commission “take-off.” Competitive prices could he returned through the association and dairy directors’ .support was asked for. The motor and machinery business at Opunake was being investigated and would be pursued if considered profitable. The directors and the management were congratulated by Air. H. G. Dickie, AI.P., who pointed out-that in a period of declining values a higher ratio of expenses to profits had to he expected. Ho also congratulated the association on its 5 per .cent, dividend, but he hoped that that percentage would not be increased. The report and balance sheet were adopted. GENERAL.

The retiring directors were Messrs. A. Alexander, P. G. Bremer, A. Corkill, C. D. Dickie, M. Fleming and F. Sarten, who, with the exception of Messrs. Corkill and Fleming, were nominated for re-election. Only two other nominations were received— Messrs. P. Brophv (Warea) and W. Wickham (Stratford). As the nominations did not- exceed the number of vacancies a noil was unnecessary. The chairman’s honorarium was fixed as last year, at £l5O per annum, while the directors are to receive £1 10s for each meeting attended, together with travelling expenses. Messrs. Walkley and Cameron were re-appointed auditors for the ensuing year.

The .staff were accorded . a hearty vote of thanks for their services during the past year. Mr. A. E. Rawison congratulated the association upon the results of the past year and the payment of the dividend. He referred to the position of the hook debts and considered them to be satisfactory indeed and for a great unit liquid, as he had been shown by the amounts since collected. Mr. W. G. Walkley, in ft brief review of the association’s position remarked that the business was now on i paving basis, and referred to the directors’ policy in building reserves as being.a wise one. , A vote of thanks to the Press oonducled the meeting.