EGMONT BOX CO.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue LXXIV, 27 August 1919, Page 5

EGMONT BOX CO.

ANNUAL MEETING."

The thirteenth annual meeting of the the Egmont Box Co., Ltd., wa s held! in the Foresters' Hall, Eltham, on luesday. Mr Arthur Morton chairman of directors, presided over'a large attendance of shareholders. The following shareholders answered the roll call: Awatuna, Bell Block, Eltham Dairy Co., Hawera Dairy Co., Joll's, Kahui, Kaponga, Kaupokonui, Lepperton. Lowgarth. Maketawa. Mangatoki, Mangorei, Manutahi, Melrose, Meremere, Moa Farmers, Ngaere, Normanby, North Taranaki (proxy), Okato, Pumho, Patua, Rahotu, Riverdale Stratford, Tariki, Tarurutangi Tikorangi, Whenuakura, Pembroke, and Messrs R. Dingle and J. Marx. ANNUAL REPORT. The report stated, inter alia: The result of the year's operations is very satisfactory, the position of the company having consmerably improved during the past year. It has been the constant enueavor of the directors to largely increase the stocks of timber and thus ensure the requirements of shareholders being met, and the business of the Company made mor c profitable. Out of the profits of the year's working substantial sums have been written off on account of exhausted bush,, abandoned tramways, and for depreciation of th e Company's buildings and plant. After making ample provision for these requirements there remains to be carried forward a balance of £546 12s 2d. Satisfactory progress is being made with regard to the negotiations for acquiring further timber areas for the company, and when the proper time arrives proposals will be put before you in connection therewith.,ln moving th c adoption of the report and balance-sheet, the chairman briefly explained the reason why he was occupying the chair. When Mr Murdoch went to America and England to investigate the possibilities of th e expansion of the dairying industry he resigned his position as chairman, but not as a director. He (MrMorton) was then appointed to occupy that position until his return, and it was hoped that when Mr Murdoch did return he would resume his position as chairman. In the meantime he had been granted leave of absence as a director. ' Reverting to the company's business the chairman reminded the meeting that the position they were in twelve months ] ago in regard to timber supplies was | that the company held lesser stocks than were usual at that time of the year, and the prospects in regard to maintaining supplies of timber were not bright. They were faced with difficulties in regard to th c shortage of labor, : and the fact that in working the Ohutu ' bush they were continually working : further and further from the mill; tim- ' ber had to be brought longer distances '. consequently it was not possible to fall J the same quantity of bush each day as previously. Other millers were also in < the same difficulty in regard to labor ' shortage, and before these were ] remedied the epidemic came upon them and still further materially reduced the ' output, with the inevitable result that i the company could not supply share- 1 holders with all that they required, j This difficulty could not have been for,i*een nor overcome, but the sharehold^ i ers recognised the position and assisted i the company to overcome their tempor- i ary troubles, with the result that the .1 position to-day was in marked contrast i to the position of" a year ago, and. in s fact, their prospects were brighter than lor many years past so far as supplies < are concerned. They held at Ohutu 1 large stocks of both box and crate ; timber. Unfortunately the railway re- j strlctions had made it very difficult to ] get timber brought from Ohutu and j from other mills to their yards at El- i tham. But it was hoped that these j restrictions would soon be lifted, and i as soon as that happened they would get full supplies of timber at'Eltham.' i Stocks of white pine were accumulating at their own mills and at those outside i mills that were under contract, to cut for and sell to the Box Company, and , this would come to the company's mills ( when railway conditions improved. Unless something, unforeseen happened, therefore, the company should have no ! difficulty in maintaining full supplies during thecoming season. The supply of building timber from the mills on the Main.Trunk line had also been considerably interfered with by the railway cut, but fortunately the company had I < considerable stocks in their yards andj ' were consequently able to fairly well; ] meet the requirements of their cus-j < tomers. The outlook for the continuous supplies of white pine now looked much ' better than appeared to be likely 12 months ago, when they were faced with buying competition from Australia, which had been growing year by year and had grown to such an extent as to threaten the existence of the Box Com- : pany as a company that had to buy ■ some of its requirements of white pine , from outside mills. After repeated efforts regulations were imposed ; on the output of New Zealand timber, and : jarticulariy white pine, by the Board of Trade ths.t would be of material assistance to the dairying industry, and would ensure New Zealand's requirements for many years to come. The Board of Trade had the assistance of an advisory board, so far as the timber industry was concerned, representing ■ the timber milling interests, and on that Board the chairman of the Box Company had a seat. In regard to the special meeting of the company held recently to consider proposals to Purchase rights over a large area of white pine timber country, the directors, acting under instructions given at the meeting, had continued negotiations, and although nothing final had yet been done those negotiations were proceeding satisfactorily, and 60 far as the i directors were aware were likely to be completed. Every precaution was being taken to safeguard the company's interests. Since that meeting the mdl manager had been instructed to measure the bush, and his investigations fully bore out the opinion that the directors formed. It would obviously take a very long time to go through the whole of'the bush and say accurately or even approximately what the actual, conditions were, but the manager's investigations, so far as he w-as able to examine the bush, indicated that the proposition was a very fine one with large quantities of timber. As indicated at the special meeting five or six weeks ago this year's balance-sheet was a very satisfactory one indeed; the profits made were very substantial", and the directors taking advantage of that fact, had written down very largely the wasting assets of the company. A sawmilling business differed from any other business in that its assets were a wasting auantity as the timber was cut out, and, further, large sums had to be soent in opening up the bush and settine- the timber out. Tn the Ohutu bush they had spent £18.840 on their tramway. Some years ago the company adonted the policy of setting aside j £3000 a year out of ' its profits as. a re- j fiprve to extinguish the capital expenditure on this tramway when the bush ■ wa« cut out. A sum of £3000 was set 1 aside in pursuance of this policy, but i circumstances then changed. The war . came upon them and tha incidence of ; taxation was changed. They were then [ faced with the fact that ; out : of every - thousand pounds so set aside they had

to pay a considerable sum in taxation ana consequently the policy wa^ altered. It was recognised that it would be better to allow the tramway capital account to stand, and instead of piaoc:ng a large sum to extinction account to debit it to maintenance account tor some years to come. This year, however, the difficulty was to know how best to allocate the substantial profits made. After consideration it was decided to consult the' Land and Income lax Department, and th e position was put irankiy before them It was explained to them that the capital account was created largely as the result of development wor_ and ultimately had to be wiped out algether as the milling timber was cut out. ihe Department met them quite frankly, and as a result they had in th_s year's balance-sheet written off a very substantial depreciation from both their tramway and bush accounts. As the result of their statement of the case to the Land and Income Tax Department he did. not think the com-, pany would be called upon to pay tax on the amounts written off. A third hal been written off their bush rio-hts at Ohutu. They had only three yelrs' life there as sawmillers, consequents the asset of £2025 shown as bush rights at Ohutu must disappear alto- ' §™«V„ vhree years- Th c sum of £0246 had been written off the capital account (£18,840) of the tramway at Ohutu. At the conclusion of their work there steel rails and quantities of other material would b e available for sale ortransfer, and deducting the value of these the depreciation written off this year represented a third of the balance. The sum of £1500 had been written off the tramway at Taurewa, this representing the value of the line laid to a part of the bush that was now almost cut out. Altogether the company had been able to write off £13,378 in depreciation this year, which spoke well for the way the company's business had been conducted during .the past year and for the judgment exercised by the directors. . The mortgage account on the Taurewa milling rights had been reduced by £1000; the position at the bank was satisfactory, and debentures which previously stood at £20,000 had since *een 'reduced to £15,000. The stocks of timber at Eltham and' Ohutu, which last year stood at £5876. this year were jfralued at £22,189, and this value had hot hy any way been overestimated. If anything tho timber had been valued at less than it cost. Leaseholds, as the timber was cut off, were disposed of, and since the close of their financial'year arrangements had been made to sell one more leasehold, the purchase money for which would practically wipe out the asset shown as leasehold property. It was. however, found necessary to extend accommodation for their building timber . business, and a quarter-acre was purchased at Eltham which would provide this accommodation and also a cottage for one of their employees. The rent of the cottage would recoup interest on the capital involved. In the past it had been the practice to j capitalise the interest in regard to the ! Taurewa property, but this year the | directors debited it against the profits of the company, and thereby improved the company's position to that extent. Wages this year had increased from £15.443 to £20,765, the highest ever j paid inthe history of the company, air j though they h^d not been employing j as many men as in some previous years. Freights from other mills to Ohutu ' and Eltham had increased from £4895 '. to £8250. This was brought about by j two increases made by the Railway De- j oartment during the year and to the i fact that white pine was now on the same tariff as other timber. j Mr J. S. Connett (Bell Block), in seconding the motion for the adoption of | the report and balance-sheet, said that; although they had experienced a trying ! year, they could look forward to better.! prospects in the future. If arrange- 7, ments could be, completed in regard to sesurmg more valuable milling timber as indicated in the report, it would place the company in a much more eatposition". Taking everything into consideration the prospects for the Box Ompany wer* never blighter than at the present time. Mr Power (Pembroke) asked what was the total amount written off by the company for depreciation to date. The chairman replied that he, was so.ry he could not say at the moment. Mr Power: Would £60.000 cover it? The Chairman: I should say probably £60,000. Mr Power considered that there , should be a reserve fund created. Speaking further with reference to the proposed purchase of the new bush area he asked what would be the life of the Taurewa block? The chairman replied that he would not like to say. There were two distinct areas at Taurewa, each containing a large quantity of very fine timber. It was asserted that one ; block which the company was negotiating for represented 18,000,000 feet of timber, but he could not give any actual estimate of the quantity in the other block, which contained probably the best of the milling timber. It would not be' possible to work this block until the railway was pushed through. If the company had two more years as successful as the past year, assuming they m-ide the same profits, they would then wipe off the waste assets; they had al- i ready wiped one-third of them off. Thei profits which' the company were - mak- • ing led him to suppose that the same rate of piofits would be maintained ml tho future. | • Mr Connett: Provided we an cut into th*l milling timber you refer to !■ our profits will be materially increased, j Mr J. R. Corrigan (Hawera) asked if the chairman could give any idea} of the cost per 100 feet in wages in get- ■ ting the timber out? ) The chairman replied that during the; past six months the Ohutu wages were; 8s to 9s fid. He could not say what the wages for the other mills were. Mr Corrigan: I can —6s 9d. He added that there was a good bit in the balance-sheet which was not satisfactory, but the chairman, in his address, covered up the position very nicely. {Laughter). He added that the factories in the company liad subscribed capital to the amount of £62^000, but judging by the heavy depreciation, and. there i being "no reserve or sinking fund, all they would have ultimately would be a few old sawmills and tram lines. He contended that it was a shortsighted policy to increase the prices of the orates in order to wipe off the w rasting assets, and pointed out that whereas the Box Company sold the crates at 2s | °d. the Hawera Dairy Company could buy theni privately for 2s 4d. He also desired to know whether anything had' been written off the Kakafti-Te Rena railway, which was shown in tho bal-ance-sheet as an asset to the company? The chairman replied that it' was an asset to the company, as the railway work, which wasi put down at £4234, was really a. debt owing to the Box Company by the Tongariro Company. Mr Corrigan suggested that it might have been wise to have written something off tbe pioperty in the way of depreciation. In tbe course of some further criticism. Mr Corrigan stated that tbe chairman, in his opening address, had mentioned something about hiding the profits in order to avoid paying income Itax but the chairman, in reply, stoutly denied this. Mr Corrigan remarked that he was not endeavoring to place the chairman in an awkward position, but he waa

* —=~: ..^— trying to help him outof it. (Laughter > &J nS> Pomted out thft thi as t5n n °I toe °°mPany had to be met as Mcd as any other concern rI I g««*J«ed that it was unbusinesslike ' I ?" cai>«al, and he wanted to know how tne chairman expected the dLrv ! cTfftn^ .? .reu^-ed for tS j Sonipinv^ mVeSted m te° B°* answer nowT"^ y°U ™nt «* Mr Corrigan: We will give you twelve months to think it over The | vvnole thing had not been run on busf n,-ssL_B hnes. He hoped th^re would the HfSf 3T k in °°^^t of tore k<? com Pafiy i» the fuMr Williams (Meremere) said there the company had lost a valuable <n az _ Sr SS U ra^lier disquietuTg S, ■ft sort of thing. & to th +Sf n ? epliea **** according . to the timber rights of the Taurewa 4- any time within 10 years, take 1000 acres, upon payment of a certaht reT 'ii Ullams: How long? tirn^r ri"ht RiaTh J,°R 'H^* °f tk° woei right, The Box Company was not a farming concern: Had the company taken the 1000 acres it wSt JfVo cost them at lea St £6000 tofeli ex^nJ * haV6 bef n the additional expense of faming the land: and the company was not an business'as W Mr Corrigan: You are in business to I conserve the interests of the Box o>mTho chairman, in further replying said most of the land in q_S t-on was not suitable for farming Ac.Si ng t° their solicitor the company could not hav e held the lease He believed that the lease could be got back Mr Lepper (Lepperton) asked if the Shn. T mi??Zi Waf uot in existence yd \r ,tLe darry companies have Si* pas for their crates? the chairrcan replied that the company had never been up to the market pnce for crates and boxes. Mr Corrigan contended that his fa^- £?.!?' uld, bu3 r cheaper from a privatt hi m than from the Box Company. Ho \ven u on to criticise the action of the chairman two years ago m not completing a certain timber transaction 'X!o? a, saw _lllhn S firni, with the resultthat the Box Company lost a good The chairman warmly resented Mr Lorrigan's remarks, saying that he (Mr Corrigan) was trying to oast an aspersion upon Mr J. B. Murdoch, the then. chairman,) who was not present tomake an "'explanation. Mr Corrigan: Did you get the "contract signed? , The Chairman: I think you are actang m very bad taste in endeavoring tocast reflections upon _»{r Murdoch in **** absence. It is absolutely unfair Mr Corrigan: Nothing of the sort. Me added that h e was not hitting Mr Murdoch below the belt, and if he were-, present ne would ask the same • questions. ' The chairman mentioned that the. contract in question could not be mad* binding witnot/t the consent of tho Itangifcikei Sawmillers' Association. Mi Gibson (Rahotu) suggested that a larger amount might have been written off the Ohutu factory buildings and plant ; and be also complained of the quality of some of the cheese crate* sent out to the dairy companies. In reply, the chairman said the value of the factory buildings and plant, a» set out in the balance-sheet, namely £5215, was a very fair* value. !__• building, were not more than nine" or ten years old, and the plant was put h* during pre-war conditions'/He ventured ie say that if the whole lot were dismantled the company would get every penny of ihe value put on, and perhaps \ a good de^l more. Wilh regard to the* complaint as to the battens, he admit-" ted that there might have been causofor complaint, bat it was not possiblefoi one foreman' to oVei&eer vevery batten that went out. He might explain. . that owing to the war the company had lost some of its best men, and much of the batten work was being done by boys. Wherever "possible, the company had made restitution to those companies which had. had serious shortages. He did not think there would beany room for complaint in the future. The question of using timber other than white pine was under consideration, and he. believed the time was coming when red pine would have to be 'used for cheese crates. » Mr Brown (Maketawa), replying t» some observations of previous speakers.' said whatever happened there was n» doubt that the Box Company wouldt continue c\ ren after the present shareholders were gonej, so there was no need for them to worry about their capital. Mr Corrigan: You are quite right when you say that the Box Company will go on, but you should try to conserve our Nshare capital in the interest* of the company and the shareholders.. Mr Lepper asked if there was not some way of saving their white pine, and, whether veneering could not be economically used. The chairman replied that Mr, Murdoch was making enquiries abroad in regard to this matter, and after securing; the information obtained by him it might be possible to undertake the kind of work suggested by Mr Lepper. Mr Marx (Mangatoki) said that thetrouble in regard to the battens, go far as his compaiy was concerned, was that they did not get them, and that when, they did get them they were green. He went on to say that it was not good business for the company not to be paying interest on capital. No interest, h# believed, had been paid for years. With regard! to the grazing lease he thought the chairman had taken the matter too lightly. It was alway« looked upon as a valuable asset during his time as chairman of the Board. With regard to the criticism of wasting: assets an endeavor was made a few years ago to start a reserve fund, but circumstances had changed, owing to war conditions, and the matter was not proceeded with, but he believed the directors, as in the past, were out to do> their best in the interests of the Company and their shareholders. He diet not think the price of crates and boxes. . had been risen early enough, and he went on to explain the arrangements made by his company to secure additional crates in order to meet their requirements. The chairman, he was sure, had not overstated the value of the Otahu mill, which was worth to-day double the value at t_e time it waa: erected. He regretted the loss of the grazing right, becauseHhe company hact undoubtedly lost some thousands ©_ pounds. The chairman expressed his pleasure at the tone of Mr Marx's remarks. He might say that it was never the intention of^the directors that the payment of interest on capital was to he permanently foregone, but owing to the changing circumstances of the'times— the incidence of taxation being different to-day than a few years ago—it' was very questionable whether they should pay interest. He did not know whether any of the shareholders had calculated what it would mean to pay interest aa suggested. On the paid-up-capital of £62,432 it would involve a sum of £374& • year, taking interest at 6 ncr cent., i plus £604 for taxation, so that it would '

require £43C9 to pay 6 per cent. Thiß was equal to 2_d per box and', crate. As soon as the directors could f see their way clear to recommend resuming the payment of interest he was sure they (the directors) would be only, too r>leased to make the recommendation," They did not say for one moment that the present policy was to be the permanent policy of the company. With "regard to the grazing lease it was not absolutely certain that those rights were lost to the company; they might be able to take them, up again. The directors had been loth to increase the price of the crates, and had it not "been for the war the company would have been in a very different position to-day. The company had worked under conditions which had never been anticipated, and notwithstanding those difficult circumstances, he claimed that the company had dkjne exceedingly well. He congratulated Mr Marx and any other company in securing timber for crates, which showed good business acumen. Mr Honefield considered that the dairy companies had done well out of the Box Co. by securing boxes and crates at reasonable prices. In reply to Mr Gibson, in regard to disoounts for building material, the chairman said that at the present time no one received bigger discounts than the dairy companies. A shareholder: What are the discounts? The secretary: 10 percent, heart and 7_ per cent. sap. The chairman said if the company had the timber it would supply orders for 23 nouses now. They were only awaking ah improvement in the rail«way service. Mr Corrigan: I am glad you are waking up to the fact that you are going to make some money. (Laughter.) The motion for the adoption of the report and balande-sheet was carried. DIRECTORS, ETC. The two retiring directors, 'Messrs W. D. Powdrell and J. S. Connett, were re-elected unopposed. Mr, E. Parrott was re-elected anditor." It was resolved that directors who liad to travel to meetings be paid 20s per day for the past year and also for the coming year. * •'" SPECIAL MOTIONS. INCREASE OF CAPITAL. The Hawera Dairy Factory Co. gave notice to move: "That the capital ot: the company be increased from £100,000 to £250,000. The chairman said that this motion did not in any way express the directors' opinion's." No doubt the Hawera Company's representatives hqd something in their minds in regard to the purchase of the large areas "of bush for which they were now negotiating, -but until those negotiations were com- ' pieted the directors could , not place 3,ny proposals before shareholders in regard to the increase of capital. Mr Corrigan, in formally moving the motion, regretted the chairman's remarks. They would recollect that the aninutes of their last special read and confirmed that morning, authorised the directors to go on and prepare for the increased capital. The chairman: We are going on. Mr Corrigan: Yes, but like every-r' thing* else you do 3> you are a bit slow. You missed the bus once or twice be- • fore, and you might miss it again. The regulations referred to by the chairman were only temporary, and might be withdrawn at any time, letting »the Australians in on top of , them again. At'*the special meeting the directors asked shareholders to consider and confirm certain proposals, which they did, and now they were not prepared .to go on. The company, with a. capital of/ £100,000, had £62,000^called up, and the balance earmarked to meet certain liabilities, and a company with ho available capital was not in a good position to carry through considerable transactions. Possibly the chairman was opposed to this motion because, it was moved by Hawera, but the Hawera Company's position was that although they had£3_oo -invested "in the Box Company they had to purchase 13,000 crates from an outside company last year. They had cheese stored everywhere, and then the Box Co. had the audacity to'tell them that they had not sent in any orders for crates. Although his company had had to arrange for the purchase of crates outside the Box Co. they were q«ite prepared to go into this scheme, realising that all available timber was

required for the dairy industry, and should be secured as 'quickly as possmle. The Box Go. had two other chances .to get this bush, but failed on occasions. The,chairman: You are quite wrong. Yon must not make such, statements. AYe have never had an opportunity hefore of considering the matter on the present basis. Mr Corrigan: I give you my authority. It was Mr Tudor Atkinson. He told me he had absolutely, turned you-down; he had. been at i-qfu .so often. He said the Box Co. •directors were sitting like' vultures on •a rail ready to devour the carcase. If the directors intended to go on with this business it was essential that this resolution he passed. Several speakers held the view that the proposals should emanate from the directors.

The chairman remarked that the negotiations that were in progress were of an extremely comprehensive r.ature, %nd he questioned if even Mr Corrigan, with his knowledge of native tiff airs, could fully grasp them. There were questions of special legislation to validate rights, enquiries as to whether rights to some extent had not been allowed to go by default, wfi ether tlie

consent of Parliament and Native Lands Boards was necessary in any .ptirtieujar, and the precise position of ihe security of debenture-holders. He was sure Mr Atkinson could not have ■conveyed the impression that Mr Corrigan took from his conversation. On two previous occasion^ the Box Co. had put out feelers, but the only basis on which the Tongariro Co. would negotiate, until three months ago. was that the Box Co. should buy the bush c.n royalty on their estimate of what it contained. The Box Cku would not entertain that suggestion. The proposition now was that they should sell the Box- Co. the bush on a royalty f,n the amount of timber it actually 'contained. That was quite1 another propositio;]. There were many difficulties in the way, but he believed they could be got over, and the directors mtended to see their way right through the transactions before they completed. When that time came, and they knew' precise]^ how they stood, they would then ask shareholders to increase their capital. Mr Corrigan quite understood that Xhin was a complicated business, but there were great possibilities. This resolution was moved to assist directors. .a.xl it did not materially affect ihe position whether these negotiations •vere carried to a successful issue or tot. Why wait for a special meeting to do what could be done that day? After some further discussion the i"oti<m was withdrawn. INTEREST ON CAPITAL. _Mr Corrigan further moved: "That Uu 1 articles of association be altered to provide for compulsory payment of in-t'-rost on paid-up share capful at the rate of not less than 5 per cent per

annum.'- He % contended that every ! business should be placed on a busi- ' ness basis, and although the Box Co. belonged to the dairy companies that was no reason why it should lean on them and not pay interest on share capital invetsed. 'it should be made, to pay its own way. The public looked^ upon i a business that did not pay interest as being not very sound. In reply to a question, the chairman said that the article could be amended to make the payment of interest compulsory. That was to say that if the company did not earn profits for one year or two years out of which to pay interest, but the following year made a good profit, it would have to pay the two back years' interest as well. He further pointed out that it would take £3120 to pay 5 per cent interest, plus one-sixth for income tax, or £520 more. This £520 would be put on to the price of their crates. When they had completed the Tangoriro purchase and were cutting larger quantities of timber, and when it may not be necessary to pay such large income tax as at present; they would' probably be able to pay interest on capital. A rebate of 2d per box and crate would represent £3600—a little less than 6 per cent on capital, Mr Corrigan considered that the suggestion to avoid the payment of income tax was rotten. They all knew that taxes had to be raised, and why should the Box Co. try to avoid them any more than anyone else. It was a wrong principle. A company doing business knew that it had income tax to pay; it should run its business accordingly, and not try to avoid its just obligations by giving rebates. The Hawera Co. would not associate itself with a concern that did business on these lines, w-hich would " utimately split up the Box Co. On a ballot being taken the motion was defeated by 52 to 83 votes. ■ A further motion, moved *by *" Mr Corrigan. seconded by Mr Williams, that the articles of association be al- \ tered to provide for nine directors instead of seven, as at present, was carried unanimousiv. .

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