ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 9089, 28 April 1890, Page 2

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES.

London, March 7. SHAW, SAVILL AND CO.’s IiEPOBT : WHAT "FAIR plat” says. The Shaw, Savill and Albion Company’s beautiful balance-sheet and 10 per cent dividend present a marked contrast to the Now Zealand Shipping Company’s sad condition, and make the shareholders in the latter Company sick with sorrow for past mismanagement. They have, however, the satisfaction of knowing the worst is over, and that with Mr Dawes at the head of affairs it will not be long before dividends begin to make their appearance. Fair Play says of the S.S.A. Company’s report:—The Company has adopted a form of balance-sheet which leaves nothing to be desired in the matter of clearness, and is, therefore, in that respect an example which might with advantage be followed by many other Companies that could be named. The gross, profit of the year’s trading amounts to the sum of .£135,037. Expenses, debenture interest, depreciation, &c., tic., deducted from this amount, leave a balance carried to profit and loss of £70,861, a return sufficiently good to satisfy the most exacting shareholder. The Directors adhere to the conservative policy of strengthening the financial position of the Company, and of providing for increased business, in preference to paying extreme dividends, which are so far deceptive that they lead to an exaggerated opinion being formed of the value of a property, such estimate being invariably followed by the swing of the pendulum in the opposite direction, resulting in an unduly depreciatory view being taken of the same concern when times become less prosperous. The usual amount for depreciation has been written off in accordance with the Articles of Association, but tbe Directors have wisely set aside an additional sum of £25,000, having, as they state in their report, especially in view tbe depreciation on refrigerating machinery. This machinery is very expensive to start with, depreciates more rapidly than is generally imagined, and is always subject; to the possibility of being rendered comparatively valueless by the advent of a new process, or of an improved process more efficacious, and less costly, and therefore calculated to depreciate the value of machinery which would, in such a contingency, become obsolete. Shareholders, we imagine, will find little fault with the Directors for making this provision. The money, at any rate, is there, and if, fortunately, it should not bo required to keep up the refrigerating machinery, it will, at any rate, be useful enough in other directions. In these days of competition in the shipping trade, the Company that is financially strong is sure, in the long run, to come best out of the fight. It will be seen that the Directors have added to the carrying power of the fleet. THE COLONIAL COURT OF ADMIRALTY : ITS OBJECT. In the House of Lords, on Tuesday evening, the Colonial Courts of Admiralty Bill was read a second time, and referred to the Committee on Law, Lord Knutsford explained that the purpose of the Bill was to provide more satisfactory arrangements as regards Vice-Admiralty Courts in the Colonies. At present the Admiralty jurisdiction in the Colonies is exercised concurrently in the Imperial Courts and in the Colonial Courts, from which there is no appeal except to the Queen in Council. The Bill has been agreed to by all the Colonies save Victoria, New South Wales, British Honduras, and St Helena, and these Colonies are still entitled to come under its provisions if they think fit. Broadly speaking the object of the Bill is to do away with tho Vice-Admiralty and Imperial Courts in the Colonies, and to confer Admiralty jurisdiction upon the Colonial Courts, and also to grant to inferior Courts in the Colonies, if they desire to exercise it, partial and limited jurisdiction in Admiralty matters, such as is now exercised in English County Courts. The Colonial Legislatures will declare what Courts shall have Admiralty jurisdiction, and what inferior Courts may exercise partial jurisdiction. In case there should be no local Appeal Court, the right of appeal to Queen in Council would still be preserved. OCEAN PENNY POST : SOME ANOMALIES. The desirability of establishing an ocean penny post is evidently gaining ground in the provinces and abroad. The Leeds Chamber of Commerce has passed a resolution, urging Her Majesty’s Government to appoint a Select Committee to consider the practicability of establishing an international penny postage rate, and of cheapening the cost of telegraphing to and from the Colonies. The Imperial Federation League of Canada, the North Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce, and many other municipal bodies in the provinces and Ireland, have passed similar resolutions. The Canadian Postmaster-General professes himself a convert. " When,” asks the Pall Mall Gazette, “ will Mr Raikes be received into the true Imperial faith ?” The same journal draws attention to the fact that there is no card post twixt England and Cape Colony, and also to " a hideous postal anomaly,” It appears that the Christmas number of the Illustrated London News, bearing four penny stamps, was posted to a lady in Adelaide, South Australia. Result Deficient postage Is 4d, fine 4d. So that the coat of sending the paper from England to Australia was 2s. The beauty of the joke is, that the same paper is purchasable at any Australian bookstall for a shilling. The moral the sage of Northumberland street draws from this episode is, "Don’t send Christmas or holiday numbers to your Colonial friends. Send them a shilling, and let them buy the papers on the spot. That’s the only way of circumventing the octopus of St Martin’s-le-Grand.” MADAME GODDAED, Sir George Groves reminds all who retain a pleasant recollection of the wonderful playing of Madame Arabella Goddard, that the veteran pianiste’s husband is dead, and she herself incapacitated by illness from earning her bread as a teacher. The poor old lady is consequently in dire necessity, and urgently requires help. Colonial subscriptions should be sent to Messrs Chapel, New Bond street, London. ACCLIMATISATION OF KIWIS. Mr Walter Rothschild, who visited New Zealand in 1887, has successfully acclimatised five kiwis, which run wild in his park at Tring. He entertains and hopes that they will breed, as they have paired well enough. Even more successful with kangaroos, Mr Rothschild has now some thirty of various kinds turned loose in his domain in company with emus and rheas. LORD ONSLOW. A New Zealand correspondent of the World, writing from Christchurch,-pays many flattering compliments to your Governor (Lord Onslow), who apparently has favourably impressed all who come into contact with him. messes weddell’s achievement. Messrs Weddell and Co. report that they have now succeeded in insuring mutton against " all risks ” by the Shaw, Saville and the New Zealand Shipping Companies steamers at 60s per cent, being a further reduction of 10s per cent. This will, no doubt, cause those shippers who hitherto have preferred to ensure only against the total loss of the vessel, on account of the prohibitive rate demanded for insurance against “ all risks,” to take the “ all risks ” cover at the reduced premium.