CANTERBURY FROZEN MEAT COMPANY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCV, Issue 10918, 28 March 1896, Page 3

CANTERBURY FROZEN MEAT COMPANY.

..... ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of shareholders in the Canterbury Frozen Meat and Dairy Export Company, Limited, was held at the Hall of the Chamber of Commerce yesterday afternoon. Thotchair was taken by Ivlr John Grigg, Chairman, of Directors, and there was a very good attendance. The Directors present were Messrs ,T. Grigg, J- T. Ford, S. Garforth, •T. Deans and W. Chrystall. The Chairman, in inoying the adoption ■of the; report, find ' balance-sheet , (which .have already been-.published), said it gate the'directors, great pleasure to meet them with the present balance-sheet, which was the best yet produced, and they congratulated shareholders upon it. In addition,to paying a dividend of 9 per cent, they had written off the plant double the amount of '.he previous year and had carried .£2OOO to the reserve fund, which now stood at £5077, while the net profits had been £.2000 more than for the previous year. Tins satisfactory remit was due to the hearty support given to the company, which had enabled them to do so large a-n amount of work, and there was every prospect of next' year being, even belter. The result was that they had been able to reduce their charges to almost a. minimum during the winter, which would encourage growers to finish their sheep during that season on root crops, and thus encourage larger number’s to :ome forward. There was no doubt that the. works had been run in the interests of clients, and tire amount kept hack by the companr was almost infinitesimal. Ho was glad to say that arrangements had boon made for reductions in fellmongering charges, a-n cl they were in hopes of making still further reductions in freezing' charges. V’bat had enabled them *■o make these reductions was the inrrcarod earning power of the worms, which had been greatly added to by the introducdomof’the new Hercules machine, which .was working more than .satisfactorily, and doing - a ,very largo amount of work on . a .very small consumption of coal. ■ It ■vns th”i’’ duty, however, to face the future of the English markets, where prospects were anything but bright, and there Was every appearance or rower prices in the future. The producers would have to he met in the matter, but at present the comTg.nv was hampered by an engagement for freights with" the shipping companies which hod some time to run. He must impress upon producers the necessity of keeping up the quality of their sheep. Complaints were made in London of the longshanked sheep which were now being shipped, and which showed that they had 1 been bred too much from the merino. It was absolutely necessary that the flocks should be kept up to the highest standard. It was really the in-bred half-bred which was doing the damage, and merino crosses should not be inter-bred. Flocks should be improved by the introduction of really good breeds of sheep, as it was only in this way that they could keep up the high standard which they, had hitherto maintained in the Home markets.

Mr W. Henderson seconded the adoption of the report and balance-sheet. Mr W. B. Common, while congratulating the directors, thought the reserve fund should be increased before charges were reduced. He referred to the necessity, of the grading being kept up to the highest standard.

Mr W. B. Clarkson, in reference to the statement that had been made that the quality at Belfast was not so good as it used to be, challenged any person to go to Belfast and substantiate the statement. When in London he had never seen' any inferior meat that had come from Belfast. Another matter he wished to refer to was the, reduction of the dividend. Tins,, he thought, should next year not be more, than 7 per cent. The Chairman said that every care had been taken to have the grading properly carried out.

The Hon E. W. Parker stated that he had letters from his London office, which stated that the Belfast mutton was not so carefully graded as* it used to be, and could not be sold so rgadily as formerly, without inspection. Mr Clarkson said there was no doubt the grading at Belfast could be improved, and a proper grading machine should be got if it cost <£looo ; but there was no deterioration in the quality of the output. Mr'Acton-Adams said he could bear Mr Clarkson out that the grading arrangements were not as good «ps they might be. At the Islington Factory they had a machine by which every sheep was weighed, and the exporters were enabled to put on their bills of lading the weight of each carcase. That was what there should be at Belfast. The producers paid a very large sum per annum for tlm work done, and should have equal facilities at Belfast to those they got at Islington, and which would make the North Canterbury mutton show to greater advantage. Whatever the cost, a proper, machine should be got and every sheep and lamb should be weighed. The works were so perfect in every other respect that this matter should have immediate attention. He suggested that the dividends for the future should be reduced to 7 per cent, and that the 1 per cent changed on tallow should be done away with, as the fat was now taken by the oleoworks on the premises, and not shipped to England as previously. . The Chairman said that with reference to o-rading, arrangements were being made fora machine, which would do the work. He might point out that it was only 'quite recently that grading had been done at, Belfast. ’ ‘’ Mr Waymouth pointed out that every sheep was weighed and graded according to the instruction of owners. The company was very particular as to the quality of the sheep, but none but the very primest lambs were allowed to pass. Mr P. Cunningham pointed out that sheep from the same flocks went through boththe factories, and therefore the quality must be the same at each. What was wanted was a closer grade as to weight, as a 101 b difference was too much for some portions of the trade in the London market. ;

The Chairman said the Directors would use every endeavour to carry out the suggestion which had been made. The motion was then carried unanimously. Messrs J. T. Ford and J. Deans were reelected directors.

Mr W. Chrystall pointed out that the present date of holding the annual meetings fell in the very busiest time, and moved—" That the accounts for the future be made up to November, and that the annual meeting be held in December or January.”

The motion,was seconded byMr Wanklyn, and earned. ■ Mr W. B. Clarkson moved —“ That the dividend for the ensuing year should not bo more than 8 per cent.”

Mr Acton-Adams seconded the motion. Mr E. Trent said, looking at it from an investor’s’ | point of view, he thought the alteration was not in the interests of the company, and would lower the price of the shares. Mr Common suggested that the matter should be left in the hands of the directors as heretofore. This was agreed to and the motion withdrawn. On the motion of the Chairman the directors were authorised to issue the remaining one thousand shares of the company on such terms as they thought fit, on condition that any moneys accruing from premiums should be added to the reserve fund. Messrs W. H. Wanklyn find F. J.Grierson were elected auditors at the same scale of' fees as last year. ' Hearty votes of thanks passed to the directors, to the secretary, and the staff both at Belfast and at the town office, concluded the business' ,