LONG DRIVE GOLD MINING COMPANY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume VII, Issue 1900, 17 February 1870, Page 5

LONG DRIVE GOLD MINING COMPANY.

A special meeting called at the request of certain shareholders in this company was held in their office, Shortland-street, yesterdnymorning, at 11 o'clsck. There was a larg ! attendance there being about sixty shareholders present. Captain Harrison said this meeting having been ca'led by certain shoroholdera in cons - quence of a certain newspaper report, it ivou!:i bo necessary to have a chairman. Jle woulvl there'foro propose that Mr. Reader Wood take the chair. Mr. BnßToy seconded the motion. Mr. Wood having taken the chair. The Secret*by read the notice calling the meeting and the rule referring to the special meeting.

The Chairman" then said they had heard the letter read convening the meeting, ] together with tho rule under which tho business was to be conducted. They would perceive that there was no special notice of the special business to be gone on j with given in the advertisement. But he 1 thought it competent under that l-ulo for any j shareholder who wished for any information to state what ho wished, and 110 had 110 doubt that the directors were fully prepared to give any information that might be wanted. He would call upon those gentlomen signing the requisition to state the purpose of the meeting, and what information they particularly wished to be given. He then proceed- dto call upon each of tho. gentlomen signing the requisition. Capt. Harrison" said his reason for signing tho requisition was that ho with others thought that other companies could crush cheaper than the Kuranui Company did. Then why not give other companies a . chance. If other companies could crush 8s 01 1 10s cheaper, why not give t.liom \a chance ? Then again all the gold was given to one bank. He thought there should be some opposition. Mr. 15kETON" said there was one particular point to which lie would draw tho attention of the shareholders, aud impress upon them the advisability of finding out. He came up the other day to the office, aud asked to see a report from the mining manager. The legal manager refused to allow him to see it. Now he thought the shareholders were as much outitled to see the report as the directors themselves. (Hear). He subsequently had some conversation with two of the directors, and one of them certainly said that the shareholders ought to be contented with the information given by the directors. But the directors had given them no information— not an atom —at least that he was aware of on theso matters. The rule No. 22, bearing on the point justifying the refusal to allow the reports of the mine satisfied him at the time. Th»t rule stated that the book of accounts only were to bo open to inspection. Apparently, therefore, he was put out'of court, oiid lin'l to dry up. But the next rule provided a penalty for any one refusing to show any of the books of the company. He presumed that reports came under that head. I tho directors were entitled to withhold information, ttie shareholders hud better sell their shares for what they could get, and let the directors have all to themselves. Certainly, cases might arise in which it might bo advisable to suppress information. In tho case of encroaching on. boundary, for instance a shareholderin tlieclnimcn'eroachecl uponmigh , for example, purchase a share for the~puvp >su of obtaining'all necessary information respecting his own mine. He would be one tob'ack up the direotors most'strenuously in withholding information in ff matter of that kind, but as a general rule it would-be better he thought to give every information to the shareholders. Mr. Saunders said his object in signing the requisition was to enable the shareholders to ventilate certain points. For one thing, he thought there slioi dd bo :i good, plan of the underground working of the mine. Another tiling,'a monthly report should be prepared and published in the papers, signed by the working manager, isliewiug the actual work done during, the month. It woulil also be desirable to h'pre.'tw monthly report, from the 'ofthe compiiny.; '"Ho-jnoHtiotied tliat; for: this reason, that sotae friends of'his knowing that there was only:» few pounds'" flmdenrtyiwero; not, aware thata. sum of money had been carried to It this wore done it would materially assist tho Company. COh. Bai.nba.vi3 said his reason for signing the requisition; .was that he i-kiiew nothing about the mine, ; His simple reason for signing was to gain information upon the general business connect d /with';.the- mine. He had heard that the manager -had been dismissed. Ho did not know for! what reason. He found that the dividends wore sometimes high, and sometimes low; why was that ?'They also found thata certain sum was kept back, and small things of that kip d. which could .be furI nished if a proper meeting wo 3 called. If the [ regular meeting lapsed, it was for the share; | holders to call this present meeting. The' directors should also inform them on this mat-' ter. They found that suddenly the shares went down in value, and he could not ascertain from what cause. He found the mine still giving tho same' returns, but they found a large sum kept back. It was a very prudent step, perhaps, but they wanted information respecting it.

Mr. F. H. Troup said his reasons were similar to what had already beon given. Capt. Habriso.v said the reason he subscribed to the document -was a paragraph or article whicli appeared in the Heeud of February 1, ana which ho produced. . This paragraph caused him some alarm. It embodied a number of questions which had been asked by the gontlenien who had already spoken. He would like to know how far that letter was true. t Tliey, as shareholders, ought to bo enlightened about this. An article like that appearing in the paper was likely to alarm the shareholders. Perhaps the Secretary would read it.

Mr. Aitkkn suggested the propriety of producing tho writer first. Mr. W. C. WitsoN snid he might at oncc state to savo trouble that the letter was written by a discontented shareholder.

* Mr. VV. Aitkin thought that instead of reading newspaper paragraphs the shareholders sh uld put their questions in writing and let them got on with business. Mr. Abbott proposed that tho article be accepted as read. Major BrsuOP said liis reason was that he understood tlwt tho last report of the manager was not. permitted to be seen. Ho thought that every shareholder should know the state of the mine. Tho depreciation in tho value of shares was so very large and so very sudden that it undo every shareholder uneomfortublo. Further he thought it. would be advisable that a financial statement should be occasionally published in order to know what debt ex: .ted (if any) and what reserve fund there si; uld be; and again tho mining manager oug .t to furnish a report monthly. Capt. Le MOTTEsaid his reasons had liecn mainly given by tho foregoing speakers. But there was one que.-tion on which he v. -uld like somo information. Were the Thanes Gold Mining Company allowed to have .'our directorships in the company for the nui.ber of shares they held in the company ? .A jif they held four scuts in the directorship 1 '.iey would bo able to overrule all the ol :ier director.'.

The C ft airman referred Captain Le M >tte to the first rule of the article of associa'. on, which empowered any incorporate company holding shares in this company, to bodirociorß in it. Mr. Troup said in English companies, persons before being eligible for directors should hold a certain amount of shares in a company. It was a most absurd thing that a person holding perhaps a single scrip only should be a director. 'fColonel Ei/uott said that tho object with which he signed the document had already been stated. He heard that a shareholder had been refused a sight of the manager's report, and the officers of the Kegiment having a desire for some knowledge of the cause of tho

I depreciation l of the property ho thought ii right that he should sign, so that the informa tin might, if possible, be got previous to their departure from tho colony. Mr. Abbott price the mine received for its gold?*Ho was a believer in fair and honorable competition. Did the company take any steps to offer the gold for sale to the various banks. A. strange power of gravitation seemed to draw it nil to one place. On what principle was the reserve fund augmented ? Was there a fixed and intelligent principle on •wliieh it was aug raonted ? Had Mr. Kou-c received any salary ill connection wiili this mine, nn i if so for what purpose, and was he still rcce ving » salary ? Di I any other persons irrespective of the recognised officers of the company receive any salary ? Mr. McEvoy : Previous to the appointment of Mr Walker, two shillings a ton was paid for the cartage of stone to the battery and two men were employed to fi'.l the carts. When Mr. Walker was engaged he got it carted arid the men to fill it themselves for one shilling and three pence per toil. Ho wished fco know if that was correct. Colonel B *ta*kavis : Has the manager given any securities ? Tho Chairman : No. Colonel Balneavis said, then he would suggeßt, if the shareholders -would agree -with him, that tho directors should be requested to take some steps in the matter. Mr. Tno err said ho believed tho manager had offered security Colonel Bat.neaviß said that -would be a step in tho right direction. Mr. Weston enquired if Colonel Balneavis meant both the managers. Colonel Balneavis: Yes, both. Mr. Weston- : How could you get it from a man of straw, as working managers usually were ? Col. Baxnkavis said there was a gentleman who was legal mauager to two companies (and ho believed ihree). He held a promissory note; seized in his capaci y of sheriff, and if he pressed him, the money mu-t come from somewhere, and he might take it from one of the companies. Mr. Isaacs said ho could unfortunate; bear Col. Balneavis out in this matter He was a shareholder in a company in Victoria, and there tho manager was putting one-tliirJ of the gold in his own pockets. They were well convinced of this, but had not sufficient proofs. He was fully satisfied to be .discharged, losing the portion of salary then due to him. He thought therefore it was absolutely necessary that some security, should be given. Mr. KIBBHNG said some gentlemen were busily spreading it about town that the directors wore paid. It' such were the case, how much they paid ? Ho would also like to know how much had been received out of the claim during the pa 4 six months, and how much paid to shareholders in dividends. A re,»ort was ulso being freely circulated about town, that the directors had sold out at a high figure, and bought in again at a'low figure. (You cannot blame them ) Mr. Abbott : It is quite right for them to do that, but it is not right that they should withhold information from the shareholders which called tliem to do so. Th 3 Chairman said he would give answers to tho various questions seriatim. With reference to tho annual meeting that to have been called in August last, that was an oversight and a,mistake. In August last ev.-ryone was busy, and Mr. Tothill had onlyjust be-n appointed manager. It was not until after the date of the meeting that he noti-ed the oversight. That t w&s one of tho-e things which would possibly happen in all managements. Ho admitted that there was a certain amount of blame attached to the manager and directors. But lie did not think anyone would suppose tlia' it was anything beyond an oversight. As to the question, why the Long Drive paid a larger sum for crushing than other . mines ? It was questionable if thev did so. 1 Some time ago they had a larger quantity of stuff coming out than had 1 been .theicase previously.- They then entered into a contract with the Kuranui Company ; thatithoy .should supply them'with ten head j of stampers at twenty-five shillings a ton, less | tended .cent, discount. All that, lime that was a lower price than any other machine charged, but a month or six weeks after an offer was made by th© Thames.Crushing Company to crush for 15s. . Under the contract j they could not take this offer. Tho Kuranui Company, instead of enforcing their contract, now allowed them to crush as much as they liked for 20s. a ton. The machine was , not ' only the best on the field, but I the best' in any ot the Australian Colonies. And for that reason it was clieapeet to use it. It was peculiarly well adapted for the Long Drive: Company, being titua ed at the mouth of the drive, and the stuff was. therefore sent to it at a very small cost. The next question he would deal with, was : Wjjiy was the gold always given to one bank ? lhere, again, the report wai not correct. The gold was not always given to one bank, but although the quantities of gold had been unusually large, there were numerous instances where gold had been offered to other banks for competition. Tho course adopted Was this, gold was sent to the bank of New Zealand, at G-rahamstown, and there smelted. From the smelted gold a clip was sent to the other banks to ascertain ita value. In a few instances they got a penny an outice more, and in one instance 2d. more at the Bank of New South Wales. But the Bank of New Zealand told them they were perfectly willing to assist them in any way, but they would not smelt for them for nothing for thom to Bend clips to other banks and take advantage ol tho penny or twopence per ounce, which was about t-be cost of smelting. He thought that wns very reasonable, and since that time the Bank of .New Zealand had taken the gold upon the assay of their one of the first aud beat men employed at'ihe Thames. When the directors perceived that the difference was so very small, tliey certainly thought that tliey r/ero not injuring the shareholders by dealing with the Bank ot New Zca land. How this was to bo avoided, he certainly did not know, unless the £old was to be put up every month to auction. If tlsey looked at other mines they would find it tho same. The Shot-over sent its gold to tho Union Bunk; tho Golden Crown tho satne way. They first employed the Australasian, and then tho Australian Bank, and then ttie Dank of Now Zealand. If they looked at the matter properly, they would find that it was vtry necessary to employ only one bank. They had always received every facility from the Bank of New Zealand, any valuable specimens they had, had been put in the strong room of tho bank at Grruhamdtowu without difficulty and without charge. This matter was simply a bugbear, in which people were very fond of making reports. Mr. Tuotrr : What becomes of the silver P Tho CiiiiailAN : They buy the gold as it comes from the retort.

Mr Thoup : Yes; and we pay half a crown an ounce duty on that silver. The Chairman proceeded : The Act provided that any shareholder who wished to seo the accounts of the company could do bo, but it said nothing about correspondence, nor was it usual in any company to exhibit books and documents to every shareholder that might come. If the office were to be Beized every Monday morning by every shareholder wishing to Bee the books the work could not be done. The better plan would be to send the reports to tho newspapers every Monday morning und have them published. Mr. Saundeub wished for a plan of the underground workings. There was the plan on the wall, both p'an and section. (How long has that been done ?) Within the last fortnight. Air. Troup : The mine has been working the last two and a half years, and this is tl». gi-st plan. The Chaiehan said that he was very glad that the shareholders were satisfied. Tho last conversation he had with seme of the share-

holders, he was told that the directois were throwing money «way on such like usGless works. Colonel Balneavis had mad- a ra■.nark, that the dividends were unequal. The directors had paid the dividends, not with regularity or equality certainly, but the yield was neither regular nor equal, and "they thought when they had money it was best to divide it.

Mr. : But the moment the yiel.l became small was the first time you made provision for a reserve fttnd. The Chairman continued ; Mr. Trouo asked if the bank pai interest on 'lie reserve fund. lie believed they paid fo .r per cent . In reference to the article in the paper, it contained nothing else but the questions already put and answered. Wit h reference to the crushing of specimens, the Kura'.ni Company charged so much a day for the use of the specimen stamper. Mr. Aitkin : How much per day ? The Chairman : The charge varied from £5 to ;C3, according to the length of time occupied. The same rate was charged tj other people. If they used tho one stamper, I hoy paid the usual charge, about four shillings an hour. They took the stamper by the day, not according to the quantity crushed. Captain Harbison" said the Sliotover sent their gold to England, a d drew against it from the Union liank. If the Long Drive were to do so they would be gamers. Mr. White said this was the case, and it gave a profit of about ninepence per ounce. The Chairman : Major Bishop had askcrl for a financial statement. That had atready

been laid on tho table. The price of the gold varied from £2 10s. to £2 15s. per ounce The specimens yielded generally better gold than the ordinary crushing [assay notes produced]. Mr. Abbott asked what principle was observed with regard to the reserve fund. Since October last the directors had placed about ten per cent, to the reserve fund, I which now amounted to £1250 ' Mr. Abbott : Has it been augmented by ' the last crushing ? The Chairman : Not yet; but it would be. Mr. Abbott wished to know the purpose of such a large reserve fund. The CilAI nsaid if any gentleman looked at the section plan he would see that above the wate.- line thtre was at least one-half of Ihe stuff taken out. When they got below the water line it would be necessary to have pumping machinery, which would entail a large expenditure This reserve fund was for the sake of having funds to supply the necessary machinery whenever it was required. (" Very wisely done.") It would take £4000 or £5000, and therefore this was necessary to save making calls on tho pockets of the share holders. It would probably hare to be done in twelve months or less. Mr. Isaacs ; Everyone would be satisfied with that I should think. The Chairman : With regard to ear'ing, the rule of the directors has been to leave j these minor details to the mining manager. Mr : We may leave the mining manager too much to his own resources. What is the use of directors if they do not go into these details ? Mr. Eowjs said there was a great difference between the priee of labour and carting now and what it was at the time this arrangement was made. The carting then was principally from.the far shoot, now it was nearly all adjoining the machine-house, not one tenth of the distance, and done with less than half the labour, its far as; horses were concerned. And, besides, the road was infinitely better than it was.two years ago. Then the stuff h dto be carted through the tide. Now. it caine from the long drive close to tho house. If a new arrangement was not made it ought to be. The Chaiuman went on to answer the remaining questions. He said Mr. Howe's salary ceased at Christmas, lie .was paid at the rate of £100 a year. The mining manager was not under any security. ...The directors were not paid. "With rogarato tho manager buying or gelling shares, that, was a matter into vvliicli the shareholders had no right to enter ; they would be quite as weU'justified in asking how far they had overdrawn uf, the "bank. As to .Mr. Abbott's remarks, "they

referred to him personally. He sent his broker to him surreptitiously, and he did not know that it was Mr. Abbott who bought the the shares from him until he saw bis name in -the books. If ho had known, Mr. Abbott would never have had them.

Mr. Abbott said if he had known that they were Mr. Wood's shares he would not have

bought them from him. He did not wish to have any dealings with Mr. Wood. The Chairman ; No; I should think not. Mr. Abbott after ordering the reporter to take down his speech made a long rambling statement, winding up by saying that the Chairman's reply was merely Mr. Wood's ipse dixit, unsupported by any evidence to substantiate it.

Mr. Mclvoy suggested that three or four handred tons of stone should be got out and si^batteries.should have fifty tons each, and whoever produced the most gold at the least expence should crush for the company. Mr. Lasobllks asked if there was any resolution before the meeting ? He presumed that it was a friendly meeting, the principal object of which was that parties should tee themselves in print the next morning. (Hear.) He was a shareholder, a~.id had investigated

the subjects entered into by the letters in the papers which had been referred to. He happened to be an unlucky director in several companies, and he believed that many batteries would be extremely dear at ten shillings a ton, while others would be cheap at twenty* five shillings. As an instance, Le might state that in one company of which he was a director, at one battery they only got m ounce to the ton, and from the same heap of stuff, at another battery, they got seven ounces. But the position of the mine, the quality of the battery, and the facilities for carting, were to be counted before crushing. The Kuranui was the nearest battery. There was a good road to it, and it could be crushed there better than anywhere else. One gentleman had said that there was no evidence brought forward to support the statement of the Chairmiin. But there were 110 ovidences to support the allegations made on the other side. Would any one come forward and show where the other

banks had offered a shilling an ounce more Minn they were getting from the Bank of New Zealand ? As to the reserve fund, the Chairman would have been quite justified in telling them that yesterday the reserve fund had been increased some £350. This was an example that many companies might have taken a lesson from. Much stress had been laid on manager's reports not being published. They seemed to forget that the state of the manager's mind ruled his report. He might bo in a bad temper, or have been on the spree the night bofore, or a hundred other things might influence his report. The reports of mining managers were never placed at the disposal of shareholders. If any one looked at the largest mining journal in the world, they would find that only three or four lines of reports were published there. His own opinion was that the mooting had been called to depreciate the value of shares.

it was tlu- bed!, time could pos-ihly be made. He had no doubt that the directors had from the beginning been as willing to promote the interests of the company as the slwreholders possibly could be- | As to tlio specimens—the statement made in the paper was wrong. Specimens never- were crushed by tlio ton at that battery. They were crushed by the hour. They perhaps had frequently heard of specimens producing four ounccs to I lie pound, and t'-ree hundredweight of Specimens crushed. Now, he very i much questioned the accuracy of these reports. !lfth<ve three huudred pounds weight had | been put. into the scale they would probably lihto weighed double tint. The richer the ; specimens the longer they took in crushing, and that was one reason that the cost of crushing specimens might have been a little above crushing specimens elsewhere. With reference to the plans—it is Mr. Troup's own fault if he has not seen them. They have been oil the claim tor the p'ist eight months, and might have been seen by the shareholders at any time'. The plan in (his office was a more complete one, having been brought to the latest hour. With reference to a mining report. Nothing could be more futal, nothing more ill-advised, nothing more wrong, than to publish the mining manager's reports for every shareh 'Icier. The mining report would come to the oiliee say every Momlny morning. They woid i be open to "the Auckland shareholders. I'he disposition of the manager, us Mr. Xaacelles had justly remarked, might influence that report in :i great degree. But, if not, the shareholder in Auckland could come and take advantage of the information contained in it, while the gentleman he represented in the South would suffer by if. In going into lining speculations gentl-men should satisfy themselves on the value of the property. M-ning properties, above' all things, iluctuatu in all parts of the world, and it was for the shareholders to s-.itihfy themselves of the value of the property before they invested. It was certainly | tlio duty of the directors to publish a periodical statement, it was done in England, and that frequently ; in so''ie cases monthly—in others qmrteil*-. That was a duty devolving 011 the manager, lie would ask those gentle- ' men who found fault.—(We don't find fault)— it must be obvious to eveiy shareholder that the directors must be as deeply interested in promoting the i terest-j of the mine as any shareholder cotihl be. In the financial report -fchenOn the table they would see that a sum 'of £70,000 iia.i b en got out of the mine, and a sum. ot' over £60.00 J had been, distributed as

dividends. Ho would ask any man did he cverk .own mine in the old country in which so large a dividend had been disbursed .where so small a cost had been incurred ? If in the

financial part of the business the directors had managed so well, was it not to be expected

that tliey vvoud. take the best possible care to prjmote the interests of the com-

puny ? Mr. Abbott : Ave you a slaveholder ? Mr. Kowe snitl he represented a good many in teres s, for which lie held proxies and powers of attorney. Mr. .Abbott : Produce theui—produce

tliem. Mr. Rowe continue! : Calling this meeting showed a want of confidence in the directors. If that were tile case, the ordinarycourse to be taken was to investigate the s ato of affairs and elect other directors. (We

kno'.v tliat ai well as vou.) He knew that the

directors from the beginning had fctriren to do the best for tiie company, aud to keep down the expenses to the lowest possible paint.—(H> ar, bear) He did. not believe that five gentle • en could be found who would conduct ihc affliira of the company so efficiently, economically, and well as they had been conducted by these directors up to the latest hour. He regretted that the reserve fund had not been begun sis months sooner. But he must repeat that up to the present time the affairs had been conducted honestly, fairly, aud well.

Mr. Brbton : Xou. are defending the directors when they are not attacked. ■ v -Here-ovepj; ono almost commenced to speak together. in the. confusion seemed inevitable, when! the chairman interposed, and ultimately restored order. Mr. Rowe : These .interruptions were not a manifestation of good feeling, or of very good taste. But if any dissatisfaction was expressed, it was totally without foundation. Mr. M'Evor said he must emphatically deny having expressed any dissatisfaction with, the directors. His object was to elicit answers to several questions. A monthly report shoidd be published, at all events,* together with a report of the financial position of the company, signed by the directors and the legal manager. Mr. Le Mutts said they could not find out the value of their investments, unless they had a report of the position of the mine. Mr. Tboup woul t suggest that a generj- • meeting be held at the end of-this mont . and then they could pass resolutionsoondem: - ing the directors, or otherwise,- if. they to wished; then they would find out whether Mr. Bone's five members satisfied the company or not. Mr, T. Russell said he would not go through the whi-le of the questions fully, asjthey had been completely and fully answered by the chairman. The first thing he held was, that

.hose gentlemen who called the meeting, however much fclify might wish to disclaim, the position they had taken, yet upon the face of it the calling the meeting was really and truly a vole of want of confidence in' the directors. (Cries of "No, no.") There was. no use in mincing the matter. They mightnot hare meant 'it, but as men responsible for tha actions they took—signing their names toft requisition of that nature —did amount tO fl charge against the directors. Every i one of them, however, must be glad to-, hear the disclaimers on all sides, lie himself-accepted them, and there lie would leave the matter. If at a future meeting they brought a chargeagaiust the directors he would be - happy to. meet them, lid .wished to .refer, in-tne first place, to the question proposed Mr. lie Motte, and that was the right of the Thames Gold Miniug Company to have four director? at the Board of the "Long Drive Company. Un ler the rules of * association there are five

directors, ami under the same articles ifc is enacted that any incorporated company lioldiug sliar. 3 in this company may be a director. This company was the largest shareholders iu the Long Drive, holding ninety shares. Therefore, any member of th» company might bo elected to be a member o£ the Long Drive board of directors. 'J-b, 6 ?'had only one member on the boaud»*^ : Efevwas sure that it was not the "wish of-,t3i© Shareholders to disfranchise that company, which wis so large a shareholder, for havinjji one member m the board of directors to represent them. A good deal had been made of -withholding information fro in a shareholder. He had Only heard of this charge being brought against the directors during the last few days. VVlien he first heard of it he asked the legal manager if any shareholder had been there and had been refused inf rmation. He said no shareholder of the Long Drive had been

Mr. Teoui» : Hare you a retaining fee for refused information at that office, sav* that, Mr. Lascelles. and except one gentleman, and thai Mr. Russell : Order. was Captain Breton. The particulai Mr. Tb jot? : I mean to tell you, Mr. Las- document he wanted to get was a lettei cellea, that it is a gross libel on us. You are written by a panic-struck manager—a man rery fond of that aort of thing. who said that nc -would get a ton of gold out Mr. Howe said he supposed that the object 0 f the claim, and then a few weeks afterwards of the meeting was to elicit information, and to wrote and said ho found he had made a mislearn what had been done with the Long Drive take. In the face of that, how could they say from the beginning. He had a connection they had been refused information ? He with it for a considerable time. He had been tiiought this statement was a complete "nswer a director, and bad also had the man l gement to that charge. With regard to pub.ishing of the work. He was, therefore, tolerably reports, ~ the charge that the directors ;;?t in* conversant with its proceedings from the coil • formation miwithholditfirom the shareb Idera mencenient. For a time he was paid at the —jf the direotors were dependent 011 inlwmarate of £50 a year, and afterwards, he received tion received from mining managers he could £100 a year for general management. From only wiati them better luck in their speculations, what had passed at this meeting, it appeared Their information must be better, earlier, to him that something had caused dissatisfac and more ojmplete than could be got from tion. First as to the crushing, Mr. Wood, he any mining managers, or they wonld not sucthought, had completely answered that ques- peed in their private speculations. No lnfortion. At tho time that arrangement was maJe mation from mining managers was worth.

anything, compared to that which could be I obtained earlier and from bettor sources. It ' would be nn uncertain method of valuing ; to depend on managers' reports. It I : was extremely unreliable information on wliick "to base the value of shares. That must be j ' fixed by a variety of sources and not from the i opinion of one individual. He, for one, had ; : been willing to lay every document before the j shareholders, butthe: Act under which they were incorporated expressly stated what they were to exhibit, and, as it appeared to him, ; with very good reason What was allowed to be exhibited were the books account, the bank book, and the pay sheets. All these : were in the office, and any person could come 1 and see these documents and ascertain the exact financial Dosition of the company, the j retain of gold, and every picco of information, I except the thing ho had' mentioned, and the I minutes of the meetings of the directors. J These were all open to any one who wished to : see them. -As to the plans, plans of the Long Drive and of its workings had been in existence for the past eighteen months. He had seen them in t is office, j and oh the claim. Then let them come to tho | office ancl pet information whenever they wanted it. The question of crushing at the Kuranui Company's battery had been dis- ! posed of, and, he hoped, to their satisfaction. : As a director of. the Kurariui Company, he j could state that they never sought the Long Drive crushing. "When tho ten head of Stampers were given to.the Long Drive, they I refused.another company on the same terau, ! and gavo them to the Long Drive. A great point had been made about the gold. Mr. j Troup had been very particular in his argu- I mentas to whether the bank paid for the j silver, and that the gold should be sent home. ; The Bank of New Zealand paid the Long Dri/e tho fall value of the gold and silver in ; ■ London, Jess one per cent.; and if the Long : Orive shareholders were to send their gold ; home they would not got one penny more i than they did at present. (That is just what \yant to know.) Thenif they waftted to know-' that,-why did they not come and enquire? Mr. Eaei said that the books were virtually ■ closed to the shareholders, inasmuch that any shareholder wishing; to see the books was required to hunt up the directors to get an order to do so. That wns rather hard. He was of opinion that the Long Drive ought to ' have had the best finished machinery of their own on the field, and especially from the situation of the ground;' as they would have lien secured the patronage of aUthejurrounding claims With regard to ' crushings, look' at it in. anyi'waythey would, whether they paid by the by ' the. the amount paid did re&ll;p amount to £20 a ton. As to the giving the gold to one bank, that was all right if' it > were only done" under a proper system of cheeks. He • did not wish to cast any imputations on the 'directors. He would expressly disclaim against any such intention, but still,lie thought the shareholders were quite justified in calling that meeting. . Mr. ToTHILL said he had always laid the books of accounts open to any shareholder who wished to see them. Mr. Eab& said hehad made application to look into certain accounts. Mr. Tothill's clerk had told him that he could not allow '•' him to see them unless he had an order from

the directors. Some gentlenian,hesaid, badbeen previously on the same errand, and refused. Mr. TOTHltti said he had never heard of anything of the kind. ' ' Mr. Bketos About what time were you wishingto see the accounts. • Mr. Eabli : About ten days ago. Mr. .Bui-ton said that was about the time he applied to see a Certain document, and was refused by Mr. Tothill, who was borne out by the directors ;' r but he -must say that he was informed that "any books of accounts were : open to him nt any time; ■ Mr. Bussell said, as-to the cosfc of crtiah- ' ing specimens, tho>company charged at per •' hour for crushing,- and the mining manager 1 .. uses his own?discretion as to the length of " time 'for crushing specimens. But whether " theX/ong Drivb'or any other company went to that specimen crusher, the charge was uniform: The : richer the> slone, the longer it took to crush it.— • , v ,' ■* 1 Colontl Hatti/taut said he was a director in " the so recently an.elected one that be had all" the? feelings of a shareholder, andassuch, sympathised \rttlrthem; and he ' approved of- tnei'questions put to' the directors. ■ He'thought :~tlse directors had been to blame, j inasmuch as-tliey had. not laid before the . shareholders the prospects of the mine—what it had 'done; and what it was' likely to do. They-h'ad' been: to blame in not calling the general meeting at the 'proper time; and 'failing" that,- they should have put forwardsomo gpiieral slatement to the shareholders. : It'Tras tho want of that statement --which hod - caused- this panic. They had all ' heard'that a "certain report had been received from : the'mining manager, and in consequence of that beinsr * kept bock, a general panic ensued. ' People naturally believed that things * than they really were. He had had'sSmo intention of proposing that the repor6;bf tlie mining manager be read, but after •what had taken -place, he thought it would ■' I have a'very bad effect if the report of a panicstricken manager should be published. But, on the other hand, when the directors had re- , liable' information, they were bound to commnnicate it -to the shareholders ; if not, he thought tho directors should be people who had no interest in the mine. ~ He, therefore, -must'say that the directors had been somewhat to blame in not furnishing'gi'neral infol'- ' mation to the shareholders. But the expl (nation given by the chairman and Mr. Russell must bosatisfactoryto the shareholders, and ho • had no ■ doubt that the majority at nil events would admit that the explanation was 'full and satisfactory. He was inclined to think, with Mr. Troup, that there should be j another meeting, or that the directors should I have a roport of tho present, and future prospects of the mine printed and distributed among the shareholders. The CiTatrjiait Slid tho simplest course v- seemed. to be this—tho dhvetors could not s;'e furtherinto (.he eartH tliun any other of the shareholders, but ho was sure ihey would not ' hseitate to direct the min ng manager, who ■Was a skilled engineer, to prepare such a rcport as the one required. Mr. Kowe said the very plan suggested that day with regard^.to tho gold had been pursued for same time. They got tho yold melted at tho Bank of New Zealand; then r.. clip was sent to the other banks, aud in nearly every cass the Bank of New Zealand gave the most for it. The banks after a time refused this syßtem, but ultimately thoy agreed to this —that each bank should assay the gold, Jor tho assay, aud then that the ■ Bank of--New Zealand slxould give tho highest ' price offalia-by any of the banxe. "• After SlpSte of thanks to the chairman, the meeting separated; ;