UNION BANK OF AUSTRALIA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6055, 14 April 1881, Page 6

UNION BANK OF AUSTRALIA.

CD Air, Y News, Fob. 1, ISBl.] A SPECIAL general meeting of tho shareholders of the Union Bank of Australia (Limitod), was held yesterday afternoon at the head office, No. 1, Bank-buildings, Lothbury, Mr. Robert Campbell in the chair. Tho Manager (Mr. W. E. Mewburn) read the report, which was a3 follows :—" The Directors have much pleasure in presenting to the proprietors the accounts of the London office and branches as on August 81, in accordance with the new arrangements, explained atlast annual meeting. On this occasion the accounts include the profits in London for two months ending August 31 last, and in the Colonies for eight months ending tho same date. These profits have admitted, after ample provision for every bad and doubtful debt, of the declaration of a dividend and bonus together at the rate of 16 per cent, per annum ; viz., a dividend of £1 15s, and a bonus of 53 por share for tho halfyear: The extreme stringency of money which lately prevailed in the Australian Colonies, has been succeeded by a period of unprecedented financial ease. This marked change has been caused partly by very favourable pastoral and agricultural seasons, by the good price obtained for wool, and by the cessation of Government land sales; but it is also largely attributable to the transfer of some of the superabundant money of Europe to the Colonies, in public loans, and in remittances through various channels for investment. There is moreover, for the time being, some abatement in that spirit of enterprise which characterises the Australian Colonies. Under these circumstances, the funds of the Bank are at present not employed thore to the customary extent, considerably less remunerative rate 3 are current, and banking profits are prejudicially affected. Trade, however, although dull, is iound ; and the Directors confidently anticipate that after no long time new business and industries will spring up, which will absorb tho surplus money of the Colonies. When any such revival shall take place, this Bank will be in a most favourable) position to take advantage thereof. The Directors having decided, after due consideration, to extend the bank's operations to the new Colony of Fiji, a branch has accordingly been opened at Levuka. The Directors have again great pleasure in recording their high appreciation of the valuable services of the General Manager, Mr. M'ilullen, the chief officer for New Zealand, tho London manager, the branch managers, and tho staff generally at home and abroad. The annexed balance-sheet presents a net amount of available profit of £135,005 9u 7d. Of this the dividend and bonus will absorb£l2o,ooo, and leave £15,005 0s 7d to be carried forward The divi dend warrants will be transmitted by post, on Feb. 7, and the dividend and bonus will be payable in the Colonies at such time as the General Manager shall fix after receipt of telegram. The balanco-shest up to""August 31 was as follows :—Liabilities—Capital, £4,500,000; less reserve liability, ; paid up, £1,500,000: reserve funds, £810,500; circulation, £345,443; deposits, £6,719,432 5s 10d; bills payable and other liabilities (including reserves held against doubtful debts), £1,128,032 12s fld; balance of undivided profits, £135,005 9s 7d; total, £10,045,003 8s 2d. Assets.—Specie on hand and rash balances, £1,335,448 Is 3d ; bullion on hand and in transitu, £58,520 ISs 3d ; money at call and short notice in London, £593,000 ; Government securities, t1,042.304 11s; bills receivable, loano and others securities at London office, f1,385,760 12s 7d; bills discounted, bills receivable, loans and other securities at the branches, £5,958,473 5s Id; bank premises and property, £270,550; total, £10,045,063 8s 2d. Statement of Profits.—Balance of undivided profits at June 30. ISBO, £125,1917s 4d ; out of which a dividend and bonus were declared of £120,000; leaving a balance of £5191 7s 4d. Profits at tho branches for eight months ended August 31, 18S0, and at the London oflice for two months ending same dato, after making provision for all bad and doubtful debts, £210,269 17s 2d; less—Remuneration to the local Directors, and salaries and allowances to the colonial staff, £66,058 14s 3d; general expenses in the Colonies, including rent, taxes, stationery, kc, £17,256 17s Id; remuneration to the Board of Directors and Auditors, salaries of London office staff, rent, taxes, stationery, and geueral expenses, £2900 10s Id ; income tax, £3004 7s Cd.—£79,855 14s lid, leaving £130, 414 2s 3d; balance of undivided profits ftt this date, £135,605 9s 7d. Statement of Keserro Funds: New Zealand Imperial Four per Cent. Debentures, £200,000; Canada Imperial Four per Cent. Debentures, £150,000; Colonial Government Debentures, £150,000 ; making £500,000. Bank promises and property, £270,550 ; balance of reserve funds not specially invested, £39,950; making £310,500: Total reserve funds, £310,500.—London, Janaary 20,1551. John S. Hill, E. A. Brooks, Arthur Flower, Directors ; W. R. Mewburn, manager ; E. Buckler, accountant. We Certify that the various securities held in London have'boon prodncod to us, and that wo have examined the balance books of the several branches in the colonies for eight months ending August 31,1850, and the books and accounts of tho London office for two months ending tho same date, and, having compared the combined results with the above balance-sheet, have found tho samo correct.—Albert Deacon, R. P. Harding, auditors. Tho Chairman said : Gentlemen—The statement of accounts now submitted to you and adverted to in the report of the Directors which has just been read, cannot fail to be satisfactory to you; and 1 can emphatically corroborate the statement regarding the ample provision made for every bad and doubtful debt, in which provision the Committee of Accounts have been far more liberal than Mr. M'ilullen, who certainly generally orrs on tho side of caution. These accounts embrace, aa the chairman at the last meeting said they would, eight months of the colonial and two montli3 of the London accounts, which alteration, you. remoinoer, was proposed by tho auditors, in order that tho accounts, both in the Colonies and in London, should bo brought down to an even date with, however, the slightly disagreeable result to you of postponing the payment of the dividend by about three weeks. The profits this time include eight mouths' colonial operations. This additional two months is considerably more than the deficient, four ci on tits in London, nnd Itcnco wo lihtc considered it proper to carry forward a much larger sum <>f unundivided profit—viz., £15,005, as against £0191 at the last meeting. In future, of course, the profits both in London and the Colonies, will be for six months only. Although the accounts are brought down to August 31 last, both in London and the Colonies, the Directors have, as usual, made ample provision for doubtful debts to the latest dates by telegram. These-bare happily proved exceptionally small. Tho immunity from bad debts caused by tho redundance of money in the Colonies aud the great prosperity now reigning there, is oi great importance seeing the large accounts written off during tho last ten years, and will have a good influence upon our future dividends. Turning to the statement of accounts presented to you, tho following are tho salient points of difference from the previous halfyear, il'ho doposits amount to £6,719,432, being about tho same as last half-year. Bills payable and other liabilities (including reserves hold against doubtful debts) amount to £1,123,082, showing a reduction of about half a million. Specie in hand, and cash balances and bullion in hand and in transition, amount to f1,358,974, being about £200,000 more than in the Previous half-year: Now this is the item which we o not exactly like ; bills discounted, bills receivable, loans and other securities at the branches, £5,958,473, showing a reduction of half a million on account of the decreased demand for money in the Colonies, There has been a small reduction in the charges both in London and in tho Colonies, taking into consideration the eight months in the colonies and tho two months in London ; and this cannot fail to bo satisfactory. (Hear, hear.) As stated in the report, the redundance of money in the colonies must, I fear, affect our dividends, though we hope that the London profits, with the large amount of money we have on this side, will show a much bettor result than usual, on account of the tendency of money here to rise from revival of trade and other causes now beginning to oporate. (Hear, hoar.) The bringing of our Bank under limited liabiltty has been successfully accomplished, and I congratulate the shareholders on this result; for our credit, like that of tho great London banks, who have adopted limited liability, has rather improved than otherwise. (Cheers.) Our acceptances are discounted in tho London biU market at tho finost rates, and our credits both in tho East and elsewhere, are held in high estimation, and well they may be so, with our £2,300,000 of paid-up capital and reserves,

and our £3,000,000 of reserved liability. We have an increase of about 100 shareholders, the improvement in the standing of whom has continued. Notwithstanding the present reduction in the value of money in the Colonies, which our report explains, the resources of the Colonies of Australia and New Zealand are so great and of so varied a character, that our bank, with its large capital and reserves, and its other great resources, must soon be wanted, and eur assets are so liquid that we shall be ready to take advantage of the great development of business and new industries which must be brought about by the revival of colonial enterprise, fostered by the cheapness of money now ruling there. (Hear, hear.) The cheapor money now is in the Colonies the sooner the change to dearer money will come : and, knowing as I do, from long experience, that colonial enterprise, assisted by financial facilities, must soon revive, I confidently anticipate that any diminution of our future protits will not be of long duration. The resources of the various Australian Colonics and New Zealand are practically illimitable, and are only controlled by the want of population. A trade of nearly 100 millions sterling carried on by about 2$- millions of people has certainly never been previously known in history. (Cheers.) The world's consumption, too, of our great staple, wool, keeps up with our increased production. In 1870, the quantity of wool imported hero from the Australian Colonies and the Cape did not exceed 500,000 bales, and there was then a stock in first hands of about 150,000 bales. Wo now ; import more than a mil'ion bales of wool, with the striking result that there is scarcely a bale left in first hands. (Hear, hear.) In this connection there is one consideration affecting tho continuance of the prosI perity of the Australian and New Zealand Colonies I which has hitherto not had the prominence given to it which it deserves—this is, that, while tho world's area of land for tropical and cereal produce is unlimited, the area of land fitted for the production of mtrino wool is comparatively limited, and remember that from this source we derive annually not far short of 20 millions sterling. (Hear, hear.) The development of our mineral resources is going on rapidly, and the mines of gold, copper, tin, iron, and coal, which are inexhaustible, are being successfully worked,-and are; increasing year by year. The production of gold in New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, and New Zealand i 3 only in its infancy, and, with the appliances of the best modern machinery, such as is employed in Victoria, must yield large results. Tho miners are now at Ballarat down to 1300 or 1400 feet, and the deeper they go the richer are the lodes. (Cheers.) The extcntion of railways into the interior of all the Colonies now being pushed rapidly forward, must all to their pastoral, agricultural, and mineral wealth. Extensive immigration has made the United States tho greatest country In the world, and by the same means Australia and Now Zealand ought to become in time great countries. The Agricultural Commission, presided over by the Duke of Richmond, recommends emigration as the panacea for Ireland's ills, and it certainly will attain this end far better than the Coercion Bill or the shooting down of Irish peasants. (Laughter.) Every adult landed in the Australian Colonies consumes British manufactures, to the value of -15 to £20 annually, and it certainly will, on the solid ground of £ s d, pay the British Government to Inaugurate on a large scalo the deportation of English, Irish, and Scotish emigrants yearly to Canada and the Australian Colonies. There is no doubt the Australian Colonies would liberally contribute to this groat work. The Colony of New Zealand has been lately much decried here, on account of its large indebtedness in proportion to its population, and its bonds have consequently suffered somewhat in value. A change, however, is beginning te come over the ideas of the people here. They begin to see that retrenchment is the order of the day iu New Zealand; that her engagements are punctually met; that the taxation necessary for making head against the intcrost of her large debt is well responded to; and that her vast resources are rapidly developing. Sho is the only one of tho Australian Colonies where English grasses flourish, and which, with a trifling help from turnips or lucerne in her short winter of three months, will carry four, five, and six sheep, and in Napier and other favoured spots even ten sheep, to the acre against Australia's two acres to each sheep. Mr. M'Mullen has lately written that he has great faith in her agricultural prospects, and thinks she will eventually outstrip the Australian Colonies and become the future Great Britain of the South. Ho adds, "'Her climate is splendid, and her resources— pastoral, agricultural, and mineral —are all but illimitable." This testimony from Mr. M'Mullen in favour of this much-abused colony is tho more valuable, as from his long residence in Victoria his prepossessions ought to be in favour of Australia. I need say nothing in favour of tho Australian Colonies. Their prosperity is so great that they require no eulogium from me. It is only on account of New Zealand's state not being so satisfactory as that of Australia that I have confined my remarks to endeavouring to show that, although at present under a cloud, she possesses all the elements of future greatness. (Hear, hear.) The only other topic connected with the progress of colonial prosperity is the success of the two shipments of frozen meat, that by the Protos, lately arrived after a long passage of sixty-four days, having resulted in an average sale of nearly 7d per lb for the meat, and of about Is per lb for 100 tons of fresh butter, the latter costing 5d to Od per lb in the colony. The future of the colonial meat trade must eventually be large, and only limited by the means of transport. By the latest colonial statistics -I see that New South Wales, Queensland, and New Zealand alone could at present furnish a surplus for export of 100,000 tons of meat, which at 2d per lb would yield upwards of one million and a half sterling, and this can be indefinitely 'extended But even these 100,000 tons of meat would require more than 300 ships or steamers at 300 tons of meat each, which is a large quantity of meat for each ship. As for the consumption of meat in England and on the Continent, it i 3 almost unlimited, with the reduction of price, and I feel confident that good meat in England will not descend below 5d to 6d per lb, leaving thus, after paying a freight of 2d per lb, or about £19 per ton, an ample margin over the 2d per lb I have indicated as its original value in tho colonies. There is only one other subject I will trouble you with, after what you must consider a long and wearisome address; but it is one of the greatest interest to you, for on this the welfare of our bank mainly depends ; I mean the conduct of our business by our colonial and London staff of officers, who cen ainly deserve your and the directors' best acknowledgements. Mr. M'Mullen, Mr Palmer, and Mr. Mewburn have only the bank's interests at heart, and their efforts for the good of the bank have been most unwearied and single-minded, amid the stirring and eventful changes of the last two years, during which they have had great and grave responsibilities cast upon them. (Cheers.) Their efforts have been well and ably seconded by the other superior officers and by the staff generally. We have much to thank them for. (Cheers.) If there is any further information you wish for I shall be happy to afford it; meanwhile, I beg to move the adoption of the report and accounts. Mr. W. Botley, in seconding the motion, congratulated the meeting on the result of the adoption of limited liabilitly, and on the wide outlet afforded by the Australian colonies and New Zealand for the redundant population of Great Britain and Ireland. The motion was then adopted without any previous discussion, and a dividend of £115s per share, with the addition of 5s per share bonus, making together 16 per cent, per annum, having been declared, on the motion of Mr. John Balfour, seconded by Major Flomer, thanks were voted to the directors and the officers of the bank, and the meeting then separated.