THE WELLINGTON-MANWATU RAILWAY COMPANY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8531, 3 April 1891, Page 6

THE WELLINGTON-MANWATU RAILWAY COMPANY.

ANNUAL MEETING. [BY TELEGRAPH.—PKESS ASSOCIATION.] 2 Wellington, Thursday. , At the annual meeting of the WellingtonManawatu Railway Company, Mr. T. G. McCarthy, chairman, stated that the year's accounts showed that the amount available for dividend purposes was £7338 16s Sd, making (with £5079 0s Cd carried forward the previous year) £12,417 17s 2d. From this the directors recommended that 3£ per cent, dividend be declared, absorbing £5950, and leaving £6-167 17s 2d available for future dividend purposes. He explained that the reasons which influenced the directors in recommending a comparatively small dividend were the present indebtedness to sundry creditors, which amounted to £37,142 lis sd. A considerable sum would be required during the present year for the purchase of additional rolling stock. Two new locomotives already ordered would cost nearly £6000, and it might be prudent to expend more money on the improvement of the landed estate. The income from the interest of land mortgages and proceeds of sales of timber was £3982 6s Id, against which was charged £804 16s, leaving a balance of £3177 9s lid available for dividend purposes. The company's total landed estate originally comprised 210,500 acres of allocated and 33,000 acres of purchased land. There were still unsold about 175,000 acres, or, after making liberal allowance for roads and reserves, say 160,000 acres. The property tax value of this unsold land was £85,000, and nearly the whole of it had been surveyed and laid off in blocks of suitable sizes for occupation. The traffic receipts last year were £67,169. This year they amounted to £71,814, or an increase of £4646 principally derived from the carriage of sheep and cattle, while the working expenses had increased by £2501 2s lid. For the increased expenditure a large slip at Kaiwarra and a collision at Johnsonville were mainly responsible. Mr. McCarthy pointed out that from a profit yielding point this year's returns did not compare favourably with those of last year, as while the increases were almost wholly derived from the carriage of live stock, the passenger traffic did not exhibit a corresponding advance. He referred to the openieg of the Gorge line as a subject of congratulation, and the inhabitants of Wellington, and the shareholders of the company might especially hope for great benefit from it. The chairman was sorry to be obliged to reiterate what he had said on previous occasions with regard to the company's land claims, and with respect to the heavy taxation under which they laboured. Their just claim to land of the value of £19,895, which had not been allotted to them, still remained as it was. The justice of the company's claim had been admitted by individual Ministers, bub no attempt had been made by the Government to remedy the evil. As to taxation, they paid for property tax alone £1689 17 Bd, which represented a charge of £2 3s 5d per cent, on the paid-up capital. They had to pay the tax on £680,000 borrowed on debentures in England. What seemed fair was, that the company should be assessed on the market value of its shares, as was the case with mining companies. No one would complain of that, bub to assess them, as was now done, on five times the market value, or thereabout, was a piece of cruel injustice. In addition to this tax, they had during the past year paid for rates to the local bodies £24701655 d, in other words the property tax and local rates have during the past year cost altogether £6160 14s Id, or asum which would of itself have been sufficient to pay a dividend of £3 12s s|d per cent. An important change had been made in the conduct of the company's business in England. The London Board had been abolished, and three gentlemen of position and ability had been appointed as Home agents of the company, and the result was that a material saving had been effected, and there was every reason to believe that the business in London was conducted with as great efficiency as at any other time. The report and balance - sheet were adopted. Mesars. C. Pharazyn, J. Kirkcaldie and D. Anderson were elected directors, the two former being re-elected. At the conclusion of the meeting the Chairman stated that the prospect for the presen t'year was encouraging. The revenue last month was £800 greater than for the corresponding month in 1890. Mr. McDonald, M.H.R., said there were signs that before long the line would be tali en over by the Government.