SIR J. LAING AND SONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13702, 19 March 1908, Page 5

SIR J. LAING AND SONS.

COMPANY'S HEAVY LOSSES. By Telegraph..— Association.—Copyright. London, March 17. The hearing of the petition for the compulsory winding-up of the shipbuilding firm of Sir James Laing and Sons was adjourned in order to permit of the cross-examination of witnesses. Counsel stated that the company, since 1906, had lost upwards of a quarter of a million sterling. No reason was tendered for the losses. Sir James Laing and Sons were the principals in what was known as the Laing syndicate, formed last year to take up the contract for the carriage of Australian mails to London on the expiry of the contract of the Orient Company. The syndicate had a capital of £30,000,' and the first directors were Lord Armstrong (Sir \Y. T. Armstrong, Whitworth, and Co., Limited), Mr. Albert Maxim (Vickers, Son, and Maxim, Limited), Mr. .1. H. B. Noble (Sir W. T. Armstrong, Whitworth, and Co., Limited), Mr. 11. T. Clarke (Sir James Laing and Sons, Limited), Mr. J. W. Porter, and Mr. William Beardmore. It had been arranged that Beardmores, Vickers, Sons, and Maxim, Sir W. T. Armstrong, Whitworth, and Co., and Laings, should share the, building of the steamers required for the. fulfilment of the contract. There whs trouble from the beginning, and before long Mr. William Beardmore and Vickers, Sou, and Maxim retired from the syndicate. As time passed, and there were lit indications that the syndicate were making adequate preparations for the fulfilment of the contract, Federal Ministers became anxious, and demands were made that the guarantee of £25,000, which had been made, should be increased. Ultimately, after long drawnout negotiations, the contract was cancelled early in July last. Then followed au attempt by the Commonwealth Government to convert into cash the £25,000 guarantee of Messrs. Barclay and Co. for the fulfilment of the contract by Sir James Laing and Sons. The guarantee was for £25,000 " liquidated damages for any default on the part of Sir James Laing and Sons." So far the efforts of the Commonwealth to get this money have been unavailing, and when the Senate opened on January 22 the VicePresident of the Executive Council (Senator Best), in reply to a question, stated that a writ had been issued bv the Commonwealth against Barclay and Co. for the £25,000 guarantee. The issuing of another writ, in connection with the failure of the contractors to carry out that contract, was being considered by the Government.