THE WAIHI SHARES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14359, 2 May 1910, Page 7

THE WAIHI SHARES.

A FURTHER DECLINE, '■}:'' STOCK EXCHANGE DISCUSSION. J ' "~ '' ': The all-absorbing topic of conversation in '' sharebroking circles during the past week has been the steady decline in the value of Waihi shares, and in the absence of any *"• *" • definite explanation on the subject speculation has been rife as to the cause of itr ■ The information published in the Herald . : on Saturday that an unfavourable change of a somewhat prolonged, duration had /taken place in the Martha reef at No. ■... 9 level came as a surprise to many, and a still further drop took place. As compared with £8 8s 6d, the last sale recorded : \ the previous day, shares sold at from £8 ;.v '.'■■■ fe to £8 3s to £8 4s 6d to £8 3s to £8 3s 6d, a drop for the day, on the last recorded :; sale, of 5s per share. The closing quota- '.'.■-' lions were buyers £8 5s 6d, sellers £8 4s / . 6d. Taking the last recorded sale as the r ;■'present, market value of the shares, and i v comparing it with the highest sale registered two months ago, viz., £10 2s, this .represents a decline in value of £1 18s / y 6d per share, and of the total capital value of the shares in the company of £954,620 '"::', 19s 6d, or nearly a million sterling. The information published in Saturday morning's Herald gave rise to a discussion on the Auckland Stock Exchange. At -the mid-day call, prior to the commencement of business, Mr. F. Hull (vice-chair- ; man of the Exchange) referred to the article in that morning's paper, giving the \.. first information of the cause of the fall in the value of Waihi shares. He went on to say that- the Stock Exchange was sup- * posed to exist, to some extent for the purpose of protecting the interests of share- „ holders. The members had already taken " ' exception to news from mines reaching the \. market after the shares had fallen in price, and in some cases companies had v— .been struck off the list. He believed that there should be no difficulty made in that * ■. ." respect between a big company and a small one. . (Applause.) They had read in the Herald that morning a reason given why >" ; * the, shares in the Waihi Company had fallen, and at the then moment he was -■..- /,-■ not aware whether it was from an official i"_-\ source. Still that was the first Lews they .had. received during the time that the t : ' shares had fallen from £10 to £8 3s. To - his mind it seemed that some of those who had sold those shares knew something about the news that h&d just been 5 . published, and probably those who sold could better afford to lose than the poor widows and others who were still left " hold ng shares because the news was not made public . earlier. He thought it was .. 0 the duty of the Exchange to draw attention to. this subject. . (Hear, hear.) * He considered that it was a most serious ~ , matter, if the facts published were true, >r ; ; for he was as much in the dark about the jiX matter as the ; bulk of the general public. r< People had gone ■to * those who should ■x' , know if anything was wrong in the mine, and were informed that there was no reason for the decline in the price of shares, and still the fall continued until that day £8 3s had been touched, and that morning they were given some news, but did not . yet know whether it was official or not. <": : It was hard to say whether any one in f'-, authority connected with the Waihi Company had sold their shares. He could not S say whether they had or not, and he ;• would not like it to be thought he insinu- '■; ated that- such a thing had been done. ?"■.■.'> He wished to make it clear, however, that if any such person in authority had taken \ advantage ]: of news that- ;, was not made public, to dispose 'of his shares, and the ***» Exchange could prove that such a thing had been done, it would not. be doing its duly to the public unless it showed them op. (Applause.) ,- The Chairman Without some motion there is no. business before us, and we must proceed with the call. : Sir. F. Whitaker declared ; that " " had it been a twopenny halfpenny company /*, stock this had occurred in, there would have been a howl from all over the room." His clients had informed him that they had been up to. the office within the last 'fr- fortnight, and were given to understand ;] that everything in the mine was all right. J/. It had also; been currently reported that " • the drop was the.result of market rigging by the brokers. The Exchange, he said, must notice this matter, as >it affected people throughout the Dominion right down to the Bluff. ; = : > *A-. ...The Chairman advised caution. He %}- said he did not like* the drop in Waihi f shares any more than the previous speakers, v.- but before taking any action they required ■■ - to go very carefully.. ?He would like to I. ■'■;-.. know of any shareholder who had been ; t: to the company's office and received mis- : :> leading information-.: The gradual drop in shares had been going on for a long time. The crosscuts through: the reef, which it was now reported 1 had. proved the values were not so good at No. 9 level, could fTot : " ; .' have been made in a day. While the : .' " ' work was proceeding assays must have been taken at intervals, and - now, as it were three months after that date, came the ''news that the ; crosscuts showed poor |:; r ■ values in the reef. If the information was true it must have been known to - some-' ':/'. body at least two months ago, but, of course, he could not state that those who -;." knew had taken advantage of that know- || ledge to part with their'shares; "It is," -i declared Mr. Buttle in conclusion, ■■■"all 1] very fine to give prompt news when it is good news, but -we want it equally " promptly if the news is bad." ~ * W* Mr. Hull added that he wished it clearly I understood that he made no charge against | ; \ anyone, but he thought the matter should g-- : ' be inquired' into, and they should find f- : , out who had been selling shares. ': ;': : The Chairman / remarked that it was p . hardly wise ;to bring such an important p matter forward without notice and on a. ?' fhort.day.; The discussion then ended. . THE LOW GRADE ORE. EXPLANATION OF POSITION. [BY TELEGRAPH.— CORRESPONDENT.] Waihi, Saturday. The steady decline in the price of shares in : the Waihi Gold Mining Company may, ( in a measure, be attributed to the fact ~: that development work to date at the . 1000 ft level has disclosed a longer stretch W of low grade ore on the Martha reef than £;■'■.••. at the level overhead. It may, however, ... be said that, as a great deal of work yet ; remains to be done on this reef, and the various other lodes, before a general comparison of levels can be made, there appears to be no sound reason why share prices should show such a marked fall. Meanwhile,, in other levels, the results in certain sections of the mine have not been up to expectations at times, but so far these temporary disappointments have ;Sf , been more than . compensated for by .improvements elsewhere, and the levels, ...when thoroughly tested, have been opened --' ttp well. . • .... «'.''' ? , ';';, SALES IN WELLINGTON- * ~. ' [By TELEGRAPH.OWN CORRESPONDENT.] •■J I' Wellington, Sunday. ' 'At the morning call on the Wellington Stock Exchange yesterday morning sales of Waihi shares were made at £8 ss. At the noon'call sales took place at £8 2s »nd £8 Is- . -'- ,■■:..'•" ■-.;; '■■■■