TAUPIRI COALMINES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17780, 13 May 1921, Page 7

TAUPIRI COALMINES.

PASi YEAR'S OPERATIONS.

DECK EASE IN THE OUTPUT.

DIHE( TORS' DIFFICULTIES.

DFYIDEXn PAYABLE TO-DAY.

I';• .umiial meeting of shareholders in r.M l.iupni Coalmines, Ltd., was held •■.-'ttil;..*. afternoon at the Chamber of ■i■•■•■ i.. lli.ro was a fair attendance, '' v - •'• 11 -t I I'll, acting-chauman ot , . I'ivsming.

I'M' i... in.- adoption of the directors' ■■ "nil annual report and balance i-: .c.-uuic hi \\ n.c 11 was pauiuiieu lliUaLm un >iii\ m, me (iiauman .1 it ii u i'.vl.emo u t irt i.o tut: utciui ii it. J. A. ioie, woo Had iii';U a a '■■ Mil' board since isAii. lie

i.-it l.i'l iiial Mr. \V. L). ilui&diC, wno ~.ij in .-ii ' "line• veil uitu ltic .loittieui i.nai l oiii(i.iii\ iur inaiiy \ ears, had oven ~l'j ~iiu in Lno \»ai-,iiu scat, lllat was un ;ii.-| i-i.irioti, qc said, since ltrtAJ that .ii.- . .laiiui.iu ol uiic iois, tne liuu. jL. i\ . \ i.- n, I.ad mi ticuupiod Ino cnair at a,, ..:.;... i iiicvung, In-, oeing at pieseut a :i i .... ,i.i. ;i i,i io Un- i 'id c iiunuy. I'ii c.- ii.ni:, Mi- lUuph said it gave the .iin-i'i muUi pleasure to be in the i.-i!;i-;i i" it < onumuid the payment of a ,'ir. ;il' dto Hie shareholders. Keierenco :,, p. i.t■ itii ami toss account showed tiiat :he ji•.• ijt k i tin year a\o.itat>io lor dis:,ii mihii v.Mi £11.<51 13s 2d. To this must bo added in.' sum ol £1018 5s 8d turvard troin last vear, making „ t-'iai .■." £12,769 18s lOd. Of this ~in■, ml £1594 Us 3d bjid been paid to the j,ii'ici< iu«* i-hari'holdeiv, leaving a net u.un ir« o; £11,175 18* 7d. This the d.it.'. i;. K.'.-oiumendpd should be dealt ■.nil b\ paying a dividend to ordinary .-.i.i'. li-\li is ol 1? Gd p«r share, absorbing £9075. b\ transit-mug to accident re...•[■vf fund £1000, and by carrying lorward ■o next vear'.-, account the sum of £1100 .os 7tl. The provision for income tax account bad been increased this year by £2000. bringing the total amount of this accouju to £8000.

Taxes Exceed Dividends. The payment for rates and taxes as shown in "the profit and loss account was £12,054 Is lOd. as against £3404 lis 7d a,st year, an increase of £3649 10s 3d. The amount paid by the company for income tax la«t year was £1.1,280. That Mas more than the shareholders, both . rdinary and preference, received by way ■>f dividend. It was therefore to be hoped that the possibility expressed by the Prime Minister of being able to effect a reduction in the rate of income tax, would be realised in the near future, and 'hat the Government would bo in a position next sess'on to remove part of •he lead of taxation now borne by all industrial concerns. During the year the >:ompany took up £5030 of the Government Soldiers' Settlement Loan, increasing its hold-'n? in War Loans to £12,500. of which £ c >ooo had been pa ; d up. The amount of the mortgages held by ihe company now stood at £11,409. This ..mount represented the balance of unpaid purchase money owing unden- the company's housing scheme. As the question of giving employment at the. mines was Mill governed almost entirely by the housing facilities in the neighbourhood, the manner in which the employees of the company had supported the housing scheme, had vindicated the foresight of the ■ lirectors in inaugurating that scheme. With reference to the coM of accident insurance, which the shareholders would see was already very high, the legislation of last year had added a further burden. The statutory increase in the amount to be, pa : d to workmen in the event of accident would next year involve an increase of from 40 to 50 per cent, in the • ost of insurance.

Decreased Output Due to Stoppages. The output of coal for the year ended March ,31, 1921, after allowing for mine consumption, was 202.110 tons, a decrease (■n L&L year's figures of nearly 20,000 tons. I his decrease was a very regrettable fealure of the year's working. The number if days in the year upon which work was .lone was reduced owing to several rauses, the greatest reduction being due to tii? strike at the company's mjpe in connection with railway faire concessions for the miners. This ws.s a matter entirely between the Rai way Department and the men, but it cost the company 17 days' output. Then there was the rai'way Mriko during the visit of the Prince of Wales, which stopped work at the mines for three days. These unfortunate stoppages, in conjunction with similar occurrences throughout New Zealand, had. had a serious effect on the Dominion's output, and had resulted in the necessity for importing large quantities of foreign coal. From Anetraia alone, the cabled returns showed that the export to New Zealand during 1 : I20 was 656,000 tons, being more than double that of 1916. This country had also had to jgo to Britain and the United States for aoal. _ " One can. only express regret that this country, wtiScb is capable of meeting the demand for coal from its own mines to a much greater extent than it is now doing, should have far* resort to these unnecessary importations at a time when economic difficulties require the restriction of imports to the narrowest limits'," said Mr. Ralph. "In addition to the heavy cost entai cd by this reduced output,- the cost of pvoduction ha» been further advanced by the operation of the national agreement with the Minors' Federation, which • ante into effect on March 1, 1920. The rffect of the changed conditions due to ' ; c national agreement is perhaps best hi. wn bv comparing the miner's average iiai v wage in 19131920 with the rates now obtaining. Foj- the first-named period the average was 19s 2d per shift, whereas for 1920-21 the average was 27s 3d per t-liift. Other classes of labour have been increased in similar ratio.

Demands of the Miners' Federation. " In February of this year new de- 1 rnands were presented by the Miners' Federation of a very drastic nature and in.luding the. following six clauses:— (1) £- x hours day, bank to bank; (2) five r'avj.' wo'k per week; (3) abolition of the roi.trart system; (4) a fortnight's holiday i 1. full v>hv : i 5) minimum weekly wage of in 6<: 16) full wage as compensation for ! t-t time due to occupational disease or :•.;<;. it These demands were carefully ...iiM.liifd bv the mineowners at a cont. nn. •• h.-lil" in Wellington, at which I i< |.:c.-> uicd the company. Mr. Reece, I :■■-..if:.i. i.f the Coalmine Owners' Asso..a'ii ..■•■•ujrir-d the chair, and I cannot , , hfii.-i than quote his remarks as ex- ;..-'-:'!_' tin' \i"ws of all the mineowners :..', iiv p.ut in the conference. ■■•.Mr. lier-ce said the mineowners, after t ~. tr ,"s' careful investigation were comj... |,(1 lu r« p'y that the increase in the , :t nf r,,al that wnii'd result therefrom v .ci'd cripple the m:nine industry and be rl.i.-isirous to the industrial life of the t rv .:n a -.'.l:i.ll'. If lb** present, de■■.,!ir|- of llie miners were granted the ;■ '\vly hi di cosi of coal would be further i., rn ;,.,| ],y 100 per c<'iii. I'nder such . .nrlii ion.s no N'ew Zealand colliery could • x-f.t again* I outside competition. For lu-e rci.-ons the inineowners felt it their ti itv to pov quite p'aiuly that they could i ~.i,,-iiti] the proposals made by the •!:'-'• 1 -deration." Operations at Ihe Company's Mines. Vim K:-tcnded Mine continued to develop in - Mit'.sfacto'- 1 ' manner in all sect nns. and furnished over 60 per cent, of t '.«■ daih output, continued the chairman. IV. i he noith side a fault had intervened, .:<-;■. i. in _ i he coal by a down-throw of ah-nil 30 ft It was proposed to drive a i iin..| sh.ouch this fauU. This, when • ••impletr. would ;.'i v e access to a very '.i ■■_'■• ana of proved coal-bearing land. \< liie liotowaro Mine, the develop-iiM-'-t,. had been of a satisfactory nature, a line output being obtained. On the north eastern side, however, the intrusion' of -i stone band bad given considerable trouble, but an endeavour to get ahead

° f .jf. u . b y leavl ?g th at area to the left might be successful. This mine was beinz equipped with electrical machinery for all operations. . Considerable delay had been experienced m obtaining certain important parts of this machinery from the makers, but the plant was now nearly complete, and within the next two or three months the installation would be in full working order. This would enable the company to work the Awaroa Ureek section of this mine, less than half a mile away,from the screens, the approach to which and preliminary development work had already been completed. 1 his extension would m a verv short time provide the company with a'considerable increase of output.

Report and Balance-sheet Adopted. In conclusion, Mr. Ralph paid the directors again recorded their high appreciation of the good services rendered by the general manager, the mine manager, a,,d the staffs at Huntly and Kotowaro. The secretary and his staff had conducted the business of the company at the head office with unremitting and capable attention. The directors had given the closest attention to the company's operations during the past -Near, and had done their utmost to achieve the best results an-1 to promote the interests oi the shareholders in every way. The motion for the adoption of the report and balance-sheet was seconded by Mr A. J. Parker and carried unanimously. The retiring directors, Messrs. I arker and Holgate, were re-elected, both returning thanks, and Mr. R. E. Isaacs was reappointed auditor. Votes of thanks were accorded to the directors, the general manager, Mr. J. Bishop, and to the secretary "and staffs at the mine and in Auckland."

Large Output from Waikato Field.

In the coarse of his reply acknowledging tho vote, Mr. Bishop said the past yearn working had been one of the most strenuous he had experienced in a very long connection with coalmining. The demands of the workers had been so varied and so extravagant as to make one hesitate whether to continue or to ••throw up the spongo." However, ho believed the time had come when more reasonable counsels would prevail. Th* Taupiri Company did not desire to work its men at starvation wages. He had never met a board that was so readv to meet the demands of the men. reasonable, or, as some of them were, unreasonable. With regard to the Waikato coalfield, Mr. Bishop said it was one of the very best in New Zealand, and the coal worked from the Extended mine was perhaps the best in the Waikato field. In the past 32 years it had yielded some 2,600.000 tons of coal. The Rotowaro he'd was opening out very well, and be hoped the output this year would be very largely increased.

Mr. Ralph acknowledged the vote of thanks accorded to the directors. He said there had been a great deal of industrial strife during the year, and the directors had done their best to steer a clear course. He thought they had attained their object, and the thanks of the_ shareholders compensated them for their strenuous work. The dividend of Is 6d per ordinary share -would, he announced, be payable to-day, or as soon as the secretary, Mr. J. Fotheringham. could despatch the cheques from the Auckland office.