WAIKATO DAIRYING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19416, 26 August 1926, Page 13

WAIKATO DAIRYING.

HEW ZEALAND CO-OP. COMPANY.

REVIEW of past season. 5 . \ I V ADDRESS BY MR. GOODFELLOW. MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS. - (Kx tended Report by Arrangement.) [bv telegraph.-- own correspondent. ] HAMILTON. Wednesday. The annual meeting of the New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company, Limited, was held at Hamilton to-day. Mr. Dynes Fulton, chairman of directors, presided over an attendance of several hundred shareholders, and associated with him on flit' platform were Mr. W. Goodfellow, managing-director, Mr. H. H, Sterling, general manager, and the majority of the directors. '"The report, which has already been published, and the balance-sheet and auditors' report, .were taken as read. liuijioving the adoption of the report and .balance-sheet the chairman said that.,, owing to weather conditions it was, not anticipated that tho past season's output would, equal the previous year's production. In common with the rest of New Zealand the company's total production of butter had shown a slight decrease, amounting to 1.09 per cent, for the, season., .On the other hand, cheese had. slightly increased, so that the total quantity of butter-fat produced by the company's suppliers was approximately the same as during th« previous season. The total quantity of dairy produce manufactured, including cheese, casein, and mill: powder, was 30.215 tons, as compared with 31,776 tons during the previous year. The climatic conditions during the season 'just ended, continued Mr. Fulton,, were the worst experienced for some four or five years past, and farmers were to be congratulated on their wisdom and foresight in being prepared with supplementary fodder to tide them- over tho late spring and in many cases a dry autumn. That foresight on tho part of many farmers-was responsible to a great extent for the very satisfactory production in the company-!! district in comparison with many other parts of the Dominion. Tjie shareholders in the company had every rea:-:ori to be satisfied with the result.

High Standard of Quality. Continuing, Mr. Fulton s>aid if was pleasing to the directors to be able to report that the quality of the company's produce had , more than maintained ; its, previous high standard. The directors realised that this- had been achieved only by the joint efforts of the suppliers and the company's officials. . The importance of producing the highest, possible quality could not be over-estimated, and it.was the; company's policy to continue to pay constant attention to this matter. Mr. Fulton said the amendment to the Dairy Industry Act of this "year was a step izi tho right.direction, providing as it did for the universal payment for 'but-ter-fat according: to/ the,... grading. ...Mr. Fulton referred to the increase in the amount.;of herd-testing that, was being carried out throughout the district. Undoubtedly. he., said, .splendid . work . was being dque v and greatly increased inle.resf in herd-testing had been displayed during the last two. years, and; a large , .number of, cows, were no\y - ;under.: test,. .

. Changes of Officers. I Mr. Fulton said that during last year Mr, H, H Had :been appointed i general manager, of the company. Mr. W. Goodfeliow would retain the position I of managing-director.of the company 4 and would .continue to supervise several important departments of tbe: business. '. 't'lie result of the election to fill vaciin- j cies on thi- board of directors was announced arid Mr I ,' Fulton paid a tribute j :;f.o:-.the services, rendered by tire retiring j directors, ■"Messrs','' "'Claud.' Motion'"Hind J 0 ;'"-:!'' 1 ' Clark. ; The ■...new "members,;, Mfesi's. J J. B. McKinney an-.I W. H. Allen;, were'-wokemed to tho board. Tfianks'! to tile, company's staff were also expressed ' by the chairman Mr. (J. Hiornw. Te Kuiti, seconded the motion.

A cable v, .u-, received from Mr. Claud J lotion, foimerly chairman of dn odors of the company and now u member of the ■Dairy Control Board in London, extending best wishes to the directors, shareholders an:] staff of the company and expressing his hearty appreciation of- the very loyal support always ...accorded to liijn during Ins long association with ; the industry. Mr. Motion : said they could always rely j 'Hi his loyal support i.o further the interests; o* the producers in every, par-"! tkular while he was tlic'ir representative i in London. | iii,ln a review .of the accounts for: the i year, Mr, Goodfeliow said the balance- j sheet under review was the best;that-had 1 been '.presented to the shareholders, 'the I company being in a stronger, financial posi- j .• tiop than at; any .period of H.ts-<: existence since the amalgamation seven , years ago. The p;ii.;-np capital during the year had increased by £59,520 arid now stood at £907,936. If reserves and the sum standing at the credit- : of tiio milk powder profit and loss account were added., the total paid-up capital and re erves would amount, to £863,000,

Bonus to Suppliers. The amount due to suppliers for bonus, aftor ttllowing for : . share- deductions, was £412,100 and £214,120. less than the previous „sepon. - This was ■ partly due ,Lo the higher average 1 monthly advance payment, which had been made by the company. during the- Sundry -creditors had increased by £16,110 s while sundry depositors had. also increased by : £18,580This money, however, had been placed osi . deposit with the company largely for flic purpose of 'investment. in the Glen Afton Colliery debentures when these were, available. The amount, advanced by the company's hankers showed,,an increase of £45,437, on the. general account., due to the more liberal advances to suppliers, and, an increase 1 of £225,666 in advances Under red letter credits against produce awaiting shipment. This 'Hum, said Mr. Goodfellow, was considerably - greater than .usual,,, which was due- to the large quantity' of butter held back by the Dairy Control Board; Referring to ' the other side ■■ of-the. balance-sheet, Mr. .Goodfellow pointed out that £42,678 had been.written off the company's plant and property account for the year, while the sum of £19,667 represented the "cost of capital, additions, the • not result being a reduction in the, value 'oi plant and property , lor the, year of £23,011. The milk powder development account had, also, been reduced by £3363.', •fiundry debtors,' including estimated surpluses from London, were lews than T.hi- previous yar by £220,711. Loans to the. suppliers of £32,951 had . been increased by £IO3O. Investments,; totalling £42,988, had been increased by £20,917,. largely.' due to the, ' company's: financial interest "in 1 the Dairy Finance Company. Stocks of produce in store, valued at £584.394, were greater by £328,217 as compared with the previous season. The provision: for possible. ..market fluctuations. " of dairy produce- had been decreased by. £16,561, which was £1561 more than the act nil amount added ' to this account for lie previous season. ■ ■

. . Referring to the sharp,., position, Mr. Good fellow stated : that-, shares held by suppliers'were ns follow:- ;

• . Subscribed. Paid-up. •£ • £ Butter ... 638,503 '540,749: Cheese .. .. • 1f.9,92tt 88,010 Glfixo; : • .. . .. 22,520 19,476 Coal and Timber .. 137,282 114.895 Casein .. • 86,443 J 9,007 Milk Powder , .. 300,978 125,797 £1,205,652 £907,936 Mr. Good fellow reported that the "company's properties and plants were in firstclass order. During the past year , a large amount of new and. up-to-date plant had been added to the company's equipment, which had, as usual, been paid for out of the current season's revenue. Stocks of Produce. Referring to the stock position, Mr. Goddfellow stated that since May 31 a considerable quantity..- of ,dairy produce had been disposed of, and on August 16 the unsold stock position was. as, fol-lows:—-Butter, 3800 tons; cheese,.4oo tons; casein, 70 tons, milk powder, 1898 tons. The stock of butter in London on August 16 was 64,126 boxes, 73,360 boxes were afloat and 16,148 boxes were in store in New Zealand and would be shipped before the end of this month. The stock of cheese in London at August 16 was only 239 crates. There were 5171 crates afloat and 219 crates in store awaiting shipment, which would also be cleared before the end • of August. All the past season's' casein, with the exception of 70 tons, had;been sold. During the year;the milk powder stocks had' been reduced very substantially,.'and now stood 'at a norma]. figure, with only a margin l of .'SOO. tons over actual current requirements.

All the above produce, continued Mr. Goodfellow, had been valued, after consultation " 'with the" company's London office. A, careful estimate had been made, and the annual accounts had been valued as loiloWs:

Butter.—Estimated sales for August, 1725, London; September, 178s, London; October, 180s, London. Cheese.—September, 84s, London: October, 86s, London. Casein.—Lactic and rennet, £SO per ton f.o.b. , Milk Powder.—Skim, £4O per ton f.o.b. Improvement in Quality. , "Referring to the quality of the'produce manufactured during the past, year, the speaker'said it.gave him great, pleasure to congratulate trie suppliers of the company on. tho improvement, in the quality of milk and; cream supplied, during the year. The average, grade of " Anchor " butter was 92.51, .compared .with 91.79 for the previous'year. The average grade of " Anchor " cheese wa§ .91.69, compared with 91.30 for the previous season. The. amount of superfine butter-fat paid for during the past year was 77.31 per cent., ' and the percentage- of superfine butter, with a minimum grade of 92 points', v/as 78.50: per cent.; /as compared with ( ; .6.68 per cent, for the previousseason: From. September" to-March (the. export ; season) 84.12 per cent, of the company's butter was graded superfine. The improvement in quality was not only, due -to a, favourable season, but also to ere an grading and dairy farm instruction. Tho above figures compared more than favourable' with the Dominion, figures recently published, which stated that 70.69 per cent, of the butter graded in New Zealand graded 92 points and .upwards, while only 50 per cent, of the Dominion cheese, reached a', corresponding grade. Mr. Goodfellow congratulated the Dairy Division, which, acting on the recommendation of the Dairy Control Board, had recently announced its intension of procuring the necessary legislation to enforce(a) Compulsory grading of all milk and cream; (b) payment for milk and cream "ori a quality basis; (c) a national brand, all first grade -butter and cheese exported to be. marked with the national*brand. ..

,: Compulsory cream, grading and. the, .system of paying, for .quality had been in operation for many years in. the Auckland Province, and had undoubtedly resulted in a tremendous improvement in the qualify of their produce. The action of the Dairy Division; therefore, was in the nature, of an, extension of. a system which s had already 'been thoroughly ' tested. ' I Mr. Goodfellow said he once again de--1 sired to emphasise the necessity for continuous improvement in the quality of their produce. There must, be no slackening of their efforts' to' maintain the high reputation which the company " Anchor " brancl " butter, cheese; casein and milk powder had obtained during recent years in rhc markets uf the world. He staled that the company's competitors, namely; Australia, Siberia, -Canada and Ireland, bact all ma do substantial improvement in the quality of their goods during the past year or two, but if the suppliers would continue ,to do their share they:* need have no fear of (he quality and reputation of ''Anchor "brand in the future. The Company's Turnover. "We must not forget,*\ said Mr. Good.fellow, that,;, Australia, is our principal competitor, because that country produces ancl' markets a very large quantity of butter at the «;fmc period; of the year ,as; this Dominion,;' and .' for that reason Australia, rather than Denmark, is the country we must watch." The speaker 'then' quoted figures supplied bv the Australian Dairy Produce Control jßoa'rd, and stated that 75 per/ cent, of, Australian 'butter;exported was- classified,. ;as .choicest, -and 17 per cent, as seconds, according to their standard. .;, , •Referring, 'to •• sales,, he said the company's gross turnover for the past year amounted to' £4,800,000. '■ In addition to j ■ shipping large quantities of butter to the I United Kingdom limited quantities had I been shipped and sold to the following I countries United States . of America, | the Orient, Honolulu, South America;j Canada and Panama. * The whole of the cheese exported,, had been, sent to England, with the exception of a small 'quantity to Australia. : : Germany had beer, the principal buyer of the company's casein, and .for the first time some good 1 business-had ' been done with Japan and Java. Milk powder sales continued to expand and (hiring the year 4629. tons had ; been disposed of, which had the' of . reducing stocks to a , normal basis. The local and Eastern 1 sales of skim-milk powder now. amounted to 256 ' toiis per ' aiminn-: and ' representod the output of "approximately 1250 cow:-

'The Eastern ; business was 5; developing very satisfactorily indeed, and although somewhat slow, he had ,uo hesitation in ;stating that the time would" come \yhep .large quantities of the company's milk powder, as well as butter and casein would find its way to Java, China and Japan ■■■■■ 1 - ' ■■■■

The Strike in England. Whilo dealing with the question of sales,' 'Mr. " Goodfellow said he would like briefly to refer to an incident which occurred iu.connection with the coal strike m Great Britain. , _ Immediately the British miners carne out on strike, he had cabled Mr. J. ?>. "Wright, who was then manager of the -company- in London, instructing him to co-operate- with the Board of Trade. .Mr. . Wright ; immediately replied to the effect that he had conferred with the officers, of the Board of Trade raid had advised then what had been done and what was being done regarding the sales and prices .of 'dairy produce. The officials of the Board of Trade stated that they " were thoroughly satisfied. Mr. Wright' had further 1 stated in the ssime cable, that in his 'opinion, if tho New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company, Ltd.. properly, handled the sale of dairy pioduco, during the strike the. result would disarm any criticism in London' j*ega"d!!ic the Control Board's policy. Mi. Good follow further staled that on "May 12 he had cabled to London strongiy advocating that- the British Government should 'commandeer all the butter and cheese in London or afloat, as this; would, he the only equitable method' of dealing with the position. During the strike, the Dairy Company had sold 27,000 boxes, of. butter, aiul had received the thanks oi the. Board of Trade for. the, help given during the crisis!' 'Mr.' Good fellow said the:; statement" made in ;Wellington that litr Dairv Company had tried to exploit the .••position at Home. during the strike was ;absolutely fake ami. without ipundatioß; Mr. Good fellow said he was of tile opinion that the company's actionduring Ihc strike had completely removed all official objection to national control.

Sir Philip Cuiiliffe Lister, President of the Board of Trade, had recently made the following very satisfactory statement during a debate in the House of Commons',, when. some unfair comments were made regarding - the action of this Dominion in regard to control. Sir Philip, said:— -■

,1. Control boards ; were a natural development "and sound in principle. By pooling and collective organisations could be obtained certain advantages, notably: —(a) Uniformity in the grading of the product; (h) improved methods of marketing the product or the consumer; (c) satisfactory continuity of supplies; and (d) the avoidance of speculation (2). He was sure that any attempt to withhold supplies without a monopoly (and there was no question of that) would bo bound to defeat its own object, while a sound Control Board policy benefited consumers as well as the producers. (3). Moreover, the boards were not peculiar to the Empire. Practically . the whole of the CaliFornian fruit and Danish bacon was similarly marketed in Britain. The Trading Department.

Referring to the company's trading department, Mr. Goodfellow stated the board of directors had recently decided on a' change in policy and the trading de partrnent of the company would shortly be organised ori a new'basis. In future the company would handle not only separators, but also superphosphate, lime and slag and in all cases the goods would be supplied to suppliers at current rates, less a rebate which would represent approximately the \vhole of the profit, Bv this means the directors would be able to give further service to the company's suppliers. Referring to the employees' 'superannuation fund, which was established over, six years ago, he stated that the assets of the fund now amounted to £29,000, and a substantial amount would shortly be invested in Glen Afton debentures." * The directors had instructed the company's solicitor to thoroughly overhaul the company's articles of association, with the object: of bringing them up-to-date. As- this was a very important matter - the revised 7 articles had been submitted to Mr. C. P. Skerrett and Sir John Finlay. A draft was now nearing completion and the directors anticipated being able to have the whole question considered at an extraordinary meeting of shareholders to be held in the near future.

Referring to fhe Glen Afton collieries, he stated that this department had recently been formed • into a company called the Glen Afton Collieries, Limited, with a- capital or £IOO.OOO. For the 12 months ending June 30, the output of i-fial amounted to tons, as compared with 156,455'"t6i)3- for the previous year. . The, .total quantity of coal won from the colliery £o^date was 412,179 tons. The output, had decreased slightly, due to: the miners' strike, which resulted in the colliery being closed for five weeks. TV company's factories, however, were nlwavti well stocked with coal and little or no'inconvenience had been suffered in that' respect. " * - ■ The, Glen Afton miners were apparently ordered out ! by the C'Oal Miners' Council prior to negotiations being opened for the new agreement, which.had recently been completed. No doubt the Miners'. •Conncil was of the opinion that , concessions could . be. obtained from the dairy company's colliery, which could later be embodied ,in the ,new agreement. However, the result of this disastrous ; experiment' had o&e,ri unsatisfactory! both ; for the . miners and the owners. The former had'gained nothing by way of concessions, •while ~the strike, .had cost the company something like £6OOO and had resulted in the permanent loss of considerable business. "We have informed the representatives of the - miners," said Mr. Goodfellow, ." that if , trouble arises, discussion must takf plac'e prior to a strike being called. Such a reasonable attitude, we are sure, would heartily be endorsed by all members of; the company."

Financing Suppliers. In view of the,demand from the company's suppliers for financial assistance, the" New Zealand Dairy Finance Company,. had;..beien. 'formed as ,:a subsidiary, company with a nominal capital "of £75.000! ' Under an arrangement with the company's bankers the dairy company subscribed one-third of the capital required. Loans were made to shareholders secured by bill of sale; repayment being made by the deduction of one-third of the milk or cream cheque, as the case might be, interest being charged at 2 per cent, over ~the current bank rate. . Mr. Good fellow said the directors and management had had .considerable experience with this class of finance and by limiting the loans to £350 to any one shareholder it was anticipated that bad debts. would be more than covered by proiits earned. In addition, very valuable service was being rendered to many struggling farmers who had ample feed but insufficient, capital to stock up -their pro pe.rtv. ■Referring to the New Zealand Co-opera-,, tive Herd-testing Association, he stated that the dairy company had guaranteed this account for the sunt of £SOOO, ivi order to enable the .Herd-testing Association to purchase the necessary equip-; merit. The chairman had put a tremendous amount ■>:' time into tho herd-testing movement and the- unqualified success* of the association to-day was largely the result of his inilalive Tho results obtained by. the association were, really , wonderful and were causing world-wide comment. It was interesting to •note;'he said, that as, far as was' known the New , Zealand: Co-operative 'Herd-testing Association was the largest institution of its kind. During the year 57,756 cows were tested and this w6rk was classed in 49 grbups. Special I mention should also be made of the good i work : done by Mi\ Ci M. Hume; the genera! manager of the Herd-testing Association, who originated the scheme of calfmarking and who had' advocated: group testing in the Waikato. Mr. Hume wasan enthusiast and "in every way 'exceptionally-. well.-'qualified - for the big job he had in hand. Influence of Wireless. ■"Referring.to-the importance ofrradio, t-o the farming community. Ml'. Goodfellow said the dairy company had a financial interest in , the broadcasting company. to the extern of £2500. Dividends of the company were hinted to 11 per cent; The company was organised to form a great national service for the people' of the Dominion afid an.;effort -would be made at an': early date,:, to provide a wcll-balanccd programme, which he hoped would be a source of, pleasure and.profit to-the. farming community.''.." 1 'i ) He believed that, radio, would "do more to hold tho people on tho land than any thing else, and the farming community 1 would i-c provided,, with music, lectures. market and weather reports. In short, | he; hoped the company would give the people of the country many of the advantages at, present exclusively enjoyed by timse living in cities. Mr, Sterling said he was much impressed with the, great grip Mr.. Goodfellow had of the business and of :the energy he. had always displayed' in promoting the interests of suppliers. Mr. Goodfellow. had offered him every assistance. since he had been in tin- company's emplov' and he had found-himself in'very happy surroundings -when meeting sup- ■ pliers'in their own localities.

Advance in Quality. : Dealing with , the quantity of , the. company's produce made during the last year, Ah-/ Sterling said that when the 'company's figures were compared with those of the Dominion it would be found that shareholders had every reason to be pleased with ihe record achieved. The prospective increased production in Australia and elsewhere presented to New Zealand very serious competitors, but. in the speaker's opinion, there was nothing to worry about. The test of the position was the quality . of the produce, manufactured, -and it: was gratifying- to note in .'this connection that the company's suppliers had achieved , a very .creditable, record. ■ The quantity of superfine 'cream passed over the stages of the company's factories last season equalled 87 per cent., as compared with 81 per cent. > for the previous season. Mr. Sterling spoke .'in - appreciation'- of the strides made in herd-testmg, for by, this unaik the iarmei nat enabled to keep;Jiis cows, which could be regarded as machines, at 100 per cent, of efficiency. It- was a matter" of pride that, the New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company had been prominent in pioneering nearly

every measure that had for its 'object the promotion of the dairymen's interests. The system 'of cream grading inaugurated, by the company had been adopted by the Government and the compulsory .control of exported dairy produce would be an established fact next month. An Optimistic Outlook. The present outlook, said Mr. Sterling, justified optimism. The weather conditions promised to be good and he believed that the. prospects for a satisfactory output were exceedingly bright. The marketing prospects were also good; for apart from sales that were made in Great Britain, -encouraging development had occurred in the markets of the East, where the -potentialities were . infinite. The* company's pay-out during last year would'" compare very favourably with those, made by other companies. The company desired to give its''suppliers the fullest measijre of service and shareholders could obtain the advice and assistance of experts' in the purchase of bulls, in conducting their farms and in the matter of keeping records. One of the potent factors in the successful conduct of farming operations was the cost of fertilisers, he said. This matter had been given close attention by the company and an announcement recently made by the Prime Minister of reductions in freight of about 8s a ton could lie regarded as an instalment of reductions that he felt sangpine could be looked lor in the near future. • Proceeding, Mr. Sterling said the company intended to embark on a trading business and would supply shareholders with fertilisers, separators and other farmers' requisites. Nauru Island was an open roadstead and the cost of . loading phosphate there >.' as much affected by weather, and .as stormy conditions had been experienced lately the Nauru Phosphate Commission had had to raise the price of raw, material bv 4s a ton., In answer to a question Mr. Sterling said the company was giving attention to the question of', establishing , means by which pigs could be bought and exported on a, co-operative basis. Mr. Sterling; said he was under the impression that the Railway Department had. agreed ; to an arrangement permitting farmers to combine to make up a truckload of fertiliser in order to secure the minimum freight rates. An Amendment Moved.

Mr. S. C. G. Lye moved as an amendment that the adoption of the report and balance-sheet should be delayed for one month to enable the directors to prepare a more detailed balance-sheet, and that the accounts should be audited by Messrs. V. H. Sanson and F. W. Luxford.

Mr. H. Marycliurch seconded. Mr. Lye went ,on Co criticise the bal-ance-sheet. He questioned a number of payments, the legality of which ho challenged. , The chairman called on Mr. Stanley Chambers, one of the company's auditors, to explain the position. An uproar of protest followed Mr. Lye's action in rising to a-point; of order and Mr. Lve was requested to sit down. Mr. A. W. Chapman asked that last year's auditor should be allowed to speak. He said they were denied a hearing at the last meeting. Mr. Goodfellow said he was tired of this sort of thing and the "humbug" put up by; Mr.. Lye was,.creating; a storm in a teacup and was absolute rubbish. He went on to §ay that the milk . powder position had greatly improved during the last year and he expected. that in the next 'year or two . the - whole of the previous losses would be wiped out.

On the vote being put to-the meeting Mr. Chambers was permitted to address the meeting. Mr. Chambers said he was convinced it, 'was perfectly in order to have the milk powder preliminary expense account placed as an. asset on the balance-sheet, and in the course of two or three years tJie item would be wiped off the balancesheet. ...

Mr. Lye's amendment was put to the meeting and was defeated by an overwhelming majority. ' A further amendment by Mr. Lye to the effect that the report and balance- j sheet should be submitted to an investigation committee of suppliers was .declared lost for want of a seconder'. In reply to Mr. J. Fulton, of Waiterimu, Mr. Sterling said the company's officials must be' indemnified by the company against the costs of any litigation they might- be forced into in. the course of the company's business. The management had been guided by ' legal advice in paying expenses in connection- with recent litigation in which certain , officials, were involved. s Mr. Goodfellow said that in the case : in which he had taken part ho believed j he had acted in the best interests of the' company. (Loud applause.) The onus j was on the suppliers to take steps to use their influence to prevent litigation. , Manufacture .of Fertilisers. After- numerous other questions had been answered - the ir.epbrt and balancesheet -were adopted; \Mr. Lye being the only , dissentient. Messrs. Chambers, Worth and Chambers were unanimously reappointed audi-. tors fo the company; for the ensuing year. The remits recommended, by the convenors of committees, who met yesterday, were; adopted without discussion. ' The to ask the directors to call a' meeting of directors of all the co-operative dairy. companies through the South, Auckland Dairy Association, in the South Auckland province, with a view to evolving* a scheme whereby voluntary contributions could be collected to-liquidate the liability of the Waikato directors of the Neiw, Zealand Meat Packing Company. It was statecl, that, a, meeting would be held on or about September 15. ' . ■*' ■ - ' ■ The meeting, unanimously resolved to opposo the Daylight Saving Bill. ■; ,; ; - ' Mr. Sterling said ' no steps had been ; taken by .the . company to.' .manufacture fertilisers. Some ■ suppliers' meetings had 'recommended" such action, but; no decision hadvbeen come to by the management. It [ was hoped to. reduce costs by other means before contemplating 1 such a' scheme. I The "chairman 1 assured the meeting that .nothing would be done without consulting the suppliers. -•'-■/i, ■■ : Cordial - to the company's staff and the directors.; Mr. Dynes Fulton was re-elected chairman of directors, j -The . meeting passed : off very successfully, and apaH from the divergent, views ; expressed' by several dissentients, a much ; better . feeling' than has existed for some years was evinced, by the shareholders. >

BOMTS PAYMENTS: PAST SEASON'S AMOUNTS. |g | [RY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT. I HAMILTON. Wednesday. The bonus payments made by; the Now.Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company for the past season's supply were announced by Mr. W. Goodfellow. managing director, at the annual meeting to-day. . For October the bonus was. .65d; for November.' 1.15 d; and from December to April.' 2.15 d, plus :|d shareholders' bonus. JThe v.total average price for ,- superfine cream 'for Bu'tt'er-makinar' for ; the" season 5 was..ls..6.lid.per. lb.