BANK OF NEW SOUTH WALES.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1211, 17 May 1895, Page 13

BANK OF NEW SOUTH WALES.

The eighty-ninth half-yearly meeting of j the Bank of New South Wales was held | on April 80, in Sydney. Mr James j Hill, ‘the president, occupied the chair, | and before beginning the proceedings explained that Mr T. Buckland was unable, through a severe cold, to be present, this being the first time of his absence from a general meeting since he had occupied a seat on the board for 34 years. The report submitted was as follows : “ The net profits for the half-year, after deducting rebate on current bills, interest on deposits, paying note and other taxes in the colonies, reducing valuation of Bank premises, providing for bad and doubtful debts, and including recoveries from debts previously written off as bad, amount to .£81,713 18s Id; to which is to be added undivided balance from last half-year, .£21,754 19s 7d, giving for distribution, <£103,468 17s 8d; which the directors recommend to be appropriated as follows: — To payment of dividend at the rate of 9 per cent, per annum, £81,451 13s ; to interest at 6 per cent, to 31st March on capital paid in advance on other than the fixed dates, <£l69; to balance carried to ‘ profit and loss * new account, .£21,848 4s 8d £103,468. By the payments made on the Ist November, 1894, and during the halfyear, the paid-up capital has been increased by £50,540, and now amounts to £1,837,300. The reserve fund has also during the halfyear been increased by £13,882 2s, premiums on the new shares, and now amounts to £1,158,072 2s. During the past halfyear the branches at Murrumburrah and Thornleigli, in this colony, and at Charleston, in New Zealand, have been closed.” In moving the adoption of the report the Chairman said : —“I do not intend to take up much of your time in touching upon the details of the balance-sheet that is in your hands, for it is clear in itself and is explanatory on all those points which will naturally be of interest to you; nor need I repeat at length the views of the board on the position of the colonies generally, nor of the factors which, in our opinion, have so great a bearing on the progress and future of the communities with whom our interests are so largely bound up. Following out the policy which your board has so strongly laid stress on as being desirable for the Bank to pursue under conditions which call for more than ordinary caution, the balance-sheet discloses an apparently inordinate holding of ;coin and equivalent assets; but I desire to state that in some degree this is abnormal, and it would not be wise to count a portion of it as other than a temporary holding. But your board is not unmindful of the obligation which it has charged itself with of investing more largely than has been the practice of this Bank in past times in Government and similar securities; and to that end has during the half year purchased sundry stocks, which will always be available in case of need, and are interestproducing meanwhile. Our intentions, however, in that direction have to some extent been hampered by the unusually high price of all classes of securities of this character, and your board has thought it wiser to hold its hand meanwhile, though its views are in no way changed, and will be carried into effect as favourable opportunities present themselves. The initial stage of many of our new export industries, to which I referred at some length on the last occasion I addressed you, has in a measure been overcome, and we may now fairly claim that we have secured such a footing in the Home markets as may fairly lead us to expect an increased revenue to the colonies from these sources. I cannot too strongly reiterate and emphasise my belief that these colonies depend for their future progress upon an. intelligent and industrious use of the natural advantages which are afforded by the large area of cultivatable country which the climates and soils of such an extensive territory secure for the production of numerous and varied articles of consumption which the old world cannot supply for itself. As aii illustration of the capabilities which exist in these colonies for adjusting the oversupply which the severity of competition from other countries has brought about, I may say that not so long ago wheat was a

leading export in several colonies, but it lias now almost ceased to exist, and its place has been taken by the development of the dairying industry alone to a.n extent that has more than compensated for its loss, and there seems no reason why, with the advantages possessed here, there should not be an almost unlimited expansion in this direction. Though there does not seem much room for increasing the number of our sheep, most of the accessible country in the older colonies being for ordinary seasons fairly stocked up, much remains to be done in the improvement of our wool and the weight of fleece, and the narrow margin which exists between the cost of production and the value of the product must sooner or later stimulate the graziers in the several colonies to study the class of sheep that is best suited to their particular locality, and the wool and carcase that command the best returns. Our experience as exporters of meat or live stock is of too limited a character for us to lay down with any certainty that we have fixed on what will pay us best; but I think it is not too much to say that we are on the right track, and with proper means for distribution at the other end -we ought to be able to hold our own with South America and keep the Northern States out of the market as a competitor altgether. It is known to many of you that the importance of Queensland as a producer of highclass cattle is day by day becoming recognised, and that already some graziers there have reaped such comparatively handsome returns from their export of beef that the belief is being encouraged that when a proper distribution of the article is accomplished the value of cattle-stations in that colony will be enhanced and better assured. An in-

creasing number of people are turning their attention to gold production with advantage to themselves and the colonies. Though I hesitate to- touch on matters that may be taken to embrace politics, I feel that the settlement of the land question of this colony by the passage recently of an Act dealing therewith is calculated to allay a large amount of unrest that has kept back the progress of the colony. I think I am entitled to say that the cost of production in these colonies is in too high a relation to the value of our exports ; and when it is considered that we have to come into competition in the Home markets with several foreign countries that have many advantages over us, it is not too much to require that all should bear their share in the economies that will have to be practised if we are to continue to seek an outside market for the productions these colonies are most suited for.” In reply to questions, the chairman said that the branch bank at Regent street had been made more commodious than it otherwise would have been, so as to supplement the accommodation required for Bank documents; while that at Bathurst street was none too large for the extensive business done in it. The Bank premises generally had been written down to an infinitesimal proportion of even their present value. He said that possibly, if the directors could have foreseen how money would have flown into them, they would, in the first instance, have extended the payments of rights to new shares over longer periods, but he was afraid that it would hardly be legal for them to do so now. The report and balance-sheet were adopted, and a vote of thanks was passed to the directors, general manager, and officers of the Bank.