INSTITUTE OF DAIRY SECRETARIES

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1687, 29 June 1904, Page 61

INSTITUTE OF DAIRY SECRETARIES

ANNUAL MEETING.

(By Our Special Reporter.) PALMERSTON. June 21. The animal meeting of the Institute of New Zealand Dairy Secretaries Avas held to-night. The president, Mr J. G. Harkness. Avas in the chair.

The balance-sheet, sliOAving a credit balance of £lB 14s, Avas read and adopted on the motion of the chairman.

The folloAving officers were appointed for the ensuing year: President, Mr A. S. Biss- (Wellington); vice-presidents, Messrs C. Hope Johnston (Wanganui) and C. E. Gibson (Normanb.y); secretary, Mr C. Mackie (Eltham). A motion of condolence was passed to the relatives of the late Mr Thomas Brydone. of Otago, who Avas spoken of as the father of the dairying industry in the colony. A debate Avas opened by Mr A. S. Biss by moving the following resolution:’ —“That the tendency in NeAV Zealand is to under-capitalise dairy companies.” Mr Biss quoted a number of cases Avhere dairy companies Avith small capital secured a working overdraft from a bank on a personal guarantee of the directors. If there Avas a slump in the butter market the bank had to call upon the directors to make up any deficiency. For this reason alone, the dairy companies ought to endeavour to finance themselves on their OAvn capital rather than that subscribed by a personal guarantee of the directors. Mr Biss thought it a mistake to limit the number of shares held by suppliers. If a company had to face loss by fire the suppliers were called upon to make up the deficiency, as the companies were constituted at present. If, on the other hand, they had a substantial sum of outside capital to call upon, the difficulty Avould be tided over without having to make calls on suppliers, the majority of Avhom were not in a position to pay. The same argument applied to fluctuation of the butter market and other contingencies Avhich dairy companies had often to face. The speaker concluded by showing that the tendency to under-capitalise in dairy companies was quite the reverse to that of other ordinary commercial institutions. At the invitation of Mr Harkness,Mr R. Crowe, Victorian dairy expert, gave some particulars of the method of financing Victorian dairy companies. Victorian factories, he said, generally had property valued at double the amount of their share capital, and the shares were ahvays quoted at a premium. Most suppliers usually held one share to three gallons of milk, which entitled them to a bonus, as well as a dividend. t He did not know if any bank in Victoria would advance so much money as was the case in New . A number of other members also took part in the debate. The majority were

in. favour of the share capital being held entirely by suppliers. • Mr Harkness expressed the opinion that co-operative companies did not provide, sufficient reserve funds.