Page 8 Advertisements Column 1

NZ Truth, Issue 243, 19 February 1910, Page 8

THE BRITISH NEW GUINEA DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD. . ♦ The Capital and Counties Bank Limited, the Union Bank of Adelaide Limited, and the Bank of Adelaide as banKers for the British New Guinea Development Company, Limited, are authorised to receive subscriptions for 500,000 7 per cent, participating preference shares of £1 each at par. Copies of the prospectus and forms of application can be obtained from the Union Bank of Australia Limited at all its branches- m Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Hobart, Perth, and Wellington, N.Z., etc., by the Bank of Adelaide at Adelaide, and from the Australian brokers for the company, Messrs E. L. and G. Ballieu, 375 T Uollins-street, Melbourne. The allotment of shares m Australia and New Zealand will be made by the company through the Union Ban* of Australia Limited. . - The British New Guinea Development Company Limited has been formed with a capital of £i,6i;o,\ttjy divided into 1,000,000 7 per cent, participating preference shares of £i each, and 500,000 ordinary shares of £1 each, to establish and carry on financial, mercantile and general development business m British New Guinea, otherwise known as the territory of Papua. The present issue of 500,000 7 per cent, participating preference shares of £1 each now offered for subscription- at par is being made simultaneously m Great Britain, on the Continent, "and m Australasia. The prospectus states that the new territory was m l»05 thrown open by the Commonweal Ui Government of Australia for settlement, and as a result large areas oi land have been selected for the cultivation of tropical produce and for other purposes, but the territory has hitherto lacked the assistance of a strong financial company with ample capital and initiative to further individual effort. It is proposed at once to undertaKe loan, land and mercantile business, and m connection therewith to establish oluces i and stores at Port Moresby, the commercial cent-re, and scat of Government. Negotiations have also been opened with the Government with a view to obtaining certain concessions relating -: to. the generation of. electrical poft'er at the Rona Palls, and the t con-' struction of a light railway, and the prospectus states that looking to the influx of settlers ana others into the territory and to the large prospective industrial development there should be ample scope for all those enterprises. The comp:vny will also purchase provisional Crown leases, granted subject to survey regulations u»der the Papuan Land Ordinance of 11)06, amounting to a total of 112,000 acres situated m various parts, of the territory easy of access by steamer, and, suitable for tae cultivation ot tropical produce. Advantage is claimed over simi-r lar undertakings m the Malay States and Java, as no export duties are levied and ! labor is both cheap and abundant. Timber is mentioned as an immediate source of revenue, and sugar, rubber, and cotton arc amongst the tropical products from ! which large profits are anticipated. , In an estimate of profits furnished by Mr Charles A. Darling, brother of Mr John Darling, of Adelaide, and late London manager of Messrs John Darling and Sons, of Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide, who is to be manager of the new company m Papua, and which is based upon figures given m numerous experts' reports, it is calculated that within a year from planting a. profit of a*oo,Uoo'per annum can be earned from the cultivation of tropical products alone, and Jhat m a fraction of the area proposed to be acquired; gradually increasing to £250,000 m the sixth year. A further source of profit mentioned is an agreement with an allied company known as the Papuan Minerals Exploration Company Limited, which provides that, 20 per cent, of the net profits of such company shall be payable to the British New Guinea Development Company Limited m consideration of offices and leases obtained and services rendered. It is proposed to establish an Australasian register of shareholders m due course.