"THE J. D. WILLIAMS WAY."

NZ Truth, Issue 398, 8 February 1913, Page 5

"THE J. D. WILLIAMS WAY."

of the Stock and Share Scare m Sydney. - Get>Rich-Qiiick Methods and the Sensational Sequel. jn Scrip—Bulls and Bears Run Amok*- Wild Times m Sydney—Board of Directors Meet 1 a "d Unable to Attend— Wm.B. Miller made Manager— Warrant for Ex-Employee's Arrest^Lloyd Landed at Auckland— J. D. ; in the Toils— Arrested for Harboring and Assisting— Local Ventures— A Re-assuring Press Paragraph— Williams makes a Public Statement

Since the flotation of the J-JP-^ 1 " KamS picture concerns of Australia mtoV limited company ;the g^ have Had plenty 'of^matenal wath-which. to fill each others ears, some of it true ir as it went, and I*e rest of it X true as it was intenaed to be... n T> Williams concern has proved a regular bonanza-tor .the ISPenergetic bees who sip the honey -SSI 'S commercial flower that fc s Spittle or long. When the SSi J;D. Williams Co. was floated, -S wA Quite a boom m the shares,. > %£Z one-pound shares^ oared upto of 30s apiece, but eased to ; jwftiteplece The latter price seemed to enough m view of the '^.fends that were then being paid Stilly, and holders of the w^ coagulated themselves -upon having GOT INTO A GOOD THING. (Their congratulations were not J^i however, for something turned to their thinking caps. Mt J. D. wji s £Lvs' went off to' America, and w>th I^, as aide-de-camp or advisor-gen-gS Sydney -Al'detman-.E. ;"^ay ri-Wmson. It was given out that * S^SS Wiping abroad to gather fa new novelties for the comply, and fcnake arrangements for, agencies v_foT films etc. . There were. not wanting feandld friends-w were they merely foaxket manipulators?— who gave out. ' tfrat J. D. Williams would never re- * Wn The subject formed an krteresff&g. topic of discussion by writers of letters' 'to the daily papers, principally Zfrz Sydney, and numbers rushed m to v 'fii4 breach to -prbve' that Williams and J * tb6 other promoters had unloaded their shares on the public, and would leave that poor innocent to carry tho baajy. During the controversy (Chat '. i&ge& -'Ah6^brokers ;r . : iltßA^^^W ".' *>f brokerage . on shjaxes bought oatf sold. It was .pointed out at the time. . that rfihose who had paid £1 for their .Bhaxes had hot much cause for complaint, no matter vrtrich. way things fcwuld go, as there were some.enterprising peopi'e. then who. were prepared to pick up 'shares at. a trifle over the popnd if they -couldn't <get them for , less. HoWers of shares, wero at "the 'time advised not. to be jockeyed out of v'them at eny .ridiculously low rate, but to try and get the exact position of •the Co., and thus ascertain whether shares would be worth holding, or. if it would be wiser.to part with them. 3Bbe excitement ' eased down, and, In the fulness of Urrie,, J. D. Williams : <a?_a his aide-4e-camp, Alderman "*' ja«i^);^^>i)'Bpritog, i and ihe thus gave the lie to his detractors. Matters went along like a switchback tallway, the shares rising and falling, according to the yarns that were being auoulated at the time. A slump set In, .however, and the shares gracefully teceded m value, aided and. abetted by ' -the forty horse- power "I told yer so's" - that have been flying about the Stock Exchange and the windy porridors ot ". Che Stock Brokers' offices. During the. last couple of .weeks m Sydney, there fees been ' t A: REGULAR ORGH3 ' . & 'rttaTe selling and buying. "Nerthinj; like it ."-dnce the days of the Westra:»an boom," said the brokers, as they ; licked Lheir chops gleefully, and pocketed their brokerage. The utter absurdity of the whole thing could have been seen by a man with a gla^s eye. That .there should' be a "boom" in' slumped stocks is a mystery that those .ori the Exchange; alone can fathom. • The fact, however, I , remains that the shares played ringy-ringy-rosy over the Bix, seven, and eight shilling marks' during the week before last, one day up, and the next down, and the brokers all the while chuckling at tho Joker who gamble m stocks and shares, and their anxiety to be ir. or out of the • joint. On the Friday morning of Jan- ' vary 24, on the strength of- sensational reports abroad, the shares drifted to 6s lid. The next morning (Saturday), (he shares struck bed-rock at 6s 6d, at which price business was done. Later pn, sellers / LOOKED MORE PLEASANT " •and buyers had to givo 6s 9d, and so on, up to 7s, and Anally 7s 7d. Of this there can be no possible doubt, whether WiUiams will get Into line as' dividend producer sooner or later, tho shares, as speculative eorlpti are worth watcfolng. If the man who bought at>6s 6d one morning was the onp who resold at 7s 7d later m the day, 'he would have made a Trice haul, If his purchase was sufficiently largo. .'A profit of is Id m a couple of hours onsharcs bought at * 6s 6d io not to be sneezed at, especially Jf tho parcel ran into a few thousand iphares. A nice profitable gamble, truly. Of course, tho value of anything ln the speculative, lino Is exactly what can bo obtained for it, and the speculation value of the shares of the Groatqt Williams Co., as of any other co., is .Skat can bo obtained for them. BeySd the Immediately speculative sense, however/there Is always tho question whether any scrip can bo held as Investment. The valuo of Investment scrip is the amount of dividend that is likely to be continued to be paid. Scrip In picture shows are always moro or losy of a speculative character, however, for while thoy may return good dividends this year, opx position may spring up, or lack of public Interest may sooner or later reduco the earning^ and consequently the dividend, payable to shareholders. On the face of It, there would not appear to bo any groat cause for alarm tor purchasers who have bought Wll- ■ .Hams' scrip on the 7s or 8s mark. Tho assets of the co. have surely '- NOT BEEN CHARMED AWAY and certainly the various houses m New South Wales appear to bo doing really good business. It . seems that tho directors of tho co. \ had for 6ome time, post been m negotiation with directors of opposition companion with a view to bringing about a working agreement, and it has * been stated that this has been effected fey tho companies concerned pooling their interests In the matter of fllmta port Ing and film- production. Wo Understand that but one firm stood out Tjf this pool, which is pBACnCALLY A FILM TRUST. .:.,i,4g__t_f _»p9<>a_r»Pce r Tror -aratber tho--no-

gotiations leading, up to the formation, of the trust, gave cause for considerable uneasiness to Sydney suburban picture men,- who saw m the trust a means by which- they. were to be squeezed for excessive fses for their films, and feared, further, that it meant the. closing down of their businesses, as they could not afford Tto keep going if film rates were increased upon them. These men naturally criticised the movement, and by showing, their hand to the public, and giving them to understand that all was not gold that glittered dn the film flickering business, the public began to tumble that all might not be so gay as painted with the big town houses. Such a feeling naturally moved to the disadvantage of shares m afly of the. listed picture companies. The trust, however, has declared that the fears of the suburban showmen were groundless; and that the cost of films would not be raised on them.

(Whose' Arrest "m" Sydney has' Created * ! : a Sensiatitai'). : -- •

They adtoitted, candidly enough, that it-was a case of ■ * . ' DOG-EAT-DOG with tt*o big film importers, and the film - producers abroad, -. knowing „ how matters . stood, exacted exorbitant piices for their films. Under the trust, there, - would be no, bidding -of local firms one against the other, and they would' be ;. able to get the Continental producers down to reasonable rates for their, films. The trust consequently looked to make increased profit by the simple device of paying lees for its importations, without increasing . its charges , to . thrf* local .picture man. Such, of course, is what It said a. week or two ago. When the trust gets going, if eveT it does, however, it may have a different tale to -tell. It was reckoned that . the Greater "Williams „Co. would benefit considerably oy joining forces, with their rivals, as they have been paying high prices for the sole rights to certain films, and, as they will no longer be squeezed, these prices must now 'come down. The books of the Greater Williams Co. were placed m the hands of tho auditors, Messrs Starkey and Starkey, with, a view to preparation of a bal-ance-sheet, but their work has been hampered by the details of ADJUSTING FIRE INSURANCE matters m regard to the recent fire at the Cryslal Palace. It was stated, however, that the report would ba prepared, and then the directors would bo able to make a definite statement as to the present position and f utur<v prospects of the. company. That this Is due .to their own shareholders is certain, because If thc con^pany Is sound, and its prospects bright, shareholders shouldn't be allowed to b<> parted from their shares at nominal prices, even if tho stock brokers do make good bullion out of tha recor.t gamble. Additional zest was givon to tho Bharc gamble on Friday, January 24, by the announcement that a warrant had been issued for the arrest, of an ex-emp!oyco of the company for an alleged forgery of an order dealing with shares m the company. Pr course, this announcement was a godsend to those speculators who wanted to buy In cheaply. Tho amount In* volved !n the affair was tremendously exaggerated by the whisperers, and »c was unblushing!}* stated that forged shares were In circulation. Tho effect of such statements can bs better Imagined .hnn described. It was right Jn to thc barrow ot tie boys who wanted to buy— and they snapped up scrip as low as fis Cd. as stated. At the Instance of Solicitor John Williamson, who is one of the directors of tho Greater Williams Co.. ,a warrant' was issued for the arrest of an ex-employee of tho concern. In Sydney, ponding the execution of tho warrant, the police would not divulga the name of the ex-employee. giving as their reason that -they did not want to crcajo any alarm. Consequently, tho Identity of the cx-omployoe was kept dark until Monday. January 27. when tho news was cabled across that Detective-Sergeant Cox and Detectlvo Sweeney, at Auckland, had arrested on tho arrival of the s.s. Mahano Francis i Shortal! Lloyd on a charge of forgery. It is alleged against Lloyd that ho forged an order relating to £130.000 worth of shares, but It seem* that tho actual amount Involved Is between £20.000 and £30,000. Furthermore, as already stated In tho New Zealand pres«. Detective Walker, of New South Wales, last

Monday secured, at Auckland, an order for THE EXTRADITION OF LLOYD, and with his captive sailed from -Auckland for Sydney, where the steamer was due to arrive yesterday (Friday). , With Lloyd under arrest, at Auckland, remanded pending the arrival of an escort from Sydney, extraordinary events happened m the meantime m Sydney. First of all, it is apparent that the auditors* repoTt -had been presented, and, presumably, m view of what . that Teport contained, James Dixon Williams was emptied out of his position as managing director of the Greater Williams Concern, and what to New Zealanders," particularly to Gisbomeites, ds interesting is the news thaA Billy Barrington Miller, 'of Gisborne, and now m Sydney, was placed m the position of general manager Naturally, James Dixon Williams, or should it be "Ruf us Walllngford" Wil- _ irams, resented this action, and talked' long of the illegal act, and between j the lines it read that Jas. Dixon Wil- j liams was talking fight m the Law j Courts. | If, however, Williams premeditate! | legal proceedings, he was forestalled, j as it happened that closely following j on the appointment of Billy Miller as ; general manager, who, by those who i know the man, will realise that he is a _ man of action, .Williams himself found j himself m the toils, being arrested last ] Saturday on a charge of having har-j bored and assisted Francis Shortall j Lloyd, the alleged forger and fugitive from, justice, snared at Auckland. Without a doubt the arrest of Williams i-reated a profound sensation, not alone m Wellington, but throughj out the Dominion, because Wellington and Auckland have been-, honored with l a visit from the Yankee picture hustler, and, m Wellington, if not'else- ' where, lias succeeded m. floating comT pantos. The EmpTess Theatre, Wellington, ,is a J. D. Williams pictures show, and truly it is an elaborate sort of gilded picture palace, being as advertised, ■'..'' "THE WILLIAMS WAY." 'What effect the arrest of J.-D. Williams has had op those who were,interested by his picture scheme and who taken, up shares m the venture and Intended becoming interested m other. J. D. .Williams ventures m NewZealand; "Truth" cannot say. Probably there, has been, uneasiness, and no doubt the publication of a paragraph In the iWellipg.ton daily press on Saturday last (the day' on 'which Williams .was arrested m Sydney) "was; ln'r 'tended -to. allay? t-Hat . uheos iness. ' .The paragraph m question 'was as' follows: « -'A' board - meeting of th«. directors of the J. D. Williams (New Zealand) Amusement Co., Ltd., was held on Thursday. The statement of the returns of the ' Empress Theatre for ■six weeks ending January 30 showed an average net profit ot £75 per . week. This was considered eminently satisfactory by the directors. When brought before the Court at Sydney on Monday last, Williams was ; remanded and released on ,£SOO ball. I On Friday evening, prior to hjs ar- | rest the following day, and after the i meeting of the directors or thai J. TD. I Williams Co., at which it was decid- i ed that "Williams's services as man- , aging director shouid be dispensed j with, and tho appointment of Mr Miller, Williams made the following ", statement to n representative of a j Sydney paper :•— "For a long time I have refrained ! J from speaking— even when mv best interests demanded that I should spert'v. I ha/-} b.M.'ti reluctant to u-.\---mit publicly the disunion m the control and management that, have' unfortunately existed for some months m the affairs of what ought to be \ one of the best money-making con- ; cerns on this continent. But I can \ keep silence no longer. The com- I pany's interests — my own interest — demand that I shall speak. ANI) SPEAK I WILL, "About July a m last year, a director informed me that the best thing to do was to havo a Royal Commission appointed to inquire Into the adairs of the company. 1 said, 'That will suit me. 1 want investigaUions. I court the fullest investigation. It is necessary that there should be investigation. That, bo it remembered, was m July — early m July— of 10112. J said. 'That | will certainly he tho best thing to do. If the actual facts are all published, lam sure tho Australian public will exonerate me, and fix tho blame whero it really belongs.' Another director said it would bo foolish to oppoint a Royal Commission. 1 still urged that it should be done. "A couple of days later — that would bo on July 5 of last yearthere was a directors' meeting, and ono director spoke of tho matter of the dividend. JTe spoke about amounts being brought forward from the -appro.xtinHu. return books. These amounts concerned the theatres and Aim exchanges, only. They did not includo the bead ollico expenses, (ho writing ofT of leases, legal expenses, auditors' fees, and other. items of expenditure that were very heavy. "Aftt'r a lengthy discussion, tho directors declared A DIVIBF-iVD OF is Gd PKR SHARE. That was the beginning of tho trouble that bus led to tho present crisis. One or two directors thought that tho whole matter of the dividend should be left over till the report was out. Other directors, however, h.ad their own way, and. In splto of myself. It was decided to pay this dividend. My explanation of this dividend proposition was placed on the minutes, and is there recorded, now. as followti : — "Mr J. D. Williams, managing director, enid that ho wished It to bo placed on tho minutes that ho was against tho payment of a dividend till the half-yearly report had been issued. There were a lot of outstanding llabllitioa to be met. and though Home of them had bean arranged to bo paid for m three months' timo, ho did not know how touch money was required at pro-

sent, and could not understand that sort of finance — paying dividends before the half-yearly report was issued. "Now, that is my opinion about this disastrous div»tdend, as expressed on the minutes. But this was not the first time the same sort oi thing had happened. The same thing. had occurred several times before; and at these different times the company was m such a flourishing condition that it did get over the " difficulty . It is suggested that I' had, as managing director, power to veto this dividend proposal. I only wish 1 had possessed that power. Be assured, it would have been unhesitatingly exercised. But I 'had not any such power. "Another thing. Had I called a general' meetting of shareholders at that time to consider THE QUESTION OF THE DIVIDEND, j it is certain that the prico of the shares would at once have dropped to something like their present market value. I told tiie directors that I would not place my views as to dividend proposal before the share- . holders, thinking At best m the cir- • cumstances not to do so. •• But this ; present crisis has compelled me to \ speak, m justice to myself and fche : company. ( • - j "After going thoroughly into the j amount of outstanding accounts, I |saw that the company was over £30,000 m debt, taking into consideration the amounts that should have been written oIT for leases m the first six mOnths, and the amounts that would have to be paid at the end of the year, such as auditors' fees, legal expenses, etc. "The payment of .the dividend was our big trouble. ..It put the company m a hole. It left the company without cash tin hand to carry on with. It started the present crisis, lit was a hole that the company, solid though it was, has never been .able lo clamber out of. To-day many of the accounts that we are paying arc those representing liabilities which were incurred at that disastrous time. : The directors, later, endeavored to bon-ow T£!i0,O0o to make up the deficiency .caused by the payment of the dividend and tp carry on. But they were not successful. I, on my part, arranged the matter with Mr Sol. Green. Jlhe Crystal Palace at. the time this . serious trouble wOs brought about, was T NOT BRINGING IN THE PROFITS anticipate/if, and tH'e : slack* -'season' of , the year for all "indoor" "entertain- ! ments Would soon set in-^a factor of considerable; moment, -and one that ;s' ild have' deterred the Board, from paying the 'Is 6d' dividend. "The company was getting further and further into debt. I tried my best twicp to save it, and failed m both attempts'. One attempt was to try and pool -the shares, with the cooperation of one or two of the direc- ! tors responsible for the declaration of the dividend and the assistance of somo of the leading shareholders. That attempt failed. In trying to make it a success, I may mention, 1 myself incurred heavy personal loss. ; I also tried to bring about an amal-^ j gamation m which ever way I could, of all the film interests, and. after i spending some £8000, succeeded m j doing it. "To further help the finances of • the company, I agreed to give £5000 for the use of my name m connection with the Luna Park enterprise. Also, I made £4000 for THE COMPANY IN NEW ZEALAND. | I wished to assist the company all 1 | could. It was losing steadily, being the dull time of the year. "I have repeatedly, during tho last two weeks, urged the. .directors to call a meeting of shareholders m order to adjust the affairs of tho company. They have on each occasion refused.- Things have latterly become | so bitter between myself and the di- | rectors responsible for tho payment i of the dividend, -to which I objected, i that T now positively refuse to sit | with them. They aro, I consider, the men responsible for all tho trouble, and I cannot see my way clear to be associated with them any longer. "I repeat that tho declaration of tho dividend to which I objected was unwise. • It helped to bring * about the Stock Exchange panic. ".Since that misfortuno I havo been working under great difficulties that I have never been wholly able to overcome. For the flrst t'imo m my life I have been up against a proposition THAT I COULD NOT BEAT. I tried very hard to got £20,000 to tide the company over its shortage recently. But m the existing conditions of the money market 1 was fortunate to get £10.000 on debentures. "I went to v prominent company promoter here to raise £ 10,000 ou tho unissued shares, lie had arranged with a numbor of people to accommodate the company, but after the share* fell from lis* to 0s some of the people did not see their way clear to go on with It. ITo then called together another lot of people, and they agreed to put up \hc money m the event of being granted tho rlgnt t o appoint a chairman of directors and one or two mini bors of the Board. I certainly did attempt to put tho company on a solid foundation when I saw it was m trouble. As already stated, I madq two attempts to clo so. but failed m each. Tho responsibility for the failure or the 'pool* attempt must rest on my own shoulders. I should never havo boon a party to that pooWng proposition. 1 admit, but the exigencies were such that I folt impelled to take what seemed to mo to bo tho nearest and quickest way out of tho difficulty In which tho company was becoming Involved. "The shares have now dropped to a price th"t. m my opinion, represent a more honest value than that at which they were quoted some mouths ago. I nave lost bca-vlly

over the fall m shares, and I "do not know any .one who has mado money out of It, t declare most emphatically again that I have not. It has been reported m tho city— l bolieve it is so rumored even now—that I myself was to some oxtent responsible for TIIK KRCBNT ' BEAR ' MOVEMENT. That supposition Is without the slightest foundation of fuct, other than tho failure of the pool. 1 stood by my big parcel "of shares till rtnanclal exigencies compelled me to part with some of thorn. About the game time certain so-called friends went back on their agreement . with 'me and then, a little later, I wtu. confront od with a totally unexpected crisis m the share market. I need not now explaUi what caused that crisis. His recent history." •'That," concluded Mr WllUams, "la a plain, straightforward statement of tho main facts. It. may be necessary, later on, to mention other : matters. As to dismissing me, the dlroctors havo no such power. Such a thing us that requires a two-thirds vote at a general meeting of the Khareholders, and they ought to know it." At the meeting ot the Hoard of j Directors Williams did not attend, and, excused himself on the irround of ill-health. Thc meeting, however, proceeded ln his absence, and, first of all. elected 'W. B. Miller to a' vacancy created on tht» Board by tho retirement of Mr J. F. Rofe. It was also learned that the Treasurer. Mr Leon Phillips, who had been appointed under tho articles of association, retired a few days previous to tho meeting. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS. A* 'Truth" did read between tho linos. Jimos Dixon Williams did talk legal proceedings, and. In fact, has Instituted legal proceeding*. A cable In the dally press on Thursday last announced that the greater J. D. had started an Action In the Equity Court, which means that the lawyers are to hnve a long and lucrative Inning*. Furthermore, it *«m?w* that thing* ore t\* they were, «* the cable further xtata* that William* has resumed Jil* position of managing dlrec*ot. ._