Collingwood Co-operative Dairy Company, Ltd.

NZ Truth, Issue 604, 13 January 1917, Page 4

Collingwood Co-operative Dairy Company, Ltd.

Sixth Annual Report and Balance-

Sheet

The above company has had a good year, and has paid one of tho boat returns on butter-fat which any of tho wmaller conoerna l:;u? done. So far, | ■' Cambist." assumes that tho suppliers j nr<i. quite flatisihsl with thcmKolvcs. • Tho year covered by the accounts la for j«ii output of -M 2 ions of cheese. Formerly they wero m tho butter lino, but they have chanpod ovor to the moro profitable lino of checae. Looking- at , tho account.'?, the first thlni? to strike tho eye la tho'larjjo credit balance at tho bankrrH. The* amount \v»« &3757, but on Jim other hand, (ho i-otiinuny Man a llnbiilty cf / -'2<.'»J to Kaw«on, Ytoiisson and to. for udvun', ! «H ngralnjit Hhlpment.s afloat. Tlutre arc NO OTMIOR CRKDITOnS. no tlmt the outwldo IJabJlltlGH are m c:imn«<;Uon W.th th« whlpmenta only, Tho only qu«s»f!on thru ar'too* hon< In tho etomnl one of inicrcm. On looking 'OirouftU tli« profit ar;d' lons nrctuiju, jiiu-rA Is not ii word prlntod 10 wignlfy 'ihni i he pcwnpuny p»y« hucrt«Bt upon ,\ia ilnantiAl uccommotintlons. Yet the ! company han htid an overdraft fit th<» l>,i;ik. and It cto.ariy Hhows that It owed I rnonr-y to lhi» nilddlcinon. Of counte tticrc Is v. po»4ibiUiy that uomo now

form.o f. working upon borrowed capital has been evolved, and if that .is the case ''Cambist" js sorry to see how the matter has been bottled up. He considers that the so-called, co-operative company should Met the shareholders and the dairying public know something, of the method m the best intereats of all concerned. But, alas, this writer fears that a fair amount of money has faded away, into the capacious maw of that highly respectable cptamercial invention called "interest,'* arid that the fact is hidden under some of tho headings m the profit and loss account. . Turning to the capital account, the amount shown as issued is £3229, but only £2650 is paid up. To carry bn a, trade like the one engaged m by this concern rather more paid capital is required than either, the authorised capital, or paid m cash denotes. How can any company do its business on a sound and economical basis unless it can avoid debt and borrowed money? Last year 5 per cent, dividend was paid upon the paid-up capital, and this writer assumes the same course has been followed m the present instance, though no mention is made of it m the report. The MOST, IMPORTANT FEATURE for the suppliers is that they are receiving Is 6di per lb for their butterfat. It is interesting to notice that the Imperial Government made our blessed I Government take over one-third of this company's output of cheese at 7%d f. p. b... "Wellington! and the remainder of the output was sold at an average /of 10%a m London.' Fromthis it would appear that the Imperial Government made a monstrously hard bargain and thia shows that these "daughter States" are made to pay dearly towards ; the "cost of Empire." The report does riot say whether the Government will take over the whole output for the present season, but one thing, is quite clear, the Tory Government m this country and the Tory crowd at Home ore not likely to give anything approaching market rates for Colonial productions, if they can possibly, squeeze a deal through to our disadvantage. We live m the commercial age m its most ripe form. One wonders when the thing will become so decadent that it will end itself. The present system is tottering, and what the human heart is searching for is the helpful co- operative' methods which only Tequire plain, direct honesty to make them possible. THESE HOMELY FEATURES are rather m the background at present. They are not distinguishable m either business, or Government methods. Everything is sordid, sharp, and sweating, and the "whole creation groans m travail." The directors of this little company are beginning "to feel themselves. For the future they ore to take a halfguinea each for attending tho meetings of the company. This will mean that the sum of £3 13s 6d will await them every meeting they attend, If there la a • •full board." How grand, indeed, are the cockles becoming!- They are only "half-guinea pigs" now, but later en they will become the real genuine or - | tide, full-blown "guinea pigs," just the same as the city dwellers, who mostly spend their time sleeping at board meetings and drawing guineas for doing nothing m particular. However, let it be hoped that tho meetings In this case will BH FEW AND FAR BETWEEN. In any case the directors could well improve the annual report. There is great need for more details of the business done. There should be a prooer statement giving the statistics which the business bristles with, but which the report completely ignores. Facts are what the cockles need, and these hard headed follt can appreciate information given m a concise man nor. Let it be hoped that more "facts" will appear m the future reports of this company.