EQUITABLE INSURANCE ASSOCIATION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9118, 18 May 1891, Page 5

EQUITABLE INSURANCE ASSOCIATION.

An extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders of the Equitable lusurauce Association was held at the office of tno association o!i the 30th ult., aud attended by Meisrs J. B. Callan (in the chair), B. h. Stanford, J. V/orthiuuton, M. Tynan, W. O'Conuell, A. Cairns, B. Morning. H. Guthiio, T. Livingstone, W. Gregg, M. Sinclair, T. Tily, T. Sneddon,l<. Meuuan, J. Hazlott, T. (Jallender, A. bligo, W. Dawson, S. M'Carthy, J. Gore, T. Williams, J. M'Gregor, 8. Frazur, J. Jackson, G. 0. froudfoot, A. Maxwell, J. Liston, S. M'Donald, O. Field, Gilkinson, J. Taylor, James Hogg, W. Hanlou.A. Batbgate, W. Inglis, C. 8. Reeves, J. Diwie, A. M'Diarmid, B. B. Cargill, Captain Btewatt, tho Hay. W. Cdinpbcll, aid Mrs Duncan. The Ohaibman said the business that day was simply to confirm the resolution for winding up the company. As they were all aware a motion was submitted at last meeting to wind up tho company, and it was carried uuanimously. That resolution hid to be confirmed. It was necessary for him to mention that there was a great deal of discussion at last meeting about the appointment of a board of investigation, and the shareholders appointed a committee to go into the affairs of the company und report to a future meetiug. Those gentlemen who wero present on that occasion would remember that tho directors stated that they were quite willing that the shareholders Bhould appoint any board of investigation they pleased, aud that they would throw the office open to the gentlemen who composed tho board, bo that they could make as full an investigation as they liked. But from that hour to the present he had heard nothing about the board of investigation. He was therefore not in a position to give the meeting any report about the affairs of the company. Mr Sligo observed that perhaps the committee appointed at last meeting had a report to bring up themselves. The Chaibman : I understand that they have never been at the office to investigate. It is now my duty to read tho, resolution, and to move it. . Mr Gore said before the resolution was read he would like to ask the chairman if the committee who had been appointed to make an investigation into the affairs of the company had received any intimation with regard to the names of the gentlemen whom the directors had appointed to act in conjunction with them. The Chairman said so as to put things in order he would read the resolution. Mr Gore could ask any questions afterwards. He then read the resolution, and moved its adoption. It was as follows:—"That the resolution—' that tho association be wound np voluntarily under the provisions of " The Companies' Act 1882," or any amendment thereof '—passed at the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders, held on the 2ad day of April 1891, be, and the same is, hereby confirmed." Mr Tynan seconded the motion. The Chaibman then stated, in reply to Mr Gore, that he had asked Mr Russell, who had taken a prominent part at last meeting, when tho board would be ready to proceed with the investigation. He replied, Mr Bevan would have to be communicated with before he could give an answer. The directors had two men ready whenever Messrs Gore, Beyan, aud Russell were prepared to make an investigation, but thoy had never made the slightest movement in the matter, and the directors had never heard anything from them about it. Mr Gobe thought it was tha duty of the directors to acquaint himself and Mr Bevan with tho names of those gentlemen who had been appointed to act with them. He also stated that a large majority of the shareholders of the company were not satisfied with the committee that had been appointed, and at the last meeting the chairman himself had expressed the opinion that it was an illegal committee. The Chaieman : No. Mr Gobe : Well it is an illegal committee. He proceeded to cite an article of the assooiation in support of his statement, and stated that the committee that had been appointed would have been told to walk out of the office if they had gone there to mako an investigation. He repeated that a large majority of the shareholders were not satisfied with the committee, but they wanted an investigation, and they meant to have it.—(Hear, hear.) Their reason for wanting an investigation was that they were under the impression that it would take a large Bum of money to wind up the company. Thoy also thought . that by examining the books a large sum of money could be obtained which could not otherwise be obtained, and that the amount necessary for liquidation would thereby be lessened. He believed the chairman had received a requisition signed by a large number of shareholders asking him to call an extraordinary general meeting to consider tho appointment of a committee, and he would lika to know if he intended to act upon that requisition, which was signed by shareholders representing 30,700 shares. The Chaibman said a number of the statements made by Mr Gore were not correct, and it was abaurd for him to say that if the committee went to the office to make an investigation that they would be kicked out., Mr Sligo : They know very well they would not be kicked out. The Chaibman repeated that it was absurd for Mr Gore to say they would when it was stated publicly that every facility would bo given them to investigate. If they had come to the office and there had been any difficulty, then they would havo had good cause to complain to the shareholders. The fact was that they did not get their expenses, and that was why they did not make the investigation. Mr Gore had stated that he said that the appointment of the committ'e was illegal. What he Eaid at the last meeting, when Mr Russell put in his motion that the committee should be paid, was that the directors had no power to pay the committee for making an investigation, and not that their appointment was illegal. When the committee was appointed they had as full authority to examine the books as if they wero appointed by the Supreme Court to do to; and yet Mr bore had said the committee could not act because it was illegal for them to do so, and if they went to the office they would be kicked out. Mr Gore roße to a point of order, stating that the chairman was misinterpreting his words, and that he said distinctly that the majority of the shareholders were not willing to accept the board that was appointed. The Chairman: Mr Gore makes the statement in ignorance. He said large sums of money would be saved by appointing a board. Mr Gobe : I said it was the impression of a large majority of the shareholders. I did not not say it was my own impression. The Chairman said it was not certain that large sums of money would be saved by adopting the course which Mr Gore had teferred to, but it wss certaiu, by appointing inspectors, and keepiDg the company afloat and not confirming the resolution before the meeting, that the result would be a large expenditure of money. It the resolution were not confirmed it meant keeping up the office, and paying interest on money in the- bjnk. Arrangements had been made with other companies in the other colonies to take over the association's business, and if tho resolution were not confirmed it was impossible to say what would follow, and tha directors would throw the responsibility upon the shoulders of those gentlemen who opposed it. It was quite true that he had received a requisition asking him to call a meeting of shareholders for the special pnrpose of appointing a board of inspectors consisting ot Messrs John Bevan, G. W. Russell, and James Gore, but it was only handed to him about two mioutes before the meeting. In order to comply with the requisition they would have to postpone the business of that day. He for one was not going to be a party to postponing the confirmation of the resolution Mr Gore talked about the number of shareholders who had signed the requisition. How did he know that they had paid their calls ? Mr Goee : That is not necessary. The Chairman contended that it was. Mr Maxwell pointed out that if the resolution wore not confirmed the directors would not bs in a position to carry out the contracts that they had entered into, and the result would be that the association would have to pay come 1 Mr Gore saia if the resolution were earned Mr Maxwell could make a call of £10 a share. The Chairman : He is not going to. Mr Gobe : I don't know whether he is or not, H.S. to say that he had been requested to have this meeting called, and he intended to do

whole of the proceedings that b£ *«»**« with regard to the winding up of the company would have to be gone over again. _ The Chairman concurred in that opinion. Mr Gore (to the chairman): I understand you will not act upon that requisition t 7 The Ciiaibman replied that he would not, but he did not know whether the «>«»*«>« would. Mr B.B.OABOILL intimated thatihe wou d support the resolution, as that was the only ieia it would not save the money of the shareholders Tne 6°oner they gefc ths comPaDy W^ W^-kotok asked the chairman if he could give the meeting any idea as to the prosociety by co-operation that they were mistXn Here was a company organised on pnfdy cooperative principles, and the result of his supporting a co-operative insurance commny was that he had to pay more than would FnourehispUceifho lived for another hundred he could not give a definite answer to Mr Worthington's question, but he thought it would take 2s 3d per share to wind up the company. He would now proceed to put the motion. Mr Goes said he had an amendment. The Chairman intimated that he could not receive it. Tne motion was a defiaito one, and did not allow of an amendment. Mr Gore said he was going to move that the resolution be sot confirmed ■ unW after the

appointment of inspectors, and would guarantee that there Bhould not he a month's delay. He was even prepared to give notico of motion for tho 28th of next month that the company be wound up voluntarily. The CnAiraiAN said if the resolution were not carried it would mean three or four months' MrGonß submitted that it would not moan more than a month's delay. The CnAiitHAN said that ho could not accept the amendment, and proceeded lo put the motion to the meeting. Some 31 persons voted in favour of and three against it. The motion waa then declared carried. Mr John M'Gkeoob demanded a poll, but as the demand was handed to the chairman only signed by four shareholders he would not receive it, on the ground that it was informal. On the motion of Mr Suao, a hearty vote of thanka was accorded to tho chairman for tho services he had rendered to the association. Tho meeting then terminated.

At a meeting of shareholders held at Hokitika on the 10th insfc., resolutions were passed censuring the directors for refusing to call a meeting to appoint iaspectors, and authorising a committee to tako steps to have inspectors appointed if the directors continue their refusal, aud to communicate with shareholders elsewhere with a view to united action in obtaining a satisfactory statement of the alleged loss of £80,000 duriDg the first four years.

THE KAKANUI INQUIRY.

FINDING OF THE COURT.

Bit E. H. Carew, R.M., and Captain Orkney, nautical assessor, bofore whom the inquiry ioto the circumstances attending the loss of the Kakanui was held, sat in the Resident Magistrate's Court at noon on the 22nd ult. for the purpose of making known the decision of the Bench prior to its being communicated to the Government.

His Worship read the judgment, omittiDg the purely formal portions, as follows: — The Kakanui left Invercargill oa the 24tb December 1890, under charter to the New Zealand Government to proceed to the Macquarie Islands, and bring back to New Zealand all persons on Bhore there who wished to return. The Kakanui was sent on this mission in consequence of strong representations made to the Government that there was a sealing party of nine men at the islands in the employ of Mr Joseph Hatch, of Invercargill (also the wife of one of the men), who were landed there in April 1890 with only six months' provisions, which provisions must then, in December 1890, have been long since consumed. These representations, supported, as they were, by corroborative evidence, made out a strong case that the party, if alive, would, in all probability, be in a desperate state of destitution. The following is a list of persons who left Invercargill in the Kakanui:—William Beat (master mariner), Jacob Bckhoff (chief mate, holding a master's certiacate), Chas. Norden (second mate.holding a coastal certißcate), Robert Stewart (engineer, holding a second class certificate), Wm. Morgan and Hugh M'Millan (firemen), John Silvester, George Ludman, and Peter Sands (able seamen), William Ressler (cook). The only other person on board was Mr James Stewart, who proceeded_ in the vessel as Government agent. The Kakanni reached the Macquarie Islands and anchored in Lusitania Bay about 5 o'clock on the morning of January 3, 1891.. Mr Stewart, the Government agent, at once proceeded on shore and met the whole of Mr Hatch's party of men, and informed them that he waa commissioned by the New Zealand Government to offer free passages to all persona who wished to return to New Zealand in the Kakanui. The following persons, which included all upon the island excepting Mellish and his wife, accepted the offer conveyed to them through Mr Stewart, and accompanied him in a whaleboat to the Kakanui :-C. Gamble, H. Cousens, A. Watson, G. Godfrey, W. Dow, H. Lewis, W. Cowan, and W. Ralph. Mellish also went on board, but not with the intention of leaving the island, and was shortly afterwards put on Bhore. At about half-past 6 o'clock of the same morning, after a stay of about an hour and a-half, the Kakanui raised her anchor and steamed off towards the north end of the island. Mellish explained in his evidence that the men had only their Bwags with them at Lusitania Bay, and that the rest of their things — including some clothes, skins, curios, and other articles—were at a depot at the north end of the island; thatthoy aßked his permission to remove them, which he consented to; and that when ha next visited the depot he found that, with ths exception of two broken fowliog-pieces and a pillow, everything belonging to the men had been removed from the island. It is not probable that the vessel was delayed at the north end for more than a short time, because, according to Mellish's evidence, at his suggestion Captain Beat hurried away from Lusitania Bay, as a N.E. wind was blowing and increasing in strength, and the sea was making, and therefore he wanted to get clear of the land. The same considerations would operate at the north end of the island, and the articles left behind there, although of small value, afford some indication of haste in the men's movements on shore. The Kakanui was laat seen by both Mr and Mrs Mellish as she was (steaming from Lußitania Bay, and they lost sight of her as she rounded the point of Big Bay. There is no evidence or grounds for belief that tha Kakanui was ever seen again, except by those on board of her, but there can be no doubt that she reached the north end of the island, and in all probability steamed away from there on her course towards New Zealand. In consequence of the Kakanui not having returned to New Zealand the Government steamer Hinemoa left the Bluff for the Macquarie Islands in search of the Kakanui on the 22ud January 1891, and returned to the Bluff unsuccessful on the 4tn February. She left again on the 6th February to search the Auckland and Campbell Island?, and returned to the Bluff on the 14th February. On the 27th February she left Wellington to search the Antipodes, Bounty, and Chatham Islands, and returned from that expedition, reaching Napier on the 11th March. Captain Fairchild, the commander of the Hinemoa, has reported as the result of these voyages that he had discovered no trace of the Kakanui. Mellish gave important evidence as to the probable fate of the vessel. He said, referring to the time when he last sow the Kakanui: "The wind was N.E. This was a head wind for her, and she was steaming against it. It waa pretty rough, and the wind increased as the day went on. It continued to increase till 12 or 1 o'clock on the following morning, when it fell light. The wind then shifted to the westward, and blew a living gale for about 16 hours. It blew down the biscuit house, which hod been erected .some months before. It had often been exposed to gales before, but that gale blew it right clean away. It lifted stones bigger than marbles and took them up into the air in circles. I have known gales like that before, but not so heavy. It was the worst gale I have ever experienced at the islands." As Mellish had been on the islands about 16 years, excepting an occasional absence of six or eight weeks at a time when he made a voyage to New Zealand, he could not have expressed hia opinion of the great force of the gale in stronger language. It should also be noted that Mellish lived on the east side of the island, protected to some extent from a westerly wind, while the Kakanui would be out k. the open sea subject to the full force of the gale Mellish also Baid that at the time of the ga c he had fears for the safety of the Kabanui but if she had been a sailing vessel he would have had no fear of her, because those vessels are more buoyant in the water, and they can be hove-to better. The nautical assessor disagrees with this opinion. Mellish said further that "there was nothing wrong with the Kakanui that I could see, only she seemed a little too deep She had a little more than her Phmsoll mark out of the water." There seems to me no probability that the vessel could have been deeply laden when ahe reached the Macquarie Islands. Mr Ramsay's evidence shows that her carrying capacity was 77 tons dead weight, that she left Invercargill without cargo, but carried 63i tons of coal. She occupied nine days in he? passage down, and her consumption of coal when steaming full speed would be from 3| to 4i tons a day. If she consumed only 10 or 15 tons-a low estimate-then lam adv l3 ed by the nautical assessor that she would have been in fair trim. . I now come to the questions of the seaworthiness and fitness of the Kakanui for the> voyage upon which she was sent from New Zealand. ?n the first place I find that the Kabanmheld only a coastal certificate, which waa issued upon the declaration of Mr Engineer-surveyor Blackwood in June 1890 for six months, and which Son the 31st December 1890. Mr Blackwo'od bebg now in the North Island.ha, no been available as a witness upon this inquiry, but the evidence of Mr Engineer-surveyor Crawford Roes to show that Mr Blackwood Pnfoled hto that ho surveyed the Kakanm at the end of June 1890 for 12 months, but that, acting upon hto advice, Mr Ramsay (he managino owner) applied for a six months' certificate oniy^o that he might have the advantage of a Government inspection at the end of that time. There was nothing in the near expiration, of her certificate to prevent the Kakanui from being sent to sea, but the certificate she held was for coastal voyages only. She was permitted to proceed to sea by instructions from the Marine department to the Collector of Customs at Invraill in thisway: On the 23rd December Mr Eamsay applied to Engineer-surveyor Crawford to kuow whether there was any objection to the Kakanui (on account of her holding only a home trade certificate) proceeding to the Maoauaries- and thereupon Mr Crawford telegraphed to the Marino department at Wellington that he had no objection to «»**«»" proceeding there. It then appears that the collector was directed by the Marine department to let her go. Mr Crawford has explained the grounds for the he made to be: The statement made to him by Mr B?ackwood in connection with the last survej-of the vessel; the,.fact also that ho hadJiimselt known the vessel ever since she was built, had inspected her many times, and knew that her general condition was all good; that to h.s own knowledge she was a good little vessel, and had fZd name as a seaworthy boat. The permission given for the vessel to proceed on her voyage was doubtless irregular ir, the.manner and form in whioh it was sought and given. The Knui was docked at Port Chataers in December, 1890, and seems to have then received a complete overhaul ana nil necessary r*

pairs f and to have left the dock on_ thel7th of that month in thorough order. Intimation that she was to be docked was addressed to the engineer surveyor at the time, but it seems that the letter did not reach his hands until after the vessel had left Port Chalmers agaia. But for this unfortunate mischance the vessel would have been surveyed, and I think that there is every reason to believa that a proper formal certificate would have been obtained for the voyage she was shortly afterwards required to uudertake. The explanation sufficiently shows why the Kftkanui was permitted to proceed on a foreign voyßge with only a home trade certificate, and thefaot that Bhe held a certificate of that class only is not any evidence that Bhe was was not fit to go on a foreign voyage. Several witnesses have testified to the Kakanui being a well-built and good sea boat, properly found, with everything required for a sea-going voyage, including a large whaleboat in addition to the ordinary ship's boat. Mr William Thomson, a master mariner and Lloyd's surveyor at Dunedin, stated in bin evidence that in his opinion she was fit to face any weather when in proper trim, and generally as to the vessel the witnesses spoke favourably. In addition to this, Captain Best, her master, had been a considerable time in command of the vessel, and he is reputed to have been a competent and careful master. Captain Eckhoff, the first mate, had been more than once at the islands, and the seamen were the ordinary crew of the vessel, and nona of these appear to have made any objection to the voyage. The second mate (Norden) is the only person who appears to have spoken against the safety of the vessel for the voyage; but the arrangement that Captain EckhofE was to supersede him as chief mate while engaged upon it would naturally not tend to make it popular with him; but it is difficult to understand that he could really have intended Mrs Stewart to believe on the eve of her husband's departure that the voyage was one that the vessel was not fit to be put to. The strongest opinion against the fitness of the Kakanui for the voyage is in the evidence given by Me William Belcher, a seaman, who made several voyages to the islands, and lived there on one occasion for 13 months. He had never sailed in the Kakanni, but gained a knowledge of the vessel by seeing her occasionally at the wharves. He (Belcher) said that if he had been a member of her crew he would most decidedly have not gone to the Macquaries in her. He did not make any particular objection to the vessel as distinguishable from others of the same class; but he expressed a decided opinion that steamers of her size and class are not fit to cope with the weather and seas that prevail between New Zealand and the Macquaries, which he characterised as equal in severity to any that Home ships meet with. He also stated that a Bteamer will not heave-to so readily nor make as good weather of it as a sailing vessel. The nautical assessor does not agree with this opinion. The witness (Belcher) is a highly intelligent, practical man, and I give his opinion as to the probable fate _of the Eakanui with some confidence. He said that with a gale of wind, Buch as that described by Mr Mellish, the weakest point of the Kakanui would be the engine room skylight; that a sea might come on board of her, carry away the skylight, get below into the engine room, and put out the fires, and that the vessel would then be disabled and probably founder. There seems to be no doubt that the Kakanui was caught in the terrible gale of the 4th January, described by Mr Mellish, which seems to have partaken of the nature of a cyclone, and as she has been neither seen nor heard of 6ince then, in all probability she foundered during that gale—a fate that might have happened to a vessel of any size. I may add—although it is not a matter-per-tinent to this inquiry—that the evidence shows clearly that the men and woman at the Macquarieß on the arrival of the Kakanui were not in a destitute condition or suffering from want of food, and never had been. Mr Mellish's evidence on the point, which there is no reason to doubt, is that when the Kakanui arrived there were about Bowt of biscuits, which, he says, although "not particularly good," were "not so bad; "about 2cnt of good flour, a sugar bag full of rice, and some split peas. Sea birds' eggs, r*bits, Maori hens, wild ducks, mutton birds, Bea elephants'tongues, and other things fit for food were obtainable upon the island, most of them in large quantities. There was no tea, coffee, or sugar, the stock having been exhausted for over four months, and no salt meat or tobacco, and the men were running short of boots and clothes, and that from want of casks to put oil into and fuel to make it with, the men were forced to give up work in August; and as their pay depended upon the quantity ot oil obtained they ceased to earn wages. These are the hardships tho men suffered, but they were never in want of food, the danger that doubtlesß prompted the benevolent act of sending the Kakanui to give them relief. His Worship added: As to costs, I will recommend that the Government pay the costs of the inquiry. This concluded the inquiry.