THE WESTPORT COAL COMPANY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9347, 11 February 1892, Page 3

THE WESTPORT COAL COMPANY.

Tho annual meeting of the shareholders of the Wesfcport Coal Company was held in the offices of the company in Vogel street yesterday afternoon. The Hon. J. H. Miller occupied the chair, and there were 45 shareholders present. The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the annual report, which has already been published, said: Gentlemen,—Before moving the adoption of the report I will briefly refer to the items in the balance sheet. You will find, on comparing this v.ear.' s. accounts with those of last year, that our T?£n™ c? h. ave,^een reduced to the extent of L 16.000 during 1891. The amounts owing to the company, L18,21(>, are all perfectly good, and have nearly all been paid up since our books were closed on the 31st December. In the profit and loss account tho profit on coal shows a substantial increase. Ihe expenses are slightly higher than last year, chiefly in rates and taxes, an item over which we have no control. The charge for interest is less, owing to our reduced liabilities. The net profit for the year is L1n,555 17s 8d ; adding the amount brought forward from last year (L 5392 6s lid), and deducting the interim dividend paid in t li? ul, M* ®a\ there remains a balance of L.19,751 15s 7d, which we propose to deal with as stated in the report—viz., to pay a dividend of 5 per cent, for the past half year, making 7i per cent, for tho year; to appropriate for the expenditure on Granity Creek works L 3000; and to carry forward the balance of L 6358 17s 7d. On the Ist of this month we issued L 50.000 of debentures to pay off our old issue and other liabilities which fell duo on that date, to the extent altogether of L'll,ooo. The new issue will therefore leave a balance of L9OOO. Last year shareholders were informed that .an expenditure of L3OOO would be incurred on the Granity Creek lease, chiefly on account of a tunnel on the lower portion of the incline. The work is now in progress, and is to be completed by the end of this year. With the financial arrangements now made there will be no necessity for any call—(hear, hear)—and we shall be able to prosecute the work for some time to come without any further borrowing. Early last year our engineer, Mr T. J. Waters, resigned his appointment, and left us to join his brothers in America. Mr Waters rendered the company valuable service iv completing the Coalbrookdale works, and in designing those for Granity Creek. la expressing the feeling of the board, I cannot do better than read to you the resolution which was passed when Mr Waters left the company's service :—" On the retirement of MrT. J. Waters from the office of managing engineer m charge of the company's works at Westport, it was resolved to place on record the . entire satisfaction of the board with the manner in which Mr Waters has performed his duties, and its high appreciation of the great ability and skill with which he has surmounted all difficulties, and carried out the novel and extensive engineering works which have been required in connection with the company's operations." We have appointed Mr R. A. Young, 0.E., of Westport, as engineer to the company. Mr Young designed the inclines in the first instance, and carried out the work in a very efficient manner, and we feel confident that under his supervision, and the able management of Mr Brown, the mine manager, the works are in very good hands. His Excellency the Governor and the Hon. Mr Seddon Minister for Public Works) visited the mines at Dehniston on the 2nd January, on which occasion representatives of the various local bodies were | present. They all expressed their high appreciation of the company's works, and of the enterprise displayed in bringing them to a successful issue. The Westport harbour works are progressing. The depth of water on the bar for last year showed a mean average of 20ft 9in. The new loading staiths will, I hope, he completed in a few months, and as soon as Sir John Coode's approval of the plans of the training wall is received, the work is to be commenced. This work is to deepen the water in the river, and we hope that by the time we are in a position to deliver coal from our Granity Creek mine there will be sufficient accommodation available for vessels suitable for a foreign export. In conclusion, I am glad to be able to inform you that our mine is in excellent order, and the plant in a most efficient state. I beg to move the adoption of the report. Mr Keith Ramsay : I have very much pleasure indeed in seconding the adoption of the report, and in congratulating the directors on the very excellent results of their operations for the last year, and also on their being able to recommend the payment at last of a decent dividend. Seven and a-half per cent, for the year is a new experience for the shareholders of the Westport Coal Company, and I have no doubt that it is very generally appreciated, and considering the very many years that the shareholders have been without any return for their money, I can hardly imagine that there will be anybody ungenerous enough to grudge them this gleam of sunshine. I am very much pleased indeed, Mr Chairman, to hear from your speech that the mine is in excellent order, and that the plant is in a most efficient state; and, further, that we are in a comfortable financial position, and that there will be no difficulty in carrying on the Granity Creek or any of the other mine works without having recourse to a call. I think we may very fairly congratulate ourselves on the outlook — that the ' mine and plant are in excellent order, with an apparently inexhaustible supply of magnificent coal, for which there is an increasing demand. With the demand almost daily improving, I think our future prospects are indeed very good, ■ and that all that we want is to be left alone —to have as little outside interference, parliamentary or otherwise, with our operations ; and if we can secure that I have no doiibt that we have many years before us of a profitable return to the miners and other 3 engaged in the works, and also to the shareholders. I have very much pleasure in seconding the adoption of the report. . The Hon. W. J. M. Larnach said that while he thought that the meeting had a right to be satisfied with the chairman's remarks, and with the statement that had been put before them, there were one or two points he should like to be satisfled upon. Considering that the shareholders only met & n .fi? \ ;veal'. he thought that the directors should send them an interim report every half year. At present shareholders had to go a whole year without any information as to the progress of the company, and the want, of such information was likely to be very injurious to_ the # company. He had occasion to bring this matter under the notice of the directors last year, and he did hope that they would in future send out half-yearly reports— whether they paid a dividend or not—in order to show the shareholders what had been done. There was another point to which he should like to refer. In the memo, that had been sent out with the balance sheet the manager or secretary referred to the fact that it was the desire of the directors to make the meeting as representative as possible. He, however, noticed that the report and the circular was not sent out till the very last moment. Considering that there were a large number of shareholders in Victoria and New South Wales he thought that the report and balance sheet should be sent out in ample time to enable shareholders at a distance to be represented at the annual meeting. The Hon. R. Oliver said there was one matter he should like to take the opportunity of mentioning, and that was the excessive price charged by the Government for carrying the company's produce to Westport. It seemed to him that the treatment that the company was receiving from the Government did not prove that the Government was anxious to encourage their enterprise at all. He had been a shareholder in the company for about 20 years. Along with Mr Larnach and three other citizens he bought the first prospecting license of the company—(hear, hear) —and in various forms the company had existed from that day to this, and had been developed with an ampxint of entei prise which he should like to see copied in many directions. The encouragement which the company had, however, received from the Government since it first came into existence-had been very slight—indeed, he thought it had rather met with discouragem.-nt. They had now arrived at a point when it was no longer absolutely necessary that a high rate for haulage should be charged, and the company could not too strongly protest against a continuance of the present high rate. • He took the present opportunity of making public the treatment that an enterprise which had employed so many labourers in tlic colony, and. had served so useful a purpose, had received.—(Applause.) Mr Munro asked if there was not a probability of the company getting a system of haulage of their own. The matter about which Mr Oliver had complained had been brought up at every meeting, but so far as he was aware, no action had been taken by the directors to get the Government to reduce the rate of haulage. He thought pressure should be "brought to bear upon the Government to remedy the present cause of complaint.

Mr H. S.Fish, M.H.R., thought that they might not only fairly congratulate themselves on their future prospects, but they might also congratulate, the directors on sticking so assiduously to their duty, and bringing the company within a reasonable reach of success. The shareholders would agree with liim that the success of the company was largely due to the way their indefatigable chairman had worked in its interests.-(Hear, hear.) He agreed with what Mr Oliver had said about the railage rates, and he thought that it-was a matter that should not be neglected by the directors ;• and they had from time to time used every effort in the direction suggested -hy Mr Oliver. He might say, too, that, if he was not incorrectly informed, the directors might fairly believe that they would shortly be able to obtain from the Railway Commissioners a measure of justice which up to the present time had been refused.

The Chairman said that there was no objection he knew of to publishing a short half-yearly report, but of course a. full report could not be given.-(Hon. Mr Oliver :" An interim dividend would perhaps meet the case as well.") With regard to the time the reports were sent oiit they were posted on the 29th of January, and the advertisement appeared in the Melbourne papers three weeks before the meeting. Of course, if longer notice than that were given the meet'in" would have to be further delayed, and for the meeting to be later would be inconvenient. With regard to what Mr Munro had said respecting the cost of haulage, he might say that the directors had constantly been interviewing the commissioners on the subject for the last two or three years, but he was bound to say the commissioners maintained the most rigid silence as to their intentions until quite lately; but at last, by dint of perseverance, they had been got to promise to consider the matter. That was as far as they had yet sot, and whether it would or would not mean a real reduction he could not tell. He might, however, say that he was convinced from the manner of the commissioners during the last interview that they were persuaded in their own minds that they were not treating the company fairly. The other day when receiving the Governor at Westport, they had the Minister of Public Works at the mine, and he (the chairman) took the opportunity of bringing this matter as fully as he could under the notice of the Hon. Mr Seddon, and had told him it was his duty to institute a comparison between the haulage rates 'charged at Newcastle and on the West Coast, and that any such comparison would prove that the company paid a great deal too much. Mr Seddon nodded assent to the suggestion. All that had been said on the question of haulage was thoroughly to the point. They were fully justified in- claiming on every and aU occasions a reduction, and he had not the smallest doubt they would get it; but as everyone knew, although the railway authorities were supreme in their own department, there was a power behind the throne, and the necessities of the colony had been such that they were glad to get as much as they possibly could. As there was likely to be an increased output that, as Mr Fish had remarked, was an additional reason why the haulage rate should be reduced. He could assure the meeting that no effort had been wanting on the part of the directors to push this claim, and no effort should be wanting in future. —(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Mr Larnacii asked if the chairman could give any information regarding the probabilities of the export trade. The Chairman replied that it was impossible to say when the company would be able to go into the foreign trade, He had no doubt that was not

very far off; but thought it would not be wise to say more than that in the meantime. Mr Holmes said that a Gazette had just come in from which it appeared that a reduction of the railway rates at Westport had been made, that was something like lid per ton pvei' all. The Chairman .said he was aware a reduction was likely to be made, but lie thought it would be found that the reduction was not to the extent mentioned.

Mr Munho said he thought it ought to be a sul: stantial reduction.

The adoption of the report and balance sheei was carried unanimously.

ELECTION OP DIRECTORS, ETC. Mr Fish moved —"That the retiring directors, Messrs E. B. Cargill and Maurice Joel, be reelected." The present directors had attained the existing degree of prosperity for the company, ho thought it would he ungraceful on tho part of the shareholders to make any change in the directorate of the company. The gentlemen who were retiring were men of considerable business skill, they had an intimate acquaintance with the affairs of the colony and necessarily a thorough knowledge of those things which concerned the welfare of tho company. He thought that on the present occasion it would be only right to re-elect the retiring directors. : Mr J. M. Ritchie proposed the Hon. R. Oliver as a director of the company. Mr Munko seconded the re-election of Messrs Cargill and Joel. - The Hon. Mr Larnach said he had much pleasure in seconding the election of the Hon. R Oliver, who was one of the original shareholders of the company, and had been for many years a member of the board of directors. He believed that the Hon. R. Oliver was one of the board of reformers who wero the first to bring dividends to the company, and he thought it was well to have men as independent as possible to represent the interests of the company. Mr J, M. Ritchie said that when interrupted ho was about to make remarks in the direction of those just given utterance to by Mr Larnach. He did not know that any good purpose would be served by having a continuous board or a continuous Ministry, and considering the long connection of the Hon. Mr Oliver with the company, and that his position would enable him to devote plenty of time to the business of the company, the shareholders might with much confidence elect him.

A ballot was taken, which resulted in the election of Mr Cargill and the Hon. Mr Oliver, the voting being as follows :—Mr Cargill, 4048; Hon. R. Oliver, 3949; Mr M. Joel, 1350, On the motion of Mr H. S. Fisn, seconded by Mr John Mill, Messrs Hislop and Brodrick were re-elected auditors. . -