THE MANAWATU RAILWAY COMPANY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9715, 18 April 1893, Page 6 (Supplement)

THE MANAWATU RAILWAY COMPANY.

Wellington, April 5. At the annual meeting of I he WellingtonManawatu R:\ilway Company, the chairman (Mr T. G. M'Cirthy) said the profit and loss railway account showed a credit balance of £7258 17s 9J on the transactions cf the year. The net land revenue wag £3672 5s lid. These two amounts, together with £9205 14s 4d, remained to credit after the paymeut of last year's dividend, making a total of £20,136 ISs. From this fund the directors recommend the payment of a dividend of 5 per cent, for the year. The directors propose to distribute £8500, and to leave a balance of £2431 3s 8d to further strengthen tho dividend fund, which will then be £11,636 13s. This amount, he said, will place the company in such a position that should any uuf ortseen circumstance happen to materially lsssou the profit during tho ensuing year they will still be ia a position to maintain the present rate of dividend. The decision of Mr Justice Richmond that the company were bound to issue return tickets had led to a large increase in the number of passengers carried, but the revenue from that source showed a falling off of £284 compared with the previous year. The goods traffic showed an increase of £1338 over 1892. The working expenses of the lino were 41 per cont. The Chairman mentioned that if the spring season brought a materially increased amount of work the company muat provide another train to and from Longbur:> That alone would increase the expenditure by £8000 per annum. During the year 12.695 acres of land were sold a$ an average,,,of £1 8s 5d per acre. The total land sold by the company to date ia 85,425 acres, at an average of £1 13s 6d per acre, large portions of which are on mortgage.

With regard to the vexed question of debentures, the chairman said that their solicitor had advised them that debenture-holdors were not liable to pay on more than £163,835. The amount of land. fco. secured to debenture-holders by the Tax department made them pay on £680,000—full value of the debentures—subject to decision of the Court of Appeal this mouth. As to their right to deduct the amount so paid from interest on debentures, they hard taken the opinion of Mr H. D. Bell and Mr W. B. Edwards, who wore substantially agreed that it was the duty of the directors to deduct the money from next interest payment. Tho point was so important that it had been further luid before eminent counsel in Eugland, who. from the tenor of the cable messige, appeared to support this view. It wa3 still, however, a question for the shareholders whether it would be policy to deduct this money or pay it themselves, and before the matter could be decided they would require to ascertain whether a majority of the shareholders could bind the minority on such a question. The position the company wa3 to assume under tho new obligations imposed by the taxation act demanded the most serious attention. No reference was made by shareholders present to the points raised by the chairman.