COMMERCE AND FINANCE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25800, 22 March 1945, Page 2

COMMERCE AND FINANCE

DOMINION RUBBER’ COMPANY > I SHAREHOLDERS’ ANNUAL | MEETING The annual general meeting of share* ! holders of the Dominion Rubber Com* 5 pany, Ltd., was held Jn the Chamber of 3 Commerce board room yesterday after--3 noon, the chairman of directors. Mr F. W. I Parker, presiding. [ Chairman’s Address Moving the adoption of the annual , report and balance sheet, the chairman 1 said that the company's main asset, its 1 estate in Kalantan, was still in enemy ' hands, and since it was in one of the 5 Malay Slates ceded by Japan to Siam : as a puppet State, they could only sur--1 mise that it was being used for the 1 production cf rubber by the Siamese. If this were so, they were justified in assum--1 ing that the estate was in pretty fair 1 shape, although damage through neglect might well be a very serious matter. ■ The estate manager, Mr L. E. White, was, he was sorry to say, still a prisoner of war in Singapore. After dealing with the progress of the war in the Far East, Mr Parker went 1 on to speak of steps already being taken in England to formulate measures for combatting the many problems that would confront the rubber grower when he regained possession of his estates. The challenge of synthetic rubber was a matter that had to be kept in view, but ne was convinced that natural rubber would continue to hold the advantage In both price and .quality for all general pur- : poses Tvre manufacturers had admitted that synthetic rubber in their case was merely a substitute which could not oe expected to stand up to the solid use and abuse required from their products it looked as if the main problem after the war was to create conditions under which natural and synthetic rubber would both play their parts to the best advantage for the consumer and at prices that would yield a reasonable return tor efficient production. ... , , Mr Parker said that the director.-, had keDt steadily in view the matter of war damage add compensation, but until, reentryß to their estate could be gained it was impossible to make any definit - claim The British Government, whi e not committing itself in any way while the war was in progress, had intimated that where the resources of any pail of the colonial Empire were not sufficient to enable rehabilitation without aid It would be ready to afford what assistance lt Dealing with the balance sheet, Mr Parker said that the Malayan figures were i evY»r as last year, witn the excep* tion of £SO depreciation, and the oth&i figures shewed little change. Lives .- figures - g showed a small merits at ' 13 „ gd The profit and increase of vear showed a credit ~0, ,0 i 5 .me C °of £6l Gs 3d, 31 which 6 had been carried to the appropriation account, W *The G. T. Baxter Wilson and carried. War Damage and Compensation Miss Crawley, the only woman sharehold!? present, asked the chairman whether it was suggested that, in the event of damage and loss being discovered on the estate in Kalantan, it was the intention of the company to ask the British Government to pay for it. If such were the case, she was strongly opposed to any such action. As long as the company was financially strong * carry its own burdens it should do so and not run to a .Government to meet its losses. They had done without a dividend for some time now, and they could surely stand whatever other loss they had to face People were doing a lot of comDlaining about Government interference r in business, but too often when things were not going right they were only too glad to run to the Government for help. The chairman explained that any claim that might be made would be in respect of damage or loss suffered as a result of enemy action, which would be made good in the form of compensation by the British Government. Mr A. Ibbotson said it was a fundamental principle that a government should protect its nationals, and if the estate were damaged or went back because of enemy action the company had a definite claim. ; Payment to Manager Mr A. A. Paape referred to the payment of £IOO a year to the wife and family of the company’s manager, who ] was at present a prisoner of war. Without knowing the financial situation of Mrs White, he thought that the directors had < been niggardly in the amount of their grant. A sum of £2 a week would hardly cover the cost of a decent flat in Sydney. J The chairman said the directors had) • not been able to discover the actual posi- * tion of Mrs White, but they understood that she had enough for her needs, and \ the amount paid by the company was therefore as just something extra. < Mr C. F. Bennetts said that Mr White ' was the manager of another company 1 also, and could expect that company also < to make some provision for his wife. r Election of Director c For the one vacancy on the directorate there was only one nomination, that of Mr William Anderson, who was dedared elected. * Directors’ Fees s On the motion of Mr C. F. Bennetts, seconded by Mr A. A. Paape, the cfirec- ~ tors’ fees were fixed at the same as last j year, namely £l5O. Mr Ibbotson, speaking to the motion, said that they -were entitled to resent the reflections that had been c%)st on the directors in letters to the press. When the company lost its estate in 1941 the directors’ fees had been reduced from | £3OO to £l5O, and to-day the fees paid M were about 25 per cent, of what they B had been some years ago. The impres- 1 sion that some people had been trying I to create, that the directors did nothing | for their money, was wrong and unfair. ■ Actually they had had plenty to do and i now they were faced with the problem of the restoration of the company’s Mr T. Fairbairn said that in view of the service required from tile directors amy further reduction of their lees would amount to discounting their ability. The chairman said he would like to tell any shareholders who had the idea tha 1 the directors did nothing, that the past 12 months had presented plenty of work. ' | The directors felt that they earned then I | fees and had no hesitation about taking ft them, although they were more than will- I | ing to leave the matter entirely in the | shareholders’ hands. 1 Reappointment of Auditors Fj

Messrs Brodrick and Chalmer were reappointed auditors at the same remuneration as last year. Votes of thanks to the directors, the acting secretary and the staff were carried by acclamation.