The Bays of Coaching. TO THE-EDITOR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2289, 13 January 1898, Page 8

The Bays of Coaching. TO THE- EDITOR.

Sir, — With reference to the article " Cobb and Co., Under Mv Hugh Cr*ig r " which appears jr to-« Jay's Ot go Daily Ttmrs, the cutting H.nrtcs»»d &\ foot of rlxi» from the Birmingham D&iiy Post will be interesting to youc readers, some of whom m&y perhaps rememhpr tbe ioci<?enh Tho Nl-w Zei-land coiches wiU run for many a long yeir to corat\ bul in the British Is'ands Ib&y bolcng on'y to ths •' 3 ys of the past." A H'vme writer, in fipisbingr a review of "the old coach days in- Ireland," says-: "When a£ Hvlyhea<l I always g.o to look at the Royal II»t»l. Ifc is tis it was in the old days, but f&dwd and quivt. Tt-e gceat afcftbJes and coach houses r.re empry, an-1 the maiis, once the pride s-ni glory of the country, stand before ib no mere, with ateamiug teams from Mona lan ; or, a" ! l spick and spin, with ostlers at theh? im-piiienf; heads, wailing tha 'minute' to depavt. Ah ! Ths coachmen and guards are dead ; Tho horses are turned t<> city ; B«t I would fain go back to the ' yard of tin,' r '"Aud th< mail of the oMen day." — I am, &»., [ J. Wycliffe Bailie. I Dnnedin, January 4-.

When Mr Andrew Yovmj*, of Wellington, was driving one of Oobb's coaches somewhere in the wilrts of Of aK<} seme yeais ap:o, he chanced to drive up agMt sb tbe la-to Mr Anthony Trollops, then on his travels The place where the coach moi Mr TjoHopa'a carnage wa3 in th& middle of a oai row cutting, where there was no room to pa-s. 'ilie novelist alighted from his trap, anj with withering sc >m a£dres>-ed the coachman, ord>iriftg him to bacli hi* horses to let his owa trap pass. "If you do^'t back out of iv.y way ia three stcon-ls," lcplied Andrew, " I will drive my coach and pa=seugfrs right over you and your lfvitl-ftiMp of a one-hois i.hay." "Sir," cried the ferocious novelist, ''do you know who I am?" "No, I don't; who are you?" paid Andrew. "My mmc, sir," ri-plie-l the fjrevt noielist, impruhwvely, " my nans, sir, i» Anthony Trotlope." " Yes, I kiitew it WAssume fool or othe'like that." said And) ew, "Well. Mr Trollcpe, my name is Andrew Y^ung, and I give y^u just one second; more, and if you don't s>tart to back out of this cui-frng we'll see your name on a torn ha tone as S9»n as your r<il>tU»us take tho trouble t« put it thew." Mr Trolk>pe for ones met his match, and without any further altempfc at bounce he quietly backed out of the difficulty, and very wisely abstained from recording the incident in his book of travels.

The year. 1897 saw 52 bankruptcies in Wellington, as sgainst 62 in the previous year. Atoy Kawke, one of tha unfortuue,t9 class, was found dead iD her bed at Wellington on sth. Afctha inquest it appeared the woman had been liritsg by herself, and the neighbours seeing; tsathlsg of hei* for some time raised an alarm. The kouse was ell locked up, and kad to be beaksa open. She had been dead 24- hours. The lacdical aTidapcß showed fatty liver and alcoholic degeneration. There 13 no medicine in the world equal to Chamberlain's Cough Remedy for the cure of threat and lux,g dkeases. This is a fact that has been proven in numberless cases. Here is, a sample of thousands of letters received : " I have tried Chsmberlain'a Congh Remedy while suffering from a severe throat trouble, and found knnisdi&te and effective relief. I can unhesitatingly reo*B»n»end ii.— Edger W. Whitteiiohe, ecßor Grand Rirers (Ky.J Herald," Eor gale at all loading chamists.

charge on the property, shall rely on the results of the working for their interest. Further, as the share capital, which alone can ,' enable the scheme to be carried oub, musb be . protected, that there shall be no power of foreclosure attaching to the debenture. The

articles of association will ptovide for the - gradual liquidation of the debentures by periodical payments, resulting from sale of lands, as and when the board may find thtmselves in a position to make a distribution." Further, the committee draw attention to the fact that the liquidation has already lasted considerably more than seven years, the amount returned being less than 1 per cent, per annum ; so that "if this progess only be continued, few, if any, debenture-holders will «ver see the end of it." Arguing that " almost

any reasonable scheme i^ better than tbe present position of affairs," the committee request the debenture-holders to answer the following four questions :—": — " 1. Do you a^rove

of an applicatioo to tbe court to give its sanction to the sale of land in exchange for debentures, on terms to be approved by the court ? 2. If sanction were given, would you be prepared to join in the formation of an association for the purchase of land, and would you or not provide 5 per cent, on the amount of your new debentures for working expenses ? £If the values mentioned in this circular are correct, the sum of £5 would be ask«d for each £300 debenture in the present company or £100 in tbe new company, end the holder would receive a share certificate for £5 in addition to

the debenture bond assigned to him in tbe association.] 3. Would you prefer to buy land on your own account, paying for the same in debentures ? 4. Or would you rather allow 3 our interests to remain in the hands of the liquidator ?"

SCOTTISH AND NEW ZEALAND INVESTMENT COMPANY.

In their annual report, the directors of the Scottish and New Zealand Investment Company state that the debentures maturing during tbe year amount to £25 225, of which £14.450 were repaid, and £10,775 renewed or replaced at reduced rates of iatsrett, partly at 3 per

cent. A considerable portion of the am<'Unt falling due at Martinmas wiil also be paid off, s.ll renewals being arranged at 3 per cent. The directors report a considerable reduction on properties in band. In the last balance sheet the sum" was £107, ?*<19, whereas this year it stands at £73,897, showing a reduction of £33,852. Ou gome of the properties sold considerable loss resulted, but on others there was a good surplus, particularly on the e*ta.te of Bayswater, Otago, This property had been cut up into suitable farms, and these realised satisfactory prices. Over the whole of the sale a profit of £342 bad been made, whic'a has been placed to tbe credit of properties in haud. The sum lent on mortgage in New Zealand has been slightly increased during the year. This is "explained by the fact that the advising board have allowed, in a number of cases, part of the price of properties sold to remain on mortgage. But for this the amount would have been considerably reduced. The revenue from properties on hand has been well maintained during the t year, and compares favourably with last year's returns. This is owing partly to the increased prices of most kinds of farm produce. During . the year the directors have endeavoured, as far as possible, to carry out the wishes of the shareholders in keeping down expenditure. Nearly every item in tie revenue account under that hf-ad shows a decrease. After payment of the dividend on th» preference shares, the result cf the year's operations shows a profit of £1427. Tiie directors have cwaied £935 to the resezve fund, thus brit ging it op to £15,000, leaving a balance -f £491 to be carried . to the next account. By special resolution . passed in 1884, it was agreed to iti<;rea*e the capital of the company to £750,000 by tha addition of £250,000, divided ioto 50,000 shares cf £5 each ; 20,000 l>e>ng ordirary shares, and 30,000 being fully paid-np shares, entitled to a fixed preferential dividend of 5 per cent, per jvnuum. $Jo»e of the ordinary shares thus created were issued, but the others were taken up to the extent of 2400 shares, which were issued ftt a premium of 2£ per cent. The directors are of opinion that it would be in the interest of the company to reduce the capital by restoring it to £500,000, at which it originsLy stood. To effect this, they proposed to cancel the ordinary and preference shares which have not been

issued and to repay at the price of iesue the preference shares which were allotted. At the meeting of the shareholders held in Edinburgh a few days ago Mr Robert Lockbatt, •who presided, remarked that the report was the most satisfactory they had is&u-d for a good many years. The whole of their reserve fund, amounting to £15,000, was invested out of their own business, and the liab'lity of shareholders, instead of being £0- per share, was now less than 25s per share. He further stated that matters were now improving in New Zealand, thß mining industry having given a great iaapetua to business. Mr James Pringle, who had just returned from New Zealand, after calling on the business officials out there, eaid that that colony had never been so much depressed commercially as Australia, and, generally, might be said to be improving. On the whole, ha was Tery well satisfied with all he saw and heard, and added that he thought they might lock forward without anxiety to the future of the company. He had been told by Mr Siddall, secretary to the Advising Board in New Zealand, that with careful handling they ought to work out with about half a crown loss per share, but some others took a less favourable view. The resolution was passed authorising the reduction Of the capital. !?KW SEALAKn AND AUSTRALIAN LAND CO2IPANY.

On the 23rd insfc, the Jinrmal general meeting of the proprietors of tli<\ Now Zealand and Auofcraliaa Lftsd Compare was held at the

company's tffices, 54 Castle street, Edinbargh. Mr Robert Stewart, of Kinlocbmoidart, occu-pie-d the clmr. The directors, in their repor'l", recommended the following dividends :—(1): — (1) On the company's prefeience stock, 4 per cjnt., under deduction of income tax (one half to be paid 00 December 10 nexb and the other on June 10, 1593), £40,000 ; (2) on tbe company's ordinary etock, 5 per cent., free of income tax (one half to be paid on December 10 next and the other on June 10, 1898), £27.500. This Mb at the credit of profit and loss account a balauce of £26,334 to be carried forward to nexb account. In moving the adoption of the report the chairman explained the position of the account, and went on to speak with regard to the properties themselves. After giving an account of the company's properties in Australia, the chairman siid that letter* had b ea received from Mr David-on, who had just arrived in New Zealand, and was about to commence au inspection of the different properties.

Mr Davidson and the company's representatives in New Zealand had written saying the we*ther, especially in Timaru, was too dry, almost arjßountiog to a drought. But, judging from patt experience, the directors hoped that ib could not be of loug duration, as the climate was very d iffierent from that of Australia.

The revenue of the company waa dependent not only upon prices of produce, but also upon the weather conditions of the colonies, and the value of tbe ordinary stock of the company must always to some extent be a flaotuatiug one. It was with the view of Bte*d>ing the dividend and giving greater stability to tbe stock that the directors reconamen^ed ths carryiog forward a considerable portion of the profits of a good yosr. The motion was seconded by Mr Jamea Ht»lda.nf, C.A , and was unanimously agreed to. Mr William Drysdale and Mr Goorge Barclay were re-elected as directors, and the meeting then terminated.

THE N.Z L. AND M.A. COMPANY.

On Monday la»t was issued the report of tbe directors in the New Zealand Loau and Mercantile Agency Company for the year ended June 30 last, which is to be presented to the general meeting to be held in London on the 3rd prox. It states that the company has earned during the year £231,351. The result of the year'a working is a debit balance of £2216. This is due to the fsct that, the sch«me of reconstruction having only co'rne into effect as from 31r*t March Issf, £132,993 has been paid for debenture stock interent during the year, as against £120,450, the amount payable in future. The figures in the present balance sheet have been revised on the basis of the scheme for readjustment of the capital and income account of the compmy, approved by meetings of debenture stockholders and shareholders on 16th Jane aud sanctioned by the court on 10th August The rxvenu^, the directors say, has been adversely affected by a continuance of the severe drought exnerienced in Australia during 1895 and 1896, and certain portions of New South Walps have suffered even more severely in 1897 than in previous seasons. Since 30;h June welcome raias have fallen, bat time will be required to restore the losses amongst flocks and herds. The produce and agency business of the company has been well maintained. Also, the directors state, that it has been found necessary to make a further alteration ia the articles of association ss regards the voting power of the trustees' preference shires, and notice has, therefore, been given of an extraordinary general met'tirg, which will b3 held at tfse close ef the ordinary general meeting for the purpose of passing the necessary foroa*l resolution.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council heard on Tuesday last an appeal of the New Z«al*nd Loan and Mercantile Agency Comoany (Limited) from a decision of the Supreme Court of Victoria in the case of the company v. Christina Gordon Morrison. In this case the main quebbion to ba considered was whether an arrangement m^de under " The Joint Stock Companies Arrangement Act, 1870," egreed to by the statutory three-fourths majority of all the creditors in the winding-up of an English company carrying on business, amongst other colonies, in Victoria, and sanctioned by an order of the court in England', affords a good answer to an action brought in Victoria by a non-asaeirting creditor to recover a loan made in Victoria by such creditor to such coaapany before the windir.g-up of the company. In other words, the question vra,s whether " The Joint Stock Companies Arrangement Acfc, 1870," is binding in Victoria aad whether an arrangement under ib is a bar to an action on a. Victorian debt in a Victorian courfc. The appeal was dismissed, with costs.