BLUE SPUR AND GABRIEL'S GULLY CONSOLIDATED GOLD CO.

Otago Witness, Issue 2319, 11 August 1898, Page 18

BLUE SPUR AND GABRIEL'S GULLY CONSOLIDATED GOLD CO.

STORjMY MEETING. (From Oub Own Co-respondent.)

London, July 2.

There was a fair attendance of shareholders on Thursday afternoon last, at Winchester House^ Old Broad street, at the ordm&rv, gene-

nil meeting of the Blue Spui: and Gabriel's Gully Consolidated Coinp.iuy. liieutendntgei.cral bir John Stokes, Jx.G'.jLi., presided.

Iv their report for 12 months, eliding Februaiy 28 iast,the directors expressed regret that the lcfeult of the yotit'b working was even less satisfactory than ihat of the previous year, and for the same leason, but on a larger scale. In lfayG-7 the amount of gold won was reduced by two months' drought, but in, 18y7-S nearly tea mouths were veiy dry, and had reduced the amount of water available for sluicing. The number of sluicing hours that the water permitted was iurthor reduced, as regarded the best cement, by the necessiti ot applying several hours — 571A — to development of tho mine, winch was au essential necessity, but was remunerative. Iheio were only 05' JO hours of effective sluicing in 1897-8, against 7916 in 1696-7, or 1320 hours less. The satisfactory feature ol the year's work was that in the working faces ol the mine the quailty o£ the cement was rather better than last year (1896-7) and than 1693-4, though not quite equal to 18t)4-5 and ISJS-O. The variation, however, was not very great, being only a dilierence ol 2.6'2gr of gold per cubic yard between the minimum in J.U93-1 and tho maximum in 1895-6. (Here followed an elaborate table.) An interim payment of prefeience dividend ior six months waa made last December, and the directors recommended that the balance of the full preference dividoiid for the year ending February 28 be now paid — viz., six months' dividend at the rate of 8 per cent, per annum. Aa interim dividend of 5 per cent, on the ordinary share capital, fice of nicomn tax, was made in December, but the directors were unable to recommend any addition to this. The general manager reported that the main drain had been perlectly secuied and the tail water turned into a large paddock. By this means a lar^e dumping aiea had been provided, which would sufiice lor a long time. The balance fcheot showed that the gold won during the year had been valued at J.'12,535, a balance being carried to profit and loss account of £G426. The balance brought down on liarch 1, 1806, was £1705. In moving the adoption of the report aud balance sueet, tne Chairman said he was soiry that tiie year had not been so good as they had hoped, but that wa& entirely due to the extraordinary season which .New Zealand had experiencetl Just ye.ir. Ay compared with the year 18i)6-7, "the cement had slightly irupro\ed in quality to the extent of OAvgr per cubic yard, 'j-iiat might appear insignificant, but it ri/presci.teci a guru ol o\ er A'i2Uo on the working oi the year, li they compared the ye«w ltoa-6, which was the be^t yeai they had had, and in wlncli the cement was J l-sgr better than last year, there was a difference oi nearly ,£IOOO, so that there was &ome rciicon for watching the quality of the cement very cio&ely. At Chafctiuri3 time they had beeu able to distribufco an interim dnidend of 5 per cent. They had been justified in expecting a good return tor the last quarto/, and that they would be able to declare a further dividend. Unfortunately, the return for the quarter fell off neaiiy 200oz,vvhich meant a very great diilerence in the year's receipts, and theielore he was sorry to spy that no iurtlier dividend could be proposed for the year, lie was glad that the first quarter oi the present year, however, showed a fairly good yield. When the report was issued they h.ul had no othei repoit from the nianaj,ei except that haid frosts had prevented his cleaning up at the end of the year as he otherwise would have done. Bat he (the chairman) was glad to say that on the 22nd June they had a cable .saying that 811oz had been secured for the quarter, so that he thought they might hope for a fairly good year, li they were not met, as they sometimes ■ were, by a very long winter, or a vtry dry &unimex, and if they got a iair average oi gold, they should have a very good return. They were, however, he was sorry to say, too dependent on the weather. But they coulu not help that, and so long as the quabtj and quantity of cement did not fall oft they were faafe. He was al&o sorry to tell shareholders that a very prejudicial claim had been made od the coinpauy by the New Zealand Government. Under a law passed 15 or 16 years ago, Government was entitled to demand a license tax upon commercial undertakings. Mining companies, however, were excepted. The Blue Spiv and Gabriel's G\illy Company had never considered itself as coming under the law m the least. The New Zealand Government, however, had found what certainly had escaped the attention of the directors—that the memorandum of association had beeu prepared in sudi a way as to mclude other things than mining. In prepaiing such it was usual to include every possible thing; therefore, in the memorandum of association power had been taken to farm— to act as tillers of the soil. Well, some land might be rock and produce gold, but it certainly would not produce corn. Unfortunately, there it was, and the Goverrment claimed not only this year's license, but the tax for the last ten years the company had been in existence. This would have amounted to something like £700, which would have affected the company seriously. However, immediately the claim was made, Sir Walter Buller, who represented the company in the colony, and who was also a director, saw the Go\ernruent, and succeeded in getting a remission o£ arrears. The company, however, had to pay £65 a year for the license— that would not ruin them. Still, the directors were considering whether it would be a desirable thing to get rid of the tax by revising the memorandum of association. — (Hear, hear.) A memorandum of association was very different, explained the Chairman, from the articles ol association. The latter could be modified by a vote corfirmed by a second vote. The former could not be touched except by voluntarily winding up the company and re-forming it. That alwaya meant a very heavy expense, and the directors had not quite arrived at the conclusion to recommend, especially m a bad year, an expense of £200 or £300 for reconstruction. The views of the shareholders would have to be j taken upon that at some future time. As to tho mine, he could only repeat that he always had great pleamre m faying that the general manager had served the company with groat zeal, and had shown himself worlhv of the confidence placed in him. He spoke highly of his mine manager, who was doing his work thoroughly well. Mr F. Bourn said that in 1895 the chairman had held out rosy prospects, and dividends had been paid. Immediately after that event, howover, the ai tides of association were altered, and the directors received fees. Now they were going without a dividend. Tho Chairman : I'ou have gob a, divideud this

Mr Bourn had expected some reference to f)9 made to the mishap that had occurred when a, body of earth came down and covered up washable substance, which, no doubt, would liava yielded gold. Might they take it that the earth was hydraulicked down?

The Chairman : It came down by a slip, or if; may have been hydraulicked down. It is a very common thing for a bank to give way without* having to be blown down.

Mt Bourn said that ho waa an old goldminer> and knew what it was to hydraulic, and he believed that this was hydraulioked down for thq purpose.

Tho Chan-man: You have no right to say; that. — (Loud ciies of " No.") Mt Bourn : lam as right in my assumption that it was brought down on purpose as you are in contradicting. I tell you it was hydraulicked down for the purpose. The Chahinan (warmly): I tell you it wa3 not.

Mr Bourn : Then you do know something about it. Can you tell what portion of tho workings it came from? Very few of the share-* holders know anything of gold mining-. The Chairman: 1 don't know that you know, a great deal. — (Laughter.) Mr Bourn: I know as nmch about it as a good many so-called directors. I know that the mine is worked Ths Chairman: We do not want your sujew positions or insinuations. Mr Bourn : Give me information, throi. The Chairman: I have given it. Mr J. W. Hughes (a director): Do not answeU him. Mr Bourn: I maintain that this earth wag brought down on purpose. The Chairman: You won't get anyone to) second you in that. Mr Bourn : Because those 1 here know nothing about it. I maintain my position.— (A Voice:, " We do not want to stay here all day.") Mr Eo3s Eobinson (a director, speaking with great warmth) : I emphatically contradict what you say. Mr Bourn : What do I care about that ? You were not there to see it brought down. The Chairman: The manager, in reporting the occurrence, said that while clearing up a mass of earth came down, covering up a small portion of the workings. The quantity of gold was probably small, and we have it; so there is an answer to your insinuations. Mr Bourn : It is a very unsatisfactory one. The Chairman: We are here as honourable men; we have nothing to cover up; we give every possible information, and yet we are met witn insinuations that can only come from a foul mind. Mr Bourn • You always do pose as such extremely virtuous directors. The speaker was continuing in a loud voice, and, 'mid cries of dissent from the shareholders, to demand that attention should be paid to criticisms that had appeared elsewhere, when The proposition was put and carried unani-< man sly. On the motion of the Chairman, seconded by Mr J. W. Hughes, it was rgieed, nem. con., thai a dividend on the preference shares for the I last sux months of the year, ending February 28, 1898, at the rate of 8 per cent, per annum, making tho interim dividend paid on the 28lh October, 1897, the full dividend for the year, payable f oi thwith. Tho Chairman proposed that Mr J. W, Hughes be re-elected to the board. Mir los? Eobinson, in seconding, said that he knew Mr Hughes to be an honest man, in spite of the insinuations to the coArary, which they had lo.op.vA that day. For himself, he did not see why a director of a goldmine, or any other mine, could not" be as honest as anybody else. Mr Bourn could bring nothing to the charge of any member of the board to ju&tifjF his insinuations against their integrity. Mr Bourn (derisively) : Very well spoken. Mr Eoss .Robinson, continuing, said that as to the fall of earth, they wanted it down. He knew how it came down.— (Hear, hear.) The gold had been got since. The motion was then agreed to. The Chairman intimated that some of the largest shareholders had expressed a wish that Mr Ben Avent should bo elected as an additional director. The board did not wish to express an opinion either way. Mr Greenhill proposed accordingly on behalf of 12,000 shaies. Mr Bourn seconded, saying, "Now we shall have confidence." Mr Greenhill : I think we may say we always have had. Mr Eoss Eobinson : If a third or fourth of the shreholders have not confidence in me, I will retire at any time. To be continuously; nagged at by an individual such as Mr Bourn is more than anyone could bo expected to put up with. The motion having been unanimously, agreed to, ' ' Messrs Whiuney, Smith, and Whinney were re-elected as auditors at a fee of 20 guineas per annum. Mr Yeraon moved a vots of thanks to and confidence in the directors. The reply of th.s chairman was, lie thought, a perfectly satisfactory one. This having been seconded by Mr Greonhill and agreed to, The Chairman, in acknowledging the vote, said it was very disagreeable year after year to be exposed to insinuations such as they had heard tint day. He felt sure, however, that the directors had the confidence of the shareholders they had had so many instances of that. The proceedings then terminated.