STANDARD FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2808, 8 January 1908, Page 29

STANDARD FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY.

An extraordinary general meeting of shareholders in the Standard Fife - and Marine Insurance Company was " held on Monday, 6th inst., ' for " the purpose of passing the following reeolution if- thought fit^— '-'That the -company ' He under ' The Companies Act," 1903, "'"a* "a, company limited . by .shares,- and that the company^ [name be changed to 'The Stand- • ard Fire" and Marine- Insurance Company of New Zealand (Limited)}' " The^Hon. T. Fergus occupied the "chair,, and there -;Were about 15 shareholders present. The Chairman ' said -the directors . had called the shareholders together to consider the resolution; ' of which i they." had" already had notice. When* the., company was formed in 1874 it was impossible to " register it -as ■ "..limited,'.' but since that ■ legislation had been adopted conferring the necessary powerC' '" The* majority of, the English companies trading in New Zealand had been registered under the Companies Act and were ." limited," "and "even of the few -which were operating." under J special charter "some had taken -advantage , of the act. In our own Dominion, two -of^ the earlier-established companies — ire., 'the' -New Zealand and the South Birtish — had come under the amended legislation and were now " limited." The matter had -. been, under the consideration of the board and the general manager for some time, and they had had representations from a number of shareholders' advocating the alteration. • -After* giving the subject the most careful consideratipn ,the directors vrexe of opinion that, the time was opportune to avail themselves of the provisions of the act, and it was for the purpose of ' asking shareholdei-s' ' assent to the came"" that they were met together. He . was pleased to say that of the total number of shares more than half were represented by proxies which had been sent in favouring the alteration proposed; and then . they had the votes of the shareholders present at the meeting. - If this resolution was passed it would be brought into operation as soon as possible. There were certain formalities which would have to be gone through, and the company's branches had to be instructed. Registration would take effect as soon as this was. done. It was unnecessary for him to say, anything more on the subject, ac he believed it had their unanimous^ approval, and he had only to propose ~the resolution of which they had already had notice — " That the company be registered under ' The.Companies Act, 1903, as a company limited by shares, and that the company's name be changed to ''The Standard Fire and Marine Insurance Company of New Zealand (Limited).' " Mr A. Sligo seconded the v motion, and said he recognised that a movement in this direction had a. good deal to do with the buying, selling, and 'dealing in shares^— a thing he had never anything to do with.He fully recognised that it waa a somewhat serious matter for shareholders- to be carrying an "unlimited responsibility. They had a million o f pounds of capital, on which a mere change of name would not render the liability of shareholders any less. They were still liable for the million, and it was a very large liability for shareholders to carry. He thouglhy on the whole, the directors _ had done the right and proper .

thing in moving in the direction the£| had, and he. had no doubt the probabilities were that a large majority of the gentldmen present would be in favour of thi» movement. Mr H. North esked if the directors had ' -taken into consideration -whether they could, noli reduc§. the liability of shareholders. Why carry a million of money on their shoulders for ell time? He was quite in. favour of "what -was proposed^ and noticed that other companies, were- going to do the same thing "at Their -next annual meeting. The Chairman said the directors, for safety's sake, could not recommend that the; liability on any "share should be less than £10, because that was the",Becurity upon which their business was transacted. They Had a reserve fund of "£IOO,OOO, and had! limited the liability as far as they could* and the mind of board was in the direc-tion-of increasing the reserve. Further, than that he-did not think they .could go. - The motion was 'then put and carried 1 unanimously. " ' ," ■ - On the motion of Mr Sligo a vote of thanks, briefly acknowledged by the.Chairman, was passed to the directors for thef attention they had given to the matter for the consideration of which the meeting bad been held. Ifc has 'been, stated by Mr W. Bird, In. spector of .Native Schools, 'that Native school committees ■ work much better than _ Euror pean committees, and, further, that they, keep their schools in & much tidier conr dition. *