NEW ZEALAND PORTLAND CEMENT COMPANY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2812, 5 February 1908, Page 32

NEW ZEALAND PORTLAND CEMENT COMPANY.

ANNUAL MEETIN J.

CHANGE IN DIRECTORATE.

I Tho eleventh annual meeting of share- I holders in the New Zealand Portland Cement Company was held at the company's office, Queen's Rooms, Crawford street, on January 27. Mr 'Edward Herbert (chairman of directors) presided, and there were fully 20 shareholders present. The report presented to shareholders for year ended October 31 was as follows : — In the report of Sftli July shareholders were fully advised 'of the difficulties which, have been met with in connection with the erection of ( the new ma-chinery. The directors TegTet khat the work of installation was further delayed during the six months just closed, and that it was found necessary to send to England for certain steel adjuncts to replace those supplied in. oast iron with the machinery constructed in New Zealand. These steel parts were to have been shipped early in November, but did not leave England till the 12th Decemb?T. The abandonment of his position by a man in charge of the works also delayed pi ogress. The directors have now engaged an experienced cement manufacturer from America, who will teke full charge at Limestone Island and finish what remains to be done to the works to increase the output. Mr Greer, the gentleman lefeired to, who has been engaged through Dr Jordan, of the Leland Stanford University, is expecte-d to ariive in Auckland before the end of January. Notwithstanding the difficulty of continuing, the manufacture of cement while the works weTe practically in the hands of the builders, a fair amount has been turned out, yielding a. net profit of .£IBB3 2s 7d, which, with £358 10s Id brought forward from last year, gives the total at credit of piofit and loss account. The whale of the profits have been made during the last six months. The directors have written £1000 off the plant, and recoinmed that tho hair nee (£1241 12s 8d) be carried forward. I In moi ing the adoption of the report and balance «heet. the Chairman stated Ihat he was pleased to meet shareholders, thoiiQh the balance sheet was not as good as he should ha\e liked to place before them. This was not for want of orders for cement, for they wcie lushed with ordcis beyond their capacity to fulfil. They had had an anxious time in doubling [ the capacity of the plant, with the delajs [ and disappointments in doing so. They i were, promised that the addition t« the plant would be completed a.nd working early in January, 1907. A year had ex- ! pired, and all the new plant was not ! iinished yot. The manager could not get the eolonial-matle rotaiy kiln to work for any length of time. Instead of getting it wade on the lines and principle of the old one, he introduced some inno\atious

which were not successful. He left the company, and other managers were tried, and though they did their best they could not get the kiln to work. It was made longer, in accordance with the latest American machines, and this was an advantage to make better clinkers, and, consequently, impro\ed cement. As briefly explained in our report, parts supplied with the machine were made of iron, which should have been made of steel, and they would not stand the great weight to* which they were subjected. After frequent trials and failures, the company sent to England for steel parts, which were generally used in similar machines, and they should soon be here. Like the kiln, the coal-dust fuel had also caused much trouble, but he was pleased to be able to say that the engineer had reported that he was now in a fair way of overcoming ( all d'fficulties in connection with it. Wisely, ho thought, the company was getiing a manager and cement maker from America, to take full charge of the island works, and he was due to arrive here on Saturday next. He was coming with high . testimonials as a good organiser of men and a capable manager, and had had charge of large cement works for over two years, and was recommended to the company by a personal friend of his co-director Mr Rhodes. In September the company had a record month in its production of cement with one kiln. When tlie expected 6teel parts arrive it was hoped to get, without delay, the two kilns to work. He was glad to say the demand for cement continued pood. Although the profits were £1883 26 7d, chiefly made during the past six months, the directors did not recommend the payment of a dividend at the present time, but proposed to write off the plant account to the amount of £1000 and carry forward the balance — £1241 12s Bd. The directors still had great faith in tho company's valuable natural cement island deposit, its quality, and its position for shipping, since the company's wharf was extended into deep water during the present year to admit large steamers to load from the company's own wharf and shed to all parts of New Zealand. The motion wa3 seconded, and the report adopted. Mr P. N. Kingswell said he had come specially from Auckland to attend the present meeting. He had come down representing the majority of the Auckland shareholders, and held practically all the proxies of thc=e shareholders, excepting the Auckland directors, whom he had not seen fit to approach. He wished to announce that he was desirous of supporting Mr J. Simpson as one of the Auckland directors, and. further, he wished to state that he was also offering himself to shareholdere as a director. He would at the same time make the suggestion that only five directors be elected in the meantime— that was, three Dunedin directors and two Auckland directors, the third Auckland appointment to be made by the joint directors on the occasion of the visit of the Dunedin members of the board to Auckland next week. That w^ld give them the opportunity of choosing the most suitable man to fill the sixth place on the board. He himself was accustomed to company management, and if elected proposed taking a very great interest in tho affairs of the cornpajiy. Hi 6 interest in the company to-day was equal to nearly £6000. He could give shareholders his assurance that if elected a director he would give his very best attention to the interests of the company. He therefore , asked them to consider his nomination favourably. He nominated Mr Simpson on the grounds that he was a piactical mechanical engineer, and one of the greatest drawbacks tho company ha-cl experienced was the lack of a practical , knowledge on the pait of the board. . There was ample ci idenee of that in the balance sheet, which disclosed a, very unprofitable state of affairs, an-d showed that it was absolutely neccs^trv to have at least one practical nipn on the board. The ser- j \ices of a piactical man would be invalu- i able to the board. The fact of the matter ' was that the affairs of the company were in a deploi\ib'c suite. There was no doubt about that. Theic was very great dissatis- j faction among Auckland shareholders caoi-j the past j ear's operations, more particularly with' the part plajc-d by the management. This time last year they were confidently looking forward to being able to show 'something like £15.000 to £20.000

profit at the end of the present year. And he had no hesitation in saying that had the management been what it should have been they would have had it. But it was very much the reverse. There should have been no difficulty in getting the new plant in working order ere this. The dismissing of the works manager before they had someone else to replace him was the cause of the delay in getting new machinery. There should have been no necessity whatever to wait tor a man t6 come from America. If he (Mr Kingswell) had been on the board he would have sent to Australia for a man immediately, and the works would vf Ye jen started lon g before this. Ho blamed the Auckland directors a great deal for the delay that had occurred. At the same time he did not exonerate the Dunedin directors. But the Auckland management was certainly very much to blame. The chief cause of the company's present unfortunate position was the lack of interest taken in its affairs by those directors in Auckland. There had been no one at the head of affairs. There had. been no captain to take charge of the ship there. He knew Mr Rhodes to be a very busy man, and he could not be expected to take on his shoulders the whole responsibility as far as Auckland was concerned. Then Mr Chambers had been sent out of the Dominion for a period of six months. As to their manager, he had been far and away too anxious to oversell cement before the new works were started, and that indiscretion had cost the company some hundreds of pounds. The management had made a great mistake in getting rid of the only man available as manager before they knew of someone to fill his place. Mr Cook'e health had nofc been very good, and that exonerated him to some extent. Thsn the manager's house was to have cost £600, but for some inexplicable reason had cost £1250. He and the Auckland shareholders had quite sufficient reason to be very much dissatisfied with the Auckland management over the past year, and he had made it his -business to j attend the meeting and endeavour to have j a big change effected in the Auckland" management. Not only were the Auckland shareholders very much dissatisfied with the management of the company and the extreme lack of interest 6hown in its affairs, but so were shareholders in Wellington, Nelson, and elsewhere, whose opinions he was also voicing: What they i wanted was new blood in the directorate. , He moved that the meeting elect five ] directors— three from Dunedin and two from Auckland, — the appointment of the third for the latter city to stand over until the visit of the Dunedin directors , to the north. ! The Chairman stated that he had reI eeived a telegram from Messrs Buddie and Rhodes suggesting that three Dunedin and four Auckland directors be appointed, and mentioning 1 Messrs Kingswell and Upton in connection with the Auckland directorate. Mr UpiPi. however, the Chairman informed the meeting, was not qualified for nomination, his name not being on the share register. The Dunedin directors held that there should be three directors here and three in Auckland. While recognising that the company's business was in Auckland, it must be remembered that the largest holding of the company's shares was in Dunedin. A suggestion that three Auckland directors should be elected now and one position left open the Dunedin directors aleo objected to. It was decided by the meeting that tho number of directors should be six. Mr Kingsv ell's motion that only two Auckland directors be elected at the meeting an<l the e'ection of the third be allowed to stand over was also carried. It wa= moved by Mr Scott, and seconded. that Messrs Peter Barr, John M. Begg (both retiring directors), and Mr G. M. MacLeau be appointed the Dunedin directors, and Messrs Kingswell and Simpson the Auckland directors. Mr Edward Her* bert, the retiring chairman of directors, was also nominated. A ballot was taken, and resulted in the return of Messrs Barr, J3eg->;, and MacLaan (Dunedin), and Kingswell and Simpson (Auckland). Mr Scott said he was with Mr Kingswell when he said that men of experience should be on the board. It was quite evident that the works had got into a mess. Mr Peter Barr said he thought shareholders would have taken the oDPortunitj;

of asking questions when the report was adopted The chairman had said all that he thought was necessary. The secretary tvas provided with information in regard to the- meetings held in Auckland and in Dunedin, also the correspondence that had passed between the two centres. It wa» very voluminous, but it was there fcr sharpho'derf to peruse if they so desired. There v. a? no doubt but that the affairs of tho con.pany had given some anxiety to the directors during the past rear. In re^penst- to a question, the Chairman paid tht'i the Auck'and and Dunedin boards had worked harmoniously, and there had been no friction. Mr Cook, the works xnanagei, had certainly be*n roost anxious to sell more cement than he was entitled to sell The directors had received a l&tter from him stating thpt he very much regretted his action in over-selling t'.ie company's cement ; also expressing regret for his action in purchasing machinery without reference to the directors. The retiring auditors (Messrs Jas. Brown cf Dunedm, and W. R. Holmes, of Auckland) were Tear>pointed Mr JKingswell. on behalf of himself and Mr Simpson, returned -Shanks for election to the hoard of directors, as also did Mr JMacLe** 1 !. Mr P<^er Barr expressed his appreciation of the long services rendered to the company by their retiring chairman of directors (Mr Edward Herbert), both as such and as a _ director. If matters did not go right with a company shareholders became restive, and were desirous of a change, arid one of the results of this feeling among shareholders was a change both in the Auckland and Dunedin boards. Mr Herbert was one of those who were affected by the change referred to. He would move -that he be accorded a hcartv vote of thanks for the services rendered by him to' the company during his many years of association with it. The motion was carried unanimously. Mr Herbert said the company had certainly engrossed a good deal of his time and attention. He was sorry that the past year_ had not been a more profitable one. If his advice had been taken there would have been a very different state of affairs to chronicle. He trusted the set-back, so to speak, was only temporary. They had a splendid property if it was only well managed. The company had his very best wishes for its future.