DOMINION RUBBER COMPANY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3868, 1 May 1928, Page 15

DOMINION RUBBER COMPANY.

TWENTIETH ANNUAL MEETING. The twentieth annual general meeting of shareholders in the Dominion Rubber Company, Ltd., was held in the Chamber of Commerce board room, Bond street, on Thursday afternoon. The chairman of directors (Mr Thomas Glendining) presided. Messrs 11. Adam, IV. Anderson, and J. Scott (directors) were also present, as well as about 20 other shareholders.

In moving the adoption of the report and balance sheet, the Chairman said that notwithstanding the difficulties met with during the past year a profit of £5OlO Is 5d was made, and an interim dividend of 10 per cent, w.is paid to shareholders in October last. It is now proposed that the balance in profit and loss account £2168 16s 7d) should be carried forward to next year’s account.

.Mr 11. K. IV ilkinson seconded the mo tion.

In reply to Mr Wilkinson, the Chawman said the company had a lease for 999 years.

Mr E. R. Smith said the chairman had not referred to the offer made to buy out the company. Would it be right to mention it?

The Chairman said it was quite proper to do so. The company had received a letter from Mr Duff, of the Duff Develop, meat Company, who had an estate of 8000 acres round the Dominion Company’s plantation. Mr Duff wished to.Jbuy the company out but the directors did net think the offer was sufficient, and therefore did not bring it before the shareholders. The offer amounted to about 30s per share. Mr A. Ib'ootson asked if negotiations were off, or were they likely to hear from Mr Duff again.

The Chairman said that negotiations were off, but Mr Duff might come. back again. The offer was £BO per acre, or £BO,OOO for the property of 1000 acres. The Dominion Company had a very good estate. Mr Duff had said to him that the estate Was one of the best, and that everything about it was in good condition. The motion was carried.

Mr W. B. Bell, manager of the company’s property at Kelantan, at the request of the chairman, addressed the meet ing. He said the company’s estate was extraordinarily well situated in Kelantan. A railway had recently been made by the Government, which was a mile from the property. There was a station about that distance from the estate. The railway authorities had made a road to the estate at considerable expense—a difficult piece of work owing to river-beds being in the way. Being at the point where the river and the railway met, Kelantan had become a large centre, which made >t popular with labour. The Duff estates were al the back of the company’s estate. Before the railway was made the company used the river. Since the flood the. . river had not been of much use to it, which had thrown it back on the railway. The state of the river had considerably affected the Duff company, which had relied wholly on the river for transport. It might be said that the Dominion Company stood in the way of the Duff Company, as its estate was the natural outlet of the large area planted by the Duff Company, and of the further large areas it was about to plant. The Duff Company had won a big case against the Government, and was going to open out in a big way at tho back of the Dominion Company’s property. The company obtained judgment for £380,000. together with costs amounting to £140,000. or over £500.000 in all. The Dominion Company's plantation had a good reputation for health. They had been carrying out anti-malarial work for a number of years by direction of the Government, and for this reason and being well-situated the estate was popular with labour, which was the biggest trouble out there. They were all fighting to get labour, and the best situated and healthiest .estates had the first call. The Dominion Company's estate was exceedingly productive. In 1926 the average yield per acre per annum wn< 6301 b, and in 1927 it was 5961 b. Tho production had decreased a little owing to excessive wet. The average yield per acre per annum on the peninsula was 3&01b, which showed that the company was in a good position if it came to a question of tho survival of the fittest. The high yields were mainly the result of cultivation in the past. He considered that cultivation was worth while. It helped the bark renewal, and by taking such measures they were able to maintain their The big flood occurred at the beginning of the financial year now under review. Although the company had suffered badly it had suffered less than oilier estates affected by the flood. Most of the estates were further up stream than the company’s land. Tho flood was unprece-

dented in history. The water rose 75ft above tho normal river height, and the pace of the torrent was put down at 20 miles an hour. At the company’s property it was 20ft less. This was another point in the company’s favour—that the river was less confined—so that in case of a flood repetition the company would again come out well. Further, the company had a hill on its estate which protected its buildings. The few buildings lost stood beyond the protection of the hill, and tho torrent being such as it was they had to go. In future all the buildings would be protected by the liill. The cleaning-up work occupied almost the whole of the year. His leave was due a month or two before the flood, but in order to put matters right and to get a man to take his place, he postponed his furlough for 12 months. The front portion of the estate was buried in silt—about 400 acres —but the larger part was not affected. The water rose over the top of the factory, but they managed to save a good deal. For 36 hours continuously he was wading in water up to his waist, saving rubber, electrical plant, and a lot of material that allowed them, immediately after the flood had receded, to proceed with their work. This was an important item, because communication with the outside world was cut off for weeks, and it was not possible to get supplies. Altogether, the company was fortunate in the situation of its property, and this ought to be remembered when it came to selling the estate. —(Applause.) In reply to a question as to whether the company had lost many trees, Mr Bel' said the loss in that direction was not worth sneaking about. It was not a serious loss, though it caused trouble to clean tin things. Mr William Anderson was re-elected to the directo’ - ate. Mr A. W. M. Moodie. Dunedin, and Messrs M'Auliffe, Davis, and Hope. Penang, were re-elected auditors. The matter of remuneration was left to the directors Mr A. Ibbotson moved a hearty vote of thanks to the directors and the staff for their services during the year. It was un fortunate he said, that matters were not as the shareholders would like them to be, but the company had been down before, and had risen, and lie had no doubt it would do so again. Mr H. A. Salmon seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously. The Chairman, on behalf of the directors and the staff, thanked the shareholders for ihe vote of- thanks. —