27th Jan.
Sin. Thomas Sutherland,..G.C.MG.,, that is responsible.for this extract. from the alphabet), made.a very louig: speech to. his shareholders.at.the annual meetingiof theeP. & -O. Ca.. in London on-able.Mr. Jones "could, "only: attribute it-the 10th ultimo; so long that the inevit-
to-the.absence: of a clock over.the door, and Sir 'Thomas..had. to. promise that this, should. be rectified; but-as the meeting, ended in. the"shareholders being. given a dividend. of 6}. and a bonus, of 3 per ceut.on their deferred stock,.they' willingly underivent. the Chairman's oration.
Sir ''Lhomas began with a sympathetic reference. to the loss of the Aden, which, he said, " was..an. event? which. we can. neither forget nor' which wa can fully, explain... What. we, do know from. the evidence of the other. vessels that were in the neighbourhood at tho: time of the shipwreck is that the weather was of. a most unusually. tempestuous character, that it had been absolutely, impossible to obtain observations for; several..days, that the currents were: also. of a. deceptive nature, and we attribute. naturally the loss in question to combination of causes. of. that kind." It.is- not. really. difficult, however, to explain. the loss. At about noon, on. the 8th. of June last. the captain told Mr, Gillett that he had -88. miles to make before reaching Socotra and yet in: the first burst of the monsoon,,, Without. accurate observations, and near a very dangerous coast, he went on full-speed, for her engines were making 62.revolutions when she struck, on a pitch-dark.night, and at 3.a.m. on the 9th, the.. Aden: was on: the reef. And.she. was: steering a south-west course whensshe struck... Leaving. the, Aden with a well-deserved notice of the heroic behaviour of _all.on board, bat without any. explanation of the. slong delay before assistance was.sent to the. wreck,.or of the condact of: the.passing, steamers, one. of them a P. &.0. ship, Sir Thomas, went on to describe the happy escape of. the Clyde after @ gale in the Mediterranenn., Here again all on board behaved splendidly.
"Then. the Chairman. came to a more pleasant topic; the profit. for the years was £65,000 better than in the previous year.. Of this, £34,000 was devoted to the:8 per cent bonus already mentioned, and £31,000 to. reserve...
With this, and-with.a sum: of. over:£54,000, pre-minus.on.asrecent issue of debenture: stock,.. and 3. profi of: over papas rot some £64,000 from the sale of property at Hongkong: not now: required: under the changed condition of matters in-the Far East, the: company's reserve? tuid" has been: increased from £500,000 to' £750,000. This is-not too large a sum, considering: the risks- the company is+ always montting. "The Aden. points. the moral to a certain. extent,, althoghthe encrifice involved, pecuniarily spéaking, is one. of small amount; but if it had-been one of our: vessels. costing. £250,000,. the result. would. ave it' is, Herapath's Journal been: of a- totally' different character,.. and: I need hardly. tell: you, because T.am. sure you perceive it for. your-.- selves, that. our largest and fastest. ships are. the ships that are exposed: to the gravest: risk; they carry the burden of working the mail contract, and'arey therefore, every: day and-evetyy hotir., they are at.sea,, exposed to risks which: slower vessels. are certainly. not exposed to in the same measure." Sir.''homas's reasoning. here will. not bear.ex-" amination for' a moment and wa-are quite: sure. that' neither he, nor Mr. Barnes, nor the Secretary, would tell m: passenger. who came to book, a: berth at the. office that he would be-safer in a slow- cargo-boat. than in a: fast mail-steamer.
Passage money. increased during-the year by: £35,000,..the. total being. very, nearly. £1,100,000,. the occurrence of: the Queen's. Jubilee making up for the panic-and desolation " caused at Bombay.by: the plague. The revenue from. freight and miscellaneous services. was £1,555,886, or £178,061: more than iv the previous year.. Of course,: the ex+" penditure-was also larger. 'I'be prospects for-1898 are represented as favourable. 'There are to be fair crops in India,—though we learn -from other sources' that there are. grave fears of a famine in. Mndras-~and, there: are distinct, signs of improvement in Australia, - Sir, Thomas cannot make up.his mind as to: the fature of China; and he welcomes: the introduction of the gold standard: in Japan, as likely, to check: her power, of competing, with our manufactures.
Sir Thomas. then: processed: to deal at some length with the: charge. that. the P. & 0. Co.,.as a member of various shipping: ings, fostered foreign trade. rat the expense of British: commerce,- His answer, came to this: (1),'that combinations are absolutely necessary ito - preclude violent fluctuations-. in rates, which are equally objectionable to-shipowners-and tmereliantsy and-(2) that if British "ships-reftised to carry' continental cargo. at lower' rates. than. 'Buglish: seargas: was: taken at; German ships would do it)' "I may add," he said, "that for more than. a year-there. has been"peace: between the English and" the: German lines; that practically the' same rates' prevail. at Middlésbroagh.and-at Antwerp, and to-show how Tle tades, I may state that the "ments ifiionce the' sea freight' his
iron: and iron''natetials;~ both from:
ritsierp and: Middlesbrough; hive been
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.