'Tue Ninth Annual Meeting of Shareholders, in' the Shanghat Land Invest-mont Ca,, Ld., was held-at 4.30 p.m. on Monday (7th) at the offices of the of the Company, Messrs. Gibb, Livingston Ca, Present: Messrs. H: R. Hearn, Chairman,. A; [cleed, E. J. Hogg, Directors; H. Parkes, Legal Adviser; James Buchanan, H. P. Wilkinson, EH. Davis, ©. J. Dudgeon,.H. F. Bell, E. Lavers,-J M. Young, H. Snethlage, E. Phipps, Moosa, M. Beatty, J.J. Buchheisfor PH, Purcell; E. Ghisiy 1, Tourg, MI Wolff, E. S. Perrott, F. Gove, C. Thorne, A. Cushny, H. R.-Kinnear, G. W. Noel, 'A. M, Bisbee, and others.
'THe Ohairman'propbsed that Mr. Hi R: Kinnear be-appointed Secretary to the ovine and this was agreed'to. The notice convening the meeting was then read.
The: Chairman said—I will premise by oxpressing: regret that'this meeting should have been. called'on mail day: the incidence of this particular mail day was not known at the time the report was issued. T propose that, as usual, we take the report and accounts, which have been in your hands'for some days, as read' and satisfactory reading I hope you will have found them. You will perhaps not have failed to bear in mind, that, while the report states that the. dividend to be proposed makes'1l per cent for the -year, it is, in trath;- L-per: cent' on the old capital of one million; and 64-per cent for the half year on the additional. capital aubseribed since the 30th: June. The report: refers as usual to- the several estates, and to this I have nothing noteworthy to add: I may mention that estate No. 7.0n the Soochow Creek disappears from our records by reason of sale, as was referred to in: last year's report, leaving a net. profit of Tls. 24,659.65.. "As to "the: new. properties numbered 8 and 9,. bought daring. the yest, we: havechope' that in- the- course time'they also will be regarded as among:! the good investments of the company, (00 towards which population is extending. It was very satisfactory to us to find our anticipations realised as to the taking up, by almost the entire body of shareholders, of the new capital asked for. What further funds we may: require towards promoting the business of the company will be raised by the issue of Debentures; but wede not propose to take immediate steps in that direction.
You have. perhaps analysed the accounts of the company, comparing them with those of last year, but I may as well briefly draw the comparisons for thos" who have not done so. In the working account rents show an increase of Tls. 32,340, and the increase in the expenses immediately contingent in them. is Tls. 2,425; towards which a higher land assessment and higher valuations for Insurance contribute, General charges show an increase of Tls. 918, due mainly: to the employment of an over seer of works which we have deemed desirable. Ayents' remuneration is increased by Ins 1,000. This is in pursuance of a yesolittion by the Board in July; Inst increasing their remuneration to Tls. 12,000 per annum. The agents had represented that Tls. 10,000 did not adequately remus norate them for the increasing expenditure and work involved-in tve added and inerensing business of the company. The question was carefully discussed—the expenditure' referred to considered, and the conclusion come to was that the contention was a reasonable one. The new agreement therefore was made, to which we trust you will not find reason to demur.
Turning to the Assets and Liabilities, the several estates stand at their actual cost and this of course means something considerably under present values. Some is. 228,500 have been spent during the year in building and Tls. 134,000 more will be required during the current year. Beyond that we have no present intention-of 3 plans have been indeed been made for the further utilization of estates 2' and 6, but the present cost of building is such as to compel us: for the'time to put them aside.
You will have noticed in the report that we propose to pay a dividend of 6} per cent for the half-year. It is obvious that the Working Account does not provide for all of this, some TMs. 11,000 coming out of profit on the Soochow Creek property. Another portion of this profit, with the premium on the new shares, we propose to pass to Reserve, a fund we are employing in the business of the company.
I may venture in conclusion to say that the rentals for the present year promise a dividend net less than that to be proposed for the past year.
Mr. Noil—The-only item that does not appear in the working account is a certain income which I believe is derived from the sale of night soil.
The Chairman—That is merely a detail—8 detail that the directors do of think it expedient to put in. Tt is included in the rentals derived from the Estates.
Mr. Noél—Will you please tell me what this income amounts to?
The Chairman—About $500.
Mr. Noél—It seems hardly worth while
small sum.
Keeping that going. Tt is a comparatively The Chairman—It there anything further, gentlemen, with regard to the report and accounts. "If not I-will move—
be accepted and. passed.
That the report and accounts as presented Mr. EJ. Hoxg seconded.
ried nem. con.
Proposed by the Chairman, seconded by Mr. ©. J. Dudgeon—
That the directors be authorised to pay a cent on the paid-up capital to shareholders final dividend for the year 1897 of-65 per on the register at this date:
Carried unanimously.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.