On morning the eighth ordinary general meeting of this company was held at the office in the Svochow Road, Me. J.D. Clark (Chairman) presided, and there were present, Messrs, H. ch, W. Hayward (Directors), H. G. Gardner, E. W. dall, JO. Ballard, J. R. Baker, G. W. Be Tabbah, FE. Be R. Pew Willson, GD. Scott, J. W: Wakeford Cox, L. M. Gutterres, Shorrock, A. R. Leake, J. net, Bowness, e, Jus, H. Osborne, Keeling, Caron, A. Linton, Remedios, J.C. Quick, CE. Jones, Tozer, W. H. Bell, A.
Mili, SE. and E. Palmer (Secretary), KIN shares, read the notice of the report and accounts, said Gentlemen, as you have had the report and. act coumts in your hands for you will no doubt be glad to road, You will, 1 san sure, all regret the death of our London agent, Me, Tad served us faithfully for The vacancy caused filled by Mr. Tuck, an old servant, who was the lead of the Drapery Department here fora long time. The accounts, as you will see, are made up in the sume form as previously and call for very few remarks. The gross profit is rather better than last your, while the expenses are a trifle less, The profit, I think, may be termed satisfac ory, considering that in the early part of "the year the Company had a compar tively small stock. If you refer to the Balance Sheet you will note that the tory Property stands at the very low ssu of $0440.51, while the stud, vans, ovens stand at a The Si Debtors stand at $174,221. This large "item, en, hits the con stunt attention of your Directors appears to be iasep esjucially where a is with the rye Fund has been much commentd upon, atid suggestions ye bee male as the" advisability of capitalization, some the that in payin' four as twenty "per cent he ape would were ini 2 Tare pr that the Reserve Fund was invested in the business aad was earning half of the di end, Another argument is that the sh: would be more negotiable at the Da But neither appears to your Ditee to be a sufficient reason' ty alter the course we have hitherto token, though the reserve isin i still "invested in easily constantly up to dite good divide share think th this Reserve Fund. Our stoc imported and therefire_ requ to be written of doing w busines if tied for the want of capital. p there is much smaller than it ought to be. However, gentlemen, on the whole we think you are to be congratulated on the results Of the working of the Compang for last year, and Imay adi that the prosperity is rely due to the energy of our employees. Gentlemen, I have nothing farther to s: ihat should a of the shareholders wish for farther explanations I will do my best sive them, Mr. U. J. Such seconded, and the resolution was carried.
Mr. H. J. Such proposed that the recommendations of the Directors as to the disposal of the profits be adopted.
Mr. W. Hayward seconded, and it was carried.
Mr. E, W. Tisiall proposed that Mr. J.D. Clark be re-elected a Director.
Mr. PF. G. Keeling seconded, and it was carried un ensuing year.
Mr. If. G. Gardner seconded, and it was carried unanimously, Mer. J. S. Nazer proposed that a bonus of 10 per cent be paid to the staff of the Company on their salaries for the past year. Taking into consideration the trouble of the fire, the removing, the indenting for new stock, and everything else, he considered that they were fully entitled to the bonus, which useil to be given to them, and for some reason was withdrawn. They had earned it, for they had done well in up the pres!
WY. Tindall of the Company.
he Chairman—This question has already received the attention el the Directors, and wwe intended to brit forward something of the surf ourselves. i n very pleased ill, tw butit to the meeting Phe proposition was the De, Ward Hall—At meeting to be held eker 1 asked to increase the cap 00) something avera quarter The same powers that entitle entitle us the share-
As we are contemplating going into new premises, trading much more largely than hitherto, and employing a great deal more uioney, it seemed that it would be a eud thing ty lighten the work of the Directors and the working of the company by ving two more gentlemen fur Directors, U five instead of tree. Tt has been said that perhaps it sould be suilicient to increase them by one. That would give us four Directors, and put into the hands of the Chairman a casting fuir, because it is a responsibil the C which might not. very er thing fur everyboly—empl yes, Directors, and sharehold help indirectly the publi I propose, therefore, that the mumber of Directors be increased from and that Messrs, Sam TI Shorrock aunt A. K. Leake be elected as additional Directors, reason for i Sver since thi to see any mard of Directors. instituted ave worked it, and Ido ould cly any more. I think increase of capital ig x very certainly thee Directors at present ime and atten tion to the work, and Ido not think anybody could do better than they have done.
The Chairman—Gentlemen, you have heard all th: Wand Hall has had to say on this propos Before putting it to the jon meeting I may say that by the Articles of Assucistion the number of Directors was intensed to be three, but by clause No. 87 power is given to reduce or increase the number at a general meeting, so the resolution is in order. Up to the present time three Directors have been found sufficient for the business of the Company, and even at the time of the disastrous fire in 1898, which. caused us so much anxiety, we managed with three Directors to steer the craft through the storm. Wit the prospect of an immediate increase in the expe of the Company, your Directors think it unwise to incur extra expense in this direction; that, however, is matter for you to decide. The proposer of the resolution Tmay mention, is not himself a shareholder, and the two gentlemen he wishes to join the Board have only become shareholders during the last few days, therefore the proceedius: is, we thinks, to say the least of it, a very doubtful one, It the shure holders have no confidence in the present Board, both myself and Me. Such are will ing to resign, as we think it is very undesirable to add to the expense of the Company by an increase in the directorate, unless for some tangible reason.
De. Ward Hall—Since you have been Kind enough to reler to the fact that Lam not myself a shareholder in the Company, Tay say that, holding proxy power for some 300 odd shares, L speak with exactly the sume authority a9 if tie shares were in my own name.
If 1 am not here by a recognised authority to cust my vote exactly as a shareholder, without any reference being made to my po here in such an unkind way as to suggest Unt Lam an outsider, I would like to be taken out of that position. as to the gentlemen who have been asked to serve additional Directors they have certainly become shareholders only recently. But the qualification for membership is clearly stated in the articles, and it does not auter whether " shareholder ix old or new. These two gentlemen are just as well qualified fur the position as "anyone else. Lhe argument of increase of expense is tse= less when we remember that we have voted a bonus to the staff which figures up into thou sands, while the increase in Directors' fees could' not make a large amount. Chis proposition, from the very manner in which it has been brought forward, shows clearly that there ly no dissatisfaction with the present Bourd. There is no proposal to remove one or allorany of them. Iv is simply an honest proposal to increase the Byard, to what We believe would be the general advantage of all, and not to the hurt of the present Directors, staff, or sharelulders.
Mr. E. W. Tisdall, speaking as representing over 1,000 shares, could still see no reusou for the increase of the bourd.
Mr. A. 8. White-Cooper thought that as the present Board had done so well no increase was uecessury. The preset Board was willing and able to continue.
The Chairman—L may sny that the present Directors do not wish to throw any slur upon the proposer of this, or upoit the two gentlemen who are proposed, and
said, have nothing we take buck from what I The proposition was then put, and declared lust. De, Ward Hall at once de-mended a poll, and appointed Mr. W. LI. Bell as his scrutineer. The Chaie appointed Mr. EH. W. Tisdall to it sim position, and the poll was taken, Later in the day the result was made public as follows Aguiust the Resolution Lost by This ended the meeting.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.