The adjourned annual general meet ing of shareholders in the Astor House held at the hotel on Thursday afternoon. There were present:—Mr. L. J. Cubitt (chairman) Messrs, F. Ayscough, and D. McNeill, directors; Messrs. G. H. Thomson,.N. ews, J. H. M. Christensen, W. Brauen, R. W. McCabe, H. H. Read, M. A. Read, ©. E. Ellis, J. H. raven, and E.B. Skottowe (by proxy). Total number of shares represented 5,296.
The Chairman said that the Report and Accounts had been in the shareholders hands for some time and, with the permission of the meeting they would be taken as read. It might be as well to some few particulars which would, in the ordinary course, be published in the Workiog Account. As they would see from the accounts the past year had been a very unprofitable one and, therefore, the Directors in giving an account of their stewardship would like to show shareholders that their" i been served by adopting economies as far as possible. There had been creases, but they were unavoidal in some cases were due to the adoption a different policy. Amongst the unavoidable increases was $2,650 for taxes and fire insurance. Legal expen-tee were rather more than in previous years, but in floating the debentures there bad been more legal work to be done. Then the water was rather a large item. The amount for the Band was also an increase, but this was due to the dinners which were given daring the! year at which the band was asked for. Of course in these cases the band was, charged for, but these amounts di not appear to the credit of Band Account. The Company had thought it advisable to have the band at more frequent intervals than in ordinary years. There had been some increase in messing items as they bad improved the table 20 as to keep the hotel fare the best in the place. There had been decreases in wages and bad debts. The next} item calling for comment was the Hankow loss $5,522. That item sppeared every year. It was not loss on the working in Hankow, but it represented the amount written off. When aniounts were expended on improvements in Hankow, when it was decided to give up the hotel and lease it, the Board decided to write off all moneys 80 spent, so that on the termination of the Company's lease this should be out of the books. He might mention also with reard to the mortgages and investments on the other side of the balance sheet that that was money which had been received for debentures which had been issued. The debentures had been issued although they did not require the money at once and it had been re-invested at once so that the amount of loss would be as small as possible. As soon as the: re-building began that money would be released. He proposed that the Report and Accounts be accepted and passed.
Mr. McNeill seconded.
Mr. R. W. MacCabe said that before the accounts were passed he would like to say a few words, The chairman attributed the extremely unsatisfactory report to the decrease in the number of guests visiting the port of Shanghai during the past year. One aight reasonably question if this was the real cause of the falling-off in business, and personally, be would be willing to wager that the slackness of business referred to would not hare sucha paralysing effect on their p rival ganization on the Bund, as to cause it to be run at a loss for the past twelve months. A balance sheet showing loss on their working in Shanghai alone of $14,000 odd was the more regrettable, the more pitiable, in that there could be no question as to the status the Astor House Hotel. Daring the time he had been staying there he had had opportunities of speaking with a number of guests, both those who would be included under the heading of local patronage and those: who were classed as transient visitors, and the universal opinion had been that, hhad|the hotel itself approximated more nearly to a home than any other hotel any of the people with whom he had spoken had stayed at. There was no doubt thet the Astor House occupied and he hoped would occupy the position of the premier: hotel in Shanghai. It had an excellent tradition to follow, and the efforts of previous managements had been instramental in making it known in Europe and America as the hotel in the Far East. Ite position io the settlement was exceptionally advantageous, its 9 pointments were of the best, its native staff was about as near perfection as any native stof could well be, and all round, the hotel was in every way a first-class hotel, and should always remain so. Only the day before 'a guest who had been staying there for some time said to the speaker that if there was one thi would like to take on in Shangh the assurance that he would make it pay, that was the management of the Astor House Hotel. The organization and tradition established in previous years had been so thorough that he considered the ordinary inside machinery of the hotel opinion. All that was well wis 6 would ron by itself in the speaker's
competent and suitable manager. It was regrettable that so little interest in their holdings was shown by shareholders, for it would certainly appear that at the present time they had jost reason for no small amount of solicitude about their property. The place bad evidently entirely lost the confidence of the outside public as was witnessed by the fact that shares were quoted that day at $17.00. They were $34.50 some two years and three or four months ago. No other shares out here were as bad as that, that were any good at all. In these circumstances he thought it must be admitted that it was high time that some more effective control were inaugurated over the present management. He observed from the Yokohama papers some time ago that at the Grand Hotel there the system adopted was of having one of the directors stayin, the hotel, for which of course he received special remaneration. This method would appear to be fan excellent one, for though naturally a director could not be expected to have had much experience of hotel ranning he could at least judge if the table maintained was in keeping with the traditions of a first-class hotel, and form slink between the shareholders whose interests be represented.
The management from his own personal experience was far from satisfactory. Gross discourtesy had been shown to some of the guests, He knew of countless instances where people who had complaints to make had been unable to find the manager; and when they did, there was no guarantee that they would receive redress and he had seen it stated in a paper that the wapagement occupied the billiard tables for a considerable portion of each day, 0 that guests could not use them. These strictures applied to the manager himself personally, and vot to the other foreign employees of the Hotel, from whom he hed experienced nothing but courtesy. A good head was wanted, and he thought it was high time to change matters.
The Chairman, in reply to Mr. MacC'abe, said that under only heading was there a sh fortunately that wi count—rooms, board and chit shortage on that was far larver than the shortage on the year's working, which showed that local trade was improving. Mr. MacCabe would be shown the figures in confidence, if he applied to the Secretary. The Astor House bad three times the number of rooms of the other hotels, and therefore they might be only half full, and still have more guests than any other hotel. The main part of the hotel's trade came from American visitors, and on these there had been serious falling off of late. He failed to understand Mr. MacCube's atatement that everyone was comfortable in the hotel, and yet it was slipping back. As regards the remarks directed against the personally, he desired to point out that in past years they had had s succession of managers,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.