The fiftich ordinary general meeting of the shareholders of the Chartered Bank of Ind, Australia and China was held on Wednesday at the Cannon Street Hotel, London, K.C., Mr. J. Howard Gwyther The Manager (Mr. Caleb Lewis) read the notice calling the meating.
'The Chairman said: I presume, gentlemen, you will, as usual, take the directors' report and the balance-sheet as read. (Hea hear.) Once more, gentlemen, I have ti honour of presiding at your annual meeting, and Iam pleased that I can present for your approval such a satisfactory balance-sheet. Thanks to excessive competition und silver eccentricities. our profits have been earned with increasing difficulty, and it much redounds to the credit of our managers that such a respectable total has been maintained. You will observe that our gross profits were only 25,000 less than in 1902, notwithstanding the provision of £30,000 for the adjustment of our securities, but~the expenses of management are £22,000 greater. The directors are keenly. alive to the necessity for wise economy, but our staff have a putation for prudence and intelligence, consequently they are exposed to the temptation of higher pay elsewhere. Our defence lies in liberality, and I see no judicious retrenchment near at hand. Trade between Germany and the East constantly increases, and, with the view of maintaining and enlarging our connections with that country, we have determined to open an agency at Hamburg. India has been again favoured with sufficient rain, and the country has consequently prospered. The price of cotton has naturally followed that raling in America, and the cultivators must thereby have benefited in a marked degree. Opium has also attained a price quite unexpected, notwithstanding the constant increase in the production by China. "I presume that the well-to-do Chinese greatly prefer the flavour of the foreign product, and are therefore willing to pay the enhanced cost. Indigo is still on the down grade, as it must: be sold at an unprofitable price to compete with the synthetic production of Germany. The great expansion of linseed exports from Argentina shows that India has to face a rivalry of no mean magnitude. Whether the world's consumption will increase sufficiently to absorb the crops of both countries is a problem to be solved in the future. Jute, so far, has found no competitor, and the increase in the production of the manufactured article is a very satisfactory feature in the trade. Lord Curzon as Viorroy, and Sir Edward Law as Finance Mister, have by their wise Budgets proved their fitness for the positions they occupy. Their plans for further railway communication, based upon expanding revenues, should create in due course new avenues of trade, and a great desideratum, viz.: lessened cent of transit to and from the seaboard. Th desire to establish agricultural ce-operative societies has, wisely, so far only resulted in minor tentative measures, seeing that the cultivaters are suspicious, and fear inister designs when inquiry is made into their ways and means. In Egypt an agricultural bank has been successfully established, based upon a Government guarantee of 3 per cent minimum interest. Of course, India is too vast to allow of such a scheme for the whole country, but it is open to question whether the attempt might nob be experimentally made in one—province. Burma has again prospered; the crops of rice are always increasing, and the quantity of rupees poured into that country year by year never to reappear is phenomenal. The Straits Gove-ment are busily engaged in perfecting their new currency scheme. Unfortunately, their difficulties have been greatly aggravated by the delayed probibition of furrier importation of dollars. During the transition period it behoves bankers to work with much circumspection, but I trust that ere long our branches in the Straits will be able to resume their former position with freedom and profit. Java. has still to-contend with low values of sagar. Contraction in the cost of produc-on thas hitherto prevented curtailment, but thers is a limit to economy. and the future is unpromising unless the position is ametiorsted by the abolition of bounties in Europe. Our business in the Philippines has Been of Into restricted and unprofitable. Trade in those islands shows few signs of renewed activity. The Americans since their advent have very unwisely prevented the ingress of Chinese, and have thus made a return to prosperity difficult and tedious. China during the year under review has. produced no surprises; the volume of external trode and the revenue derivable from the foreign customs show little variagon from the figures of 1902. With peace there will be industrial progress, but any rush to exploit the country is greatly to be depreeated. The Chinese are.very conservative, and i is difficalt.to eradicate their preconceived notions. Japan up to the outbreak of hostilities was happily placed. The olfacts of the over-speculations which followed the war with China had disappeared, Capital was abundant and trade thriving, Now, bearing in mind the waste of money produced by the present conflict with Russia, it is impossible to forecast ths future economic condition of the country. Gentlemen, I bag to move that the report now presented, together with the balance-sheet and the' profit and loss account, be approved and adopted, Mr. Emile Levita seconded the resolution.
Mr. John Squibb: I believe I am voicing the opinion of almost the whole body of shareholders when I swy wa most heartily congratulate you on the very excellent report you have placed before us, and in the results leading to which you have been so ably seconded by your staff. I am sure you well deserve the unanimous thanks of the meeting. Now I am coming to a grievance, and that is with reference to the dividend. I have been a shareholder for nearly tilty years, and I believe thoroughly in good, solid reserves, but there is a limit even to that. We have gone on for some time I will not say patiently—but still we have gone on for some time with the 10 per cent dividend, and T am glad to hear you say you have increased the reserve fund to the amount of the paid-up capital, but I see thit you carry forward no less a sum than £16,000 more, which would admit of further 2 per cent dividend to the shareholders. (Hear, hear.) With regard to the price of the shares, you may say yow have nothing to do with that, but this is where it comes in, In the case of a death the shures have to be sold, and, unfortunately, buyers only look to the dividends; they do not go into the thing as exhaustively ax they might, so it is rather hard in these cases to have to sell at the present price, which is far below what I consider their Proper value. I hope that before another year is closed, or when the interim dividend is under consideration, you will remember the Long-suffering—no, I will not say long. suffring—(laughter)—but the patient for-clearance of the shareholders, and see if you can give them a little more in the way of dividend.
Mr. Victor Murray: We have a very excellent report, before us, which must be very satisfactory to alt the shareholders present hee. Now that the reserve fund has reached the amount of £800,000, no doubt, the remarks that were made by the shareholder wko has just spoken will receive the Board's attention. There isone item I should like to mention. I noticed last year in the accounts there was a sum of £15,000 as a bonus to the staff. We must all be aware staff, and to the staff only, elders must look for that increased dividend which the shareholder mentioned just now. Working in foreign countries os Thave done in the last twenty-four years, I can sympathise with the work which the managers of the Chartered Bank have to contend with, andIam strongly of opinion that the sharcho'ders should forego a little in order to- allow the staff to have the usual bornns.
The Chairman: Before putting the resolation I may say that I anticipated -something of what has fallen from the first speaker, and I will read what is my opinion of the matter—an opinion which is one that commends itself to my fellow-directors. "Many months must elapse before the profits for 1904 are ascertainable. When that time arrives the directors will duly keep in mind the reasonable expectations of the shareholders, but-I must tell you frankly that the Board's policy will be directed to a moderate annual addition to the reserve fand. until atleest another £400,000 is reached. A bank such as ours, with rami. fications in distant Colonies and foreign
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.