IE China were united, and under the administration of a representative Central Goverment, whose orders were scrupulously obeyed by the provincial authorities, the solution of this prob-Jem would' not present—insuperable difficulties; but as the actual contro! fof the Nanking Government doos not extend beyond a few provinces, it would serve no useful purpose to formulate a scheme for practical eral application. There is no re son, however, why an attempt should not be made' in one or two of the provinces under the effectual control '#f Nanking, to arrest the depreciation of copper coinage, and with this object in view, the undermentioned Soggestions are submitted:
1 The Provinelat authorities should be Drohfbited from" minting copper dus." This prohibition should also apply fo the. mportation from Abroad. of metal discs which are Stamped In China after Importation. The transportation of copper coins In large. quantities whether by. and, tall, oF sea, should be stridly pro: hibited "tudor. revere penal tle Formerly, there war's Customs Order limiting the carrying of cop: pers to 1,000 per person. The Jimi Sas subsequently Increased to 10,000 owing to the fact (hal so many per~ Sone were found to have more than {oon coppers, fin their possession {When the limit was Increased 0 10. '00, It was found that large quanti-lee of coppers. were brought into! Shanghai, Fesulting ina marked depreciation in the cooper exchange. The limit of 1000 coppers per perso Feasonable, end this order the bbe enforced again, with penalties toied. appropriate means Eevempioyed withthe object of tates Guarding that province. or those Exiuage® tore elgnbouriog rear Baskin "an. conditions "improved Sinular meaner should be adopted frrother teer, keeping In view the spece for svhicn they" ware dee Benes.
Under present conditions, these measures can only be considered Inia! ttepe towards ameliorating copper currency altuation, which i 8 fron urgent need. throughout the Ecuntry and one which should. com fond the serious attention of the au-Thoritien, "Fo effect the reform. that ie'requited to. stabilize copper exchange, t would be necessary for the Minlatty of Pinanee to provide a fund for the cedemplion of debased coins Starbitrary rates of exchange. close all Provincial mints, and prohibit, under The severest penalties the minting and bulting into circulation of copper Ecinage other than thal produced Under the Governments orders; but this sweeping reform is not feestble Jat present, for reasons that are too obvious to require explanation. cost of production by accepting very muneration, This state of affairs obviously cannot continue indefinite-and T must warn you that with the present rise in the price of the raw material salaries and wages will have to be raised in the near future and the revenue expenditure therefore bound to increase considerably.
Financially the company is very' strong position since on [December 31, 1933, the Liquid assets exceeded the cash abilities by Ths 172,600 and since then the income has exceeded the expenditure by a substantial amount each month.
regards planting matters T will deal with those of Bandoe Ardjo Estate first, There was no change in the area planted with rubber dur-Ing the year, but the area interplant~ with coffee was increased by 26 acres.
Tu general the trees have a healthy appearance and the gardens fare in good condition despite the rigid economy that has been exer ised. Abnormal lea fall, due to the Ineldence of oidium, kept cheek by sulphur dusting, "The coffee bushes interplanted mongst the rubber are making ver itisfaetory progress and as soon the price of coffee improves will form'n valuable second string to our Tapping has been kept at its usual high standard and the rates of bark consumption and of renewal are normal.
"The supply of labour was more than ample for all requirements but T regret to say that owing to the Inclement weather experienced, the health of the force was not satisfactory as one might have wished, Buildings and machinery were given the necessary upkeep, but fame of the buildings are now very old and will require replacement before many more years are past.
On Kali Minggir Estate the planted area remains the same as at the fend of the previous year. Nothing further was done with the gradual replanting of the worst areas during the year but the trees on the 105 wees that have already been planted are reported to be making Very satisfactory progress this connection I may tell you that, since the close of the—ye your board have taken advantage of an opportunity which occurred to purchase a young rubber estate the vicinity of Kali Minggir. Estat fat the very cheap price of Guilder 26,000, The total arca of this property is 1,125 acres, of which 800 beres. are planted with rubber. About 300 acres are already old enough to be brought into tapping fond Ulus area will be of the grea value to the company, as it will able us to maintain our output whilst the gradual replanting of all Mingzir Estate is being proceed The gardens on Kali Minggir Estate are under green covers: whi are periodically mulched in and far as can be soon lallang is absent.
The supply of labour was ample for the requirements of the Estate and the health satisfactory.
Buildings and machinery were given the necessary upkeep and are Foported to be ina reasonable star of repair.
Speaking generally, the estates have not been allowed to suffer from the drastic economies that have been enforced for several years past land therefore no heavy expenditure will be -necessary to recondition them.
That concludes my remarks, gentlemen, but before putting the resolutions to the meeting I shall be pleased to answer, to the best of my ability, questions that you may" with There being no questions, the following resolutions were then put to the meeting and passed unantmously:
'That the directors' report and statement of accounts for the. ye ended 'December 3, 1033, us present fed, be adopted and' passed. Proposed by! Mr. A. J. Welch and seconded by Mr. L. %. Canning.
That the appointment of Mr. A. J.
Welch of a director of, the company be confirmed. Proposed by Mr.
Bain and seconded by Mr. inning be ree gleeted a director of the company, Proposed by Mr. D. Levy and seconded by Br. Cc. M, Bain, That Meeers. Lowe, Bingham Matthews be re-elected auditors to the company. Proposed by Mr. C.
Shackleton and seconded by Mr.
Levy.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.