Tebong Rubber Estate Presiding at the annual meeting! of the Tebong Rubber Estate Ltd.
April 25, Mr. C. F. Shackleton had sine interesting comments to make an, the future of the rubber industry, He was supported by Sir Elly Kadoorie, Mr. W. W. Cox, Mr. XE, T. Byrne, directors, and" Mr.
Stewart, representing Messrs. J. A, Wattie & Ca, the secretaries and general managers, The notice calling the -meeting aving been read, the Chairman report and statement of accounts have been in your hands for several days and Twill, Your permission, follow the usual BProcodure, and take them as read.
Wy is extremely gratifying to the Board to be able to present to accounts which show such a sati Sactory improvement over there for the preceding year, and this is at-'Acibutable mainly to the very large-Jy. angumented output, but also an increase of over dd. per Ib, im, the average sale price of the rubber.
The not profit for the year, after aving debenture interest, commistion to staff and all Shanghai ex-onses, amounted to Tls. 225,798.44 as compared with Tis, 55,946.85 for the previous year, whilst with. the amount brought forward from the previous year, the sum available fox, appro: is Tis, 180,706.97. That is after deducting the interim alividend paid on October 11, 1929.
In the printed statement of a counts the profit for the year is stated as Tis 222,824.56 and the divisible balance as Tls. 177,732.09. Rath these figures should have been Snereased by the amount of exchange account Tis, 2, 973,88 tra arred; to the profit' and loss account, and: I. apologize for the error.
If the recommendations as Jo the appropriation of profits is approved, the company will have started the now. year with a surplus of liquid Assets amounting to Tis, 100,307.-
During the year a small area of nearly five acres was acquired from ha Government at a reasonable: price and three acres were planted uni The capital expenditure for the year was mainly on buildings machinery. A complete new
tatus division, which is considered was erected on the Bukit to be a model factory and sufficient fan all future requirements on that division. A. serap washer was installed in the main factory and a Battery of throe crepers was purshased at a very reasonable price. There was an addition made to the -eanacity. of the existing smokehouse, and the whole estate is now, fully, equipped for all future requirements. One of the bungalows, which was in a very unhealthy posi ton, was demolished and re-erected an'p, more favourable alte, whilst all'other buildings were maintained in a satisfactory condition. The: ceadtient health conditions on the astute fortunately continue, and this of course has a very favowi able' effect on the labour position. "Lis vogards cultivation, a consider-_ able amount of silt-pitting and bunding was completed and" this programme is proving very effective in, preventing wash and preserving othe top soil, with the result that the trees respond to the better soil conditions. The estate is reported to be in a very satisfactory con-ition and diseases cause no trouble except for the incidence of root disease, which takes its toll of old rubber trees on all es of, the past, I will usually met' with by foretellers of the future. In a speech recently} made at a public meeting we were told that the word "cooperation" was used so much now-a-days, that its reiteration was tedious. This may be s0, but in the case of rubber the: recent conversations between the British and. Dutch plantation owners Ieads one to hope that in this case it will not prove to be an.empty slogan. The suggestion to cease tapping for the month' of May. has met with very nearly unanimous assent by the British, and J, understand that assent from the Dutch is well over 90 per cent. The Chinese planters in the Straits aye joined in, and it is hoped that ay considerable number of the native owners. with small areas will also give their trees a holiday. The
although not 100 per cent.' cannot, but have a good effect on statistics, fand T hope it means a permanent Joint action to control future sup-Dlies, and to dispense with the in-ne craze for turning out as much possible in order to reduce the cost per Ib, before the world is in 2 position to use the quantity offered for sale, The statement is frequently made that cheap rubber causes creased use and, although this pro-Dably is so, I consider anything under 1/-per'Ib, is cheap, and the cry. has apparently been connected with, Gd, rubber. The: latter price is not '2 paying proposition to either large estate owners or native small holders, and any long period with prices such as rule at present. is bound to re-act in the future on supplies. Gentlemen, I am not a blind opti neither am I'a pessiinnly believe, that a to be seen in the black clouds under which rubber has been labouring for so long.
Although I agree that statistics of future consumption and produetion are apt to prove fallacious, one. cannot altogether ignore same, they form the basis of all business undertakings. During 1929 consumption showed an abnormal crease, until the financial er the autumn, but on the contrary the quantity produced by Malaya astounded everyone. is practically all creased yield per probably on account of more recent improvements in methods of cultivation, and it is extremely unlikely that the yield from existing areas can Still further increased, The immature areas of European end American owned estates is not a material proportion of the whole acreage under rubber, whilst although it is estimated thet the immature native plantings in the Dutch East Indies is twice the present yielding aren, it must be remembered that their trees do not receive the same care as those on, well managed estates, and cons quently "their productive life shorter, The considered forecasts for 1930 show very little margin between production and consumption without taking into consideration any decrease in the former that may arise from the cessation of tapping during Ma; This has been estimated at such widely different figures as 30,000 and_ 50,000 ton:
Furthermore, a continuance of present prices means a reduction of native and wild rubber and I for one, although not anticipating any Sensational rise, feel convinced that the great industry will shortly be in a position to pay a reasonable return on the large sums invested by patient shareholders.
I should like to express our thanks to the Manager and Staff on the Estate, to. the Technical Agent and to the Agents" in Penang.
'That concludes my remarks, Gentlemen, but before I formally propose the adoption of the report and statement of accounts, I shall be pleased to answer, to the best of my ability, any questions which you may wish' to As no quest following resolutions were ci unanimously:—That the directors? report and tatement of accounts for the year ended January 31, 1930, as presented, be adopted and passed, and that a final dividend of 20 candareens per share, making 30 candareens er share for the year, be paid. Proposed by Mr. C.F. Shackleton Jand seconded by Sir Elly Kadoorie.
'That the directors be authorized to donate' the sum of Tls. 250 to. wards the supply of comforts for the foreign troops now in Shanghai—Proposed by Mr. C. F. Shack-Jeton and seconded by Mr. W.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.