Company you will have seen that the interest earned and the transfer fees received were nearly equal to the whole Shanghai expenditure.
On December 31, 1938 the liquid assets of the Java and Shanghai Companies combined exceeded the cash liabilities by Eh. $197,233,78 and if you pass the dividend now recommended the companies will start the new year with a combined surplus of liquid assets amounting to Eh. $158,983:78.
In conclusion, Gentlemen, I would like to express our best thanks to the two managers, their staffs, the visiting agent and the agents in Java for the very satisfactory manner in which they have administered the estates during the period under review.
There being no questions the following resolutions were passed 'That the directors' report and statement of accounts for the year ended December 31, 1998, as presented, be adopted and passed.
Seconded by Mr. R. N. Swann Pre by Mr. A. J. Welch and That a dividend of Five Chinese Dollar cents per share be paid Proposed by Mr. A. J. Welch and Seconded by Mr. R. N. Swann.
That the appointment of Mr. L. Kadoorie as a director of the Company be_ confirmed.
Seconded by Mp, Chiung Shun Hua. Proj by Mr. Dong Mai Kwun and That Mr. Fu Shiao En be re-elected a director of the Company.
Proposed by Mr. Woo Chi Ming and Seconded by Dong Mai Kwun.
That Messrs. Lowe, Bingi Matthews be re-elected auditors to the company for the ensuing year and that their fee for auditing the accounts for J838 be Cn$210.
Proposed by Mr. Chiung Shun Hua and Seconded by Mr. Woo Chi Ming.
London, May 3.
Commenting on the fact that Reuters United. Kingdom Staple Commodity Index is at present listed at 141.8, compared with 135.1 a year ago, the Financial News points out today that this primarily due to the rise in sugar and tin, for which there are special reasons.
The former, the paper adds, is affected by the crop failures in Europe and India and the disappearance of Czechoslovakia's expected contribution to the free market, combined with rumours that stocks in the United Kingdom are to be maintained permanently at the level of 500,000 tons.
The immediate cause for the rise in tin, the journal goes on to say, has been the sudden buying by the United States, influenced by fears that the Pacific shipping routes might be dislocated in the event of war, while the underlying cause has been the delayed revival of the United States tin-plate industry, The failure of other commodities to rise above what are mostly depression levels may be explained by three general causes, the journal continues, firstly, the general check given to speculative activity imparted by the political tension; secondly, accumulation of very heavy stocks owing to last year's industrial setback, and, finally, the heavier armament demand this year being fully offset by the slackening of business in America.
In these various ways, says the writer, sufficient slack has been created, even at existing levels of production but, once this slack has been taken up, there is still an enormous margin of unused capacity to be taken up before any substantial rise can occur.
It would be difficult to base a rather sudden advance of commodities upon any serious or immediate expectation of inflationary trends, says the "Times" City columnist, There has been hitherto little sign of any real expansion of speculative activity such as would accompany expectations of that kind. However, the Times writer adds jute to tin and sugar as being responsible for the rise in the Reuter Commodity Index.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.