502
A. C. Squair
81
J. C. Watson, H.M.S. Lizard
1
F. E. Seymour,
do.
1
Dr. Campbell,
do.
F. K. T.
£50 & 817,352.20
SEAMEN'S CHURCH MISSION
AND FUND.
Mr. H. E. Pollock, the Hon. Treasurer of the Seamen's Church and Mission Fund, acknow- ledges with thanks the receipt of the following subscriptions to date :--
The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank Messrs. Butterfield and Swire
$100 100 100
94.35
50 50
50
50
50
"
Jardine, Matheson and Co.
The Union Insurance Society of Canton Proceeds of P. 0.0. for £10 from
100
Mr. W. Tarn
The Right Rev. Bishop of Victoria The Hongkong and Whampoa Dock Co. Messrs. Lane, Crawford and Co....
50
50
50
Carlowitz and Co.
??
32
Armhold, Karberg and Co.
Siemssen and Co.
17
Melchers and Co.
11
Dodwell and Co.
The Peninsular and Oriental S. N. Co.
50
Sir Thomas Jackson
25
Messrs. Johnson, Stokes and Master
25
Gibb, Livingston and Co.....
25
11
Bradley and Co..
25
11
David Sassoon, Sons and Co..
25
Palmer and Turner..
25
+1
A. S. Watson and Co.
25
+1
The Hongkong Kowloon Wharf and
Godown Company
25
Mr. R. Shewan
25
Messrs. Gilman and Co.
Mr. D. Gillies
W. J. Saunders
"3
35
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
A. S. WATSON & CO., LIMITED.
[December 22, 1
22, 1900.
graph in Mr. Reece's letter, I do not see that anything but good can come through the General Managers holding a large number of shares EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING.
in the Company. I have already explained why An extraordinary general meeting of share-
we consider it desirable to change the working holders in the above company was held at the com- pany's office, Queen's Road Central, on Thursday, in the London Agency, namely the fact that one of our firm is permanently there, but I think 20th inst., at noon, when the subjoined resolution (which was passed at an extraordinary general Mr. Reece might have put the matter before meeting of the company held on the 4th the shareholders in a little clearer manner. He December), was submitted for confirmation simply quotes the fact that we propose to charge as a special resolution:-"That the Regulations 24 per cent. on all goods ordered for the Com- approved by this meeting and for the pur-pany, but says nothing about the expenses wo poses of identification subscribed by the General | propose to relievo the Company of in London. The Managers be and the same are hereby approved. Clause 82 in the new articles reads :
firm of John D. Humphreys & Son so long as And that such Regulations be and they are hereby adopted as the Regulations of the Com- they are General Managers must act as the pany to the exclusion of all existing Regula- London Agents of the Company, and the whole cost of such agency shall be borne by them, tions thereof."
including office and warehouse rent, salaries of employees, rates, lighting, stationery and petty as remuneration therefore and charges, and their services the firm of John D. Humphreys and Son shall be entitled to charge a com- mission of two and one half per centum on all goods ordered for or by the Company from any person, firm or Company carrying on business in Great Britain, the Continent of Europe, Canada, or the United States of America. This really means that the General Mana- gers would have to bear all the expenses of the upkeep of the London office, and after going carefully into the figures of 1899 we find that there would be very little difference in the expense to the Company who would re-
Mr. Hart Back presided, and there were also present:-Messrs. H. Humphreys, C. Ewens, A. H. Mancell (Secretary), T. Arnold, S. A. Joseph, J. F. Reece, W. S. Harrison, W. D. Sutton, W. E. Clement, J. S. Hagen, J. A. Tarrant, W. C. Taylor.
The SECRETARY read the notice convening the meeting.
The CHAIRMAN said-Gentlemen, before put ting the Resolution to the meeting I should like to say a few words respecting a letter which appeared in the Hongkong Daily Press of the 18th inst, signed by Mr. J. F. Reece. I was not sorry to see this letter as it gives me an opportunity of knowing exactly what points in The proposed alterations Mr. Reece, and possibly other shareholders, would like explained. In a letter sent to the General Managers by Mr. Reece the day before the last Meeting he simply dealt with the question as to whe- ther
correct legal We were adopting the course in making the proposed alterations, and as we were advised by the Company's solicitor that we were, I did not think it necessary at the first meeting to refer to the matter, though I may now inform you that we have decided, if the Resolution is confirmed, to take the opinion of the Solicitors in London, who drew up the first Articles of Association, on the point raised. With regard to the other part of Mr. Reece's letter I notice that he is of opinion that I might Total received to date......$1,234.35 have gone more into detail at the first meeting,
Edward Osborne
THE ITALIAN CONVENT.
*******K NRKRAA
25
25
10
10
The Mother Superior of the Italian Convent begs to acknowledge the receipt of the following
sums :---
A Friend
A. R. Marty Fung Wa Chun... Un Lai Chuen
$100 50 25 25
She also begs to acknowledge the receipt from the following Chinese gentlemen of subscrip- tions to the Hospital or Infirmary fund :- Wong Tsuk Lamg and several
of his friends
$275
Sin Tak Fan
Li Fuk Tsau
Leung Wing Cheung
150
Wong Chi Chan
and several other gentlemen
Họ Tung
50
Fung Wa Chün.
Hon. Wei A Yak
Chan A Fook
Lan Wai Chun
Messrs. Ron Wei & Co. Chen Quinn Un... Pan Kwai Leung
50
We are requested by the Mother Superior to convey her sincere and grateful thanks to the following firms, &c., who so generously assisted at the A. D. C. performance :-
The Colonel and Officers, R.W.F., for the
band.
The Hongkong Telegraph Co, for advertise-
ment.
The Messrs. Robinson Piano Co. for hire of pianos.
|
and he also says the meeting was "scarcely a representative one." I can only say that the meeting was duly advertised, and any share. holder who wished to attend could have done so, and if the attendance was small the fault lay with those who were absent, not those who were present. I am inclined to agree with Mr. Reece that it might have been more satis. factory if I had explained the proposed altera- tions more minutely, but I must remind him that although I offered to answer any question relating to them no questions were put to me. I do not quite understand Mr. Reece's motive in asking his questions through the medium of the public Press instead of to the General Ma- nagers or to me at the last or at this meeting, but as he has thought fit to do so I will endeavour to explain to the best of my ability. In the first place he calls attention to the remuneration of the General Managers. I mentioned at the last meeting that one of the reasons for altering the Articles was that they had been drawn up in 1885, when the management of the Company was rested solely in the late General Manager, Mr. John D. Humphreys. During his life the firm of John D. Humphreys & Son had, as a firm, nothing to do with the Management of the Company, but individual members of the firm held positions on the staff for which, of course, they received remuneration. One member of the firm of John D. Humphreys & Son is, for instance, agent and attorney for A. S. Watson & Co. in London, and it is this state of affairs we wish to alter, as we do not consi- der it desirable that members of the firm of General Managers should also be employees of the Company. With regard to the fee of $3,600 per annum this sum was arranged ́as the fee for the General Manager when the dollar was worth almost double its present value and when the business of the Company was about you will agree with me in thinking that the increase we propose to make is not too much. As far as commission on profits is concerned you will notice that we should not draw commission unless the net profits for the year were at least 7 per cent, With regard to the second para
The Hongkong High Level Tramways Co. for one third of what it is at present, and I think special cars.
The Hongkong and China Gas Co. Mrs. Quinn and Staff of ushers. The A. D. C. for refreshments; and those who largely reduced their charges in connection with the performance and its advertisement.
ceive the benefit of the increased credit which would arise from the coupling of the name of our firm with its own in all mercantile trans- I do not for one moment think that actions. Mr. Reece has purposely misrepresented the matter, but I must say I should have expected greater accuracy from a lawyer of his ex- With regard to the Consulting perience. Committee I take it for granted that this arrangement will be acceptable to shareholders, bnt shall be pleased to listen to any remarks on this subject. I notice Mr. Reece says in his letter that the Company used to pay a steady 14 per cent, and it now pays 10 or 11 per cent. and he would like to know how the proposed al- teration will probably affect future dividends. To be strictly accurate after 14 per cent, had been paid for 3 years 8 per cent. was paid for the year 1893, 9 per cent. for 1894, and since then 10 por cent. until 1898 and 1899, when the dividend was 11 per cent. each year; previous to 1889 the dividend had not been more than 13 per cent. The drop in the dividend in 1893 must be attributed to the depreciation of the dollar, but I am pleased to say that we see no reason to think that our present dividend will not be maintained, in fact there is reason to hope it may improve. Be- fore putting the resolution to the meeting I should like to state that in the future we should feel much obliged to shareholders who desire any information about tho affairs of the Company if they would come to the Office and make enquiries there instead of stating their opinions, which are possibly inaccurate and misleading, in the public Press-a proceed- ing which cannot possibly benefit their own interests or those of the Company. We are always only too pleased to afford any informa tion to shareholders, as many of them have experienced in the past. If there is anything further I can explain I shall be happy to do so.
Mr. REECE said-Mr. Chairman, I am very much obliged to you for the explanations you have given, and I may say that the only fault I find with them is that they come a little too late. It seems to me it would have been better if some explanation of this description had been given at the first meeting. We are asked to pass certain alterations, and I must say that when the meeting of 4th December was held very few of the shareholders had the faintest idea what the alterations were. Very little was said as to how the remuneration of the general man- agers was to be increased, or the reasons why it was thought advisable that it should be increased. You said at the last meeting that the principal changes between the old Articles and the new Articles, which we are now considering, are: “The remuneration of the General Managers, the increase in the number of qualification shares necessary to be held by the General Man- agers, the change in the working of the Lon- don Agency, and the appointment of a consult-