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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
wmi mm2 mCO.885/25
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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made advances, without taking collateral security, of about £15,000, of which it is estimated that at least £12,000 will not be recoverable.
4. In accordance with the suggestion contained in paragraph 3 of your despatch under reply, I have arranged that Messrs. Neubauer & Company's estates, encumbered and unencumbered, shall be handed over to the Liquidating Committee. In view of the fact that the Liquidating Committee has all the powers and machinery necessary to take over and carry on the estates I do not consider it expedient at the present time directly to involve the Government in this trans- action. The Committee will appoint a manager to administer the estates, and, as explained in paragraph 9 below, the banks are prepared to give the necessary temporary financial assistance.
5. With respect to the points raised in paragraphs 4 and 13 of the despatch under reply, the mortgages held by Mr. Hoffman. Messrs. Wessels Brothers and von Gontard, and Mr. Holler have been dealt with as part of the assets of liquidated firms, and, under section 4 (2) of Ordinance No. 37 of 1914, all interest payable since the War commenced is being recovered. The persons whose property is mortgaged to Messrs. Neubauer have benefited by the general rule of law that interest on mortgages does not run during the War, but this exemption would, I am advised, cease once the mortgages are handed over to the Liquidating Com- mittee, certainly as regards future interest and probably as regards arrears. observe that you would approve the sale of mortgages belonging to Messrs. Neubauer if a purchaser can be found at reasonable prices, but, in the case of the persons mentioned in paragraph 13, only if the mortgages formed part of the businesses formerly carried on by them. I suggest that the latter group of estates should be treated in the same manner as those of Messrs. Neubauer & Company.
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6. The Trinidad Cocoa and Coffee Company is registered in Trinidad. The capital consists of £26,012 in £1 shares, now worth about five shillings each of these shares Messrs. Neubauer & Company hold 2,223. The remainder are held by British subjects residing in Trinidad. I am inclined to think that these shares should be sold, but, in view of the reference in paragraph 5 of your despatch under reply to the policy laid down in your Circular despatch of the 15th July, 1916, and of the rulings given by you in paragraphs 10, 12, and 13 of your despatch under reply, a doubt has been suggested to me as to whether this is your intention, because these shares do not give Messrs. Neubauer & Company a control over the company. These remarks also apply to other shares in locally registered companies held by enemy subjects.
7. But different considerations seem to arise in connexion with the shares held by Messrs. Neubauer in the Trinidad Properties Company (which, it is thought, is referred to in error in line 7 of paragraph 5 of your despatch as the Trinidad Cocoa and Coffee Company). The property of this company consists of houses and cocoa estates taken over for debts due by Messrs. Wilson, Sons, & Company, Limited, and valued before the War at £115,000. It is believed that the directors, of whom Neubauer is one, are all either Germans or of German origin, and that the Dresdner Bank has a large interest in the concern. This company is regis- tered in England, and, so far as I am aware, has no office in the Colony; and it the up has occurred to me that, in view of the steps that have been taken to wind business of the London branch of the Dresdner Bank, similar action may have been taken in England with respect to the Trinidad Properties, Limited. In any case, am inclined to believe that the more convenient course would be to wind this com- pany up in England under the powers conferred by the Trading with the Enemy Amendment Act, 1918, It is estimated that the property would in normal times fetch the full value assigned to it.
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8. In connexion with the question of how Messrs. Neubauer & Company are to be prevented from resuming after the War their financial operations in the Colony, I enclose a memorandum by the Receiver-General, who has made careful inquiries into the activities of the firm. It will be seen that their operations have been by no means uniformly successful; and in the circumstances it appears highly improbable that they will try to re-establish their business in the Colony at the conclusion of the War no te
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I have given careful consideration to your suggestion that it might be desirable to institute in the Colony a Government or Co-operative Bank for financing the cocoa industry, and have come to the conclusion that there is no need for such an institution. I have discussed the position with the local managers of the Royal
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Bank of Canada and the Colonial Bank. They inform me that they are prepared to finance the cocoa crop and to give the planters all reasonable facilities. Many of the cocoa estates are heavily mortgaged, so that there are difficulties in the way of making advances on the security of the crop. The managers of the banks are of opinion that the granting of credit to planters would be facilitated if the banks were enabled to make loans on the security of the crop, provided that the interest on mortgages during the period of the loan were adequately secured. I am taking the advice of the Attorney-General on this point, and I shall inform you later if it is considered practicable to do anything in the matter.
10. There appears to be some misapprehension as to the character and opera- tions of the Trinidad Cocoa Planters Association, which is, as regards its objects and methods, deserving of every encouragement. It is a co-operative association established by a number of the leading cocoa planters (see paragraph 1 of enclosure) to enable planters to dispose of their crops direct to purchasers, and so avoid the payment of commission to brokers and middlemen. The Association is not, and has never been, financed by Messrs. Neubauer & Company, but has only acted as agents of that firm in the disposal of cocoa from estates in which Messrs. Neubauer & Company are interested either as owners or mortgagees. The Association has been financed solely by the Colonial Bank, the local manager of which informed me that it was one of his most satisfactory customers, and that he would always be prepared to grant it such credit facilities as it might require.
11. The cocoa estate of Mr. Collignon is in the hands of the mortgagees, who have not succeeded in realizing their security.
Mr. Max Reimer's estate is still being carried on by the Liquidating Com mittee, and in view of the impossibility of realizing at present the full value of the cocoa estates in Trinidad this will be continued,
12. Mr. F. W. Meyer's cocoa estate has not been sold. It remains in the hands of Mrs. Meyer and her children, who are natives of Trinidad. No change will be made in the present arrangements as regards this estate.
13. As regards the question of the title of Messrs. Neubauer's estates, pro- vision has already been made by Ordinances No. 37 of 1914, and No. 6 of 1915, to enable the Liquidating Committee to give good title to all properties transferred to them, and these laws also empower the Committee to carry out in respect of any property the policy indicated by you.
14. No real property other than cocoa estates has been sold. No difficulty has been experienced in keeping up the house property of Mrs. J. A. A. Scherer, which will be retained in accordance with your instructions.
15. Mr. Hoffman holds shares in companies registered in Trinidad, and the action to be taken with respect to them will depend on your decision with respect to the points raised in paragraph 6 of this despatch. Mr. Hoffman also holds about £10,000 in the Trinidad Shipping and Trading Company, Limited, registered in Glasgow. In view of the difficulty of the local courts dealing with shares in a company having no share register in the Colony, it is suggested that it would be better to dispose of Mr. Hoffman's holding in the United Kingdom.
I have, &c.,
Enclosure in No. 179.
J. R. CHANCELLOR,
MEMORANDUM BY THE RECEIVER-GENERAL.
Governor.
THE Secretary of State in his Confidential despatch dated the 26th ultimo appears to have formed an erroneous opinion with respect to the financial control Messrs. Neubauer & Company had, previous to the War, acquired over either Trinidad supplies, cocoa estates, or the Cocoa Planters Association.
2. The Cocoa Planters Association, which is a limited company, is financed
solely by the Colonial Bank. Its directors are:-
L. E. Agostini, K.C., late Attorney-General, President; Aucher Warner, K.C., Solicitor-General;
H. A. Alcazar, K.C., Senior Member of the Legislative Council;
Hugh McLelland, Member of the Legislative Council;
Carl de Verteuil,
Jos. d'Abadie,
Jos. de Verteuil,
E. Gransaull,
property owners;
G. B. Austin, and A. J. Hamlyn,