S
232
to run.
"THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
are not
Bank, out of which we are trying hard to pay you back another five lacs. That makes ten out of thirteen, but where I am to find another nine on top of that and pay nineteen out of thirteen I do not know, unless the gentleman expects me to repeat the miracle of the loaves and fishes or the widow's cruse of oil. Another anonymous scribbler complains bitterly that he sold out at the lowest point of the market, and invokes the aid of the Registrar of Companies, for what I don't know, unless to have us all locked up for the consequences of his own miscalculations. The Registrar of Companies is not the official he requires; it is a Commissioner in Lunacy. (Laughter.) No, gentlemen, if I were to be alarmed or disturbed by such nonsense as that I should not deserve to be your manager I should be unfit to sit in this chair.
[September 13, 1909. working they fall short of estimates, yet the actual saving, apart from other considerations, is sufficiently large to justify their acquisition. The rebuilding of the South Block progresses favourably, and this addition, when completed a year hence, will make a much needed and, we think, profitable finish to the Hotel.
There being no questions,
£
The CHAIRMAN moved the adoption of the re- port and accounts.
Mr. NORTHCOTE, seconded, and remarked · that when all things were considered the ac counts were satisfactory.
The motion was carried unanimously. On the motion of Mr. HASKELL, seconded by Mr. KADOOBIE, the Hon. Mr. Osborne was re- elected to the directorate.
Mr. DAVIES proposed Messrs. H. U. Jeffries and A. R. Lowe be re-elected auditors. Mr. SHE PO-SHAM seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
THE YOKOHAMA SPECIE BANK, LTD.
Mr. Suzuki, manager of the Hongkong Branch of the Yokohama Specie Bank, informs us of the receipt of a telegram from the Head Office of the Bank to the effect that at the half- yearly meeting of shareholders held at the Head Office, Yokohama, on the 10th. instant, it was resolved to pay a dividend of 12 per cent. per annum for the half-year ending the 30th June, 1909; to add to the Reserve Fund Yen 400,000, and to carry forward the sum of Yen 1,155,000 to the next account.
FAR EASTERN TELEGRAMS. THE CHINA-JAPAN AGREEMENT
returned. I regret to say that is, not so The CHAIRMAN,-Gentlemen, the meeting is simple as it looks, for it raises some knotty over and I thank you for your attendance, but I legal points. The difficulty is, of course, with will just take this opportunity to make one the special one dollar shares. We cannot remark. We are always glad if shareholders return" a shareholder five dollars when he will come to us or write to the general managers has only lent us one. We might buy up his whenever they want information or explanations, rights with his shares, you will say, but a and we shall be pleased at all times to give them company may not buy its own shares. It has
all we can, but information that may be used to been suggested that we might reduce the $10 the prejudice or detriment of the Company's to the level of the $1 share, or raise the $1 to interests we cannot give, for there our duty the level of the $10 or return capital to the $10 to the Company as managers stop us. We shareholder, and give a bonus out of profits to are bound to protect the Company's interests, the $1 man, but we are assured that every way even against the shareholders themselves bristles with difficulties, and that it will at times, for some shareholders not be easy to formulate such a petition to the always its best friends. On the other hand, I Court as the Court will see its way to say just as frankly that we are not to be coerced grant. The matter has been thoroughly threshed or intimidated by the blustering and vapouring out by our solicitors with counsel, and, by their of outsiders with no real interest in the Company, advice, it has been referred home for the opinion nor am I in the least perturbed by the foolish let- of Mr. Palmer, the great authority on Com- ters of disappointed speculators to the news- pany Law. In the meantime I can only assure
papers dealing with figures which they do not shareholders that it is our firm intention to
understand and the meaning of which they
The CHAIRMAN-Thank you, gentlemen, for treat both classes of shares alike, and if there
seem incapable of grasping. One muddle- your attendance. Dividend warrants will be were no other way out of the difficulty, we would head-I am sorry I cannot find a better word-ready on Monday, wind up and reconstruct, but I do not believe writes plaintively asking where are the other nine it will be necessary to take such alacs. I cannot tell him. We received thirteen troublesome and expensive course as that. from the sale, five of which we have already paid Under present circumstances it will be, I sup-back, leaving nearly seven lacs in cash in the pose, at least three months before the consent of the Court can be obtained, so we have placed the five lacs on fixed deposit in the Hongkong Bank for the period. I now come to Kowloon. At present the factory there is doing little more than cover its expenses, but we feel that Kowloon has a future before it, and that it would be folly to abandon the place and throw away all the benefit of our past work there. With the advent of the Railway, there will come more work for us over there, but we must be better fitted to cope with it than at present. Our present engines are steam engines of an obsolete type, and very wasteful and costly We must have modern engines of the latest and most effective and economical description, and we must also make provision for having to lay all our lines underground. This .will
doubt 110
all up surplus cash, but in return you will have' a thoroughly up-to-date factory with power probable more than enough for all our requirements for some time to come. This question of alteration and additions to' Kowloon is now being gone into very closely by our engineer in charge, Mr. Hales, for we shall have only a limited amount to spend and must make it go as far as possible. With modern economical engines, we shall, of course, reduce our working cost and increase our margin of profit, but you must not expect dividends right off, as that is a matter of time, and we shall be building and planning for the future. So far from speaking of dividends, I cannot even tell you yet what the capital of the Company is to be. The Company received only $550,000 capital, and now to pay you back $500,000, so that all it will owe you will be fifty cents a share, or $50,000, which should be our new capital. But if we return $250,000 to each class of shares, the original shareholders' capital will be $250,000, while the special shares will remain at $50,000, making the new capital $300,000 nominally, but in effect $500,000, as we must pay the same amount of profits to the $50,000 as we do to the $250,000; in other words, the $1 share will rank as $5 for dividends. It is an awkward position, and I shall be glad if Mr. Palmer can evolve some means by which the new capital can be stated at its real figure, which is $50,000. We must not, however, grumble at the special shareholders, for they
The CHAIRMAN said:-With your permission came forward at a critical period, when, had it
we will take the report and accounts as read. not been for their assistance and the money
The profit for the half-year was not quite up tỏ they advanced, the Company would have had to
the level of the same period in 1908, in conse- stop and wind up for want of funds, So if wequence of the gross receipts having fallen off have any money to divide to-day, we have to thank them for it.
propose
There being no questions,
use
our
The CHAIRMAN moved the adoption of the Ireport and accounts, which was seconded by Sir
PAUL CHATER, and agreed to.
On the motion of Mr. OWEN, seconded by Mr. GORDON, Sir Paul Chater, Dr. Noble and Mr. H. P. White were re-elected as members of the Consulting Committee for the ensuing year.
Messrs. W. H. Potts and A. O'D. Gourdin were re-elected auditors, on the motion of Mr. HOUGH, seconded by Mr. Young.
Mr. HOUGH-Gentlemen, you have heard what has fallen from Mr. Shewan, and I think we cannot separate to-day without expressing our thanks and appreciation for the way in which the General Managers and the Consulting Board have managed our affairs. It is very hard to be in a position like our General Managers have been placed in for the last few weeks-the subject of attack in the newspapers by irresponsible and mischievous individuals. But I am sure that I only voice the opinion of those shareholders who wish prosperity to the Com- pany when I say that the General Managers have the sympathy of us all for the way they have had to put up ith the attacks which have been made against them. (Applause.)
The CHAIRMAN-I am much obliged to you for your remarks, Mr. Hough. As I said before, the meeting is now over.
HONGKONG HOTEL COMPANY."
1
The half-yearly meeting of shareholders of the Hongkong Hotel Co., Ltd., was held at the Hotel on Saturday afternoon. The Hon. Mr. E. Osborne (Chairman of Directors) presided. There were also present: Messrs. W. Hutton Potts, J. W. C. Bonnar (directors), C. Mooney (secretary), E. D. Haskell, She Po-sham, Ellis Kadoorie, M. S. Northcote, Lai Chan, Fung Tat-hang and A. F. Davies (manager).
The SECRETARY having read the notice convening the meeting,
by $10,858. When, however, it is taken into consideration that we were deprived of large proportion of earning power by the rebuilding of the South Block, and when also we take into account the check to pleasure travel which invariably accompanies depression in trade, I think we may congratulate ourselves that the Working Account shows up even as well as it does, especially so, considering the heavy ex- penditure on legal charges incurred through the re-issue of Debentures and increase of capital. The new gas engines are giving satis- faction, and though in point of economical
SIGNED.
Tokyo, September 5th. The Convention settling various disputes between China and Japan was signed yesterday. Japan acknowledges Chinese suzerainty over of Chientao the territory
and China acknowledges Japan's mining rights at Fushun and Yentai.
Other questions are also settled by this Convention.
THE NEW U.S. MINISTER TO CHINA.
Tokyo, September 7th. Mr. Crane, the newly-appointed American Minister to China, is due to arrive in Peking in October.
THE KOREA BANK.
Tokyo, September 7th. The Korea Bank issue has been subscribed.
THE JAPANESE MINISTER TO
WASHINGTON,
over-
Tokyo, September 12th. It is understood that Mr. Takahira, the Minister to Washington, who has recently returned, resigns the post, and that Mr. Makino, late Minister of Education, will succeed him.
[FROM THE "CHUNG NGOI SAN PO."]
CHINESE NAVAL REFORM.
Shanghai, September 5th. Prince Hsun and Admiral Sah, Principal Officer of the Navy, left Ningpo this morning for Foochow, whence. they will proceed to Hongkong en route for Canton in a day or two to inspect the forts and take steps to reform the Navy.
Several cases of sickness have broken out on board H. M. S. Britomart (says a Hankow paper of August 27) and two sailors, one seized with cholera and the other suffering from. typhoid, have been removed to hospital. Both are progressing as favourably as can be expected, while four other invalids on board are doing well.
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