496
The CHAIRMAN-Gentlemen, that is all the business of the ordinary general meeting. Dividend warrants will be ready on Monday.
EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING.
An extraordinary general meeting followed for the purpose of considering and, if thought fit, passing the subjoined resolutions :
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
carefully considering the whole matter, it was! decided to obtain a plant of 20,000 spindles and 300 looms. As regards spinning, we have had considerable experience, and there is no reason to think that another 20,000 spindles will not do as well as the 51,500 now working in the No. 1 Mill.
(a) That the capital of the Company be in. Weaving is a branch of the cotton industry creased to Tls. 1,500,000 by the creation of 5,000 that we have not touched so far, but in India new shares ofTls. 100 each, to be called preference and Japan, it has paid the mills well, and I am shares, and to confer on the holders thereof the of opinion that there is a great future for it in right to a fixed cumulative preferential dividend China, where the consumption of imported cloth at the rate of 7 per cent. per annum on the is immense-to commence with, it is not con- capital for the time being paid up on such sidered advisable to experiment with more than shares, and such preference shares to rank both | 300 looms, but these will be erected in such a as regards capital and dividend in pri rity to the manner as to permit of the plant being extended other shares, but not to confer any further with comparative ease and economy. Having right to participate in profits or surplus assets. received all the necessary estimates early in (b) That the said preference shares shall not October, the general managers, with the ap- confer any right of voting at any general meet-proval of the Consulting Committee, decided to ing of the Company, nor shall they qualify any purchase, without delay, the plant referred person to be a member of the Consulting Com- to, as machinists were then offering to book mittee.
orders on very reasonably terms, in fact, it may interest you to know that we eventually succeeded in buying at 12 per cent. under the prices originally quoted. Before ordering the new machinery, the general managers would have preferred to have obtained your sanction, but to do so would have meant considerable delay, and, in view of the circumstances, I trust you will approve of the step taken. hardly remark that your general managers have every confidence that the extension will lead to satisfactory results.
(c) That the company is to be at liberty from time to time to create and issue further prefer- ence shares ranking in all respects parri passu
with the said 5,000 preference shares.
(d) That of the said 5,000 preference shares 4,000 shall be issued forthwith, and that the remaining 1,000 shares shall be issued hereafter, in accordance with Article VI. 5 of the Articles of Association of the Company.
(e) Applicantsfor the said preference shares shall pay Tls. 25 on application, and as regards the balance due on any shares allotted to them shall pay the same when called on. Not less than one month's notice shall be given of any
such call.
(f) The holders of the said preference shares shall not rank for dividend as regards the year commencing on the 1st November, 1909, and ending on the 21st October, 1910, but shall be entitled to interest at the rate of 7 per cent. per annum on any sums paid up during the said year on the said shares as from the date of payment. As regards subsequent years the said holder of the said preference shares shall rank for dividend on any sums paid up at the commencement of any year and shall be entitled to interest at the rate aforesaid on any sums paid up during the year as from the date of a payment.
(g) Dividends on the said preference shares shall be paid in every year as soon as possible after the end of Company's financial year, viz., 31st October.
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Resolution II. That the following paragraph shall be substituted for paragraph No. 5 of Article XIV. of the Articles of Association,
namely
"The Auditor's remuneration shall be Tls. 500 per annum.”
Resolution III. That the following paragraph shall be substituted for paragraph No. 10 of Article XV. of the Articles of Association, namely
"The General Managers shall be paid or allowed to deduct by way of remuneration for conducting and transacting the business of the Company a commission of 10 per cent, per annum on the net profits of every year and also a sum not exceeding Tls. 10,000 per annum to cover office expenses in the carrying on of the business of the company."
The CHAIRMAN-Gentlemen,--Before asking you to pass the resolutions that have just been read, I should like to make a few remarks, and I
propose to refer to all three resolutions though it is not strictly in order, but the resolutions will be proposed to you separately. Some of you will, perhaps, recollect that when the Ewo Mill was erected, the intention was to double it as soon as circumstances warranted, and sufficient land was purchased for that purpose-in fact, foundations were put down for the No. 2 Mill in 1898, but further work was suspended, as the outlook for the cotton spinning industry, at the end of that year, was far from bright. During the last few years, consumption of local made yarn has increased by leaps and bounds-in consequence of which several new mills have been inaugurated and your General Managers and consulting committee came to the conclusion some months ago that the time had arrived when an ex- tension to the Ewo Mill was fully justified, and they took advantage of the Mill Manager's stay in England this summer to ask for estimates from different machine makers.
After very
I need
Having the necessary land-a very important item in all new enterprise-the additional plant will be placed on a very favourable footing, besides which, a part of your property, which has been bringing in next to nothing since the inception of the company, will become a dividend earning asset. The question of finding the necessary funds for the new plant, which by the time it is erected will cost. Tls. 500,000 to Tls. 530,000, engaged the serious attention of the general managers and Consulting Com- mittee, and after mature deliberation, it was decided that preference cumulative shares should be issued on the terms stated in Resolu- tion. I., which I think should meet with the approval of shareholders, whose applications for new shares, although it is not stated in the resolution, will be considered before all others. For the present, it is only proposed to issue preference shares to the extent of Tls. 40.000, às for obvious reasons the general managers desire to keep the capital as low as practicable.
As regards Resolution II., I trust you will agree to the proposal that the auditor's re- muneration should be increased from Tls. 250 to Tls. 500 per annum, as the former amount would be an inadequate return for the work that will be required of the auditor later on.
Now, gentlemen, we come to Resolution III., which calls for an increase of Tls, 5,000 in the general managers' allowance for office expenses. The amount of Tls. 5,000 which the general managers have been drawing for office expenses since the inauguration of the company has for many years been insufficient, especially when the mill has been working day and night, and in view of the extension, I hope you will agree to the allowance in 1uture of Tis. 10.000 per annum. I need hardly remark that during the last ten years salaries, wages and office rents have advanced very materially, and the general managers have for some time waited for afavour able opportunity of having this matter rectified.
In conclusion, I may say that we hope to have a good portion of the new plant working in about 7 or 8 months. If any gentlemen wish to have details of the machinery purchased, I shall be pleased to submit them after the meeting, as it is not considered advisable to make public exactly what we have done.
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The CHAIRMAN then proposed the adoption of Resolution I., which was seconded by Mr. G. H. POTTS and carried.
Resolution II. was likewise carried, being proposed by the CHAIRMAN, and seconded by Mr. SHAW
The third resolution was adopted on the pro- position of the CHAIRMAN, seconded by Mr. JACKSON.
The CHAIRMAN-Gentlemen, that is all the business. I thank you for your attendance. The date of the confirmatory meeting will be advertised later on.
The meeting then terminated.
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[December 6, 1909.
NOTES FROM JAPAN.
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
TOKYO, November 20th. LORD KITCHENER'S DEPARTURE. Field Marshal Lord Kitchener spent a very interesting ten days in this city and neighbour- hool. The noted soldier was given unlimited facilities for observing the manoeuvres, and in fact it was reported by one observer that the entourage of Lord Kitchener, representative of King Edward, was little less imposing than that of the Emperor himself. As to his lordship's impressions very little is known, for during his stay here the soldier has maintained his He has reputation of being a silent_man. refused to see members of the Press, and in the Japanese newspaper man's eyes this is a very serious offence.
There is no doubt at all, how-
ever, that he has keenly enjoyed some of the little pleasures provided for his entertainment, the quaintness and originality of which would strongly impress him despite a wide knowledge of the gorgeous imagery of the East.
THE TRAMWAY QUESTION.
This
The interminable negotiations between the city authorities and the Tokyo Tramway Com- pany with reference to the municipalisation of the tramways have reached the point of being submitted to the Aldermen's Council. body on uesday last deliberated for four hours on a proposal submitted by the Mayor regarding the purchase. Whatever arrangements have been come to between the Mayor and the com- pany the Aldermen's Council finally fixed the funds in the hands of the company to be added. purchase price at fifty-eight million yen, the The sum of 58 million yen works out at some- thing like 66 yen per share, or with the funds already in hand about 70 yen per share. Of course this decision has to be submitted to an extraordinary meeting of the City Council and has also to be ratified by the company, an event not likely to take place, considering the price.
•
COMPANY REJECTS TERMS.
As was to be expected, a meeting subsequently held of the tramway company decided to reject the offer of the City Office, and unless something extraordinary happens this worrying tram question is at an end. The shareholders indeed had little to gain by the offer of the city, for they would receive their payment in bonds and it is hard to say how they would stand on the market. The result of this agitation has been to bring the quotation of the shares from 78 yen to 68 yen, and they must fall another 10 points before they are at their proper market value. Failing municipalisation there is only one solution of the difficulty, if the shareholders are to be fairly treated, and that is an increase of the fare.
AN UNSATISFACTORY SITUATION.
Thus the municipalisation question, which no has been forced to a head, and it may be said one seems to have welcomed with enthusiasm, that no one is satisfied with the result. It is understood the Government will not allow any more to be paid for the property than the sum fixed at the Aldermen's Council, and even if this ultimately proves acceptable to the company there are still many doubts about the wisdom of floating 60 million worth of city bonds at this time. The facts seem to be that the whole subject is forced upon the city by parties who are vitally interested financially, for it is gener ally recognised that the city will not benefit by municipalisation. There is a danger indeed of the citizens falling out of the frying pan into the fire, for if municipalisation should come about the fare is most likely to be increased, and one of the first objects of municipalisation from the citizens' point of view is to avoid
this increase.
The Siamese are a simple but a most ingeni- ous people. The manager of the Siam Electric Company has just issued a circular letter to the consumers of current, which reads:-" Sir, for the case that your electric light should fail we beg to send your enclosed a postcard, which please send us at when you find you light ont, The company will then send you another post- card." To the more exacting Western mind the possibility of supplying the place of the light that fails with a match and “another postcard would never have occurred,
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