Nov. 1, 1893.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
321 
THE ORIENTAL ^ BANK ESTATES 
CO. '(LD.) 
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING. 
The seventh annual ordina y general meeting of 
the above company was held at Winchester House, 
Old Broad-street, on 28th inst. io receive and consider 
the directors' report and statement of accounts, and to 
transact the ordinary business of the company. Mr. 
Alexander Wilham Orichton presided. The secretary 
(Mr. Henry Greey) having read the notice convening 
the meeting, the Chairman said : — 
Gentlemen: I have now to lay before this meeting 
our report, with the balance sheet and profit and loss 
account, for the seventh year of the working of the 
company, and, in doing so, I would observe that this 
is the first time since the beginning of our business 
in which a large balance of profit has not been shown 
on the account as the result of the year. The cause 
of the present state of things has been, of course, the 
great hurricane which swept over Mauritius, at an 
utterly unprecedented time, when the greatest possible 
amount of damage could be wrought. We suffered a 
very heavy loss there, but in estimating the value of 
our Mauritius estates and the benefit derived by the 
company from them, not one, but several years should 
be taken. In the preceding year the profits derived 
from other sources were not large compared with 
those from Mauritius, which, as I then told you, 
amounted to over three lakhs of rupees. In the next 
year — the year covered by this balance sheet — had 
it not been for the hurricane, the profits would un- 
doubtedly have been near to five lakhs of 
rupees. That is the opinion of those beat ac- 
quainted with the subject, and in the current 
year, that is, the year which will be before 
you at the next meeting, the profits are again 
estimated to be at least over three lakhs of 
rupees. Referring now to the year covered by this 
balance sheet, after all tbe losses we have sastained, 
their still remains a balance to our credit on tbe 
account. That balance, you will observe, isasoeitaincd 
after tbe payment of all debenture interest, and after 
payment uf all tbe expenses ooonected with tbe hurri- 
caue, and also after setting aside a very considerable 
sum to meet tbe loss of exchange in silver, as com- 
pared with gold, which corresponds to a certain 
depreciation of our aBeets. We have written off, for 
this purpose, £9,800. The report, after stating that 
the hurricane occurred in tbe year under consideration 
proceeds as follows: — "The damage inflicted on the 
Company's buildings and plant proved to be about as 
antioipaced by the Cbairmaci in his speech of last year; 
but as he stated, it was impossible then to lorecaet with 
any aoonraoy the damage done to the oanes, and tbe 
lots then likely to accrue from tbe injury to them 
and from the deterioration in the cane juice, and 
the dif&ouUy of extracting the sugar." Tbe exaot 
damage inftioted on the Company's buildings and 
plant, as measured by the cost of restoration, amouuted 
to £6,500, but the principal loss that we sustained 
was not this, it arose from the destruction of our 
crop. After the etorm the canes were laid over wide 
areas in all directions ; many were twisted and 
broken, and many were otherwise spoilt. We obtained, 
ot course, from our manager a very full r^ port on 
the whole subject, but I could not go into his figures 
as regards all ihe estates unless I had much more 
time at my disposal thiin you ooald allow me at 
present. But tbe best proof of the diminution of tbe 
crop lies in the figures of the export ot sugar from 
Maur.tius, which was reduced from a normal crop 
of about 125,0U0 tons canes to 70,000 only. Besides 
that, this diminution appears in the figures of our 
balanoe sheet, for the crops unsold in hand on Slst 
March whereas io the previous balance sheet they 
were valued at £59,898 iu this balance the entry is 
reduced to £28,971, a reduction of over £30,000, due 
almost entirely to tbe hurricane, You will see there- 
fore that after tbe hurrioaae we (vera suddenly con- 
fronted with a most difficult and serious problem- 
Our oropa were to be reduced perhaps by one-half, 
while the eypeuees, as we fetied, were ooasideiably 
to be raised, not only for the repairs of the build- 
ings and plant on our own estates but also partly on 
those other estates in which we were intereste i and 
which we were working. Besides this, there were 
the s'.reams and watercoursea, which were choked 
viUh debris and which bad to be cleared; there was 
the drainage which had to be restored ; acd there 
were the roads, bridges, and communications, which 
h^d to be put in order. Everyone in Mauritius was 
clamourinp for extra labourers for similar pur- 
poses at the same time. When the news of the 
disaster arrived in England, Lord Knntsford, who 
was then Secretary for the Colonies, himself at' once 
perceived the gravity of the situation, and he took I 
believe, a warm interest in it. Ultimately he as- 
sented to the Mauritius Government issuing a loan, 
the proceeds of which were to be applied partly to 
assist the planters. Those arrangements were made 
and published, with which you will more or less be 
familiar, and we, in common with others, received 
benefits from them. Indeed, the policy which dictated 
the making of the loan, was very beneficial, inasmuch 
as the property of Mauritius depends upon the pros- 
perity of its planters, who by these means were en- 
abled to tide over a great difficulty, and were put 
in a way to recover their former position. Circum- 
stances, too, have turned in their favour, for sugar 
holds a good place in the markets of the world. 
Prices are accordingly expected to be more remu- 
nerative than usual, and the prospects of the crop are 
reported to be favourable, so at least we were on all 
bands. Having thus explained the circumstances which 
have affected our balance-sheet unfavourably I will 
now proceed to comment on its most salient features! 
After the figures relating to the capital and the debeo- 
tnres comes the " Mauritius Government Mortgage " 
covering a loan which we contracted under the cir- 
cumstances which I have fully detailed t.j you and 
which is charged on our estate of Britannia only, 
repayable by the action of the sinking fund spread 
over a period of twenty-five years, the interest deing 
5 per cent. The next item is that of " Sundry Cre- 
ditors." That is the account of our floating indebted- 
ness, and this I think will be found to be highly 
satisfactory, because the acceptances which in the 
preceding year stood at £20,000 have now been reduced 
to £11,000 and the accounts payable with then 
stood at £106,000 are now reduced to £56,000. 
Of course this great reduction in our indebted- 
ness, or rather avoidance of indebtedness, was 
efieoted by means of the money which we obtained 
from the Government loan, and also by means of other 
moneys which we had previously invested on mort- 
gage and which were called in. But I would strongly 
insist that this great reduction of floating liabilities 
is a most satisfactory feature in our present accounts, 
The " Cost of Estates " on the asset side shows a small 
increase, but that has nothing whatever to do with 
any expenses on account of the hurricane, or any of 
the repairs or supplies in that connection. All such 
repairs and supplies have been charged to the ordinary 
expenditure of the year, and the details will be found 
ineluded in the £110,0U0 charged for the upkeep of 
the estates in profit and loss account. This increase 
of cost is for perfectly new plant and buildings, 
about equally divided between Ceylon aad Mauritius, 
and which we were advised by our managers to be 
necessary for the conduct of our increasing business, 
and which therefore, afier sorutiney, we had to assent 
to. The next item is "Sundry Accounts Keceivable," 
which is about tbe same as the previous year. "Ad- 
vances on Mortgage" have been reduced, owing to 
our having called in certain moneys in consequence 
of tbe stringency of the money market at a particular 
period. The " Shares in Companies" are about the 
same, and " Cash in Hand" amoante to £10,000. In 
profit and loss account you will see the " Cast of 
Upkeep of Estates' is raised from £10J,000 in the 
previous year to £111,090, For that there are three 
reasons. In tbe first place, that cost includes all 
the hurricane expenses ; in the second place, it 
includes the codt of a very large quantity of 
oaaea which were bought, worked into sugar, 
41 
