Sept. t, 1894.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
tates, our net loss on the working of the estates was 
£21,297 : but this year I am happy to say that ou the 
working of the estates there ia a profit of no leas 
than £38,529, and but for the extraordinary expenses 
which had to be u curreJ on account of the hurrioaue 
losses, some £4,000 or £5,000 miijht have been 
added to that mm. The proceeds of the call which 
the directors made on the shareholders have 
enabled the board to reduce the dt-tv mure debt of 
the cninpany by an amount of £25,820 ; that i< to 
say, they were able to reduce it by that amount at 
the close of the financial year, and the reuuetion is 
still going on. We propose to go lur her in that 
direction. The deficieucy on the protit-aud-o9S aocount 
has been brought down to £25,652, the payment of 
whioh it is propose! to spread over a period of four 
j ears, and the directors consider themselves in a 
position which will justify the payment of a dividend 
of 5 per cent, on the capital paid up — that is, on 
the 3lst March list, whioh will amount to abo'nt 2i 
6d per share. So much for our general affairs. The", 
turuiug to our balance-sheet, I may as well make one 
or two explanations, although the m\'m part of them 
is already given iu the report. Under the head 
of capital liabilities, the amount of shire oapital 
oalled up is now £3 per share, aod taking into 
account the financial troubles of the last four ^ears, 
the calls have been fairly well met, and it is hoped 
that the 
SATISFACTORY ACCOUNTS 
which we are now abl9 to present to you on the 
condition of the affairs of the oompany will induoe 
those shareholders who are still in arrear to pay up 
what they owe. By means of the calls thus received, 
the directors, as I have already told yon, have bee i 
able to reduce the dehenture debt by £25,820. Ttun, 
under the nexr, head of liabilities, the sundry creditors 
in Loudon show a reduction of £1,178 while the 
Mauritius debt?, inclining the amounts due ou 
ourrent accounts, are increased by a sum of 
£4,520. Then the liabilities on rnortgago of 
company's estates, including the Government loan 
of 400,000 rupees, repayable by yearly instalments 
extending over a period of 30 years, show a slight 
reduction. The exchange account remains the same, 
£39,740. Now, coming to the column of assets, the 
advances on produce in Mauritius show a reduction 
at the closing of the books of £21,954, which is 
satisfactory: while the interest derived from the 
same yielded 
A SENSIBLE INCREASE. 
The estates held by the company show an increase 
of .£17,513, made up principally by the amount of 
hurricane repairs which have been added thereto. That 
is explained in the third part of the report. The business 
premises in Port Louis are the same as before. The 
investments in sugar estates companies have 
beeu reduced by £780. With regard to sugars unsold, 
the account is larger— £27,042, as against £9, < 55 
last year ; but it must be remembered that the past 
crop having beeu a good one, it took a propor- 
tionately louger time to realise. We have, therefore, 
no cause for complaint on that score, the bulk, 
if not all, the sugar on hand having been dis- 
posed of at prices which we believe will show not 
only no loss but a profit. Investments on securi- 
ties at cost hive been reduced to £4,991, and 
have been represented by securities which have 
been produced to the auditors. The cash at 
hauliers aud iu hand iu Landou miuw» a reduclio i of 
£2,239, and in Mauritius an increa e ojj £13,580. The 
bill" reoeiva >le iu Mauritius *ho.v no change. S m 'ry 
debtors in London amount to £7,238, ot rthieh by far 
the greater part— that ia to tay, £7,000 out of the 
whole — are loans at call. In Mami.ius, the del-tors 
chow an increase of £1 503. In offioe furniture th to 
is no change under that h ad T:,e profit-anl-lo's 
acoount di ficiency to the 31st March, 1891— i.aruely, 
£32,065, has be~u written down to £25,652, an! the 
directors feel sare the shareholders will approve 
of the oourse taken to | ext-»ud the i ay meat of 
this for a pariod of another f^ur years 
THE HURRICANE REPAIRS 
which sppfared in the previous balance-sheet his 
been charged to the C03t of estates held t y the com- 
pany, the total of which still s'ands helow the valua- 
tion whioh his just been made. Turning to the 
profit-and-loss acoount on l he expenditure side, the 
current expenses in London have been reduce! by 
£110, and in Mauritius by £44. Debenture interest 
and charges show the substantial reduction of £1,572. 
Loss by exchange amounts to £7,429. Th's, of course, 
is an item that always appears, and it depends on 
circumstancr s over which we have no control ; but, 
at the, same time, I must ask the shareholders to 
bear in mind that, as far a9 our coaipany is concerned — 
the Agricultural Company of Mauritius— it is not wholly 
a loss in so far as we are an estate-owning compmy 
there is some benefit frrm the low rate of exobange. 
We mnst not re?a r d that as if we were a compsny, 
not aotually holders of estates and p ssessors of 
them. The interests on mortgages is higher, owing 
to the loan from Government. Ou the income side 
the figures are most encouraging. The i t f rest and 
cornmissioj. account shows an inorease ot £3,154, 
while the profit on the workiDg of estates amounts 
to £38,529. There is as against a net lo s last year 
of £21,297. I think, therefore, we may fairly con- 
gratulate the shareholders npou the 
IMPROVED PROSPECT. 
that is before them. (Hear, hear ). To me it is of coarse 
a source of gratification. In tbe first place, as a share- 
holder myself, I share the first gratifica'.iou which 
my brother-sha'eholders must fe?I at the improved 
position of things. As oue of the directors I rejoice to be 
able to present to you a mora pleasant state of affairs. 
Fin*l!y, as ohairman, I am delighted to be relieved of 
the duty of making the sort of speech I have made dur- 
irg the last two y°ars, only bearing always in mind 
that during tho^e years I always said I had not the 
faintest shadow of doubt ns to the essentially safe 
oondition of affairs, and that hope and trust, which 
has n< ver failed me or any of the directors in the 
slig test degree, 1 hope will now be admitted to have 
been well founded, even by some of those who may 
have entertained an opposite view. (Hear, hear.) It 
i-i now twenty years sinoe I ceased to be connected 
with Mauritius as its governor, but it is impossible 
not to take the greatest interest in the affairs of 
an islaid over which one onoe rulel as well as in 
the feffairs of the oompany with which I am now 
oooneoted. Therefore, in regard to the accounts of 
the Island of Mauritius aud of this company, I am 
heartily rejoiced at being able to piace before you 
a more prosperous picture of the state of affairs. 
(Cheers.) I now beg to move — " Th it the report 
of the directors and statement of accounts to the 3lst 
March 1894, be received and adopted." 
Mr. C. J. Lindsay Nicholson seconded the re- 
solution. 
Mr. Atkins asked at what amount the deben- 
ture issue now stood. 
Mr. Fisher desired to kuow whether the unpaid 
calls represented the full amount of shares, or only 
portions of shares. 
Mr. Haigh asked how many shares were repre- 
sented by the calls unpaid. He also wi,hrd to know 
how it was that whilst the li,bilitii-a on mo tgai;es 
had deer a-ed by £602, the interest iu the mortgages 
had increased by £1,251. Ho parsumtd tbe ditf 'rerce 
wa< accounted for b. tbe loau from the Government 
to the company. He was g ad to see there w»s a 
d.crea e in the cuireut expanses inL n oa, and h ped 
ih > i e expeness would be still further decreaied. In con- 
clusion, he suggested that when a vacancy occurre I 
on the bo ir' it should n I b-* filled up, as in his 
opinion fiva director* were suffioient to do the work 
of the company iu Lon 'on. 
The Chairman, it reply, said the amount of ibe 
debenture ia>ued at the present time was ahout 
£154,0b0. There »c;e on'y a few shareholders who 
hai paid nothing on their calls. Information would 
be given to Mr. Haigh at the offioe as to the 
member of shares on whioh calls had remained 
