1 88 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Sept. i, 1894. 
you who have had connection with such estates are well 
aware. Certainly, as regards sugar we must all re- 
cognise tbe risky nature ol the cultivation. Properly 
cultivated, it is very profitable in some years ; but it is 
subject to many enemies, and those who Lave t»t a 1 a 
wide knowledge of sugar cultivation, and know how 
Java and Barbados are at tbis mom. nt mlfer nn, and 
bow in Mauritius itself certain diseases are thxestjn- 
ing to develope themselves, will leel thut the eomewhut 
costly process of tbe production of sugar ie bp:b 
difficult and risky. Allow me to express a hope, as 
tbis is tbe first time I have met you, tbat tbe future 
may be successful, and that I and the wh le beard 
may be able to count on the co-iperati"n if the share- 
holders in trying to do their best lor the inteiestn of 
the Company. (Hear, bear.) Tbe report bas gone 
pretty fully into what I had to say. The main feature 
of it is the agreement, and I will come to that in a lew 
minutes. Belore I do so, I may say that tbe past 
year has not, on tbe whole, been an unfavourable oue. 
We have had no such disaster as the hurricane in 
Mauritius, and the main enemy we have had to contend 
against in Ceylon bas been a somewhat serious fail 
in prices. In Mauritius, the accounts show, I think, 
a very fair profit ; in Ceylon, they a'so show a fairly 
gcod profit; but I will not toacb upen t'ie details 
of our estates in that island, as we have tie advan- 
tage of Mr. Rutherford's presence amongft us this 
afternoon, and he will explain matters to )ou himsell. 
He has only recently oome bar k from Cey on, and 
he will go into the condition of the various estates. 
Now I come to the agreement. It bas been 
mainly due to Mr. Criehton's energy and foresight 
that this agreement bas become possible, and, though 
it is explained pretty fully in the report itself, you 
will all allow me to say a few words upon it to 
endeavour to make it a little plainer. Last j ear tbe 
condition of affairs was this : There were four-and 
a-half per oent debentures— which were floating, 
not fixed, debentures— to the extent of £150,01.0. 
There was aho a floating debt, over aud above 
that amounting in all to about £66,000 ; so 
that the indebtedness of the company was 
£216,000. As regards the £66,000 interest was b<ing 
paid, so far as Mauritius was concerned at tbe rate 
of 7 per cent, so far as London was concerned at the 
rate of 5 per cent, and the compauy was in this very 
unfortunate position — that at any moment tbe 
creditors to whom we owed this £66,000 could have 
come down upon us, and if they did not do to, if they 
held their hand then they had the right to require 
tbat not a half-penny of profit should be available for 
the shareholders until the £66,000 was extinguished. 
That was such a very unlortuuate state of affairs 
that when at the commencement of last year, Mr. 
Crichton spoke to me about becoming connected with 
tbis company, I made it an absolute condition that 
some arrangement should be sanctioned by the court ; 
for I really did not fee my way to trying my hand at a 
company which possessed neither the working capital 
requiste for its operations, nor the stability which 
also is requisite seeing that its very existence depended 
upon the good will of the creditors. Now, it eeems 
to me that the only criticUm that can fairly be made 
as regards these arrangements is tbat whereas the 
old debentures bore 4J per cent, the present ones 
bear 6 per cent. That is a serious detriment, though* 
the net result is that the company, under the new 
arrangement, has achieved such a large diminution 
in the oapital debt that the interest payable j ear by 
year is very slightly charged. It accounts, in round 
numbers, to nearly £10,000 a year in both cases. You 
Bave something in the interest on the floating debt of 
Mauritius, you save nearly £50,000 capital and in- 
terest, and, instead of the condition of affairs wbioh 
existed last year, who now i ave £150,000 of six per 
cent debentures and £17,400 cf f^ur and-a-half per cent 
debentures, and that is the on'y indebtedness of the 
company. These debentures do not fall due until 
1920; so that we have some time to turn round. 
Meanwhile we have the right to pay off earlier if we 
wish, and if we bave the money in our pocket to 
enable us to do so. Mr. Criohtou made a very hard 
struggle to get these debentures ty c <h cent instead of 
6 per cent, but the question tbe directors had to decide 
was-, " ttlull we al ow the whole fccnsme to be wrecked 
for i he sake of £ per cent, or »xf tbe advantage* tbe 
company will gain tin er this arrar gement sufficient to 
justify us id paying £ per cent ine'ead of 5} per centr"' 
Tbe board agreed quite unanimously tbat the agree- 
ment wan a very favourable one ft r tbe company in 
8| ii ' ol tbe 6 per cent interest, and I hope that your 
judgment this morning will endorse the view the board 
has taken. I do not think I i eed say umch a* regar la 
the report. The balance sheet pretty well speak* for 
itself. I'eihaps some < f you mav ask, "If you have 
reduced the ine'eb'eonerB by £oO,Oiu, what haa been 
done with tba< ?" Tbe gr-at bulb ol it baa teen »p. 
plied in ibis way — that, »h.-rea^ ihe assets of tb> com- 
pany stood in sterling at an exchange of la 3d to the 
rupee, now the rupee is being taken at Is, putting 
us on a much sound'-r basis, and enabling u« to face 
with tr ler«ble complacency the condition of the filter 
u arket. That I think jou will consider a judicious 
step. I xball be happy to anewrr sueb question* a- I am 
ub i- to. ai d with 'beee few r> marks I will move: 'That 
tbe directors' t* port and statement of accounts to March 
31- 1 1594, now oubmitte ', be, and are hereby, adopted.' 
Mr. A. Wj Orichton seconded the motion. To show 
how the different changes had improved the poeition 
of the company, he mentioned that two year* ago 
they owed £150,000 on the four-and-a-half per cent 
debentures and £126,000 on open account, mfUng a 
total of £270,000. Last year the Maoritiua mortgage, 
£20,000, the debentures £150,000 and the floating 
account £76,000, together amounted to £246,000 — a 
reduction of £30,000 indebtedness. Tbis year the 
fixed indebtedness wa« £182,000 and the floating in- 
debtedness £27,003, or a total of £209,000, showing a 
reduction of £40,CJO; so tbat the indebtedness bad 
been reduced £70,l"J0 in two years. They were, 
therefore, in a sounder condition. It moat be a 
great source of relief to all to find that they were 
freed from apprehension with regard to the ex- 
change. The whole scheme of the balance-sheet 
showed a sound state of affairs, and stability which 
be did not think the company had previously enjoyed. 
Mr. Field wished for further information respecting 
the £6,000 carried to reserve. Would it be divisible 
in* future 1 
Mr. LawTence said the preference dividend was two 
years and a half, or £36,000 in arrear, and he did 
not think the preferred shareholders had been treated 
quite as they ought to have been, considering the 
amount of profits. 
The Chairman, in reply, said the burden of the 
complaints appeared to be that out of the profits a 
certain amount had been put to reserve instead of 
dividend, but it was most important for the company 
to have a certain amount of capital in hand, in order 
to stand any sudden disaster. They owed £14,000 to 
the Mauritius Government for the last hurricane, 
and it was a matter of ordinary prudence to try and 
build up capital account, so as to be more or less 
independent of banks. It worM be altogether ultra 
vires to divide profits among ie ordir.try sharehold- 
ers when the preference sha- ebolders 77ere in arrear. 
When the dividend now recommended waspaid, the 
latter would still be two years in arrear. His object 
was to get out of debt as fast as possible. Still, 
the ordinary shareholders were not being left out 
in the cold, because it was for their benefit tbat the 
estate should be kept in the best possible condition 
for producing revenue. It would pay better to main- 
tain everything in a state of efficiency than to suck 
tbe blood out of the concern by asking for money 
which could not be spared. The prospect of the 
crops was quiet up to the average ; bat the outlook 
for prices was very poor indeed. The beet crop 
growing on the Continent was enormous, and he 
saw no likelihood of a rise in the price ol sugar, 
unless there were very heavy rains on the Continent. 
The £6,000 placed to reserve might be divided here- 
after, if thought advisable. 
The resolution wes unanimously agreed to. 
A dividend of 3s. 6J. per share on the issued pre- 
ference shares, payable on an after A' ^r-t 1, was. 
propoted by the Chairrr»r\ 
