March 1, 1901.] THE TEOPICAL AGRICULTUELST 
641 
of raising; the necessary capital. Tlie directors were 
of opinion that the company from the first \vonld 
be a success, and there would be no difficulty 
raising ordinaiy and preference siin re capital when 
it was required, but as the price of tea gradually 
fell and tea investments were not in public favour 
they saw clearly it would no'-, be pos- 
sible to obtain the necessary capital from the 
shareholders. The contemplated acreage of 
development was very materially curtailed, 
but what was begun had to be brought to 
completion. The directors have given constant 
and anxious attention to the atTairs of this com- 
pany from its inception to the present time, with- 
out fee or reward of any kind, and respectfully 
maintain that as they could not foresee thao 
Travancore teas would fall from 8.50d per lb. (ihe 
price when tlia prospectus was issued) to an 
average of 6.20d per lb,, the present state of the 
company's finances is solely attributable to low 
prices. Anyone experienced in tea cultivation 
knows that £35 per acre is a reasonable price at 
which to bring tea into bearing with buildings and 
machinery, so it cannot be said the shareholders' 
money has been squandered. ]No now clearings of 
lea have been made tor the last two and a half 
years, and it is practically three yenrs since the land 
was opened out, roaded, and drained, for planting 
up. The properties are good, and have been well 
cared for, and the whole position entirely rests 
with the future market price of the produce, which 
we must all hope will soon take a turn for the 
better. I now move the adoption of the report 
and accounts. 
Mr. H K Kutherford, in seconding the adoption 
of the report and accounts, said:— I would add a 
few words to what has fallen from your Chairman, 
and to recount the history of this company. It 
was started in 1897 as a tea company to develop 
and open out tea estates from jung'e lands, having 
as a nucleus a certain acreage of land under tea. 
The land was leported on most favonraUly by the 
Ceylon manager of the Ceylon Tea Plantations 
Company, a gentleman of very high standing and 
experience in tea cultivation— and we have no rea- 
son, even at the present moment, to doubt the 
capabilities of the land to be less than he estimated. 
The principal vendors were your Chairman and Mr 
Knight, onr manager in Indi-i,— two gentlemen of 
the highest probity. The price paid was a reason- 
able one, and I believe they could, liad they been 
anxious to do so, have sold these proper- 
ties for cash to others, but they were de- 
sirous of retaining a large interest in the 
concern, as they had absolute confidence in tlie 
potentialities of the property. That interest your 
Chairman afterwards considerably increased by 
purchasing a large number of shares. Yc: r 
Directors, from their intimate connection with top. 
shared in the confidence of the Chairman, am! 
"had not the slightest hesitation in investing ami 
joining in the management of the company. Let 
us now consider why results have fallen so much 
under our anticipations. There is one fact very 
patent, that it is not over-capitalisation that is 
the cause, as the price at wliirdi our estates 
stand is a fair normal cost for oyjeningout andequip- 
ping tea properties, and therefore the company 
stands at practically bed-rock price without infla- 
tion. When we negotiated for these properties 
exchange stood at Is 2Jd, and the price of the 
teas at 8^d, and at the present time the former is 
Is i 15 3'2d, and the latter 6Jd. When I have 
stated that simple fact I have stated tlie whole 
of our ease. I do not know if any sharekolder 
has taken the trouble to apply the condition of ex- 
change and the price of tea in 1897 to the accounts 
in this report, but if so you will find that, had 
these two factors held good, instead of showing 
a loss we would have earned Debenture and Pre- 
ference interest and 7 per cent on the Ordinary 
shares, and further, if you continue the appli- 
cation to the estimate of crops which it is 
practically certain the estates will yield, the 
Ordinary shares would earn something like 50 per 
cent, dividend, 1 ask.you, therefore, as reason- 
able men, even if after allowing what one would 
consider a safe discount in the 1897 conditions of 
exchange and price of tea, if it can be said any 
of us — either we as directors, or you as share- 
holders — went rashly into this venture. Share- 
holders may complain today of minor matters 
of finance in our accounts which in a success- 
ful concern might have been looked at as 
virtues, but, believe me, the real crux of our 
position is the price of tea. If you believe 
this state of tilings cannot continue in the 
tea world very long, then you ought to keep 
this company afloat. It has potentialities if tea 
recovers, and if you stick to the ship I have no 
doubt whatever that you will reap a fair return in 
due course. So serious is the position of tea 
producers at the present moment that efforts are 
being made to bring all into a co operative 
movement to reduce the output of British-grown 
tea for this season in India and Ceylon. If we 
make no profit wliatever out of our estimated crop 
of 743,000 lb. of tea, then our debit balance, after 
paying Debenture interest, will be some £8,200, 
and therefore the £7,000 lb. we ask you for would 
not suffice, and we would again require to come 
to you. We do not wish to call upon you for 
one penny more than necessity demands, and it 
becomes a question for you to decide whether in 
the meantime it would be better to make this 
call in tlie hope that it may be sufficient to tide 
us over, or at once re-arrange the company. No 
one could have foreseen the difficulty, and we must 
leave the matto'; in your hands. 
Mr. Dangerheld thanked Mr. Rutherford for 
his remarks, and stated that, although the posi- 
tion 'was an unfortunate one, the explanations 
given would, he felt sure, meet the views of the 
shareholders. He also asked how the required 
capital was to be raised. 
The Chairman stated that that Directors 
would leave the shareholders to decide how 
that was to be done. They were, however, 
prepared to put it , pro rata. The position of 
the tea market was accentuated since the report 
was drawn out. The market might fall again 
i y, and they could not say what might hap- 
jt:i. They did not auoicipate a month ago what 
lu.d now happened. That being so, the Directors 
would not pledge themselves that the amount 
as stated in the report would be sufficient. The 
call would be spread over a number of years, and 
would be made as easy as possible. 
The resolution for the adoption of the report 
and accounts was then put to the meeting, and 
carried unanimously. 
Mr. D Reid proposed the re-eleetion of Mr. 
Rutherford as a director. He remarked that ia 
doing so it was no easy task he was asking Mr. 
Rutherford to assume. He had always carefully 
watched over the 'interests of the Company, and 
