474 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTUKIST. 
[Jan. 2, 189'J. 
INDIAN AND CEYLON TEA TRUST. 
EASTERN J3USlNliSS UNDER A CLOUD. 
The fiisi, (-'cner-ai ijifefetiog of tlie jharphold-rs of tho 
Indian and Ceylo ■ T'ep- TcuBt Company, Limiied, was 
held yefiierday a,i 34, Nicholas-) v.ic, B.C. Mr. Keith 
F. A'.b nhuot\Cli..i. iii '.n iho Coiiipmy) prt aided. 
The Chairman aaid that tne b Lnt-e fho'it covered 
the period from April, 1397, whan the company was 
atarfcod, to the HOth .Tnnc this year. The directois 
were extremely sorry that they were uuable to place 
a bpfcter stateineiit before the shareholders, but, as 
they wci'e no doubt aware, all businens in the Eaot, 
and ospecially the tea industry, had been under a 
cloud, having suffered from the ries in excbange. 
When tiiiB cu-u cauy waa crimiuonc-jd the rate of ex- 
ohan«e wa<> 1 : SJ I per rupee, 'Uid it hid increased to 
1h and c unpaaies vihiAi we^ecaraing fair ptofit3 
in the old days were now :-are!y able to p ly expenses. 
He was glad to nay prices foe tea were now rather 
batior, and if cJiey remained so, i;ompaiiiea wonld again 
refumc the payment of dividt)i d«. In addition to 
inv.iLitiug ill Biiare'^, the company made advances to 
tea companies, and they h.i.d done a fair amount of 
business iu this way, which would no doubt have 
been increased h'ld they had larger funds at their 
disposal. Tue directors were tht- largest shareholders 
—in fact, ho be'ieved he wiis the largest shareholder in 
the coin panv. Ho had not sold any of his shares, as 
ho had not hid the opportunity. (Laughter.) But 
lor the deplorable shrinki^ge iu the price of tea hharej, 
he .was confiient thoy w luld have been able to present 
a very diff'^rent b .hiace-aheet. Tho Board had 
received several communications from shareholders 
desiring more information than appeared in the 
accounts. iHeai-, hear.) Thev considered it advisable 
not topubli.sh a list of the company's holdings, but if 
the majority of the shareholders wi.-hed them, they 
would be only too glad to do so. Shareholders could 
always be supplied with pariicul rs on calling at tho 
offices. In conclusion, the Chairman m.ivcl the adop- 
tion of 1/he report and uocouuis 
lilt, J. Barrett-Leun.n d S' oon led tho motion. 
Mr. Ro.'^s said he could not under~tai>d why the 
Board had borrowed £10,000 lu 4 per cent., wlien thpy 
had only called up £1 IOm per sh.nv. The tea trade 
at the present tip.io W is io a very b d w\\. "ud. in 
view of the low piic-ei of th« ^!h:v.s. rhe •.• mp^ny 
had a favourable opporinnit.» for iuv-stuieut. Ho 
should, therefore, prefer to pay up the liability on his 
shares. 
A Director pointed out that if they called up 
further capital, it would remain a permanent charge, 
whereas they could pay off the loans at any time. 
XHK DESIR.^BILITY OF ALIiOTMENT QUESTIONED. 
Mr. Gardiner remarked that it was questionable 
whether the company ought to have gone to allot- 
ment at all. (Hear, hear.) The preliminary and 
formation expenses, amounting to £2,767, were heavy 
when compared with the capital subscribed — namely^ 
£14,659. 
The Chairman: I think all that was t.^keu into 
consideration at the time tho conipa,ny went to 
allotment. The capital v/as nearly all held privately. 
Mr. Gardiner suggested that in \'i.iw of th" report 
presented perhaps it would be wise to gradually work 
the company oft' — dissolve it p.ltO'^iMhei-. It would be 
far better than going on in the present way. He 
admired the directors for not taking their fees, 
(Laughter.) 
BIr. James MoClougli said he cordially supported 
tho viewa of the last epeakor. Tho report in every 
way was very uusatiefactorj', I'be Board proceeded 
to allotment on one-third the number of shares oiiered 
to tho public— only 10,000 being allotted out of .30,000, 
They must have known a Stock Exchange quotation 
could not be secured a's originally intended. He under- 
stood from the prospectus that the pr*»]iminary ex- 
penses were to be paid by the holders of the deferred 
shares. 
The Secretary stated that 1,000 deferred shares ware 
set aside for that purpose, and the preliminary expenses 
only appeared in the balancn-sheet as a m.itter of 
acQQunt. 
Mr. Barrett-Lenuard said thai if the company 
had been dupeudnut upon public subscriptions ihej 
would not lij,ve gone to allotmtu", i»ui the dirBctocs 
and their friemia having enbscribed far a very Ixrgc 
proportion of the capita), haviiJi; C'luddbuu*^ iu 
tho future of the compa'jy, ihcy let justitied 
in doing so. He differed from ,he opinion tti->^t 
thj stale of afftirs demanded the drjiug up of the 
company and the distribution of the itbaeta. Ihey 
bad made protils. It did not allow that the com- 
pany would continue to be unsuccessful. He did not 
think the directors could bo blamed for the fall iu 
prices. " (Hoar, hear.) 
The Chairman waid that it would be the policy of 
the Board to act with caution at thu pre»eni time, 
and they did not propose entering into any fartber 
business until they had called the shareboliers lo- 
gather again. (Hear, hcar.i 
A Shareholder: Can you call us together in sis 
months' time '/ 
A Director: Should you want a balance-sheet 1' 
The Shareholder : No, we do not wish yua to go 
to that expense. 
The Chairman considered the calling of a meeting 
in six mouths' time a goo 1 suggestion. 
Tho report aud accounts were adopted. 
Mr. Ljugh, in proposing the re election of Mr. 
Arbutbnot as a ditecior of the company, said the 
criticism on the accounts h&d been very severe, bat 
the Board had not attempted t'l conceal the fa?t 
thut the business had uoi been satisfaotory. The 
directors had takeu no fees. He bad made luqairias 
and found that the investments, so far as coold 
be judged, were of a satisfHctory character. He did 
not see any higns of immediate improvament in the 
tea trade. Alter the promise given by the Chair- 
man that no new business would be entered into 
until the shareholders had boen consulted, he thought 
they eould not do better than re-elect him. (Hear 
bear.) 
Mr. Gardiner seconded the proposition, which wb« 
agreed to. 
The auditors, Messrs. Singleton, Fabin & Co., having 
been reappointed. 
A shareholder expressed the hope that the proceed- 
ings of the meeting would not be made public. 
Another Shareholder said he believed a representa- 
tive of the Financal Times was present. 
A vote of thanks to the Chairman terminated the 
proceedings. — Financial Times, Oct. 29. 
The Kol.v Nut i>f the Soudan— alluded to 
by a coi're.spondeut elsewhere — has not yet deve- 
loped into an export trade of any conseqaence, 
60 great is the local demand among the "Hausas" 
for the nuts. One caravan from the coast to 
tiie interior town.s and villages wa-s estimated 
to have £100,000 worth of kola nuts !— and the 
price rises on the borders of Lake Chad by 50 
to 6'i fold of what it is wheie giown in the coast 
districts. Mr. Kobinson (whose book " 1,500 
miles through the Central Soudan", we shall 
quote from, in our Monday morning's issue) ihinks 
a Railway through the British Sou las-Niger 
territory would pay far better than the Uganda 
Hue. Salt sells in the interior at one shilling per 
lb. Kano, the capital of Central Soudan (with 
100,000 people), has two millions of people pass- 
ing through it yearly, so great is the trade. 
Next to salt, scents and perfumes of all kinds 
are iu great demand ; bits of camphor worth 2d 
in England selling readily for Is near the co;ist 
eren I English shillings stil well to set in rings; 
the only coin appreciated in the Soudan (besides 
cowries by the thousand) being Maria 'Theresa 
dollars which contain 2s worth of silver, but 
buy 3s 6d to 4s worth in cowries, A 
railway would do moie than anything else to 
put an end to slavery as slaves are required as 
porters at pre.^ent. 
