H.—35.

1924.

Oisbarne Sheep-farmers' Frozen Meat Co., Ltd. Mr. Stringer's next table dealt, with the affairs of the above company, and told an amazing and almost incredible story. Here it is :— 1914. Value of land, buildings, and plant .. .. .. .. .. £97,960 lis. 4d. Sheep. Lambs. Cattle. Killings .. .. .. .. .. .. 190,393 81,634 7,198 Killings— 1926. Hick's Bay .. .. .. .. .. 24,813 8,715 202 Tokomaru Bay .. .. .. .. .. 64,752 33,953 1,741 Kaiti .. .. .. .. .. .. .126,331 116,009 10,874 215,896 158,677 12,817 Value of land, buildings, machinery, and plant, Gisborne, Tokomaru Bay, Hick's Bay, &c. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. £581,388 6s. 9d.

1914. ( Per Head. Capital value of land, buildings, and plant, per head of stock killed (one head of s. d. cattle equal to ten sheep) .. .. .. .. .. .. 5 8-3 Annual interest charge per head .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 0 4-4 1926. Capital value of land, buildings, and plant (one head of cattle equal to ten sheep) .. 19 6-2 Annual interest charge per head .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 13-2 Increase in capital value .. .. .. .. .. .. 13 94) Increase in annual interest charge .. .. .. .. .. .. 0 10-8 It is astonishing that the farmers who got themselves into this financial tangle should dare to criticize the workers. The above figures indicate a proceeding completely uninformed by judgment, knowledge, and even bare intelligence.

120

. n Nominal Capital Bank Bank Name of Company. Capital. paid up. I Overdraft. Credits. Plant' i I I i £ £ £ s. d. £ s. d. j £ s. d. 1. Auckland Farmers .. .. 400,000 224,740 131,488 9 0 .. | 463,522 .10 3 2. Canterbury P.M. Co. .. .. 275,000 212,500 .. .. 323,251 11 1 3. Feilding Farmers .. .. 150,000 54,061 107,388 8 9 .. 127,740 17 3 4. Gear Meat Co. .. .. 460,000 460.000 .. 28,994 1 0 60,555 0 0 5. Gisborne Sheep-farmers .. 1,000,000 420,334 110,894 13 4 .. 662,984 19 2 6. Hawke's Bay Farmers .. 100,000 76,000 6,992 6 4 .. 147,635 14 4 7. N. Canterbury Farmers .. 200,000 85,500 .. 8,126 16 4 126,902 18 5 8. N.Z. Refrigerating Co. .. 1.000,000 600,000 .. 10,107 7 6 777,727 18 9 9. Patea Farmers .. .. 195,000 168,926 125,906 5 0 .. 187,821 6 2 10. Southland F.M. Co. .. .. 150,000 113,539 .. 32,668 4 0 128,095 2 1 11. South Otago .. .. 75,000 66,519 .. ! 3,385 8 4 72,455 8 5 12. Wairoa Farmers .. .. 200,000 68,093 86,566 16 10 .. 170,721 14 2 13. Wanganui Freezing Co. .. 200,000 122,010 94,120 9 9 .. 167,169 8 6 14. Wellington Farmers .. .. 120,000 90,423 255,097 18 4 .. 287,014 16 8 15. Wellington M.E. Co. .. .. 300,000 227,606 77,464 2 10 .. 285,124 15 11 16. Nelson Freezing Co. .. .. 50,000 34,785 5,757 16 3 .. 49,631 3 5 17. Tokomaru Farmers (Gisborne Sheep-farmers) 18. Waitaki Farmers .. .. 110,000 46,678 .. 978 3 5 191.123 10 9 East Coast Co-op. .. .. 150,000 75,348 (Not shown) .. 160,609 17 3 Taihape Farmers .. .. 100,000 50,848 32.357 1 4 .. 68,021 12 5 Poverty Bay .. .. 500,000 224,057 (Not shown) .. 612,822 5 6 Taranaki Farmers .. .. 150,000 99,564 .. .. 220,711 3 5 5,885,000 3,521,531 1,034,034 7 9 .. 5,301,643 13 11 Add Ocean Beach, Borthwick (3), .. .. .. .. 625,000 0 0 Vestey Bros. (3), Longburn 5,885,000 3,521,531 1,034,034 7 9 .. 5,926,643 13 11 Less works that have ceased opera- 302,845 .. .. .. 598,989 0 0 tions 5,582,155 3,521,531 1,034,034 7 9 .. £5,327,654 13 11 At 61 per cent, equals £346,297 10s. 2d.

Capital Value, Sheep. Lambs. Cattle. Buildings and Plant. £ s. d. 1926 .. .. .. .. .. 215,896 158,677 12,817 581,388 6 9 1914 (one works) .. .. .. .. 190,393 81,634 7,198 97,960 11 4 Increase .. .. .. .. 25,503 77,043 5,619 483,427 15' 5