The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-29 00:00:00

SO= AUSTRALIAN COMPANY.

,übjoined are the leading passages of the 23d
annual report of the dire&tors, which was presented
to ithe general meeting of proprietors, held this
day

I,' The directors state that, notwithstanding com-
mercial depression and another deficient harvest in
the colony, the position of the company is quite as
satisfactory as heretofore.. The stagnation of busi-
nefs at Port Adelaide has affected the revenue from
the wharfs ; and the failure of the crops in the low-
land districts of the colony has caused considerable
distress among the farming population. This dis-
tress has been aggravated by the destructive bush
fires in several districts, which took place just after
the harvest had been gathered. The colonial ma-
nager however reports, that the injury sustained
by the company's tenants has not been serious, and
that he does not anticipate much ultimate loss,
though delay in collecting the rents may possibly
be occasioned. The annual estimate of the value
of, the property was made as usual on the 31st
October last ; and it will be seen from the sum-
mary of the inventories that but little alteration
has been made in the valuations. On this subject
the manager remarks With respect to the in-
ventories, as a rule; I may, say they have been kept
the same as those last forwarded ; for although pro-
perty of every description,. it must be admitted, has
depreciated very much in value during the interval,
yet the valuations placed upon the company's pro-
prty have always been of that character to allow
of fluctuations ever taking place in colonial property,
where the standard of value depends so much on
circumstances undergoing constant change for
some time past it has_been fouTirextiWnely.diffi-
cult to realise any description of real property, and
When sales have been forced, very low prices, as
compared with former rates, have been accepted.'
The following is the summary referred to, viz.:—
Town land and buildings, £77,080; country land
and buildings, £241,566; port land and buildings,
433,536 ; mineral lands, £35,644 ; wharfs and ware-
houses (exclusive of the expenditure on the new
wharf and swing bridge, not yet carried to the ac-
count), £48,956; Kanmantoo Lline buildings and
stores, steam dredges, pile driver, cattle and horses,
goods in store, &c., £6,044—£442,826. This state-
'tent shows an increase of £3,949 over the previous
Valuation, arising from the completion of the pur-
chase of 747 acres in the mineral survey; from a
small addition to the value of some of the country
sections; and from the placing of an additional
value on one or two of the town acres, in consequence
cif the erection of substantial buildings. Coun-
try Lands—Under this head the company possess
,64,323 acres. On the 29th September last there
were 57,677 acres leased, producing an annual ren-
tal of £17,201, and leaving 6,646 acres still un-
leased. For some time past it has been the desire of
the directors to encourage an improved cultivation
of the land, and to promote the erection of suitable
buildings on the farms. With this view the colo-
nial manager has been instructed to increase the
extent of the holdings where practicable, and to
give every encouragement to deserving tenants.
Mineral Land—This portion of the property, corn-
pr-sing 12,681 acres, is all leased with the excep-
tion of 735 acres ; but as only a small proportion of
it is adapted for agriculture, the rental is small,
amounting (exclusive of the voyalty on the produce
yf the mines) to £1,488 6s. for the‘year. The
port from the Kanmantoo Mine is encouraging. It-
is also stated that other parties, to whom a right of
Search had been granted for six months on another
block of mineral land, had opened the ground upon
a promising lode, and at a depth of six fathoms
find it sufficiently encouraging to extend their ex-
plorations. A parcel of ore raised by them has been
sampled, and found to yield 111- per cent. The
Ewing bridge across the entrance to the creek (as
ptated in the December report) has also been com-
pleted, and is reported to be an elegant and sub-
stantial structure, fully answering the purpose for
which it was erected. The income from the wharves
has been materially affected during the past year
by the stagnation of trade at the port. It
amounts to £5,108 17s. 6d., which is a reduction of
£1,557, as compared with the actual wharfage of
the preceding year. Symptoms, however, of a re-
vival in business were apparent at the date of the
'Just advises; and the receipts of the first five months
(of the current year manifest a considerable improve-
ment on the corresponding months of the past.
Rental—lt is shown by the rent roll, as made up to
the 24th September, 1858, that the gross annual
rental of the company is as follows, viz. :—From
country lands, £17,201 2s. 11d. ; from town land
and buildings, £4,303155. 6d. ; from port land and
buildings, £3,513 Bs.; from mineral land, including
£ll3 10s. 10d. received as royalty, £1,601 16s. 10d.;
total, £26,620 3s. 3d.; being an increase of £1,106
9s. ld. on the amount of the previous year. Consi-
dering the depressed circumstances of the colony
during the past two years, the directors regard this
steady improvement of rental as highly satisfactory.
Sales of land—The sales effected have already been
noticed in the supplementary report of last Decem-
ber, with the exception of 79 acres of country land,
since advised as sold for £173, making a total of

138 i acres sold during the year for £2,108. These
sales leave a profit on the inventory valuations of
£1,785 ss. 6d., which:sum has been carried to the
credit of profit and loss. Dividend—The net in-
come for the year amounts to £27,237 Bs. 5d., out
of which the directors propose that a dividend be
now declared at the rate of seven per cent. per
annum, or 355. a share, payable as usual half-
yearly, viz., on the 15th of July and the 14th of
January next. After providing for this payment
and for the interest on the debentures, there will
remain a surplus of £1,419 18s. 5d,, to he carried
to next year's account. The directors who now re-
tire by crotation are Bertram Wodehouse Currie,
Esq., and Robert Chalmers, Esq., both of whom
being eligible, offer themselves fbi• re-election; as
do the two auditors, William Richards, Esq., and
Robert Oakes, Esq., who also retire in terms of the
deed of settlement. The directors feel satisfaction
in being able to append to this report a map of the
colony. which has been carefully compiled under
their immediate superintendence, and which in-
cludes all the recent discoveries. It is necessarily
on a small scale ; the localities where the principal
portions of the company's property are situate era
indicated by a green tint. This map it is hoped
will prove interesting to the proprietors. The ex-
tensive tracts of fine land and the rich indications
of copper ore which have been made known by the
discoveries referred to, cannot fail to be of vast
importance to the colony, the prosperity of which,
although retarded in come measure by circum-
stances already noticed, continues steadily to ad-
vance. The extension of the trade on the river
Murray, through the opening up of the navigation
of the Darling, the junction of which with the
Murray, though in the territory of New South
Wales, is at no great distance from the boundary
of South Australia, will also greatly promote the
commerce of the colony. The steady increase of
the population is likewise a fact worthy of note.
At the close of 1857 it was stated at 113,000, but is
now estimated to be about 121,000."