SOUTHERN RHODESIA'S PROGRESS
Colonel H. T. Fenwick spoke with considerable confidence of the prospects of Southern Rhodesia when he addressed the shareholders of Willoughby's Consolidated on Monday. The youngest British colony is at the moment, he said, fairly prosperous. One of the best rainy seasons on record has taken place and both exports and imports are on the up-grade. Only an improvement in the world's political situation, in his view, is needed to increase its material prosperity. Willoughby's last year took the disagreeable course of apply- ing £25,000 to writing down the values of the investments at the cost of a reduction in the dividend from 5 5/42 per cent. to 3 x/8 per cent., but Colonel Fenwick was able to show that the depreciation which developed in the early months of 1939 had been fully covered by this writing down, and that on June 12th the market value of the investments was £278,029 against a book value of £274,857. * * * *
Previous page