Northern Times. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-02-28 00:00:00

LATEST TELEGRAMS. THE INDIA MAILS. p;;Znday.—The Vepoaul with the mails from Calcutta 6:2d China arrived here at eight o'clock this morning. The mails left for London at ten o'clock am, Passengers, in Quarantine. for twenty-two hours. INDIAN NEWS. MARSEILLES, Feb. 27.--Advices have been re ceived from Calcutta to the 22nd January. The last battle in which Lord Clyde engaged our enemies in India was fought on the frontiers of Nepaul. Nana Sahib was repulsed and driven into the interior, and Jung Bahadoor was charged to complete the pursuit of the rebels upon his Own territory. Lord Clyde then returned to Lucknow, ordered the demolition of most of the fortresses. in Oude, distributed the troops ampng the large towns, and made preparations to return to Europe. Sir Hugh Rose will succeed him as 'commander-in-chief. Imporis - in - Calcutta active ; exports, none ; ix eights bad, but hopes were entertained that the prices of merchandise will return to an accessible standard. ACCIDENT TO THE ENGLISH MAIL STEAMER AT CALMS. • THREE PASSENGERS DROWNED. CALAIS, Sunday.—The Royal English Mail steamer ran foul of the pier in entering our harbour last night. Some damage was caused by this .accident to one' of the wheels, by reason of which the steamer was driven back into the channel, and three passengers perished, the victims of their 'eagerness to disembark. All the other passengers, together with the Indian and usual mails, were landed i n ' safety. The sea is still running very high, with violent wind from the north-west. LORD COWLEY'S ARRIVAL AT VIENNA VIENNA Feb. 27th.—Lord Cowley, with his family, and two attaches, arrived here this morn ing, at nine o'clock. It is asserted, that Baron Hess will shortly be railed to the dignity of Marshall, and in case it should be found necessary, he will be placed at the head of the Italian army. THE EVACUATION OF FOREIGN TROOPS F ITALY. PARIS, S un d ay .— R T OM he Moniteur of this morning -contains the following :—" On the 22nd instant, Cardinal Antonelli announced to the ambassadors of France and Austria, that the Pope, believing his authority strong 'enough to maintain peace in his dominions, considers his own power sufficient consequen ce , hi s to w arraLt the security of his throne, and that i n evacuati iii holin ess was rea dy to enter into arrangements w i t h the powers for the simultaneous of his ter r it or y by th e F ren ch and Austria n army with the least possible delay." AUSTRIAN FUNDS. VIENNA, Feb. 26.—A considerable decline has taken place in all securities to-day. Metalliques fell more than 10 per cent, and close 74. National Loan, 76.40. Lombards Venetian, 86. Bank •Shares, 855. THE FRENCH FUNDS. PARIS, Saturday, 7 55 p.m.—Before opening, Rentes commenced very flat, 67.55, but rose soon after to 68, in consequence of the speech of Mr. Disraeli ha. the English Parliament. 1 15 p.m.: The Bourse Opens very animated, and Rentes 68.35. 3 23 p.m.: "k b heavy tendency prevails towards close of the beingßailway a rise of only 10c. since yesterday. In . "ailway Shares no material change. SECOND EDITION. NORTHERN TIMES OFFICE, MONDAY, 9 A.M. DISRUPTION OF T.mINISTRY. RESIGNATION OF THE ROAM SECRETARY 'AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE, The Morning Herald announces that, in consequence of some difference- of opinion in the Cabinet, Mr. Walpole and Mr. Henley hive resigned their office. Mr. Sotheron Estcourt will succeed Mr. Walpole at the Home Office, while Lord March will go to the Poor Law Board. Lord Donoughmore, now Vice-President of the Board of Trade, will succeed Mr. Henley in that office. The Times, in making a similar announcement, says the difference of opinion arose out of the Reform Bill. THE PRINCIPAL FEATURES OF THE REFORM BILL The Times appears to have been favoured with some revelations respecting the Ministerial Reform Bill, which will be introduced to-night. Ministers, instead of dis franchising boroughs according to an arbitrary numerical standard, have begun by ascertaining what number of seats are wanted to supply acknowledged deficiencies, and then obtain the number required and no more by the process of disfranchisement. To supply this not very considerable number of seats. they would not require to have recourse to the extension as proposed by Lord John Russell; nor yet to the plan of total disfranchisement, so largely adopted in the first Reform Bill. No borough, it is believed, will be united with any other, and no borough will be entirely disfranchised. The schedule of the act will, in fact, correspond to Schedule B of the original Reform Bill. From a certain number of the smaller boroughs re turning two members a single will be withdrawn, and the seats thus obtained will be given to the new constituencies, which it is intended to create. The public, says the Times, will not be surprised if the ministerial measure adopts, as a basis of a county franchise, a £lO occupation, it -will also be proposed to facilitate the voting of constituencos, largely increased as those of the counties will be by a system of voting .papers. As regards the borough franchise, the Times is informed, that the ministerial bill proposed that the franchise for boroughs and counties shall be uniform, resting 'on an occupation. of £lO. While preserving intact as. the basis of the borough franchise the amount fixed by the first Reform Bill the ministerial bill seems to extend the, franchise to persons who, from possession of property in ,the shape of deposits in Savings Banks, of Stock in the Funds, or of Railway Shares, may give satisfactory proof of their fitness to assist in imposing burdenssupon the property of others. The Times compliments the bill for its simplicity, and says it is probably as strong as the Government would be able to carry in the present temper of the House of Commons and the publib mind. FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. PARTB FRANCE. ' Friday Evening.—The gloom, which the fi rs t t i d i ngs of Lord Cow l ey ' s pac ifi c m i ss i on had partially di spe ll e d, h as re t u rned with, if possibl e, greater intensity than before. I men tioned at the time that except at the Bourse, but slender hopes were entertained of the success of 1118 understanding. Confidence is catching, as well its alarm,of the and yesterday the sanguine anticipations speculators were shared in by many of the public, who it must be said are in br- a.ris regular moutons de Punurge, and will blindl y follow whatever impulse is given them. But the respite has been a short oue, and the war nightmare weighs upon Paris to-day as heavily as I . ver• Altho ug h th e French papers are prohibited • El noticing the armaments going on in the B ° ll ol and elsewhere, the foreign journals that Mention them are not excluded. With the ex ception of the shipping, iron, and saltpetre trades, the whole of the business population of France ` et/il tinues dead against the war, and were the Gov ernmen t w i se , it wou ld p ause before it forfeited the popularity it has won among those classes by developing the c..Oluniercial prosperity of the country, by plunging he country into a war which all agree in pro 11,cing uncalled for and unjust. It is sted by Ivord that the Austrian Government is not " . ` B l 3o sed to make any concessions, and that the re presentatives of Prussia and England, having offered their mediation, received a reply that " Allies were wanted, not mediators." The truth of this seems doubtful. The position of Austria is ,enTharrassi ng , an d an y acce pt a ble conditions would De readily received at Vienna were the Cabinet 11° t couvmeed that France is determined'on war. The Patrie ventures to intimate that England . 18 bound to support France in her interference iit Italy; which is unequivocally condemned ,L.,7 the gr ea t majority. of the French nation. e British Cabinet's efforts to conciliate two con ;eding parties cannot tby any stretch of logic be neld as a pledge to support the aggressor. More over, it is known that the mission of Lord Cowley la s . abs o l utely extra-off i c i al, and i s un d erta k en b y 11 . 11 solely t o enlighten Austria as to the deter mination of F rance to go to war on the smallest s emblan ce of a pretext. The Continental correspondence is not calculated s° s ustain the pacific hopes which have prevailed ce the announcemen t o f L or d C o wley's mission. th 1.6 Paris correspondent of the Herald says ria lr,e has been no suspension of the formidable o tkary preparations now going on in every part r ranee. On the very day that Lord Cowley's mission was notified, all the colonels of the bat regiments, at Paris, received notice b.,,, a t every regiment was to be augmented . 1 4 two 'batteries each of six guns. There th e twenty reg i men t s o f Artillery, besides T h e , crack artillery corps of the Imperial Guard. c gloom which the first tidings of Lord pacific mission had partially . dispelled, ~t s returned with greater intensity than before. e general impression in Paris is, that Lord "viey has gone to Vienna solely to enlighten itlAustria as to the determination of France to go to w a n t, en the sm a ll es t sem bl ance o f a pre t ex t. The Paris correspondent of the Times writes, inch in th e same strain. At Marseilles the c i rcus arti" of military stores and provisions for the C a .: l :v is greater than d ur ing any period of the rune" war. They are making biscuits night I. lld day. The accounts from other parts of li raneevigour speak of the armaments going on with the arlie . ITALY. In announcing, by telegraph, that the soldiers pn rlough, belonging to regiments in Italy, have been called in, the Vienna correspondent.of the 2 1 . 7 - nes says, the truth is that the army in Italy is to be placed on a war footing. MILAN, Feb. 24. At the bal masque, of •yesterday, demonstrations 'of the people had been prevented. A disturbance among the students of the public school and gymnasium, of San Alessandro, has taken place. A farmer, near Pavia, who had denounced some refugees, has been clande s tinely assassinated. Tha fermentation is increasing, :ill er c e I r P vc e .o° l ; o th es, I O t t e e t , h a - THE CRISIS IN FOREIGN AFFAIRS. In the city, according to the Daily News it is hoped that the unmistakable repugnance of the French nation to war is gradually introducing a spirit of moderation into the Imperial counsels. The Times' city writer says the question with most persons seems to be, will Sardinia consent to, have all her expectations disappointed, except upon some secret understanding that the promised end which has not been found impractical in one way, shall speedily, by the creation of difficulties on the Danube or elsewhere, be brought about in another. A leading article in the Times remarks that if we are to'be constantly liable to another outbreak of imperial ambition, it would be almost preferable to have a war at once, and settle the question whether France is to remain the disquieter of Europe, or be bound to good behaviour by the strength' of those about her. The Daily News, in its political article, points out that until the five millions Italians of Lombardy be relieved from a foreign yoke, Europe will have no lasting peace. PRUSSIA. Le Nord publishes the following " VIENNA, Feb. 24 " Prince Frederick William is expected at our Court. It is said that His Royal Highness comes on a special mission." CAFE OF GOOD HOPE The Athensian mail steamer, Capt. Strutt, arrived at Plymouth on Sunday, from the Cape. Her dates are—the Cape, Jan. 21st ; St. Helena, 30th ; Ascension, Feb. 3rd. She brought 36 pas sengers, £l,OOO in specie, and a full general cargo. The. Cape colony was in a very flourishing state, and the natives were all quiet. The 59th regiment had arrived from China, with more than 150 on the sick list ; twenty died on board of dysentry and intermittant fever. The whole regiment is sickly. The small pox had disappeard from Cape Town, but was still present in some country districts. COMMERCIAL The ministerial declaration that Lord Cowley's mission is we of peace and conciliation, has had a powerful effect on the Stock Exchange. Consols at one period attained a rise of Ito per cent. ; and notwithstanding the very remarkable absence of response on the Paris Bourse, the English Funds left off a per , cent. higher than yesterday. In railway and all other departments of the Stock Ex change, speculative animation likewise prevailed.—Daily News City Article Saturday Evening. The ministerial statement on the Italian question has been followed by a rise of half per cent. in the English Funds. The rise would probably have been greater but for the fact that the quotations from Paris shew that the sanguine feeling shewn here is very feebly shared on that side. About £40,000 in bar gold was withdrawn from the Bank to-day for exportation.—Times City Article, Saturday Evening. Messrs• Hoare Buxton and Co., who stopped payment during the crisis of 1857, announce that, of £300,000 of claims preferred against the first dividend under this estate, only £30,000 now remains outstanding. The Lord of the Isles has arrived from China .with 607,500' pounds of tea, and 1,451 bales of silk. Letters from Genoa state .the suspension of Messrs. Gutterman Brothers and Co. The liabilities are supposed to be rather large, as the firms were previously in good credit. The steamer Oneida, with the January mails from Australia, is not expected to reach Suez until about the sth of March, and the telegram will not be due in London for several days afterwards. John Hardy, Esq., brother to the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, and recently a candidate for Banbury, is now canvassing the electors of Midhurst. GERMANY The Vienna correspondent of the Times states that the political excitement in Germany increases from day to day, and the governments find it impossible to prevent popular demonstrations against France, or rather against the Emperor. SARDINIA According to the Times correspondent, the num ber of young men enrolled from Lombardy is estimated at from 1,300 to 1,500. THE SUEZ CANAL. MIESTE, Feb. 25 Four members of the council of management of tie projected Suez canal, Mongel Bey, the engi neer, Hardon, and M. de Lesseps, will depart the day after to - morrow , for Alexandria. THREE CHILDREN AT A BIRTH.—On Thursday the wife of Hutchinson Park, here, was safely delivered of three children, two boys and a girl, all of whom, with the " joyful mother of children," are doing well. We hope her Most Gracious Majesty's attention will be directed to this interesting triplet, as in similar cases elsewhere.—Northern Ensign. ORDERS OF REMOVAL OF PAUPERS. — In the year ended Lady-day, 1857, 16,546 paupers were removed from parishes by orders signed by justices of peace and executed in England and Wales. The expenses incurred in the removal of these paupers amounted to £21,569. In the metropolis 6,333 paupers were removed, at an expense of £3,966. Mrs. Swinfen's action against the Lord Chancellor will be tried in the Court of Exchequer, at the sittings after next term at Guildhall, as a special jury cause. As, however, special jury causes aro not taken at these sittings, the consent of the parties must be obtained. The noble defendant has, it is understood, intimated that he will afford every facility for the immediate trial of the case. -Mr. Kennedy, who was counsel for Mrs. Swinfen on the last trial as to the validity of her husband's will, has been retained for her in her action against the Lord Chancellor, whose into. rests have been enttusted to the advocacy of the Atturner. General. T hE i s tORTiLIERN TIMES, MONDAY, rEtP, tARY 28, 1850 BIRKENHEAD, LANCASHIRE, AND 6E;; HIRE JUNCTION RAILWAY COMPAIIY. The lialf-yeailly ordinary general meeting_ of this editi. pany was held, at the company's offices, Cathcart.-street s Birkenhead, at 12 o'clock on Saturday. Besides the' regular business of the meeting, the notice stated that a special general meeting would also be held at the same place, for the purpose of submitting to the proprietors the draft of a bill to be introduced into Parliament during the ensuing session, to authorise the company to make a railway from Hooton to Helsby ' with branches to Ellesmere port • and Tranmere pool, and for other pur poses. The chair was' taken by E. G. Salisbury, ESq., 11I.P , the chairman of the company. The report, which was taken as read, stated the fact that " The directors have taken the preliminary steps to obtain powers from parliament to construct the line of railway from Hooton to Helsby, which formed part of the original scheme sanctioned by parliament, to connect the docks at Birkenhead with the manufacturing districts, but which was temporarily abandoned, because the com pany did not" feel justified in prosecuting those works until the docks at Birkenhead were proceeded with. The directors now recommend that the proprietors should sanction the application to renew these powers, s 6 that the company may be in a position to open the conmni cation at the period when the dock works at Birkenhead are completed. The proprietors are aware of the valuable property which they possess on the margin of Tranmere Pool, and the , directors recommend that this opportunity should be taken to connect this property with their main lino at Grange-lane." They regretted that the Dock Works at Birkenhead were not being prosecuted with the energy necessary to secure their completion within the time prescribed by the Act of Parliament. The several questions between the Directors and the Birkenhead Commissioners had' been amicably arranged. In regard to revenue, the report stated " The Company's traffic has suffered, in common with that - of all other railways, from the general commercial depression . of 1857-58, and from the'compeation between neighbouring Companies. The rates and charges upon merchandise and live stock were greatly reduced in conse quence of this competition, and although your directors refrained from interference and refused to join, in any way, with either of the disputants, still the result of low rates, and active competition, has been most disastrous to all concerned in the traffic of the immediate district." " The Directors have revised the local passenger fares, with a view of meeting the loss necessarily entailed upon the company in maintaining the small roadside stations ; the attention of the board is now directed to the charges upon merdhandise and ' minerals ; and it is hoped that, with the co-operation of neighbouring corn; panics, better rates may be obtained, without interfering with the natural flow of Traffic to and from Birkenhead. The gross decrease in traffic receipts from the same sources, compared with the corresponding half-year, amounts to £10,348, but new sources of income have been opened and cultivated, by which _means the decrease has been diminished to £3,G49 is lid. The greater proportion of the new traffic has been in general mer chandise, whilst the falling off has been, very largely, in coals, on which the company perforthed merely transit service from point to point; without incurring, the cost of porterage. The general merchandise traffic, on the con trary, having to be handled, and occasionally stored, the expenses are increased in amount, although the rateable cost•has been considerably reduced. " The balance to the credit of revenue is £37,064 Os 9d, of which sum £11,272 8s 4d is required for interest, and, after carrying £2,500 to credit of ,renewal fund, the sum of £23,291 12s 5d is applicable to dividend, out of which your directors recommend- the payment of dividend at the rate of 21, per cent. per annum, leaving a balance of £1,420 to be carried to next account." The Chairman said, he wished he could say that the report which was laid before them was one of a better character. He ought to say frankly at once that he very much regretted having to call the attention of the meet ing, on the first occasion when he occupied the chair, to a statement of accounts which must strike every one as rather a bad account of their proceedings. First of all with regard to the increase of capital. The increase of capital they would find to be £10,701 is 7d. Of that £10,311 7s 10d was for parliamentary expenses, land, stations, sidings, &c., and £389 13s 9d expended in working stock, making the total amount he had just mentioned. The largest item was for stations, sidings, &c., amounting to £7,26818s 2d. There was, however, only £1,434 of that amount which had been fairly charged during the past half-year to capital. The whole amount was made up of a balance of £2,062 expended upon Monks'-ferry, which he' thought might have been fairly included in the last statement, £1,928 was the balance on the Chester station account to the 31st of December, 1857, and £1,844 had been spent upon the siding at Grange-lane, They bad spent £BOO in converting a shed which they had there into a wareheuse, and £634 in strengthening warehouse floors. These two last items, he was prepared to say, were, in his opinion, and in the opinion of the board, a necessary expenditure. The shareholders had already heard, at their meetings from time to time, of the enlargement of the Monk's Ferry station, of the works at the Chester station—an expenditure which they could not well help—and at the Grange-lane siding, which the board conceived to be necessary expenditure. In fairness to the present accounts, lie should call attention to the large sum which, accounts, lie although it had not been expended in the last half-year, yettame into that account. The greater part of the Par liamentary expenses, £2,243 16s 9d, was for promoting their own bills, for watching and opposing the Shropshire Union and the Mersey Boar Bills in 1857 ; for watching and opposing the Chester and Holyhead, the Warrington and Stockport, the Mersey Board, and the North Stafford shire Bills in 1858. Since he (the chairman) had been a member of the Board, there had, of course, been a ques tion of opposing bills in Parliament brought under his attention, and he fully concurred with his co-directors that it was necessary to watch and oppose the bills in the session of 1858. He was also satisfied, from the enquiries he had made, that the expenditure in, the same manner in 1857 was necessary and proper, but he was not then a member of the Board. A question arose, to which he ought to call their attention at once, which was, the question whether the parliamentary expenditure - }'ear by year was properly charged to capital. He would venture , to say that he had himself .9,, very strong opinion that whatever dtr expenditure was inc red from time to time in opposing bills and protecting their own property, ought to be charged to revenue. (Hear, hear.) That of course was a question for the shareholders, but he did not think he ought to take the chair upun the first occasion at their meeting, without calling their attention to the fact, that so far it had d peen the habit to charge Parliamentary expenses to capital, and to the question whether they should not rather charge them to revenue. The next item of the capital account was for land £773 2s. 11d. Now, the larger part of that referred to the' settlement of a large account with Lord Cholmondley for land at Helsby, which ought to have been closed long ago. It was a question which had been some time in dispute, but which had been settled during the past half-year, and which now came into the accounts. Another portion was for the purchase of cottages at Frodsham. Their engine in throwing out sparks on one occasion, set fire to the thatched roof of one of these cottages, and the board thought it would be better to purchase the property than to take the risk of having to pay from time to time for any damages incurred in that way. The item of £389 13s 9d for working stock, had been gone carefully over, amd he was satisfied that it was necessary, and that it was properly charged to capital account. The miscel laneous item of £25 lOs was principally an item for advertising the four per cent stock of the company.. He took that opportunity of iinpressing upon the share holders, that if they would assist the board by getting the four per cent stock taken up, it would be - doing a great service to themselves. On the contrary side of the capital account, there were two items to which he begged to call attention. The first was an item of £134,522 on forfeited shares and calls over-paid. The board were considering what could be done to close that account, and he hoped that by the next half yearly meeting, they would be in a position to close it in a way which would be satisfactory to the shareholders. There,had been added to the 31st of December, 1858, £73,288 10s ld. Probably many of the shareholders might think that was a very large sum to borrow on the past half-year. (Hear, hear.) Now, £65,733 8s 9d of that amount remained in their bankers' hands' on the Ist of January, in the present year. The object of taking up that money' was that they had sums offered to them at a low rate of interest in the latter end of 1858, to pay off amounts falling due in the early part of 1859, at higher rates of interest. A shareholder : What do you call low rates ? The Chairman said, four per cent. Mr. !fobs= had gone into the question of interest, the amount allowed by the bank, and the amount they should have to pay, and there was a small balance of interest to the credit of the shareholders up to' the 31st of December. He would venture to say, now, that in his opinion s the capital account ought to be closed. (Hear, hear.) He did not, of course, mean to say that, in closing the, capital account, no money was to be spent upon works hereafter; but he did think that when their line was constructed and equipßed the'y ought not to spend money on capital account, with out first obtaining the sanction of the shareholders, to it. (Hear, hear.) The directors could not of course lay before the meeting an estimate of the works required in the next half-year, but he believed it was the opinion of 1 the board, that at the next half - y earl y mee ting , so far as ' the directors could close the capital account, they would do so, and would bring before the meth statement of such works as they thought necessary to be constructed t u h n e d r e ev ,• ae t rnh revenue from account, c c oouu passengers,nu t t , and the a m t apokuaernetae receivedl vote t a e n o d f t mails, shareholdersirlisntcii: past was upon it before they spent the money. (Hear, hear.) In 26s 6d, which, as compared with the correspond ind a .1857, showed a falling off of £4,40416s 8d; t ll4 ll 7 l ffi s Clel lase was upon passengers and upon goods. The decrease upon coats alone was 28,000 tons, equal to £2,000, tie receipts also from the Manchester Exhibition came into the 1857 account, for which they had no corresponding receipts in the present half year. The rates ana charges in 1858 were also lower, owing to competition, thazi in 1857. The same tonnage and the same number of passengers, if they paid an equivalent rate, would have given a much larger gross return. Therefore the traffic of the line might be said to be in a good and healthy state • but the lower rates which they received, and the loss Which they sustained in the mineral traffic he had mentioned, would, of course, explain the difference in the receipts. They would see by the weekly . 'returns that the traffic now was looking up. They had received during the last seven weeks some £3OO a week in excess of the corresponding weeks of last year. They were getting better rates for coal, and had made arrange ments to advance the rates for iron ore from the 14th of April next. The gross expenditure in working expenses had been £40,898 2s. He• had no hesitation at all in saying that he thought that a very bad : amount. (Hear, hear.) He thought it a bad account fOr the• rea son that it showed in every item of expenditure an increase. There was an increase upon the °Rester station account. A large sum was for expenses on the permanent way, which ought to have come sato-IW. At the last half-yearly meeting the shareholders , complained very justly about the great expenditure at the Chester station. Very shortly after Mr. Townshend aid himself, who were' now npon the Chester station committee; took the matter up and a committee was appointed by tha Board to en quire into the whole expenditure. They went over there to follow up the enquiry, bnt they were not allowed to see the books at the staiion . .. It was stated the be allowed to look into the finances of ithio one could the- station on hehalf of any of the companies, except the representatives of the_eowanies.meeting at the station. It then•devolved upon Mr. T. and himself - to go into the question there, and they carried a committee to inquire into the thing. He _ _ was very sorry to say that the committee of inquiry had resulted in nothing, for although they were able try show • an enormous and increasing eipendiiure going outtrOrit year to year, they. could make no way at all in showing how it was to be reduced. They were constantly met . . with the cry that the mileage and the tonnage were increasing,. and that increased expenditure was necessary. They, , therefore, repeated to the Board the result of the inquiry, and it was then decided that they shouldmove for a finance committee at the Chester station ; for he was sorry to• say that the affairs bad been managed there this way-the same party who made the order for goods made_ the payment and . signed the cheque (Oh, - oh.) The directors never knew anything about it. The payments were made ade upon the cheques of the manager. Now, he be- lieved Mr. Jones, the manager of the station, was a highly honourable man,_and a man - in whom they could 'place very . great confidence, but they all knew that directors required some one to look after them—which the share holders generally did pretty sharply—and that the officials required that the directors should look after them as well. There could be no doubt at all, that the system of check and counter-check was an exceedingly good system. (Hear, hear.) They succeeded in carry ing a resolution at the Chester station, that no order should be given for any works until it had first been laid before the board, and that no works should be done with- out advertising —throwingthem open to public tender; that no accounts should be paid without being examined first by the finance committee, and that no check should be hoiloured by the banker without having attached to it the name of one of the directors at the station as well as the manager. Although he did not want to prophecy, that by this altered systeiii they should effect auy saving, yet it would have this advantage, that wherever any saving could be made, it should be made. They found in their inquiry that there were many accounts 'Which had been brought into the Chester station, in 1857, which had ' • " never even been entered up iu the books, and which the directors knew nothing at all about. uch a system as that should not prevail for the future. There was an increase of merchandise expenses in the past half year, of £1,032 16s. 3d. That increase had arisen iu this way. There was an increase of £l2l of salaries to clerks, lodging another bill, he was now quite convinced that if that step had not been taken hi the session of 1868, the Mersey Board never would have proceeded with their bill in that session of parliament. The Liverpool gentlemen declared that Sir Benjamin Hall was the best chairman they had ever seen—that he gave them everything they wanted that the railway companies and the landowners had no chance with him. What did Sir Benjamin Ball himself say of the present application to Parliament In his letter to Mr. Laird, and in remarks, made' to him (the chairman), he declared that he cofx.- sidered the prosecution of the present hilt a gross breach of faith on the part of the Dock Board. (Hear, hear.) He (the chairman) was not at liberty to name the gentleman who had advised the directors in the matter, but that gentleman, knowing all the history of the proceedings of the Mersey Board, said he had no hesitation in declaring that there was a gross breach of faith on their part, and that they were simply trying to obtain piecemeal from parliament that which parliament had refused to give them as a whole. (Hear, hear.) That gentleman, therefore, declared that, in the interest of the railway companies, and of commerce, and the public generally, they ought to oppose the bill on the second reading; and he promised that, if a division should take place, he would be found voting against the second reading—and he did so. (Hear, hear.) The gentle men of the Mersey Dock Board knew perfectly well who that gentleman was. The• oph all who had to deal with' then in 185 g was that they had committed a breach of faith. Mr. Lowe told Mr. Turner privately, that it Was a gross breneh of faith on the part of the Mersey Dock Mud. The aion of man exptressed his regret that the second reading of the bill had been unsuccessfully opposed, and that as opposition must now take place in committee. It had, at least the advantage of obtaining declarations in parlia ment which could be used if necessary hereafter ) and which gentlemen might forget if made merely at the' Mersey dock beard, that the Birkenhead'works should be carried out as tepidly, as possible. He complained that Manchester did not support the railway companies on the second reading as ought to have dot considering manner in which the - railway companies had spent their money in responding to the call made by Manchester to help rt to got rid of the town dues. Finally, the chair man concluded by moving that the report and statement of accounts be adopted. Mr. Titherington seconded the motion. Mr. Theeley asked whether there had L-igen any com munication held with any parties in reference to the sale of a quantity of land mentioned in the report.. The Chairman replied in the negative. Mr. euTrieaskel if the chairman was is the chair with the fall'concurrence of his predecessor ? He did not like to see changes of chairmen. He had some confidence in the concern when Mr. Atkinson took the chair to pre side over the company, and he was sorry he had left the company, for since then he believed it had gone down a " peg, and there were great disagreements amongst them. He concluded by calling attention to the want of a mat and scraper (laughter) at one of the stations which he was in the habit of visiting.- The' Chairman-, in reply, stated that Mr. Atkinson was his personal friend, as was . alsO Mr. Titherington, his pre decessor, and who had proposed him as chairman of the board, and he could say that there:was no difference of any kind at the board involving the policy of the line since he became chairman: A shareholder said that, at' former meetings, he had to complain of increased expenditure, and he found. that there was still a greater increase on the present .year, while they had repeated Promises that it would be decreased. He asked 'if the item for compensation included any other matter than that of the accident at Bollington; . and whether the item for stationery, which was very large, included passes to any gentlemen on the line free of charge, as he was led to believe there were some gentlemen travelling on the line free of expense. Mr. Mason replied that there were none travelling in. this way on the line ; and the Chairman stated that the item for compensation was confined to the accident mentioned ; and, with regard to the stationery account, he had always been calling attention to it, but it was increased last year from the Manchester Exhibition, some matters extra being required at that time. Mr. Gillow wished to know whether the £47,000 was perfectly good debt, as he had seen it carried forward from year to year. Ile thought there was no company well managed that had so large amount of debt due. It showed a laxity on the part of the officials, and he should like some explanation of it.. It was stated in reply that there. were• not more than £3,000 due at the present time; as aarge portion of these £47,000 had came in since the report was issued. Mr. King spoke strongly against the Board for'being always at war with , other companies, and expending the money in. parliamentary conflicts ; and he did not see•• why they should interfere with the doings of those on the Liverpool side of the water. He had been charged with coming there on the interest of the London and North Western Company, but he disclaimed this altogether. He had interests on the London and North Western line, but he had•greater interests on the Birkenhead, Lanca shire, and Cheshire Junction line.. The Chairman said, with reference to going to Parliament he expressed his regret that they were required to go to Parliament, and although they had nothing to do with Liverpool—he would not enter into that at present, however —but when twenty-three bills were presented to Parliament by parties •in the neighbourhood, it became them to look into these. bills, to see if there was anything affecting their interests, and to 'do their best to oppose such bills as would affect them, Mr. King would be the first man to come and say, 4 " why did they not attend to it ?" Other companies opposed their bills, and they had a right to do so,_ if there was any matter affecting their interests in such bills. It was often a matter involving thousands and thousands of pounds, and he. held that they: should always do their best to protect their own interests. The motion for the adoption of the report was then put and carried unanimously. The Chairman then moved that a dividend of 2,-1 per cent. be . appropriated, but before putting the motion he called the attention of the shareholders to the state of the accounts, and stated that he had communicated with Mr. Beloo, the auditor, asking him whether there were any matter left out of the report which ought to have•been mentioned; and .Mr. Beloe called. his attention to '£4,000 which had been left out, and recommended that these accounts should be closed, and in. order to do so, suggested that 2 per cent. instead of 2i should be appropriated. It would be a matter of great satisfaction if these debts were paid, as they would then be on clear footing. The directors, however, would: not reduce the' dividend unless it was the wish of the shareholders. He would, however, move that the 2t -per; cent. be appro priated, and any gentleman could move an, amendment on that if lie choose.. Mr. Jones. seconded the motion. Mr. Beloe said that the appropriation of only 2 per cent would enable them to clear off ftverytbing. Mr. King moved, as au amendment, that they take the advice of the auditor, and appropriate.. only 2 per cent. He promised them .by this proceeding if ey would see their shares stand better in the market.. He alluded to the London and North Western line r and said that when their dividend came to nil, they had, thrown off an in cubus which enabled them., to .spring. up again in the, market. The amendment was seconded by Mm Beloe. The Chairman said that they had had a grea.4. many comigaints, and a „great many attacks had beoa , , made upea them in . reference to the advance irk, the price of contractors' tickets and so forth. He told them a aert. time agNthat they had a united bear& When ha said this, o 2 course they had differences. of opinion,..but in the cansideratioa. of matters the miurity always bowed to the majority, in: that which was for the benefitof the company and of the public. Ile thought it right. to call their attention ,te the fact, that in 1F49. they had fewercontraators on the line than in 1854 but the contractors they now carried. paid more money.,than the entire lot in 184, The arrangement they had made was decidedly beneftial to the railway. There .were four parties to please. First,, the Chesicer people,, who wanted fast trains, aLd plenty of them. Then the road-side station peopb and the. Root= people, wh. , _•,,did not care• so much about rate as accommodation. They had satin.. fie,d those people and: they paid the increa sed rc4a willingly. Then 'they, had the body of small road-side stations. They, wanted plenty of tramsto call thereond, take them for notUng. (laughter) They got rid of those by stopping the trains, and although now buildings, were being oonstrueteA o n these road sides,. still the trP.JU was little increased,. In all these respects the arrawgements had been, for the. benefit of the company. In re f ers i 4o , to the. Birken?aead Commissioners, he said they i 1 sealed. their differences with this. body. Mr. Gillow said, if they would apply the same pc t li ay . to the carriage of coals, &c., they would b e much tietter, as he considemd the rates a sreat deal too l ow , The Claairr.nan said, they intended to raise the rates of iron ore frr,m. Ist March next, and they were also con sidering he ther they would raise the rates on coal, and how mut. h. The amendment was then put and carried by a large major ity, and this concluded the business of the general SPECIAL MEETING, The Directors and Shareholders then formed themselves into a special meeting to consider the clauses of a bill w hi ch the company intended to lay before parliament. Mr. Llovd read the preamble of the bill, from which it appeared that the principal object of the bill was to get permissive power to construct a branch line from Ifooton. to Ilelsby ; to amend their position at Chester station, and to construct some minor branches, touching Elles mere, Grange-lane, and TrarirrierePool ; also for power to change the name of th e company, and in future to be tolled the " Birkenhead Railway Company." The Chairman said, with regard' to the Hooton and Ifels - by branch, this was a part of tile original, scheme in 1816; but it was delayed, in consequence of the Birken head docks not being proceeded with. Now, however, as parliament had expressed its decided opini * on that the Mersey board should finish-these works in the specified time, the directors thought they ought to take the sense of the shareholders' on the question, whether they should not put themselves in a position to make this branch. rthad been decided that the great float should be opened on the 31st March, 1800, and he believed that the great , argument of the Cheshire Junction line was, that wben'these docks were completed there would be a very large traffic between Manchester and Birkenhead. Bir kenhead' would then be a sufficiently important place itself, without going met to Liverpool to seek for traffic. He alluded to the great traffic between Liverpool and Manchester, and also through Birkenhead. The distance, hoOever, at present was much more front the latter place to l Alanchester; than from Liverpool, and again their tnins were consequently being detained at Chester. They had, however; showed that they could convey the goods' to the consignees at Manchester with satisfaction and rApidity. The railway went along side the slim and w==there loaded, and carried the goods They had five slips at the present, unship good's for Manchester, and the Manchester peopl e were well satisfied with the manner in which they delivered the goods ; and some of the Liverpool people, when they were over tLere the other day, said it would be very well if they could deal with the goods in the same way: But th7S'remunerative rate was not so le company would wish it, owing to the distance ;o travel. Mr. Mason was prepared with a list rum which they could get traffic, if this branch were constructed. Looking at 'these facts, and consider many points which it would not be "wise to lay pub " Ably before them, he was- strbnglY „convinced that It would bc• decidedly to the advhatage of the line' to hum this blanch constructed, as by it - upwards of nine miles would be ^saved; in the dis tance:. The estimated cost of the 'branches . proposed was £91,000. It was perfectly level g-frolind. It was proposed tnfortn , a branch' line GOO yards in length,' commencing at Grange-lane, and to end at Tranmere-pool, at the Company would be. obliged to extend their accommodation when thee docks were completed. With tegard to the Ellesmembranch, they introduced thetinto the bill by the request of the Cheshire. Union themselves,' and, curious enough, they were now opposed" to the bill' on' this very ground.: The , • directors also proposed to close up C'annuig-street for about 200 yards, forthe purpose of extending the line to the great float. fre and theother directors thought it would' be - for the interest of the. public, and of the ccmpanyp that this street'should be closed up. The directors were not going. to insist upon , any clauses which might t - be -consiiiered unnecessary. Their expenditure at Chester'station for the last year amounted to- £12,530; and if they added to that - the interest, it would make in all 5.16,607) or an amount equal to 16S 8d per cent. on the entire capital. (Cries of "Awfill;"'" awful.") This accounted 'for the 'at away great as opposition of other companies thing should be done to alter this But it was The Might have.been very prOper at the timE but the changes that had taken place, a tine/ -some— tati7ement stance; which , surrounded them: were of sufficient importance temake, them try to get some new tsrange ment at the -Chesterstation: Thy proposed 'by, _the bill to get power; to deal: with it in another way, and he hoped they would succeed ; and if they did, the , share holders, he was sure, would not be sorry. lie said. there was a mistaken notion as to. how they were going to raise the money for these . purposes. It was thought that they were gong to create some new capital, giving some preference to new shareholders over old ; but it was this, if shareholders thought it advisable to issue one-half of their capital. at a' preferental rate of interest, they- had power to do it. Before• concluding, he mentioned that the Board opposed their bill on account of locus standi. In. fact, because'they were going to cicse up a street which the Nersey Board were obliged to close up themselves. hz reference to the change of the name of the company,. he•would merely say that it was a very lotto.. one, and, as it was sugges t e d to hi m, caused a great deal' of expense in , painting it on the rolling stock-- and, in fa it was very inconvenient ; besides tTley were really the• Birkenhead Railway Company. The bill, however, would he subject to any alterations which the directors might, upon consideration, think advisable. He proposed that the directors should take such steps as were necessasy•to carry the bill through parliament, Mr. Tithermgton•seeonded the motion, reserving his remarks in: case of any opposition. - Mr.. King opposed the• motion, and contended that Birkenhead .was not yet arrived at that state to require such accommodations as were referred to in the bill, though he acknowledged that the time• would soon come. when the llooton and Hclsby branch would be very desirable ; bit he would submit as they were only getting a 2 per cent. dividend, which, nevertheless, was goodl policy, it was surely not the time when they shculd- come foward with a-bill pro posing £90,000 expenditure: He thought they.ought to be allowed time to recover from the two per cent. Mr. Gillow said he>had not much faith in estimates_ It was quite as likely-to-be• £150,000. Mr, Titherington said, they should have hope and patience.-. Individually he 'placed great importance upon this Ilcioton and • IldlSbyc branch. The directors had discussed.', this matter over - and over again, and he - believed the reason: why the shareholders import- perhaps were better which only appeared because of a mistake in the last year's accounts The salaries now really were less than in. 1857, but the accounts were charged' with £l2l increase, that charge not having been made in ,1857,_ to represent a sum which ought to have been included, There was an increase of £535 for wages to porters and guards. Now they had handled 27 per cent. more goods at Birkenhead during the past six months than in the corresponding period of the previous year; and, although the amount of 'wages paid was £535 in excess, the charge for handling the goods was really 15;per cent. less. The chairman explained several other items in the accounts, and remarked that it was a very difficult thing to keep down the working expenses of a short line. All the directors could do was to devote their attention to that object, and if they could to reduce the expenses without in any way impairing the efficiency of the line itself, and of the staffs. lie then proceeded to explain the course taken by the Board of Directors in opposing the second reading of the Mersey Board Works' Bill. The ground they took in opposing it was, first of all, that it was a breach of faith on the part of the Mersey Docks' Board in promoting the bill at all ; and, in the next place, that they ought not -to promote the bill, even supposing it were not a breach of faith, until the Bir head docks had been proceeded with towards completion. The Mersey Dock Board answered that they were guilty of no breach of faith, and that they were pioceeding with the Birkenhead Works as rapidly- as they could possibly do. They did not say that they hoped to open the Bir kenhead docks within the time specified in their act,.but they told Mr. Henley, the President of the Board of Trade, that they were spending at the present time some £5,000 a week upon those works, and were proceeding as rapidly as they could possibly do. The directors of that board felt bound, however ungracious it might seem, to take steps to oppose the second reading of the Mersey Board Works' Bill because they believed it would be for the interests of the shareholders of that railway that the bill should be opposed at that stage, to save, if possible, the great expenses of an opposition when the hill'was in commitee. Money was no object to the dock board, because they paid it out of the public purse, but the expenditure of money on the part of the directors was a great object, because they had to take it out of their dividends or out of their capital. In 1857 the Mersey Docks Board promoted a bill, in which they asked parliament to give them £766,000 to construct any works which they might think proper on the Liver pool side of the Mersey. That bill was lodged, and the Board of Trade objected to the expenditure, on the ground that parliament had declared again and again that the works upon the Birkenhead side should be com pleted. The Mersey Dock Board invited the railway companies to meet them in conference. The London and North Western, the Great Western and the Birken- , head Company were invited. The Great Western and the Birkenhead Company met to consider what course they ought to adopt, because they did not then ac knowledge that the London and North Western had any locus stancli upon the Birkenhead side. They met at the Adelphi-hotel, and the deputations then present were, ho • believed, unanimous, with the exception of himself, , that no money whatever should be granted to the Liverpool people for dock works on the Liverpool side of the Mersey. That was in January, 1858. After that, they went to confer with the Dock Board. Mr. Shand , was in the chair, and a statement was made on the part of the Dock Board, that they had got a specification prepared, showing that £266,000 would complete the works absolutely necessary on the Liverpool side of the river, and they asked the railway companies to agree to it. He (the chairman) proposed that they should draw £366,000 ; but their answer was, that the sum they had mentioned would be ample for all the purposes they then contemplated. The directors present insisted that the works should be specified in the bill which„they were promoting. They did specify the works, and he thought the directors of both companies' would concur in the statement he was then making, that, they never were told that the Dock Board meant to apply to parliament for another shilling beyond, that amount. He was quite sure that if the Dock Board, had said at the time they would take the amount for that year, and the next year they would,go to parliampit for a further sum, the erectors would have taken, the steps which they were now taking, opposed the bill. in. the second reading, and having the licoard of Trade.with them, they should have thrown it ou. (Hear, hear) Mr L a nwe would not allow the bill to pass without taking an engagement for specific works, a he said in the House of Commons that it was his clear and distinct impression that the dock board were not to come to parliament for any more money until they had opened the docks at Bir kenhead. (Hear, hear.) When the change of ministry took place the Liverpool people believed they could do, much better with Mr. Henley than with Lord Stanley and Mr. Lowe. It was well known to. every gentleme a n who attended the lobby of the House of Commons, t hat they that the change of ministry was to a with mx.. for Liverpool that they would not have do and tha t opposed to Liverpool interest, an they made no bones at all about it, Lowe, who was buoTedateeithatirned to oak for. Although be Titherinnion, 1334 tgkte,a in t the time to to 001111 Mr, § - - they would be able to get'ethveervtl,Xngiatnh)eysttrohonucrgiyhtotaprcoore,a. did not, mice to it was acquainted with the- various, points which were brought out in those discussions. Mr: King had said they were always looking after-the Liverpool traffic, but he would ask them what. woule they have been were it not for the Liverpool traffic ? He went ow to say that they de rived very little profit from the traffic to Manchester, because of the distance they had to travel. A great deal of money had been spent to get into the manufacturing districts, and ;were they frein,?; to stop now at such a juncture, he would ask ? 'ey had better Frive up all idea of great dock exttnsion unless they provided this branch. It was held by those in high authority, and at the head of great companies .that it was-necessary they should have pow•er to compete with the other side in the traffic to Man chester, and it WeS admitted by their late manager that they:tould do the Liverpool business as well there as they could do it themselves. With regard to the expenditure, the parliament gave film , years to. carry out what the bill would recommend, and there was not a landOWner on the line who was. opposed to an arrangement ; and they should have time to carry, the bill through parliament and not, wait tili4 the last, as in that case it might not cost so much, as- there was always an extra expenditure in getting a bill • httriedly throngh parliament. If that. meeting would put the•veto on the directors in their endeavour to . get this. branch line, it would give them the greatest blow over the line recaved n The board •of directors: were perfectly naa iTonss on this question, atulthe ther • o I did hope they Woukl: not listen y every to the sweet voices of, those who ain n e d find• half-year-for the purppse of carping a mg fault. A sharekolder.moved as an amendment that, such por tions of the bill as.related. and the , other branches, b e taken ont to the extensiomof,the line at Ilooton.and of the bill for the.present session of parliament. Tho.amendment was seconded by Mr. King,., and re ceived with applause, The Chairmanagain spoke on behalf of,:the bill, and urged upon the-shareholders to reject the amendment. M. Holdenerst said he would endorsethe remarks of th e chairman, and; stated that if they wo4il carry the amendment, arwould be the most suiadll, act they ever The amendment was put to the meeting, and lost by a large majority, and the original motieni.was accordingly carried.. On the motion of Mr. Ri ng. passed to.the chairman and dir then, hroke , up 'Cite of thanks was ors, and the meeting Ra, .., l3 7:cent. per an: V 4 43 dividend on umi t . lie stock of the North British tht 13-• Y Company is officially announced at the rate of Sir babe Pakington's speech, on. Friday night, on the roxy estimates, is generally praised by the morning papers as being clear, business-like, and, straightforward. The meeting of the Iron, Screw Collier Company, on Friday, did not terminate with any satisfactory results.. it was stated that the directors had used every means to dispose of the ship, but without success, owing to the present depressed state of 'the ship.pin , r property. The result of the poll demanded at the meeting of the London and North-Western Railway Company, last week, was declared on Friday, For the motion, 7,214 votes, r epresenting above three and a-quarter millions of stocit ' ; for the amendment 435 votes, representing £122,937 stock. A CROP OF APPLES IN FEBRUARY. —On Saturday last, Mr. John Tyson, of Gosforth, basket-maker owner of , being 1 at Guards, in Netherwasdale, Mr. Jackson, the "'asfond of apples. as if in the property, inquired of him if be . On answering in the affirmative, Mr. J ackson T of -s a r esrowing into the orchard, where, to his utter astonishment, he having pul l e d until season of the year. 1 t f hl il m d oautinhosotf Aspulgensndit.d. "Mori!. he was satisfied, considered cinotonsidaecreeoaluitthehtereat of no o. .di nary C haracter, - —Cumberland Parquet ppori L e r n es. c 2C11.% t j Val u for ti S a of 11 e ; liceo d tc steel OPT; e of ak 16 ' es o f )f ;fit 0 10, Rey Let' e f tP La • oso?' 0 11 ' fo r C lef .t 1 11,A re S TA th 3 t b te Ci t f 3,5 CO 10:p 01,- P , to is j e 111 0 11 ;"" c reci 11 11 1/- tlf th 114 ' 'lO, b ol ch 0