The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1870-04-02 00:00:00

STOURBRIDGE R lILWAY.

The Twentieth Ordinary General Meeting of the share-
holders of the Stourbridge Railway Company was held
on Thursday afternoon last. at Messrs. Hsrward, Shep-
herd, and Harward's Offices. A. C. Sherrill', Esq., M P
occupied the chair. There were also present C. E. Swin-
dell, Esq.. H. K. Harrison. Esq., J. H. Fisher, Esq.. R.
L. Freer. Esq . J.P., W. Hargreaves. Esq P. Hardy, Esq..
W. T. Adcock, Esq secretary), and J. Harlem* Esq.
(solicitor to the company).
The secretary, Mr. Adcock, having read the notice cal.
ling the fleeting,
Proposed by Mr. A. C. Sherrill, and seconded by Mr.
C. E. Swiudell :—"That a dividend of it per cent, per
aunum be paid to the.Stourbridge and Stourbridge Lx-
tenon shareholders. '
Curried unanimously.

.....
Propossd by Mr. It. L. Freer, and seconded by Mr. W.
Hargreaves : That the retiring directors, A. C. Sher-
rill, Esq.. and 0. K. Harrison, Esq., be re-elected.
Carried unanimously.
Proposed by Mr. W. Hargreaves and seconded by Mr.
Hardy :—"That Mr. J. R. Fisher be re-elected atilttor,
ad Mt. J. A. Cooper, of Worcester be elected as auditor
in the room of the late Mr. Watkine, deceased,'
Carried unanimously.
Ordered that the seal of the company be affixed to the
register of shareholders.
Tile above business being concluded,

The Chairman rose and ;aid: It devolves on me to
explain, in the first place, the great business on which
we have met together to-day. There are some gentlemen
present in the room who will recollect that upon the
incorporation of this company, which was originally
started under the auspices of the Oxford, Worcester, auill
Wolverhampton Railway. The sine then possessed no
share of the Birmingham traffic, and they hoped by
those means to obtain a share of that traffic. An agree
ment was entered into by the Stourbridge Company with
the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway.
The line was to be worked at 50 per cent. They were to
receive the profit of the local traffic of their line, and
the rebate on other traffic sufficient to make up 4 per
cent. per annum. That it in to say if it paid .1 per cent.
they were to have that amount. The West Midland
amalgamated with the Great Western Railway, and the
position of the Stourbridge line was most materially
affected thereby. It was not to the interest of the male
gamated company to take the traffic in the same direc-
tion as the old company, so there was the great risk
of losing the rebate of the company'e dividend.
In addition, the Great Western Railway Company, in
1869, got Parliamentary sanction for aline between Great
Bridge and Dudley ; thus giving them an entrance to
Birmingham by way of Dudley, and as smatter of course
much injuring our traffic. These circumstances caused
a great amount of anxiety to this Board. In 1866 your
directors made an agreement with the Great Western
Company for the purpose of making it more compatible
with their then circemstances. Mr. Potter. the then
Chairman of the Great Western Railway Company, and
Mr. Akroyd. taking up the matter for the Stourbridge
company. The rebate part of the agreement was set
aside, and on a certain fixed capuid the emu of 4 per
cent., rising to 5 per cent., was agreed to. The capital
thus guaranteed was a very difierent capital to
that which was required to be expended by this
company. Times were very bad then, and they had to
make an agreement with the contractor to take shares
in the railway in lieu of money, and by so doing 20 per
cent, was paid him for taking the shares instead of cash.
But the Great Western Company only paid the guaran-
tee on the eash outlay, and have disallowed those and
many other items. We had to finish the line before that
agreement came into operation. In 1866 and 1867 our
contractor had failed, and large sums of money required
to be expended. At that time the skives were not worth
£5O per cent. They, however, made an agreement with
the Great Western Company to finish :the line and the
works required. The Great Western refused—as they
bad a right to refuse—to take line over until that sum
had been expended. It was impossible to raise the
money, and the Great Western Company undertook to
finish the line themeelves—the stations and other works,
on being allowed to retain a Hum estimated to be neces-
sary for that purpose. The result of all this was the
settlement of accounts, and I may very shortly tell you
the shareholders will receive in Great Western rent
charges, bearing interest at 5 per cent., £Bl 4s for every
.rlOO of stock ; little more than 4 per cent. There
is a certain sum of money to be left in the hands of the
Great Wiatern Company, in order to stand spinet any
claim that may be hereafter made. The shareholders
will receive a rent charge certificate of £BO, which
will be 4 per gent, in the par on the value of the share.
This is an advantage. You will receive Great Western
rent charges of 5 per cent, which in the market to-day
are worth 107 10 109. So that gentlemen will be in this
position—if they wanted to keep the stock they will re-
ceive 4 per cent per annum:: if they wanted to sell they
could soon realise the amount in the market. From the
• attained we may, after all the vicissitudes we have

passed, congratulate ourselves on arriving at these ar-
etegements, and I hope they will receive the sanction
and support of the Board to-day. I may say the total
amount to be deposited is £5,000 in stock.
The Chairman said he should be most happy to an-
swer any questions that might be pot to him.
Mr. Freer said that be thought when he came into the
room that the Stonrbridge line was in a mach better po.
sition than they really were. He thought they still
retained control over the railway, bat from the remarks
made by the chairman, he thought they were not in a
position to help themselves.
The Chairman said they had given up, by the agree-
ment of 1866. all control over the railway. They had
no power to interfere upon the road. They had given
the entire control over to the Great Western Railway,
and he considered the 4 per cent, they had been able to
obtain was much better than the old rent charges. They
now ranked first after the debentures, but before the
shareholders of the Great Western Railway Company.
That company had seventeen millions of guarantee
shares, and there could not be ~ better seenrity for the
money; end a man may go to the London market, and
sell his stock any time, which is a great advantage. Some
gentlemen do not want to sell, and some may; but he
considered they had one of the best guarantees in Eng-
land. The Great Weatern Company insist on having
£5,000 deposit in their hande for sM years.
Mr. Harward, solicitor to the company, read and en.
planned the provisions of an agreement between the
Stourbridge Railway Company and th 4 Great Western
Railway Company, to alter and modify the heads of agree.
meat between the said companies, dated the tint day of
June, 1866, and the same VMS submitted for the conside-
ration and approval of the meeting, pursuant to the pro-
visions of the Great Western Railway Act, 1869.
Proposed by Mr. A. C. Sherriff, and seconded by Mr.
C. E. Swindell—" That an agreement between the Stout.
bridge Railway Company and the Great Western Railway
Company, made in pursuance of the Great Western Rail-
way Act, 1869 (the draft:of which is now submitted to
this meeting) be, and the same is, hereby approved and
confirmed, subject to such alterations and modifications
as the directors may think necessary. That the directors
apply to the Great Western Raitway Company for the
issue of sufficient stock to pay the liabilities of the com-
pany and dispose of the same as they may determine.
That in order to meet the £5,000 stock required, under
clause 11 of the agreement, all the stock received by this
company from the Great Western Co. for the purchase
money of the railway, after distributing ESO of such
stock to each shareholder of £lOO of stock in the com-
pany, shall be set aside in part provision of the said sum
of £5,000 stock, and that the directors, secretary. solici-
tor, and engineer, be requested to provide the balance
of the stock necessary to make up the said sum of £5,000,
and that am a considelation for their doing in, the lend
sum of £5,000 shall be applied and disposed of as fol-
lows :—The dividends on the said sum of £5,000, up to,
and inclusive of the first day of February, 1876, shall be
paid from time to time, as they arise, between the said
directors, secretary, solicitor, and engineer, equally, and
that after that day so much of the said sum of £5,000,
as shall have been originally contributed out of the gene-
ral assets of the shareholders, or so much thereof as
may then remain undisposed of, shall be realised, and
the proceeds shall be divided equally between all the
present shareholders of the company pro rata, according
to the number of the shares; and the residue of the said
sum of £5,000 to be divided between the said directors,
solicitor, and engineer, in equal proportions."
The resolution was carried unanimously.