The Express.
London, England, 1853-01-22 00:00:00

AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURAL COMPANY. dividends, although involving the necessity of • center
pending augmentation of capital.
Yesterday the twenty-ninth annual general court " The operation of the proposed sale of the Peel River
of this company took place at the London Tavern; J. Estate will be, that the original capital of this company
STUDHOLM• BROWXYIOO, Req., the governor of the coin- will virtually be paid back to the proprietors with an addi-
piny, presiding. lion of 161. per share, while it retains two valuable estates
The advertisement convening the meeting having been of more than 700,000 acres, the north bank of the harbour
read, of Pun Stephens, considered the finest port on that coast
neat to Sydney ; its extensive property at Newcastle, with
The Cuatawast, in opening the business of the day, ob-
the plant and machinery, and a coal field of 2,000 acres, of sieved, that though it bad not been usual at previous
meetings for him to occupy the attention of the proprietors which a very inconsiderable portion only has yet been ea-
at any
hausted, together with a contiguous property of 6,000 acres,
length, inasmuch as the report always contained •
in
full tail of the proeeedingsof the company; yet, as it was purchased several years ago, in the belief that it contained
probable that he was addressing many who were now pre-
coal abundance, and which has never yet been worked
sent for the first time, and who had not given very much bythe company.
attention or acquired information as to the origin of the For some considerable period before those important
company, It might not be unacceptable to them it he were events had occurred, to which we have briefly alluded, we
to give some explanation on that point, and upon the course had under consideration the expediency of reducing the
of their proceedings since the passing of the act of parka. nominal capital of the company as fixed by act
meet of 1824. Under that act they were supposed to have of parliament, in order to do away, in a great degree,
with the large amount of prospective calls to which the
received a free grant from the government of • mallet of
acres in New South Wale*, but that grant was hampered
shares are at present liable, and for which we do not am-
by may conditions, in themselves very onerous, and which template any possible demand. We therefore took am-
had tended materially to inconvenience, .incommode, end sures through the solicitors of the company, in the mouth
of October last, for introducing a bill into parliament, which
fetter their operations. In consequence of those conditions
has for its object the reduction of the nominal capital from
the whole system under which the company embarked
failed. They found it impossible to carry on their opera- 1,000,0001. to 600,0001., to increase the number of sharestions in consequence of government not furnishing them from 10,000 to 20,000, together with the usual arrange-
ed
with the stipulated amount of convict labour, or to dispose meats consequent thereon. The effect of this measure,
of the land, in consequence of the conditions with which it when carri out, will be, that the shares will become 261.
shares, instead of 1001. as st present, with 171. 10s. paid on
was encumbered. At length, when their patience was ex-
hausted, they opened • communication with the Colonial- each, and liable only to possible future calls of 71. 10s. per
share, instead of 651., and that each proprietor will have
office, and after negotiatiug with three successive secre-
taries of state, they succeeded about five years ago in ob-
two shares, instead of the one he now holds. We do not
taming a grant which secured to the company all their land doubt that this measure will be satisfactory to the shirt-
in fee simple, and without restrictions or conditions. From holders generally, by many cf whom it has been frequently
that time, in 1847, they had been able to do what they Pressed upon us for adoption."
liked with their awn.' The first selection of a tract of land The director}then go on to compliment Mr. Blanc, the
near Port Stephen, bordering on the sea, was found un-
deputy governor, and Mr. P. G. King.
suitelt for agricultural and postural purposes, and they ob- The -sport was adopted, end • resolution authorising
tained permission to exchange it, and obtained for it the the payment of a dividend of 41 per cent. passed.
Peel River property and the Liverpool plains. In order to Sir W. Minto Farquhar was elected to fill a vacancy in
turn this property to the best advantage the directors then the board occasioned by the disqualification of Mr. John
turned their attention to colonisation. with the view of en- Loch.
wintering small settlers, farmers of small capital who might Mr. D. C. Marjoribanks was appointed an auditor in the
be willing to purchase small lots of land in the Port SA,- place of Sir W. Farquhar, and Messrs. Smith and Tooke
phen's district, and thereby form the nucleus of a settled wire re-appointed auditors ; end after a vote of thanks to
population, which was the principal thing necessary to give the governor and directors, the meeting separated.
value to the property. He was bound to admit that that
attempt to 'elope had failed, the English public not being
at the time prepared for it ; and he rejoiced now that
it had failed, for, had it not, they would not
have been able to act as they since had done
so much to the advantage of the proprietors. (Herr, hoer.)
This brought their operations dawn to the present time
the proceeding* in reference to which the report, which the
secretary would now read, would best explain.
The report, of which the following is the principal pots
ti n, was then read:—
" It seems important on the present occasion, when themel
I are so many shareholders who have recently joined the!
company, and are now probably present at our annual
meeting for the first time, to commence our report by re-
marking that the following tabular returns and statements
which are periodically laid before the proprietors, and with
which we have generally commenced our annual report,
embrace only the ordinary operations of the company in the
colony to the end of the year 1851—not, indeed, anterior to
the discovery of gold in Australia generally, but before the
effects of the discovery had been felt on the company's pro-
perty, or any knowledge obtained of the existence of gold
within its halite. Returns, showing the state and num-
bers of the company's flocks and herds for the three years
ending the 31st December, 18.51, were then given. The
number at that date being :—5heep,.122,673 ; honied cattle,
9,196; horses and ponies, 1,069; asses and mules, N. The
sales in the three years being in money:-1849, 4311.158.6114
1850,2.6721. 16s. Id. • 1851, 2,6951. 15s. 74.
"Oa the 31st of December, 1861, the total number of
peons en the company's colonial establishment, minds,
er lowa and children, was—agricultural setablhimseat,
8121 artillery ditto, 91 ; total, 403 ; showing, as ommered
left the previous year's return, a decrease of 62 penes. in
the service.
" In last year's report we mentioned our apprehension
that the desertion of the shepherds and others for the gold
ffigglage might have an injurious effect on the company's
laaaces, by causing a diminution in the produce of out two
staple articles, wool and tallow ; such desertions were not
however of an extent to influence tho operations of the year
so materially as was then apprehended, but we regret to
state that the loss in this particular, not only amongst the
shepherds and the miners at the company's coal works at
Newcastle, but amongst all classes of the company's ser-
vants h, by the last advice', become much more general,
and has taxed the anxiety and vigilance of the deputy
governor and the principal officers under him to a very
embarrassing extent. Owing to the sagacious forethought
of the deputy governor, the evil of so many persons leaving
the service has been partially mitigated by the employment
of Chinese labourers. Anticipating the difficulties which
might arise in this respect, Mr. Blanc made arrangements,
towards the close of the year 1851, for the introduction
into the coloayof about eighty Chinese; their safe and op-
portune arrival took place in April last, and they are re-
ported to be • fine set of young nble-bodied men, of willing
and tractable dispositions, and had already been found ex
tremely useful in the various occupations that had been
assigned to them, and it is not anreasonably hoped that the
extensive emigration for some time in progress may, in •
moderate period, remove this canoe of anxiety; some ol the
earlier vessels that sailed from this country with emigrants
have arrived, and the deputy governor has been able,
though is a small degree, to increase thereby the force at
the collieries.
" The comparative statement of coals sold at the pit's
mouth during the years 1850 and 1851 shows the following
result:—The quantity sold in 1851, was 45,642 tons ; in
1850 was 46,084 tons ; increased sale in 1851, 658 tone.
" The clip of the company's flocks, in 1861, comprises
720 bales of wool ; of these 640 have been 'old by public
auction, at an average price of le. !ltd. per lb., being an
advance of 4d. per lb. as compared with the previous year,
and produced • net amount of 18,6101. 18e. lid. Eighty
bales of wool and sixty-seven casks of tallow have arrived
but have not yet been sold.
" The financial statement exhibits a summary of the
result of*, company's operations for the last three lean.
Revenue realised in New South Wales, from the sale of
coals, galas of live stock, rents, &e., in 1849, 12,4361. 9s. ;
in 18.50,18,4171. 174.9 d. ; in 1661, 21,9671. 7s. 9d. Re-
venue realised in England from the sales of wool, Be., in
1849, 16,1821. 17s. 9d. ; in 1850, 18,9441. 18s. ; in 1851,
18,6001.75. 4d. Wool and tallow unsold in 1851, estimated
at, 3,0001. Total in 1849, 28,8191 6s. 9d. ; in 1860, 37,3621.
15s. 94.; in 1851, 43,6671. 15e. ld.—Frum this deduct ex-
penses of management in New South Wales, in 1861,
26,9551. 16e. 9d. ; ditto in England in 1851, 1,8611. 2s. ld.
Showing a surplus revenue for the revers! years of 4,2301.
Ids. lid. in 1849 ; 11,4951. 14s. in 1850; 16,150/ 16s. 3d. in
1851. The surplus thus exhibited for the year 1861, enables
us to recommend that a dividend of 11. 11.. 6d. per share
be declared, being at tho rate of 41 per ant. on the paid
op capital of the company, and that the same be made pay-
able en and after Friday, the 28th instant,.
" It was stated at the last 1 meeting that a propo-
sition had been made to the Deputy-Governor, Mr. Blanc,
to continue for a few years longer at the head of the Com-
pany's colonial affairs : the answer to that proposition
satisfied us that Mr. Blane's family arrangements ree-
dited an acquiescence in our proposal impossible, and it
became imperative on us to provide for his early return.
No time eonsequently was lost in selecting an eligible per- '
me to succeed to the office of general superintendent of the
company's colonial affairs, and our choice fell on Capt. M.
F. Brownrigg, R.N., the testimonials in whose favour were
of the highest character, and who was found to powers
qualifications of practical experience as a man of business,
se well as the habits of controlling and conciliating large
bodies of men, seldom united in the same person.
"Captain Brownrigg left England in the steam-ship
Sydney, that sailed from Plymouth on the 4th August last,
and will. sa the deputy-governor's departure from the
colony, be pissed in charge of the company's affairs.
" Having disposed of those details which exhibit in the
mad moan the state of the company's affairs up to the
end of the year 1851, it now becomes our duty to advert to
the important fact of the discovery of gold on the com-
pany's Peel River estate—premising that, however mush
its ordinary operations may have been thrown into the
shade by more recent and exciting events, yet, that they
have hitherto constituted the main goatees of the sons-
cif' ads income, and that it is to them we have still to look
ahem vantages whichthe rapidly-Increasing popula-
tion of the Australian colonies cannot fail to proclaim.
" A memorandum prepared with much ears, and which
was sent to every proprietor on the 22nd ult., has entitle
pated much that it would otherwise have been neoseseay
to embody in this report ; we thought it better to adept
that course, whereby every proprietor would be ma-
bled to consider deliberately the subject therein put before
hint, and to determine on his own course of action, instead
M calling • 'pedal meeting se near the time prescribed for
presentieg use ammial report.
"It is a ewes of much gratification to us to find that
the ease's as has met with the general appem
balsa el the end that the suggestion for the
Monies of • mantle esmperay, in the manner set forth
la the memeeastfim above mentioned has been approved
end is supported by aeon every proprietor whose answer
OM has admitted of our receiving, so that the formation
ogre Peel hirer Land and Mineral Compsny ' may be
Moldered as in course of rapid completion. It will be
to call you together again as soon as the mini-
:ltesellpTeliminarier are completed, for the purpose of re-
*Riving your approval of the details required for giving o-
live operation to that company, our coaddease is the ewe.
ens of which we have proved by taking the hill Wend
therein to which we are entitled nailer the enlarge-
Nasals proposed in the memorandum to whisk we have
alentidy adverted. Those details will be matured at the
elliisst practicable moment, and we trust la a manner to
s,e general satisfaction.
" Whatever value the public, in its estimation of the
future prospects of this company, may give to its sham%
INN who as your directors aro responsible for the conduit
dile affairs, and for the development in the most profitable
of the resources of your property, believe that in
adopting our suggestions, you have followed the tonne
IMO illiniacive in all respects to your own interests, Ia
eineidaties of which the following short statement will
not, we Istast, be thought irrelevant:—
" Tbe mew sateen paid by each proprietor in this
company on the various calls made from time to time,
amounts to 301. per share, 51. per share was added to the
capital from profits, making 351., or a total capital of
350,0001. ; and it is important to remark that for many
years past, everything has been paid out of income, although I
urge sums have been expended on what is technically termed
' point,' and which, had it suited the feelings and wishes of
the proprietors at the time, would legitimately have
been included in capital account, thereby increasing your

LAW OF

AND REMOVAL

At a vestry meeting of the parish of St. Clement
Danes, held last evening, th.i. Rev. W. WEBB Ennis, the
rector, in the chair, the operation of the laws of parish set-
tlement and compulsory removal of paupers, was brought
before the meeting by—
Mr. W. B. Wear, who said that the question was one of
a very momentous character, and was wholly separate from
political considerations. There was scarcely an individual
whom it did not affect in one way or another. The elat-
ing liw of settlement necessitated removals, and its opera-
tion was the snores of much moral and physical misery and
abasement. A case had occurred in that parish, last year,
where a woman who had lived 32 years in Herefordshire,
was pulled back to St. Clement's, because she happened to
have lived a vear in service in that parish. Other cases of
greaser hardship had occurred. At present, there were no
fewer that 1,900 women receiving parochial relief, whose
husbands were in gaol ; there were 60,000 children in work-
houses, and one million under 16 years of age. There were
300,000 male adults in the receipt of parochial relief, and
3,000,000 receiving relief more or less. From the statement
of Sir James Graham it appeared that 45,000 families were
removed in a year, at a cost of 391,6001. (Hear, hear.) In
some parishes the owners of property had cleared off all
the cottages, so that no labourer could obtain a settlement
there. In the Driffield union, comprising upwards of
100,000 acres, there were no cottages. In one county It.
farmers actually provided donkeys for their labourers
to ride to and from work, in order that they might
not reside in the union. (Laughter.) Tho consequence
of this system was overcrowding and illness in those
parishes where cottages were to be had. Mr. West
oiled a number of instances, occurring in different parts
of the country, of the hardship resulting from the opera-
tion of the law of settlement, and then stated the remedy
which be had to suggest for these evils. He proposes
" that a return shall be obtained of all the expenses incurred
I. the maintenance of paupers in every parish or union for
three, five, seven, or ten years, or any given period which
may supply reliable data for striking a eorrcct average of
the general liabilities in the matter of poor rates to which
seak parish or union is subject. These charges so ascer-
Waad on his plan, to be consolidated in each union or
parish, and to form the basis upon which all subsequent
proceedings shall be established after the abolition of the
law of settlement. From the sum total Mr. West proposes
to deduct the amount of legal charges which have been
incurred in disputing settlement, and also the amount
expanded on the removal of paupers from one parish or
union to another. The ratings thus established constitute
the fixed estimate according to which parishes and unions
shall contribute to the consolidated fund, without regard to
the increase or decrease of pauperism within their respec-
tive limits, provision being made, by periodical census, for
correcting any inequalities which local changes may, in
cycles of time, produce. All funds in excess of immediate de-
mands, in any parishes or unions, are to be paid into the Bank
of England to tae creditor the Poor Law Commission, and by
draughts on these, the silditional amount required fur dis-
tricts where the numbers of the poor have multiplied is to
be obtained. With these provision, Mr. West proposes
' That all laws relating to English settlement be abolished,
and a general enactment be established, by which the inca-
pable, its lame, the blind, and the halt—including every
other class of doetitute persons—may be enabled to obtain
relief whenever and wherever they may need it? The pe-
cuniary saving in local taxation I' be effected by this plan
L estimated by Mr. West at P 30,0001." Ho did not peeps*
to make any alteration of the law with regard to Irish pee-
pers in the first hastens.. The question had made mmoh
progress of late years. Mr. Baines, in 1851, had promised*
introduce a measure on the subject in the following *seller
but he was not then in office. In May last, Sir J. Trollops
had intimated his intention to propose an alteration of the
law of settlement on the meeting of the new parliament;
and at the election for Hampshire the Speaker hail
declared his conviction that parliament must deal with
that law in the course of the session. Mr. Wise had
since given notiee to move fur a select committee on the sub-
Jan, if the government did not take the question up. A
general or national rate was objectionable on the ground of
its centralising effect. What was called "union settle-
meat" had been recommended by Sir James Graham; bat
this would only change the operation of the present system
from mere parishes to unions.
After Mr. West had addressed the meeting at wow
length, the sensideration of the question was adjourned till
another meeting, and it was resolved that the thanks of
the vestry were due to Mr. West fur his communication,
and that his attendance should be desired at a special meet-
ing to be held for the purpose.

MEDITERRANEAN AND HEAVY PORTION OF INDIA
MAIL.—The Oriental Company's steam-packet Ripon,
Captain R. Moresby, arrived at Southampton yesterday,
and landed her mails under the charge of Lieutenant
W. P. Newenham, R.N. Her data are:—Alexandria,
Jan. 7: Malta, Jan. 11; Gibraltar, Jan. 16; Southampton,
Jan. 21. Her cargo consists of 4 packages of specie, 1 box
of gold dust, 209 bales of raw silk, 29 cases of silk goods,
20 casks of elephants' tasks, fie. Alexandria harbour was
lull of shipping of all nations. The steam-frigate Paid-
geed, sent out by the company for the Pasha, was lying
there, after a fine run from Malta of 68 hours. She fre-
quently averaged 13 knots, with only two boilers. There
was a grand ceremony performed on her being handed over
to the Egyptian officers. The admiral's ship fired a salute
of 21 guns for the English flag, and when It was hauled
down, and the Egyptian Rag hoisted in its place, another
salvo of 21 guns was fired—the brass band of the Ripon
performing " God save the Queen" on board of the splen-
did ship. The officers who took her out had each a hand-
some Damascus sabre presented to him of the value of 25
guineas. The crew got each a month's pay in addition,
and the Ripon's band were presented with 151. Alexandria
was healthy; but the rain poured in such torrents, that the
wretchedly filthy streets were almost impassable. The
guaranties period between it and Malta had been reduced
from three days to little more than sine day. An excavated
city, like gpmpeii, neer Cairo, named Saccarah, was the
object of much curiosity. There have been found In it 38
sarcophagi, each weighing 68 tons. They formerly held
the ashes of the sacred bulls, and are all of granite.
Loss OF THE SCHOONER RAMBLER:DIEN:MACE-
FUL Co/niece OP THII Cs lIW.—On the 15th instant, the
French brig Charles Lepreter. of Rouen, arrived in the
Tyne, with William Combs, Henry Little John, Thomas
Croft, and Thomas Hodder, anti a cabin boy, the survivors
of the crew of the schooner Rambler, of Lyme Regis,
which vessel bad encountered the hurricane of the 27th
December, and had had her muter, William Heady, and
her mate wubed overboard and drowned. The vessel,
after the master and mate were drowned, had become com-
pletely disabled, and was deserted on the 28th ult.,
by the crew who got on board the French brig.
After the vessel arrived in the Tyne, the river police
received strange information of the conduct of the
crew of the Rambler. After the muter of the
Charles Lepreter had left his vessel to proceed to New-
castle to see his broker, the four men went below into his
cabin, and broke open a box containing a log, and wages
book belonging to the Rambler. They destroyed the log
book, and tore out all the entries in the wages book, which
they burnt with some other • fitted documents. After
committing this act they demanded 121. from the mate of
the French brig, belonging to the Rambler, which be gave
them. They then left the ship, taking with them a quan-
tity of clothes belonging to the master and crew of the
French brig. They have also, the master of the French
brig gays, tho watches belonging to the master and lusts of
the Rambler. Information of this act of disgraceful rob-
bery has been seat to the superintendent of police at Lyme
Regis by the river police of the Tyne. The master of the
French veiled, who had these atrocious villains on beard 18
days, is justly indignant.
DETENTION OF THE MAILS POE THE": CAPE OF
Goon Hoes, rtc.—Notice has been issued at the General
Post Office, Bt. Martin's-le-Grand, that in consequence of
the mail steam packet belonging to the General Screw
Steam Shipping Company,_which ought to have conveyed
the mails of the evening of the 14th inst. for the Cape of
Good Hope, Cape Verd, Ascension, the Mauritius, Ceylon,
' and 'lndia, from Plymouth on the 15th inst., not being
ready, letters and newspapers for the above colonies will be
in time on the evening of the 24th inst., which u ill be for-
warded to Calcutta by the llydsspes steamer, of 1,800 tons
(and not by the Queen of the South, as previously arranged)
I appointed to sail from Plymouth on the 25th inst. with the
' MARL