The Express.
London, England, 1848-08-12 00:00:00

of 11,8381.11.. AL to he carried to the neat half-year's mount.
The directors do not contemplate matins any other call in the neat
half-year Him on the Manchester and Bilmingliant 101. .bare
(A and B), nultar the state of the money market align minim it. The
lamented death of Mr. ft. Earle, one of the comtony'e auditor.. makes
It neceasary that the propriatorashould at the present meeting ap-
point another in his place. The du ectors, io .wrniugfon...pro. Choir
convietion, after mature conslderatin of the manifold difficulties ,t-ith
which the company, during the last eighteen months, bare had to
etruggle, and the practical effect which must result from their avowed
determination, emanated by the proprietors, not to contract any new
engagements, which may become chargeable on their existang re-
venue, that there Is nothing in the position of the company, at the
present time, to shake the confidence of the proprietors in the sta-
bility of the concern, or to create &Inlet, aa to their future prospects.
The capital account to June 30, 11545, "bowed that 2.1,231,243/.108.10d.
bad been received. and 22,035,1101. 19". 3d. eapended, leaving a ba-
lance of 396,1231. its. ;d.
- - •

•
The Chairman to moving the adoption of the leper' regretted that,
notwithstanding the efforts of the directors, they hod ben unable to
prepare and eireuhtts the amounts prevail. to the meeting, but owing
o their complexity and the numerous detail. involved, this was at
present imposeible, unless they consented to a delay of a fortnight in
the payment of the dividend. On the present occasion the directors
were the more reveres to deiaying the meeting, a- they were anxious,
if they could, atone to put a end, by u plain unvarnished statement
of the real notation of the company, to that depreciation of their
stock which hail been going on now for none time. Ile could not
conceive, unlees the public suppoand that the directors were guilty of
accumulated frauds in the management of the company's buoinews,
how that stock :Mould hove kitten to the low price it Mid. Became,
if they took the dividend at tee lowest rate, say 7 ter cent., the pee-
s. at market ',rice of the stork SM. very. much below its value. But
be believed the company had been depreciated in public estimation by
a varie'y ol unfounded attacks and repot ts whisk had been syseina-
tlcally levelled against them. There had been lately a renewal of
that mist absurd, he heed no' say unfounded, report that they
were going to shut up the line. Another, and a new report, was, that ,
his lion. mend, Mr. Creed, was about to relinquish ha sitation as
recretary to the company la consequenoe of some difference between
him and the directors on the subject of the accounts. lied there been
any such difference it would have been a sufficient reason for suspect-
ing that the was indeed sienething wrong, for to that gentleman's
expericntg and know:edge the directors hail all along looked in the
management of the affair. of the onipany, and to ht. honesty and in-
tegrity in regard to the acconnte, he pawned his faith, as the propri-
enc. might do also. It was true that his bon. Iris nil had Intimate it
to the Meet:M.ond he had reached that period of life when it would
' be agreeable to hint to be relieved from We onerous duties of hi.
office; but when the board resounded to that ropiest, us the y felt
bound to do, there was annexed to it a eonditio• that so long a. Life
and hi alth were spared to him he would not he inclined to deny his
assistance in the conduct of their effete., and the ihrectore unani-
mously placed at his theme.' the lint vacancy which should occur
in the cluection. Besides this report, they had through the press
been aysti inancelly attacked, slid in a manner noire calculated
to make an impresnion on the public mind during the last
four niontlis than at any previous time. It was true those aiLicke
had been levelled against all railway companies; and though the
, mum:hitt to which lie w. sheet to ellude was confined to the arrow
I gauge Ines, lie underatiad that a special while...don had beta is.tuval
against tae broad tomer. The venom of the pamphleteer was, there-'
fore impartially dietributeiL From the tenor of the gate:mote, the
gown' inoccerary of the laic stated, and the many niequotatiorns of
figure. in the pamphlet, he eboulel beer posed it over in silence Mid
he not been called upon from van.us parts of the country to give
some emilanathin on the oohp it. anti being tto Mlle,' onion, he felt it
right to Cade:Annie by explanation to ratere the conlidenee of ice
proprietors end the public In the property. The pamphlet was di sig-
naled by rather a seigular title -"The Bubb':e of the Age "-end We
writer. - • Mr. Arthur Smith-began by aointileting railway com-
panies generally to the Union Runk of Calcutta, which hayloft keit all
de capital was now calling on it. proptietors fora large c intribution
to snake good its dike:retie.. But in the race at the Calcutta Bank
the inijoitatii it wits more than mismanagement, it was robw
appropoatiim, at.d by inference thee was the charge the Writer
tnuught eguinst the railway directors. The writer al. re-
ferred to the company of the (Upper Mitres of England,
which had attained an urienvnible notoriety lately as ail ord.
ing another palette' to the OnalltanalgeMent of rstln.sy
nws ; nut to show how much the abitrinents of the Wait sure to
, be depended upon, it wss asserts d by him that the clout man of this
' copper company was the chairman of the Wink of England and ea
the Brighton Railway Company, meanieg of ccuree, though no name
was mentioned, Mr. firemen, the member tor Preehat, who tilled
the two latter positrons, but who, we far Trion being chairman of
the (Upper Company, 1.1 been one of its mot strenuous opponent..
, The writer charged tnerailw .y coMpunies with following the Maniple
of the Calcutta Bank, and keepihn up high dividends by paying thou
oat of capital, fur the purpose of rigging the inn 'Lei. Su tar
from his having ever ben n party to rigging the market, they would
tenleniber that when Hest he act them there, he ;the chairmen)
weaned them that their stock was too high. With reread to the
charge of paying dividends out of retinal, which the p.ampldete. r
attempted to prove by a reference to the tlgurea ill the Nos th Weston
Comp eny' he had explained to the proprietor. in the prtiple on
WM it the directors went with regard to the iippicatuei of Money
to the emoted account, and the application, abet, of the
:even- e, and that principle had recoved their concurrence.
It, another part of the pamphlet the directors of this company were
charted with not having fairly placed against the revenue We ex-
pense of the servant. of the company employed oh the line, meaning,
Memo., that the paha., porter., and ilk, r employes, were chareeil
to the capital amount. lie could not ray what might now be the feel-
ing of the enter on the subject, for Mr. Creed, the secretary, had in-
vited the wetter to inspect the bole. of the company unit sandy him-
self; but from the spitem of keeping accounts adopted by the direc-
tor., it would he quite unpuseible, without anbornation of all the peo-
ple under them, that such it thing should occur. The pay hills Came
regularly back, and pi.. d through the hands of the clerk., the ac-
countants, and the auditors, sail if there was any apprunime oh alter-
ine, changing, or keeping hack, every clerk in the of %mild be
aware of the rect. As he Mil and, the writer laid been invited to ex-
amine the hit,ist, inch they were open to the inspection of any pruprie-
tor who might wish to look a' Mein. In one plaee the Lotidon and
Birmingham Company were charged with eteating a nominal capital
to the extent of 1,:i45,001.1f., and in another part of the pamphlet it
wail said they had treated a tietiUoini Modal, in lot), of 0,0 el.
It was scarcely neceriary for him to wy shot they had created no
fictitious capital ;it never bad been their policy to du ac. It was true
they had rinsed capital by act of parliament which had been distri-
buted in the Usual way among the proprietor.. Then the pamphlet
chums" the directors with opposing Ord Monteagle's audit bill; and
that be (the Chairman) had threatened to resign if it was arced.
Ile hod never exprosed any each ink anon, but the tails..y listerevt
g. neraliy impend that hill, bemuse it proceeded on a fa se deucedly
taking away the power trom the majority of the proprietor., and in-
troducing .1 government auditor on the mterterenor ui a very woad'
Minority, and the North Western directors felt it their duty to join
in resisting that measure. What be del say about reeigning was title,
that when the government ileteinuned to Mite all control from the
ratinsy companie., leavitg them only the reaponeibility, it would he
time tor the directors to resign, and that he said again.
A Proprietor here said that he had ken informed by MeArtliur
Smith, in • letter, that le- had been employed by the goverr.ment, by
the thuneellor of the LicheqUer and other parties logic m ullice, ho
brmg out the pamphlets, in order that the public shouel be inhumed
of the actual state of the. rsilonals.

The Chairman wax glad to bear thin, but could not believe that the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, or any member of the government,
would, without communication with the midi ay bodies, have encou-
raged each a pamphlet ; mud he Omni this assertion of the writer's
by the side en that which toady Mr. Greaten the governor of the
copper eosin:may. Ile would now turn to the statement ot the se.
count- At the last meeting he had said he was nut one
Of 111. We who thought Weer could be by early or sudden
n tum of pnwpenty in the commercial ethers of this
country ; that the crisis of 1817 wait to severe and the pressure
on the mercantile holy much too ;treat to Justify the expectatien
that the state of depremion we were then suffering would
speedily turn to one of primp. lily. But, mile endentot cat thin, the
events on the ointment since February had checked that tendency to
improvement which at that time many persons thought they In r-
evived, and it was not to be concomed that the same Cato, had had a
prejudicial affect on the receipts of the company. cons ee et, as they
were, with the ManUfsetUne and commerce of the country. It wan,
however, grata) um to tetite, that the receipts dal nut show any
falling tilt as compared with the corresponding periudol the last year;
but they had not increased, the causes to what he had referred
having operated against the gradual meowed thane ow the Cape:ta-
ttoo 01 which they had been procc eding. tin the other hand, that
which hr had alluded to some time :am as a cause which must WA.
Ilion a decrease In the dividends had been going on—that we. the
increase of the working stitch. The,etore the directors were
obliged to call on the proprietors to experience a further
seduction of the dividend dee'Sred, and recommended a divi-
dend of 3/. W.. for the half tear. If they would la content to
accept that, tiley wouhl take that warm which was the bent orien-
tated to promote the prOsperity i f the company. There hat been but
• trifling Increase in the ?Taint. —only about 1,2001.; but though the
direr tom had followed out the principle oh infiving an automat of new
moek into the working sloe., in is emit:ince with the princiole laid
down lust year, there had been • saving under that head. N'utwith-
, standing 59 male., haul been added to the working mileage, there was
'a saving On the wo, king charge. of between 12,enuf. and 13,0001.
This saving, he should add, had been effected without
interfering with the efficiency sad proper conduct of the line.
There had been a saving in the charges for maintenance of way,
loemnotive power, wages of firemen, coke, Sc. In the charge fur
police there sax a small increase, ill consequence of the additional
mileage. There had been a small decrease on the merchandise traffic
changed .but there nail been a considerable increase on what the
dint:tore had no control Over, the government duty and the parochial
charge.; and alto in the amount of interest and loans, from the tact
of the trent Valley lane having pante Into 'work. 1k was happy tit
say .he directors had nothing to report with regard to parliamentary
proceedings, and still MOW'. that they hail nothing tip ask in refer-
ence to new prate, dings la malianwnt. With regard to those works
the bells Ica wh.ch had been carried in former sessions, and which
Were now swyended, he u.surill the meeting that none of
them would be proceeded with without a full and searching •
inquiry us to the propriety of carry log them r ut. They had lately
Peer. in the newspapers Nome newtons of a lamentsbledifferenea that
loW arisen between the engiet-drivers and the director,. This was a
subject that had pre,sed rawly on Inn Mull': but he thought It
right, in justice to the able ullfeer who superintendeo that deport-
ment, to state that the directors had seen no cause to find fault with
him, or to make any ult ration in the arrangements which he, under
thin sanction of the Naimoli e committee, had thought it right to
MIS,' out. lie was disposed to sa) that the complaint. of the emptie-
r...sera confined thenualviw :Liter all to an li.diVnlU/d and perusal
eb_rge against their superintendent. They amounted to MT, little
bepoul that; and disposed us the directors were to deal with all
classes of their servants in the most liberal manner, they did not
think it right that those who held a s .bordowe position should be
permitted to diorite to the executive as to whether the person they
bad thought hit to plats, over them, and who had al-
ways shown himself an able, active, and oevoted we-
Sant, was the prover hereon to be at their head or not.
Ile was glad to my the tither artificer, of the company had come
futward in ti must excelent spirit ott the occasion, and the directors
had received from the north und from other public establishments I
such ambiance, that it these mils/wiled men should determine to
pursue the course they had alophil they would lie still able to Met y
on the service of the alimony without del:intent to the public inte-
rest or convenience. If in, of theta. men—who had not roominducted
themselves otherwitte--dram to return to their duty, the directors
would be happy to rem ive them, but he was sure the proprietors
would support the meeting Its their deterMillUtlOn WA to Whin subor-
dinate servants to dictate terms to their emplo)ers.

Onthe resolution being put for the adoption of the report, • proprie-
tor inquired what sere the prospects of the company in regard to the
Trent Valli y line, upon which they had spent two millions of money!
They had been mewed by the chairman that the teethe on that hoe
would warrant the outlay. but it was now eery generally report.' that
it would never realise the rime:mons formed of it. He wished also
to hare come information to to the pmnopecte of the Caledonian line,
because his belief was that the depreciation of the aloe of their neck
In the market was rather to be ottribuud to the drawback which in.se
estenpire lines would occasion thadto such pamphlets and reports as
the chairman h. d alluded to. Thee was another report abroad, in
which be hoped there was no truth, that the North Western directors
had engaged to supply the Abet deen company with capital to carry
out their Line.
The Chairman replied that reference to the discussion which cc-
. ,uned when it wee fleet propored to take the Trent Valley line would
chow that there h.d been nu change in the view* of thedireetors es to
the result. They believed now, as they had then stated, that the
tunic on that line would realise ten per cent as between its two en-
ireme points; but no that trwthe mum wise almost wholly by • sub-
traction from the truffle 01 the North Western, it was meet antki.
paled that It would pay 10 per oent to the North Western Company;
and the object in taking it was to retain that traffic in their own
hands, and to prevent the line falling into hands which might toe it
to the disadvantage of the North Western Cowpony. With regard to
the Caledonian, he was happy to say that the reoripts were under -
toles a satisfactory Iner,Aoe every week. It was no. pmp,ord
by the directors to intecribe any capital to the Aberdeen for the
purpose of carrying on or making the line, nor to undertake any
guaranty or lease of the line, nor to bold any Mtn in it.
If anything was done with that company it would be a mere working
arrangement to lurnish them with Omni, but at present it wadi very
douni lid whether the contemplated arrangement for that purpose
would come to anything. In tenser to lusting lineation the chair-
man mid, that the tn.( laid West Iniha Dock line was progremius,
and that this company were subec there to it, m they had been lbr the
last two years. but the line belonged to an independent company; end
was in the hands of an independent board—it bad managed to 'i.e.,
very satisfactory contracts—much within the prllaveeetery
mates. but whether it would pay four or an permit., or any other
sum. this las could say, that the oommunicetlem WoMdfspea to the