The Express.
London, England, 1851-02-28 00:00:00

ai:~aeiid:

The CHAIRMAN moved that the common seal be affixed
to the list of proprietors.
Mr. HELPS rose to object to that motion. lie believed
thst any objection to the constitution of the board of direc-
tete should be made previous to that motion being passed.
(Hear, hear.) The charge he had to make was that of
a breach of good faith on the part of the board. in 1848
the clearest understanding wa. come to between the share-
holders and the directors that no future vacancy in the di-
rection should be tilled up except by the shareholders at
large. (Hear, hear.) When the proposal was made to re-
duce the number of directors, he (Mr. Helps) attended •
meeting of shareholders, presided over by a very influential
proprietor, Mr. Meek, who, if present, would, without
doubt bear him out—(a voice : " be is not now • share.
holder)--and on that occasion he (Mr. II.) suggested that
the proposal then rnade to reduce the number of directors to
eight, and limiting their period of office to three instead
of four years, might give rise to serious legal difficulties,
and that on consideration of increasing the term of office!
from three to four years, and considering also that there
would be four Northern and Eastern directors on the i

board, under the most favourable circumstances there
would not be one-third of the members of the hoard who
would not have the interest of the Eastern Counties pro-
prietors at heart. lie consequently then pmpowil that in
the Act of Incorporation power should be taken to transfer
to the shareholders the power of electing to future vacan-
cies. That propudtion was received with acclamation,
not a dissentient soice being raised against it. It
was trite the bill into which it was proposed to introduce
that clause did not pass, but nevertheless there was an un-
derstanding that that arrangement should be adher...l to.
(Hear, hear.) Now, he saw at the board that day a gentle-
man who ww not a Northern and Eastern director, and
who had nut been elected by the proprietors—he meant Mr.
Anderson. He wished to know by what authority that
gentleman sat as a director? He had no personal objection'
to Mr. Anderson ; hat, wnatever hi. qualifications might be,
if beset at the board in consequence oleo improper exercise of
power on the part of the direttors—or at least, the esereh.e
of a power opposed to the feelings of the great bode of the
proprietors and the spirit of an understanding which ex-
isted, some capitulation was due. (Hear, hear.)
. - - - - - -

The CliAtitMAN could caplain the reason why the
clauses referred to by the hon. gentleman had not been nerd
upon. It was, that the bill was loot into which they wer, to
have been introduced.

Mr. HELPS did not complain that the clause was not in
the act of parliament, but that the director., in themselves
electing a new member of their board, a vaeany having oc-
curred, without consulting the shareholders, had acted in
violation of the spirit of a bargain which had been catered
into. (Loud cheering.)
Mr. Serjeant GAZE LEE thought the course the direc-
tors had taken in this respect was most extraordinary, and
demanded to know why a gentleman whose qualifications
he would not deny might be as good as the average qualifi-
cations of railway directors (....hcar, and • laugh) had been
selected by the board in direlLuiceposition to the understand-
ing that the appointment to it:* in the hoard should
rest with the shareholders ?
Mr. ANDERSON (the director alluded to) hoped to he
allowed to say a few words after. what had fallen from Mr.
Helps. (Hear.) In the first place, he assured the meeting
that he knew nothing of any Push agreement u had b..eu
referred to, with the "new;' boar}, (" Oh," laughter, and
cheers.) They would permit hint to remind them, of what
he himself could never forget, that at a period of great ex-
citement in the company'. affairs, when the committee
of investigation was divided in Butt, he was al-
lowed to take the chair at three or four of their meetings
and was received with the greatest courtesy and kinelnees
by the proprietor, and what was far more dear to his
heart without consultation they peered a unanimous vote
in his favour, expreasise of their confidence in the integrity
of his conduct in everythin,: connected with their affairs.
The board nua&mously appointed him, and he joined them.
voice—" Thee had no right to appoint you.") Ile bail
joined the I nutria the hope of doing some good to the con-
cern, and with that view only, hut if there wag the slightest
objection to him, he would tender to them at once his re-
siguation. (Chores, and cries of " No.") lie tendered to
them his resignation at unee, and he begged they would
accept it and deal with it as they pleased. (Cheers and
sum,' confusion.)
The CILtIIt3IAN again put the question for aeixing
the seal to the list of proprietors.
A I'ltOI'llIETOR wished to be informed whether it
hail not been attempted within the last few days to
till up another vacancy at the board—the vacancy one-
'lone.' by the resignation of Mr. Betts ?
The CH.1110,1 AN said the ,Groton possessed the right
(Loud tries of " No, uo.") He n plated, that the
directors had a right to fill up the remaining vacancy.
Mr. BOX begged to ask the wereetry whether it was
true, as hag been stated by Mr. Hilo, that an underttand-
ing was come to at a general meeting that the shareholders
should MI up erety recency which might occur in the
direttion.
The SECRETARY (Mr. Roney) said, the truth was—he
did not recollect. (Hisses.) The Secretary then pro-
ceeded to read the report, which has already appeared in
the Exerts*. Some of the passages, especially that in
which it was recommended that there should be no divi-
dend—the passage in which the present direeton declare
that they cannot he held responsible for the condition of
the company, and that in which they intimated that they
had tilled up the vacancy in the board, were received with
loud expressions of disapprobation.
The statement of ewcount:, of which an abstract hex
also appeared in this lupe, was taken as read.

'rho CIIAIItNIAN then said the Great Northern Company,
on opening their line to Peterborough, took away nearly the
whole of the Eastern COUtities passenger traffic between
London and l'eterbonaugh. The distance between Loudon
and Peterborough was mane 25 or 26 miles shorter by the
Great Northern than bit the Eastern Counties, while the
tariff of the fitrtuar was iruch lower than that of the batter.
110 did not wislato complain of the Great Northern Rail-
way or its directors in any was. lie had no occasion to du
so, fur he believed they charged quite as much as their par-
liamentary powersalluwed them. That was, they took all
they could get. (Rear, hear.) When the line opened from
Ilitehin to Royston there was a rival line opened from Lark.
don to Cambridge, and another to St. lees by way of llatiV
tingdon. Again, se hell the Eastern Union opened their
line to Norwich, the ro was another obstruction from the
Eastern Counties treelike. The Eastern Union line by Col-
! Chester was about 13 miles nearer as between London and
Norwich than that of the Eastern Counties by Ely, in oda-
: thin to which the Eastern Union also had a lower tariff.
The question which arose with the directors was, should
they compete with the Eastern Union for this traffic—should
they carry un a contest injurious to both companies or
should they endeavour to come to an amicable understand-
ing with the rival company ? They determined on
the latter course—(hear, hear)—and the result was that
an agreement was entered into with the Eastern Cabe,.
directors, based on the reepective mileage to Norwich of
the two companies respeetie ely. This gave the Eastern
Union one-fourth of t he through fares front London to
Norwich, the Eastern Counties taking three-fourths, no
matter which carried the paesengers. There was, how-
seer, a c'ause in th-t agreement by which local fares were
reserved to each company re' pectively, and excluding from
the arramiement the cattle traffic, the mineral trade, and
some other Odom necessary to the fair working of the
agreemen• Under that agreement, which was now about
to terrain .he Eastern Counties found themselves sub-
ject to a gnat many rebates on goods. The conse-
quence: of the openiog of the Great Northern line to
Peterborough was this, that although the Great Northern
Company charged the highest rate they could, yet their
fares from Londou to Peterborough were 13e. 71. fur a first
class passenger, while the Eastern Counties fare was 1911. ;
their tare fur a second class passenger was 10s. while
the Eastern Counties fare was 144. Ga.; and their fare for a
third class passenger was tie. 4d. against tio. 441. Under
these circumstances the board had to reduce the fans from
London to Peterborough. The London and North Western
board took that course first, and the Eastern Counties board
wereohliged to follow their esample ; so that the three com-
legough.
taunthjuw.C..oreinen,qouwenceeefliir nut metal.; IltaorinPiretret'rlueed the
fares to Peterborough they could not continue to charge the
old fares for shorter distances. They were obliged to re-
duce the rates at twelve other stations. The effect of the
reduction was that they lost nearly 14 per cent. in passenger
trattie. The exact Ins, us aseertamed by their accountant.
was 131. her. 9d. When the Royston turd lliteltin line was
opened, the E estern Counties' farts were 13s. for the first
eLeo, 10s. for the second class, sad 6s. 6d. for the third class.

The; fares they had bent coinpelled to reduce respectively
to th., 95., and f.. ; sad the loss sustained through the
reduction, taking into account the bridge and the other sta-
tions, was as nearly as possible 9 per cent., while the work-
ing espouses remained uniliininished ; for they were
obliged to run the same number of trains, and to do the
same quantity of work am before. With respect to the
agreement wit's the Eastern Union Couipaur, he had stated
that the loyal fares were reserved. The. Eastern Union
Company were placed in difficult and trying circumstances ;
they were very poor, and their officers soot discovered that
if they split the fares into two darts, and allowed the
l 'enacts to rebook, they would gain a consid:rable suns. The
inducement was quite sufficient. The directors were obliged
to turn the warehouses at Stratford into a police barrack
for the prot,:ction of the line, to tit up dormitories, and to
purchase bedding for a large division of the metropolitan po-
lice force. and to convert ail the plate lavers of the line into
coast/Fibs. Thee had also to send a pollee force to Peter-
borough and to Norwich to protect the line at those place:s.
The espouse of these precautions had been very properly
chargedagainst revenue. Notwithstanding all the precau-
tions taken the bridges which crossed the hue in the neigh-
bourlics.l of London were occupied by men, and it was neces-
sary to char them ; stones were thrown upon the line, obstrue-
. thins were placid on the rails, and the pumps which supplied
the boilers were choked with wood, hemp, and so on, and
the greatest pains were taken to throw the whole concern
into confusion. Consequently, the vigilanee which it was
necessary to exercise was costly in the extreme ; while the
apprehension on the part of the public diminished the tra-
velling at a time when the expenses had increased fearfully.
A word or two with regard to the East Anglian Company.
Since he Came int., the threetiutt, he had made several at-
tempts to come to an oath rstanding with that company;
but the board hail always been met with the questioa,
o Will you pay us the 45,9001. that you owe us l" Now,
the board were advised that they did not own anything to
that company.