The Express.
London, England, 1849-08-13 00:00:00

Mothers opened In Lincolnshire end Notthamptoes'oire,
dm 'Ream and partioalarly the permanent way, die ugh-
set kiss is excellent order. Commencing at the London
ode the weeks on the several contracts were pronft ding
eldserterls .0i Oat of a total
But "Seth, of
EBo3lfield,ards oNorth
Bertuo-
h Miasma, LockeleAhille and asenter-enene
mom than ose•tldrl hal bass ammted,ans the
=t rats program wadi sleteste as
three
works la eine mla Ann wondlee or. to twelve
CithAllweatif ive sßewrN~gi
40.11ozolma of 30 tent
ratid= eras rod. ' mid wield, it me
be hp August ol sett year. TM
weds af Midges ealumb threegheat th•
wen in • easieboseey sad hewl states rely oof m
em
gabbed, am( the 'Mole mhi ail is autumn
of mat rem" The ciestrost ollgh=the
Peto and Betts.
balsam Ifil4Ballisrd sad Demob r, a length of mum,
'no minas with ettreste mum sad was as the rem
se eregoisties. Notice had already been alma fee Ow Me
riof these works by the officer of the railway conale-
alsopenlary to the lies beiag opened for public traffic,
si the of seat moods. With respect to the Towns
_the • motion of the line sod the survey for
of the were tempt Wee and the working
= _.
risgs and speaSoatioa for the heaviest portion of the
Rae, cis , the 16 miles between Corby and Roughest, near
ilseethaes, had bees tweed to a large somber of contractors,
kg esespetition leaden.
A special report was also presented from the auditors as
Allows:
The sodium of the OIMIS Northern Railway Compaq
whit Waffles to the 80 Vie., chap. 16, consider mat la
would be eatisfactory, at this particular period, both to des
Board of Directors and tha shareholders at large, to of
•
Soma report ow the occasion of andihag the sweats of the
assepsny, up to the 30th of June, 1849. In the ant place,
they have to emcees their great satisfaction in finding that
die apical sod trade accounts are kept entirely Cation.
Bark of these emensts is kept not only in separate ledgees,
and verachers, bat • distioct account for the trade
lean
unibtt opened at the bankers, thus avoiding denost the
perdhility of confusion. The auditors are satisfied that, if
this correct principle be eastiaued, the real pocithe of the
company, as its operations become more extended, will st all
times appear is its integrity, and of a jest criterion to the
shmeholden of the value of their property. Tee auditors
have carefully compared every payment with the vouehen ;
and, as tar as it is parable foe them to judge, they find teat
every sum, whether dr. or a., has been plaid to its correct
amount They have much pleasure in adding, that the aim-
petty with whieh the books are kept would render them in-
telligible to any shareholder who would wish to exercise hie
=• of iszamining them. prey ondemns, they hel it
gibs esponatant etas* company to bear their testimony
la Oil MOM al the seal, integrity, end intedigenan with
ca
be falls liblasrrtant dubs y,
demo CAW.
IMT. Joss CILAPY•te, auditors.
The report revise been reed,
The CHAIRAIAN rem to move its eoptin. The balance
sheet woe d fully Jahn the shareholders of what amount
of apical had bees received by tte director, sad how it had
been expended. The accounts had bean kept in a clear, in-
tellisible manner, and he was glad to sea that the auditors
lad thnoght it their duty to make a special report on the
'abject. (Hear, hear.) As he was on the subject of audit,
be might be allowed to make a few remarks relative
to the audit bill mantle before parliament. A bill
ea the subject having been sent down from the
Howe of Lords to the Commons, the Earl of Lone.
dale, Mr. Glyn' Mr. Rowell, Mr. Chaplin, he (the chair-
man), sad other gentlemen connected with the direction
of wallow's, waited ea a deputation on Lord John Russell
and Mr. Labouchme, and painted out to them not only the
objections that existed to government isterference with
railway compsniee, bet also that if passed it would be
utterly imprucicable to carry the bill into effect. The
noble lord and Mr. Labouchen treated the deputation with
the utmost kindness, and expressed their unwillingness to
interfere with public companies, provided they could bare
en
aesrance that the Marcus of the public and share-
holder. could be protested in any ether way. The report
which had Lien read to them detailed the state of that
portion of the hoe which wee opened, of that portion which
would he opened in a few weeks, and also that portion be-
tween London and Petrabotough, which it was calculated
would be opened next year. Within the last few days himself
and the deputy-chairman had toiled—for he would sot say
walked—over those portions of the line in course of construc-
tive between Peterborough and London ; and, as far as they
had the means of judging, they believed there would be no
difficulty whatever in having the line opened in the course of
the next autumn: therefore he hoped when they met at this
, time next the directors would be enabhd to tell them
that the line throughout, from Loadon to York, would be
ready for opening in the course of a few weeks. (Hear, hear.)
Re would call their attention to that part of the report
relative ti the fortt hod shares. The resolution which had
been come to at the last meeting relative to those shares
appeared to have operated most satisfactorily. There had
been 24,000 old shares forfeited, whiai bad been divided into
48,000 shares of 121. 10s., and offered to the proprietors, sad,
with the exception of 6,000 shares, they had all been taken
op. Many proprietors had applied for three or four times as
many of thus shares as had been allotted to them, but the
directors had thought it best to adhere to their own division.
Again, many gentlemen who negiected to take up their
shares in the first instance had afterwards applied to be al-
lowed to do so, but the directors had f It it their painful duty
to retese to allow them to do so atter the operation of the
share market on the shares weld be seen. (Hear, Mar.) lie
begged to move that the report now es ad be received,
adopted, and printed fur circulation among the proprietors.
(Chem.)
Mr. PACK E seconded the motion
Mr. G. HUTCHISON (of Obegow) rose for the
purpose of expressing to the meeting the Mews enter-
tained by a large number of Scotch shareholders is that
railway as to what should be the future m teapment of the
beard of direction, is prosecuting the works of the Great
Northern Railway. The tharehelders whom he represented
unanimously advocated the propriety of making the line
from London to York, which would shorten the distance
from London to Leeds 221 miles, from London to Wakefield
14 miles, and from L onion to Sheffield 12 miles. Whin it
wee borne in mind that these distances were shortened for the
populatime of Lend in at on extremity of the line, and for
those of Durham and York at the other, and taking into
consideration the amount of population that would be accom-
modated, kunst be admitted that their trunk line would be
the best in the kingdom, with the exception of the London
and North Western, and hs believed that it could be made
for about two thir Is of the =meat expended on that line.
(Hear, hear) The directors intimated their intention
of
abandoning 26 miles of the line, from Askern to
Teak, which he and his friends in the north objected to.
Thum 26 miles were on a dead level, and be had been in-
breed by Mr. Cubitt that they could be Nude for 16,0001. a
mile. Before he maw Mr. Cabin he was snider the impres-
sion that line could be made for 14,1.901. a mile; because the
But Lincolnshire line, the work. on which were of a similar
Ratan, had been constructed for that amount par mile, but
he would take she expense of the line hem Askern to York
at 16,000 i • mile.
Mr. CUBITT said that those figures were exclusive of the
NM of land.
Mr HUTCHISON continued to soy that he would nip-
ples It coot 18,0001. a mile ; but let them recollect that their
line from London to Peterborough, including stations, Ac.,
would amount to 48,0001. or 60.0001. a mile, being three
times the cost of the Ahearn and York line. (Hear, hear.)
New it was clear that if the 76 miles from London to Peter-
borough, which would cost them 48,0001. a mile, yielded a
return of 3 per cent., the Askern and York line, costing only
16,0001., would gin a return of 9 per cent ; and he be-
lieved theta' made, it would yield that amount of per centsgs.
Re= to the subject of the York sad Askern line,
he his opinion to be, that if they abandoned that
line, they would be abandonieg the most importeat advan-
tages possessed by them ; and having pointed out the nume-
rous sources of nabs of which it would become the con-
duit, he proposed, se ea addition to the motion of the
chairman, a resolution the substance of which was,
that it should be an instruction to the board
of direction, from that meeting, to expedite as
meek as possible that motion of the Towns' line
Seem Peterborough to Redford, and from Askern to York,
and if they were not able to borrow the money authorised
by the act of parliament, fur the purpose of completing the
works, that the directors should be empowered to apply to
pediments for powers to increase the capital of the company
to such an extent as might be necessary for the purpose by
Missies preferential stack at an interest not exceeding 6 pm
cent., or in such other way as may be deemed most condu-
cive to the interest of the shareholders. That resolution wee
approved of by some of the largest holders of stork in the
Great Northern Railway Oommkiesand he trusted that if it
re "we adopted their respected would me that it was
tarried into execution. He bad been informed by Mr.
Cubitt that the portion of the the to which his reedution
referred could be cempleted within twelve months without
any difficulty, and he trusted In that time to see the line into
York opined. t Hese, hear.)
Mr. GLASGOW seconded the imitation as amended by
dee tadititm of the clause d by Mr. Hutchinson.
Mr. WATERS add the meting at considerable
length rsupport of the amended resolution.
Hr. GROVES (of York) dirkntad from the two last
mistaken nepeetieg the value of the lin:, from Askern to
York, and wee of opinion that no one intimately acquainted
as he was with the capabilities of the locality, could imagine
that the local traffic could Interne important. He concluded
by stating his intention of moving, as an amendment, that
owe or atom law clerks, at a salary, should be appointed to
m anise the legal tr ease:liens of the company.
Att. HUGHES should support Ilia resolution for the
app ointment of law clerks when it came before the meeting.
le quinine were made by certain shareholders whether the
works between King's Cross and the Regent's-canal would be
prone esel with this year. The result of the delay had been to
induce tearties to cover the ground with buildings, in order to
force the company to pay them large MOM for eehiyieeation,
and that part of the land which the cothan py paid for
and taken possession of had from neglect become a nuisance
to the whole at ighbourhood. Part of it had been let for the
purp-ee of fielding a fair.
The CHAIRMAN then said the suggestion pat forward in
the amendment propped was that it be ea instrate-
lion from that meeting to the directors to expedite as much
as pomade the construction of that section of the works
celled the Towns line--that was their portion between
Peterborough and Ratted, and from Askern to York, eltdi
if neensary, to apply to parliament for powers to rain the
required capital for the purpose. His answer to that rah"
atatawas that We directors had already given to the share-
rs the best eamett of their Intention to anticipate this
enoruction by informing them, as they had done in the
repo,-t, that the plans and the sections for making
the ee.,eviest part of the Towns line we're in the hands of the
sentreeters, and that tenders t the works, some of which
he hoped ;bey might be able tourwept, wet expected to be