The Express.
London, England, 1851-03-12 00:00:00

THE BIRMLNOHAM AND SHREWSBURY

RAILWAY.

The committee of inquiry appointed by the share-
holders at the :recent olverhampton meeting have just
issued their report. The document begins by adverting to
the policy of the board of directors, the one idea of which
is said to be competition with the London and North
Western Company for Me Liverpool traffic. This assertion
is supported by reference to the employment of omnibuses
to carry passengers from Oakengates to Wolverhampton,
the union with the Shrewsbury and Chester Company, and
subsequently with the Great Western Company, and the
appointment of the through traffic committee. fhe acts of
this committee are severely censured. It is find :
" This through traffic committee commence their pro-
ceedings on 10th October, 1849, and from that day have
been occupied in conducting correspondence with, and
sending almost weekly deputations to wait upon the Chester
and Birkenhead Company, and the London and North-
Western Railway Companies, the Great Western, and
Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Companies, and
the railway commissioners. Instead of fostering and look-
ing after the valuable local traffic of the Shropshire and
Staffordshire mineral and populous districts, their attention
has been devoted to the tactics of the two leviathian railway
companies, and the trade of the ports of London, Liverpool,
and Bristol; nor have Ireland and Scotland escaped their
attention. All kinds of conveyance have shared their
patron:we, from the omnibuses at Oakengates, to flat-
boats on the I)ee and the Mersey, and steamers to Ireland.
No undertaking is too great Mr them. They hint at a new
line from Chester to Birkenhead; they prepare for large
• • • • are willing to work the Chester
ford, Worcester, hid

-------
verhampton railway. They take offices and hire agents in
Liverpool, Birmingham, and London, to book passengers
and collect parcels and goals; and they distribute 20,000
hand bills to passengers entering the Euston station in
London."
Having in this manner traced the policy of the directors
in their negotiations with other companies, the committee
observe:—
" But they were not content with merely affording faci-
lities for traffic ; they determined to bring the traffic itself ;
and it is due to the general body of directors to say that
the following arrangements were made without their sanc-
tion or subsequent knowledge. The first step in this direc-
tion was to permit the station-masters to become coal-
dealers; and up to this day this course is pursued at
Shiffnal and Allsrington. 1 our secretary here gave effi-
cient aid by procuring parties to buy up the cinder-banks at
Oakengatcs • and we are informed that these parties have
acquired the monopoly of this article. This is stated to
have been done to prevent their conveyance along the
canal, which belongs to the London and North-Western
Railway Company. Another and valuable mineral traffic
is the red ore from Ulverstone ; and the traffic committee,
after much deliberation and inquiry, have, on behalf of the
two companies, entered with great qdrit into the red ore
trade. They have bought considerable quantities, and
they have arranged to purchase a still greater portion of
the next year's supply. They arc to charter vessels to
bring the ore from Ilverstone to Saltney; they have ap-
pointed agents to procure and sell the ore, and the
bankers at Chester are to receive the monies and guarantee
our agents' bills for the produce of the mines ; and they are
to undertake the delivery of the ore along the canals to the
works—all at the risk and expense of this and the Chester
Company.
Upon the agreement with the Shrewsbury and Chester
and the Great Western Railway Companies, the committee
observe :
•• They are a compact, a union for better or worse, to one
of two sets of railways in preference to the other; and they
bind your line of railway, feeble, helpless, and without
appeal, to a perpetual alliance with ono of the two gnat
rival lines; and however much you may be distressed by
the warfare, you have not the power to sue for peace or
make any favourable compromise. Your local traffic may by
these agreements be equally affected with the through
traffic. It may be cut to pieces, and yet you have no re-
source, no power to ward off the influence of the opposing
party; yet for all this loss, should it arise, there if, no clause
to afford you the ',lightest compensation. So that however
proper the alliance with the Great Western Railway may
be, yet the terms under which it is carried out appear not to
have been duly considered."
The committee then state that in pursuance of the in-
structions of the shareholders, they have re-opened nego
tuitions with the North Western Company, and are still in
communication with the directors of that line. The ac-
countant's report appended to that of the committee, states
that
The system of hook-keeping in operation is not satis-
factory, the books not giving the necessary particulArin nor
affording that facility for inspection so desirable where
transactions of a multifarious and complicated nature are
recorded. The books are defective in many important re-
spects, especially from the fact of the banking transactions
not having been carried through the cash books of the com-
pany, and from the want of personal accounts with the
major part of the individuals with whom the company have
hail dealings."
The liabilities of the company up to the present time are
52,6461. 4s. 51. The accountant says of Johnson and Kin-
der's contract I have perused the contracts entered into
between the company and these parties for mileage, and for
the deterioration of rolling stock, and find upon investiga-
tion of the accounts connected therewith, that they have
charged, and been paid, in respect of the tbrmer 100 miles
tee week above the amount stipulated in the contract,
making a difference against the company at the rate of
1401. lac. &I. per annum ; also, that there is in such con-
tract a penalty for the delay of trains; but that no penalty
has ever been exacted from the contractors. That in respect
of the contract for the deterioration of rolling stock, they
have charged and been paid for railway grease, &c., used
for such stock; but which I am of opinion a clause in the
contract renders a charge upon themselves."
It is 'aid that the Loudon and North Western Company
have offered to lease this line for 21 years ; the terms are
3 per cent. for two Team, fur two years, and 4 per cent.
for the residue of the term. The lessees are to take to all
the liabilities of the lessors.