The Express.
London, England, 1862-08-16 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE

GREAT WESTERN.

The half-yearly general meeting of the proprie-
tonwas held yesterday at the Paddington Maio°, and
was numerously attended. The directors, on coming into
the room, were greeted with hisses and other lurks of dis-
approbation. The Earl of SHELBURNE, the chairman of the
&reeks., baring taken the chair, and Mr. Saunders, the
secretary, having, amidst considei able interruption, read the
notice convening the meeting,
The CHAIIIXAN said they would take the report as read.
He thought he ehould be able to show the proprietors that,
although circumstance. were unfavourable on the present
ocosiou— (A voice—They are always em—well, the direc•
tors were there to take the verdict of the shareholders, but
he trusted that they would be first listened to. It was with
great pain that he appeared before them on the present
occasion, because he could not help feeling what a
great disappointment the report must have melded on the
proprietors. Having expressed that regret, he would now
state the causes which bad led te this state of things, and
which he believed to be exceptional. One was that in the
put half-year the South Wales and West Midland traffic
bad not furnished its quota to the general fund in proper-
lion to the charges which at the same time they had brought
to bear upon the Great Western Company. In amalga-
mations of this kind it was impossible to predict how soon
all the advantages of the amalgamation would be derived.
Everybody who was familiar with railway property knew
that there were ups and downs in it. (A voice--It la all
downs here.) They must take the average. There was no
doubt that the new alliances of the Great Western were very
bony burdens at the commencement, but those burdens
would diminish, and in time these alliances would be a source
of additional income to the company. They had all these
things to contend with in the West Midland case, and they
must remember that in the corresponding half of last year
trade was in • much better condition. Then there had been
about 70 miles of new line opened, and • new line was
always at the commencement a burden to the line with
which it was connected. And they must remember that
the traffic in the South Wales district had not yet been
fully developed, and that there was great stagnation of trade
in the north, which was felt in some degree at lout in their
district. They should also remember that if the unfortunate
contests between the South wales and the West Midland
had been prolonged the traffic on the Great Western would
have been much diminished. For these reasons he believed
that the present depression was temporary, and that there
were reasonable grounds for looking to the future with con-
fidence. The parliamentary session he was sorry to say had
I, en on of great expense to this company—(A voice—lt
always is)—and certain sums would have to be applied in
this and succeeding balf-yeare to meet the liabilities that
bad been incurred. (Shoots of " Where is it to come from!"
and confusion.) Among the bills promoted by the company
one enabling the company to junction in the Wolverhamp-
ton district with the West Midland line bad passed. It
was a line the advantsp of which there could be no doubt
about, and the directors were very glad that the bill had
passed. The °sonny bill was thrown out. The bill for
the transfer of the Rom line and for the leasing of the Ely
Valley and others had passed. The object of these bills
was wore to confirm the company in the position they held
and in respect to details than anything else, and they
did not involve questions of expense. Another
bill, which was for constructing • line from Horton
to Birkenhead in connexion with the existing Birkenhead
Railway, had beau passed. This was • line of a very advan-
tageous nature in its own district. Another bill which had
been passed was for the construction of a line from Wey-
mouth to Portland, and the extension of the Wilts sod
Somerset lies. That was not a line of the Gnat Western
Company, but was promoted by the parties who are in con-
nexion with the Great Western and South Western Com-
tan, who had come to an agreement respecting it.
there was the bill for the Fast Gloucester
line. Parliament passed a bill giving powers for the
construction of a line to a certain point near Cheltenham,
but declaring the powers of the act contingent upon
powers being obtained next year for the extension of the
hoe so as to join the Great Western Railway at Cheltenham.
Then there were several bills which might be takes together
in connexion with the Andover and Redbridge,which might
be described generally as the lines before the committee,
that dealt with the whole question as between the South
Western sod themselves. These bills, as the proprietors
were aware, were all of them thrown out —(ap-
plause) —as was also the bill to enable the South
Western Company to go to BristoL While be
was on that subject he might state that he be-
lieved that, as far es their position with the South Western
Company was concerned, he entertained strong hopes, and
there was every probability that en arrangement would be
made which would prevent any further continuance of a
ooziest of that kind. (Hear, hear.) He would not now
discuss the question as to which of the two companies was
in the right and which was in the wrong. Of course the
South Western Company thought they were in the right,
and considered that they were much aggrieved at being at-
tacked by the Great Western. On the other hand, he took
an opposite view, and thought it was the Great Western
Company that was aggrieved, and as a proof he might state
that before the contest began the Great Western offered to
submit the differences between the two companies to arbi-
tration, but the South Western declined. The next ques-
tion be wished to bring before the notice of the meeting was
the question of the dividend. (Hear, hear.) It was •
question among the directors whether it was worth while to
offer so small a dividend, but they felt it their duty to offer
to the proprietors whatever sum remained available fee •
dividend. The dividend, small as it was, would have borne
a different aspect had the half-year terminated with the mid
of July instead of the end of June. He was not talking
speculatively now, but be was talking of money absolutely
is the coffers of the Great Western Company. They had
received in the first six weeks of the current half-you
52,0001. more than in the corresponding period last year.
It was quite clear that a portion of that would have
been available had the year been divided in • different way,
mid it would be • question for the proprietors to consider
whether on the whole it would not be more satisfactory to
alter the division of the year. Of course it would make no
difference in the grand total, but inasmuch as the charkes
fell equally on each half-year,and the receipts in the respec-
tive half-years were different, it might be • question as to
whether they would make any alteratioo in this respect, so
as to equalise the dividends. (No.) It was a question
eiitirely for the proprietors, and he did not want them to
du it if they did not like it. Before he sat down he wished
to make one or two remarks on the general principles on
which the affairs of this company were conducted. When
he first took the Looonrable post of chairman of that com
prey Le had a very strong feeling, founded as it was at the
tame upon very little experience, against the principle of
a railway company extending its sphere of action to • very
large extent either by new lines or by arrangements, which
practically came to the same thing. Since he had had the
advantage of greater experience by being actively mixed up
in railway matters he had seen no eau, to change that
opinion, but he had been obliged to reduce it to an ab-
stract principle. He must admit that it was a principle
which,under the present system of parliamentary legislation
on railway matters, it was impossible for any company to
adhere to without making man and important exceptions.
He should continue to lift his- voice agaiust the present
system of parliamentary legislation on railways, because he
considered it most objectionable. Parliamentary com-
mittees did not recognise in any way the samitices made by
companies in constructing existing lines, or the outlay for
the sccommodstion of the public at a time when railway
communication was very scant, and the consequence was
that any proposal for a new line had • chance of bung
favourably entertained by either house of parliament,
whatever daniage it might inflict upon the neighbouring
pioperty. There were only too ways of dealing with • new
line that was set up. One was to endeavour to throw the
bill out, and the other was to in some shape or other incor-
porate the line with your own. Experience showed that the
endeavour to throw the bill out resulted in the new line
being thrown into the hands of the rival company. That
was an evil which was experienced every session of parlia-
ment. He believed it was the unanimous feeling of this
board that all these extensions per or were an evil. In the
lint place, they increased the difficulty of management
and in the second place, it took years to make the new line
remunerative. The proprietors, he believed, ran away with
the idea that there was an inseam love of extensions enter-
tained by the beard. and that there was some charm about
these extensions which fsecinated them. But he believed
that his colleagues as well as himself entertained the strong-
est objections to anything of the kind, knd nothing would
induce him to support any exteluiion whatever unlade he saw
that great disadvantage would result to the Great Western
proprietors by adopting any other course. One company
could not stop this, but he believed that if two
or more great companies were to act in unison • pest part
of the evil might be avoided. At present many of the new
lines were made before they were required, and there was
something like en excited auction bidding between the ad-
' jaunt companies to get possession of them. He trusted
that this compauy had come to some nuderstanding on this
point with the South Western, and he hoped that they
would do the same with the North Western, and thus
' kill the viper which was eating out the entrails
of the large companies. Ou the other hand, it
was • question nut at what point they should
in.erfere rather than see their traffic abstracted. They
could not have a better illustration of this than what had
occurred in reference to the Shrewsbury and Hereford line.
Si. ce the line had been in the hands of the London and
North Western, a large proportion of the traffic which
formerly passed from that line on to the Great Western
had been taken away from them. And here he might state
that one of the most pleasing results of the present session
was that the committee to whom the Shrewsbury and
Hereford bill was referred inserted • clause giving the
Great Western p mar to become joint lessees of that line,
which would reinstate them in their proper position with
regard to it. Of all the undertakings they bed entered into,
this was the one about which they had felt the lent hesi-
tation. Although the terms of the lease were high, they
were quite safe, seeing that during the year 1861 the traffic
was well over 100,0001.. and reckoning the working ex.
pewee at 50 per cent., that left 50,(001. to pay all the en-
gagement, of the Shrewsbury and Hereford Company,
which amounted to 6 per cent. on some portions of the
capital, and 4) on others, and putting them down at the
highest Agana, they were under 44,0004, and the traffic
would have • tendency to augment in future years. He
regretted that the dividend was so small, bet be trusted he
hatalwern that their drain were not in a) bed • enaditka