The Express.
London, England, 1857-08-22 00:00:00

(Stamped id. AdditioNaL) [TWOPENCE.

THE GREAT NOETHEIN RAILWAY,

This morning was hotted the report of the direc-
tors of the above railway to the twenty-aecoed halt-yearly
ordinary general meeting of the proprietors, to be hald at
the London Tavern, on Saturdsy, the 29itt Augnet.
The accounts for the half-year ended 30th June, 11167.
submitted to the proprietors herewith, give the following
results :

Capitol expended to 314 Deotteer. Ltd ............ £11,e7,106 16
Yominott dor.* the halt you . . 61.133 410
-a--
T 0441 mow* of midi* 411.4.1.1 to Mb Jose. OW.. 11.219.444 3
oo* sod mom** bold * the Ocetpmy 006 Jose.
107 . .. . . . 11?..913 II
11.. ci.itui 400.000 0 0
Th. Rom *Mt* dodos Ibo Itilfloor oadol
Jew, ISST Imo .. . MUM 14 10
It On of Mr tiMMIMOM OMMI6I.
11" C,4..999 94,4 *Poi WO/ pontos el tbolo
molt* tor Oa 16 month% frera Mualk
3916 Joao MM... 1.11 of the wood oat**xyt
45 Arms IS Um ftwome ktatemeat Itlo. 2. Wm •
4.9111 1 6
Nobodog d malloblorocelo* 661,631 13 •
9* Me otrompoodteg MI mar la
Ills thoommot giant 11 4
114 Lawe Is 0007
al or dodtmlite of t'r 4.9.40. t. H. 9.191 14 1

Tits 1. i elgeedltuve for the balf.year 10193 10
L aminate
_Mimeo el receive Mr., d esiwem, • • 1:310.0T0 I 14.
et tamc 11s. 3d. more Man the Maass. am YOU •
I. Jens. WA
Add the forgoer mini of P. 4001 dm from ths lialtera
Omega Railway Company. to deem by the dot
MIMS eoctt.at (No. 3) . SAO 0 0
Melded a total to meet 110.1 dews sad dieliked Of gtfainfil 110
Tbe abed thane% doeteede 1144,06.6 e. dx.,ao goes
la sot Meow occett.t (No. 31, amount to
.01104.276
Leavied available for dividend en all the sailor snorts Za,....701 Li
13 0
Dodos-Una ilisrefrom the woo mewed to tey thie &ri-
oted on the towel presses.= web. 64 16.
Ole-
weloed late to which oIA 1. mallet. SAM 11 0
The remalnder 11.5613 3 0
is appli-init to dividend epee tbe teldlual tad epee
tee mode; acid * I gine to tae original 6 per
met. fur the half year. Lein at lb. tate f per
cent. pee tenon end to tbe IS Meet doable the
asnouot, .le. 64 ter mat for ilas half j•ar gourds
Me wiz per mat. for tbe you rearsetted at the coot
of lee .t stock ; tee canonreenemated last
them rates of dividend to atelamil accordingly.
This is the leveret rats of dividend that has yet been de-
clared for the host or summer half of any year since the
formation of the company, and servos to mark the steely
progress of the traffic.
The din-tti mewed to sVir a lengthened account of
the further proceedings renpect what may be shortly celled
the Rade. Fraud and d that, fur their
they consulted the Atlonley-Gentral and Mr. iitemr;
Clarke as to the effort of the bill without tho Lords' amend-
ment, and recetned the following opinion
"01-INION.
- -

" 1. Wean, of opinion that in the event of tho hill passing
without the words added in the House of Lords to the third
clause, the directors in preparing a miiehic showing the profits
of the company to to submitted to the next ordinary meeting
of the Great Northern Railway Courpmy, preparatory to •
declaration of dividends, ehould not include in such scheme
soy part of the monies, the appropriation of which is provided
fur by the
" 2. We are of opinion that such scheme should not pro-
vide for the payment to the ;Ai femme stockholders of any
greater amount than that of the first half-year's dividend of
1857, and that a resolution of the meeting adopting such
14 heme could not be successfully resisted by the preference
nhareholders on the ground that they are entitled to &greater
amount. The bill as it nude, in fact, appropriates any sur-
plus which may remain after lurking good the kneel occa•
'ironed by Itedpath's frauds, sad treats each surplus an the
dividends to which the etockhuldera receiving it would have
been entitled if • dividend land been declared for the half-
year ending the 310 of December, 1856.
(Signed) "RICHARD Bernell,
O. ROCHFORT CLANKS.
" Temple, July 26, 1867."
After this opinion, the directors did not think they should
be justified in allowing the hill to be bet, and they deter-
mined to take it without the clause in question. The
" echeme " fur this half-vesx's dividend in prepared in con-
formity with the above opinion, and it is to be hoped that the
proprietors wi I do their List towards making en end of this
uncortunste business, by adopting it without alteration.
The suit in Chancery, which has been already instituted by
• small purty of the preference shareholders, may possibly
be decided by the VicteChaneellor, who is sitting in London
for the emotion, before the meeting takes place ; but even if
it is not, the vote of the shareholders will have to be taken
upon the declaration of dividend as loud, subject to the de-
cision of the court se to the claim of the preference share-
holders to what they call their arrears.
A committee of sharehotdera having been appointed last
March for the express pupae of investigating the accounte,
especially with reference to theme frauds, the directors abstain
at present from expressing any opinion or making any state-
ment as to the past or future system of keeping the aceounte,
conducting the regietration, or Diming the dividend war-
rants, notwithstanding Mr. Greening's notice of • motion
for • vote of censure on the director, respecting these mat-
ters. list to prevent any unfair inference being drawn from
resignation of Mr. Reynolds, the accountant ey think
it due to him to may that it had no reference to thin matter ;
but is solely o.wrtmogg to his having had the offer of • better
appointment
A tabular statement is annexed to the report of the result
of the examination by the Company's officers of the frauds
I of Rodpath, as furnished to the Committee of Enquiry. The
11111101 g of loss there shown does not include expense*.
The amount for which the company will have to pit.
vide is ae follows.—Stock Grist Northern, 201,692/. 10a.;
Ens Lincolnshire, 10,10(.; total, 219,62 V. 10e. Dividend,
Great Northern, 17,6511. L. Id.; East Lincolnshire 6171.
14s. Id. • total, 18,09 W. 19,,. 2d. Total stock registered is
excess, and dividend issued in respect theme!, 237,7321. 8e.211.
The report continues :
The directors have now to pus to more pleasant topics.
And first they congratulate the shareholders on the prospect
of • rimeiderable increase of traffic from the opening of the
Leicester and Ritchie' line. They have intimated to the
Midland Company their readiness to afford all reasonable
facilities for forwarding their traffic. and to make through
rat. on favourable terms; end they hope that this and
other events of the lest oeeoion will gradually bring about •
more enikable relation between these two companies, which
have many points of contact, and many common interest.. I
The arrangement with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lin-
colnshire company has been already brought under the special
notice of the proprietor+ at the late extraordinary meeting.
When it is considered that all the traffic which may be get
from Lancashire will be ro much clear gain to this company,
no
one can either doubt the advantage of the arrangement, or
be surprised at the unusual ill-temper displayed by the
London and North Western Board in their late report, and
in
hutkirielied oorreepondenoe of their officials. The
immgemy em quite able to defend their own conduct
Aa t which they allege that the London
;cotirli Wain Company had systematically violated
before the Bbs6dd company formally terminates! it: and
this board would have said nothing on the subject if the
London and North Western report had been nilent about
them. All that they now say ia that this is by no means the
first occasion on which It has appeared that the Ruston-
square doctrine with regard to these traffic agreements not
ratified by Act of Parliament is, that they are at liberty to
violate thorn as much as they please by their own acts because
there is no legal remedy, but that • formal termination of
them by the other Weis to be denounced as a scandalous
Wks.
t may
pm tkegat:ewMellantleresTee:t.2rtffitlhe;fieTronmteepanay he
made ap (if required) by payment out of new through traffic '
between London and places wan of Sheffield (after deducting
working expenses), and therefore it snot alert the receipts
of the Great Northern system, es no such traffic to or from
dues west of Sheffield ever came on to the Great Northern
itire triortil?lothirta agreement.hern Company ii!oereoxtreer'alanci7msuch chticw, asuPtle
rend* of the Manchester and Sheffield Railway now amount
to about 11,600!. per week.
The number of Manchester passengers by the new route Is
already considerable; and the traffic will, no doubt, greatly
increase as the public become aware of the fact that the dif-
ference in distance against the Great Northern Railway be-
tween London and Manchester ie much leas than the alike-
once in favour of the Great Northern between other places,
from which more than half the goods traffic is assigned to the
Euston-square alliance by the Ghulsono award.
The directors think it right to notice an insinuation in the
London and North Western report, that the eceret and ille-
gal smalgarnation agreement between the London and North
Western end the Midland Companies has been cancelled
under the gemnare of a chancery suit promoted directly or
inditeolly by this beard, in the name of Mr. Burkill, which
the JAMS& MI North Western did not even venture to de-
fend. It le quit, well known to that board, because the
Wield WY discussed in the committee on the (Little)
North Waders I this year, that this board had nothing
whatever leas with that suit, or with the promotion of the
bill, of thet company • that the solicitors of this com-
pany waft het emplojed by Mr. Btirkill ; that It arose
out of the gaeeeedlnge on the Little North Western bill of
UM* in the term of that agreement were extracted
be Ihe bet thee; and that Mr. Barba is • director and •
shembelder of that company to • very much larger
amount than in this: all which the London and North-
Western board think fit to suppress, in order to insinuate
that he acted as the agent of this company in filing
the bill to set aside that agreement; and they
add • statement ectielly untrue, that this company itself
has agreements of • nmilar character with other companies.
It has no agreement of the kind with any company.
But although this board, se • matter of fact, had nothing
to do with the suit for breaking up that confederacy, which
last year included the Sheffield Compare) slay, and was no.
toriously made against this company, they cannot but con-
gratulate the proprietors on theme two significant eymptoms
of its dissolution • and not lees, on the speedy prospect of
the pp of 23 miles between 'neaten and Tebay Wag filled

up, whereby the Great Northern railway will broom* with-
the Midland, the Lancaster and Carlisle, and the Catedo-
Man, the shortest line to Edinburgh awl Glasgow
end nearly the whole of Scotland, and also to the
north of Ireland, by the new Irish end Scotch Junction
Line. The expense of making the line in gar Anon has bees
thrown upon the Lancaster end Carlocic Ceacj.my, who
are better able to afford it than the Little North Western,
which Company got a clause inserted to compel the Lea-
man+, and Cambric to work it efficiently ae a through line,
with an extension of the powers of the Cont.
Common Picea under the Cardwell Art for the pu-
pae, for which that Act alone was insufficient.
The directors think it prudent again to isaue blank proxies
on account of the importance of a decisive vole upon the
ra-
tfooe subjects to be discussed at the general meeting on the
29th instant.

It may be rtmembered that, at the last genteel meeting,
Mr. Scott, a proprietor—a member of the stock Exchange—
complained of the practice of the company in not per-
mitting transfers of stock for snots of leer amount than 104
or equal multiples of 101., except in canes of balance to cloew
an account, when any stun, however small or broken, nay
be transferred.

—Mr. 800tt stated, that although a madams had been ap-
plied for to compel the registration of transfers fig say SUM,
the directors, to please the secretary, persisted in the peso.
tioo complained of and were wasting the company's funds in
resisting the mandamus.
The object of thus limiting transfera of stock to rums d
101., and multiples thereof, is to avoid the risk if mistalson
in the thousands of accounts of stock in which, otherwise.
broken sums of odd shillings and page would constantly
occur, and separate calculations of dividend. Lave to be
made, involving also trouble and expense.
The preetioe wee adopted with the approbation of • bad&
yearly general meeting, to which it wail submitted, and en.
planed in the directors' report of the oth March, 1861,
but it suited the purpose. of Redpath to disregard it ; and
after *la frauds were discovered, the following notice wee
given end circulated to every stock exchange, and to
broken generally:
" The Greet Northern Railway Company.
"The relation for the transfer of stock of the Oreat
Northern Railway Company, adopted by the half-yearly
general meeting of shareholders, held on Thur-day, 6th
Much, 1851, is reprinted hereunder, and circulated tor the
information and guidance of proprietors and their brokers,
and will be required to be strictly observed from this date.
"Extract from Directors' Report to the Ninth Ball-pearly
General Meeting of Propnetors, held on Thursday, 6th
March, 1861.
Trendies not to be allowed fora Ina amount than IM.
stink, and to be for autos only that are equal muliplea of
10/.—escopt in cane of balance.
Itcsolvoi that the report of the directory, as now read to
this meeting, be adopted, printed, and circulated amount the
Progriotoni: 3. R. MOWATT, Sr.r. hwy.
Secretary's Office, King's Cron Station, January 1,1867.'
This notice was sanctioned and the peas tier onlenel by the
directors to be adhered to. The regulation was reality as-
rented to by all parties, except by Eve or six brokers. Mr.
Scott being one, who applied to the Cow t of (auntie Bench
for a mandamus to compel the company to abandon the
. . . - • -- -

The Chief Justice, Lord Campbell, on that occasion ex-
CrXthe opinion that "it certainly would seem to be a
leyd expedient regulation," and in granting the rule for a
mandamus the court reserved for future considerxiim the
point of law arising as to how far it is competent for the
company to adopt such a regulation, and the case is expected
to come on for hearing in November next. In the meantime
the directors have been advised to adhere to the practice.
Report., as usual, are annexed from the engineer, and
locomotive engineer.
(Signed) Enxo. DENNON, Chairman.

RAILWAY T 1
The fallowing are the railway n