The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-02-11 00:00:00

'ear were

amount
►,0,601 ;

The expeuditure on lines opened, in which
have an interest, is .25,494,720. Of this sum
been expended on the Coventry and Nunes
£70,757 on the West London ; £350,000 on ti
and Carlisle; £143,781 on the Caledonian ; £95,172 on the
Scottish Midland; £105,383 on the Shropshire Union;
£357,670 on the Manchester and South Junction ; £190,715
on the South Staffordshire; £65,705 on the Manchester and
Buxton • £1,472,112 on the Chester and Holyhead, and
£315,962 to the same as advances; £557,719 on the North
London, and £104,125 as advances; <EX
inghamehire, and £160,071 as advances
Birmingham and Stour Valley, and £555,034 on its works;
and, lastiy, £58,279 on the Hampstead Junction
Of the £10,685,167 raised on debentures

£192,348 on the

r, £1,127,755

was raised at 5 per cent.,
£3,987,852 at 4a per cent.,
£1,802,350 at 4 per cent ,

£953,010

per cent,

634 at 4-t per cent.,

per ce

1,221,80 e !it 32

per cent., £481,500 at

£14.200 at 3 per tent

The working stock account shovrs that the company has
738 engines and 735 tenders, 1 state carriage, 649 first-
clase mail and composite carriages, 580 second class car-
riages, 419 third•class carriages, 29 travelling post-offices,
311 horseboxes, 256 carriage trucks, 259 guards', break, and
parcel vans, and 31 parcel carts and trucks for its coaching
traffic ; also 8,871 goods waggons, 1,241 cattle waggons, 282
sheep vans, 1,384 coke waggons, 20 trolleys trucks, 6,150
sheets, and 247 horses. The total expenditure on the
stock is £2,888,525, including £45,089 during the half-year.
The length of the line worked by the company is 895 k miles,

and the

erage cost of working

The revenue account for the half-year shows that
£1,588,459 had been received, including £8,889 interest on
cash balances, £16.310 rents of land and buildings, £316
transfer fees, and £46,182 dividend (estimated) from lines
in which the company have an interest.
The working expenses amounted to £609,976, leaving a
balance of £978,483. From this is deducted the interest on
loans and debenture stock, amounting to £222,282; the
chief rents to £3,903; expenses of Peterborough joint sta-
tion to £2,500 ; expenses connected with legal and parlia-
mentary proceedings to £15,000; Preston and Wyre defi-
ciency, £5,425 ; Buckinghamshire deficiency to £9,186 ;
Sbtopshire Union deficiency to £12,065, and £4,000 on
account; to deficiency on 'Matlock and Buxton lease. £945;
deficiency on Leeds and Liverpool canal leases to £1,391 ;
Stour Valley deficiency to £9,731 ; Haydon-square depot,
interest, &c., to £1,817; leaving £690.222. From this is
to be deducted £56,666 for renewal of rails, m reducio the
amount to £033.565. To this sum is added £6,950 from
last account, iniking a disposable sum of £640,516.
The proposed dividend, at the rate of 51- per cent. per
annum on the consolidated stock of the company. will
absorb £828,981; the dividend on the London and Bir-
mingham £2O shares, £10,310; on the Manchester and
Birmingham £lO shares, £7,884; on the £l2 10s. shares,
£10,914 ; on the Huddersfield, Leeds, and Dewsbury
capital, £30,163 ; and on the Coventry and Nuneaton stock,
A 6,750—in all £592,004, leaving a balance of £41,511 to
be carried w the nett account. It is proposed to make the
dividend warrants payable on Tuesday, Feb. 26.

The "consultation committee" appointed at the half-yearly
meeting of the company, in August last, have now issued
their report, which presents a serious commentary on the
past mallagethent of the company. It appears that the-
capital of the company exceeds £33,000,000 the annual
revenue £3,000,000, the number of employees is 13,006,
the number of passengers annually carried is 9,500,000,
the number' of miles travelled by passengers 242,000,000,
the tons of merchandise Carried annually 5,000,000, the
number of miles run by trains in the year upwards of
9,000,000, the number of trains run annually is 205,000.
The company has already subscribed and advanced five
and a-half millions, and guaranteed six and and a-half
millions, to other railways and canals.
It states that the company has subscribed one and
three-quarter millions to the Chester and Holyhead company,
lent to it nearly a quarter of a million more, and propose to
spend £200,000 on steam-boats between Holyhead and
Dublin. The company's " probable liabilities" and future
expenditure in works is estimated at £1,837,000, and its
present debenture debt is about ten and a-half millions-
The committee " look with the greatest apprehensions" on
the " large augmentations of capital which have been and
still are in progress," and assure the shareholders that
" augmentation of capital means diminution of dividends,"
and that if the past policy is to be pursued the stock will
" gradually drift to a permanent dis
quently state that they cannot "rc
closing of the capital account," which is " impractica
unless all future expenditure be thrown on revenue."
The cormiiittee refer to " the want of foresight on the part
of government and the parliament" (not to the speculative
propensities of railway boards) in granting extensions and
competing lines. - _ -

aunt," yet they subse-

They complain of " the establishment or duplicate lines,"
aid oi the competition induced, as "ample reasons for the
diminution of the dividends"—lament the enormous expen-
diture in the early proceedings of railways, the law expenses
of the company to June 1855, being £1,400,000 charged to
capital, and £253,600 Charged to revenue!
They urge an advance of rates—a lessening of speed—an
" united action" of the 360 millions of railway property to
obtain further concessions from parliament.
The comthittee require that the public shall further con-
tribute to the accommodation afforded to it by railways ;
and, in a latter part of the report, hint at a reduction of the
passenger tax of 5 per cent. on all passenger receipts by first
and second class ; an alte:ation of the principle of ass3ss-
mcnt to parochial taxation ; and the fulfillment of the
government terms of 1544 (which subjects were fully dis.
cussed in Nashs' Railway and Land Taxation, which
showed that nearly 10 per cent. of their gross receipts was
paid by railways to government and local taxes).
The committee complain of the heavy nature of Parlia-
mentary fees and law expenses, but cannot "devise a substi-
tute for the existing system."—Complain of the " absurntion
shouldcf be altered, as.
—suggest that the
pternadsaetiboyn tfhoer pauseett.doeffintese,''
a high functionary to expect to travel at
tiihlsiettyopooafmrecooeontlh
for
a high velocity for 2d per mile, and then to have a remedy
in case qa casualty, at a rate estimated on the value of his