The Express.
London, England, 1850-01-21 00:00:00

RAILWAY MEETING.

BIRKENHEAD, LANCASHIRE, AND CHEBHIRR
JUNCTION.
Oa Saturday an extraordinary meeting of this company
wee held at Birkenhead, to consider the propriety of borrow-
ing a stun of money on mortgage or bond, in relief of the
, gas necessary far the completioa of the woks. Thero war
• numerous attendant*.
Alderman JAI4IIB BANCROFT presided. He said it
had been intimated to the directors that if money could he
borrowed it would be acceptable to those on whom calls
would shortly have to be mad*. The board had to suggest
that in additift to the amount already obtained on mort-
gage, there should be the farther sum raised of 200,0001.
The entire bead debt of the Chester and Birkenhead section
of the undertaking was 138,5381. In addition to
that there were two mortgages, in respect to pro-
perty, of 16,6001. The exact position was that they had
98,0001. to call up on the 221. skates, and they had a certain
quantity of lead on the line of railway, and in Birkenhead
and elsewhere, not required for the purposes of the company,
which they could resell to liquidate a portion of the debt.
This land was, he believed, of sufficient value, with the
98,0001., to pay off all the liabilities. (Applause.) As to
the Cheshire Junction section of the company, the entire
amount to be raised, in order to discharge the contractor's
demands for work dons and to be done, and for other pur-
poses, amounted in the aggregate to 483,1301. Of that
amount 219,8941. was yet to be paid to Mr. Braasey ;
26,8881. for the permanent way ; land, 43,0001.; station.
and crossings not provided for under the contract,
110,0001; for land at Brideend, Birkenhead, and
the construction of works there,83,7221.; for the Chester st•-
Ition 9,6001. was yet to be paid ; interest cm the Birkenhead
and Chester shares, 31,3441. ; interest on the Cheshire Juno-
' time shares, 4,6001.; outstanding debts, 50001. These esti-
mates had been made with much care. The proposal of the
board was, that 200,0001. should be borrowed, in addition to
the amount of 138,0001. already borrowed on the 221. shares.
The board had that morning resolved to make a call of 31.
on the 311. shares, and 2/. on the 221. thous. That was ab-
solutely necessary, and must be paid independent of the sum
proposed to be borrowed. The contractor had large claims
upon the timpani; and of the 200,0001. to be bor-
rowed, Mr. Brmsey hid handsomely offered to
take 100,0001. in bonds for two years, and the
i board considered there would be no difficulty in ob-
taining the other 100,0001. in the public market. Thos dif-
ferent). would be 248,000.; that would have to be met by
cals. The 200,0001. it was propmed should be raised in
easement of both classes of the shares. He begged to move
" That the company be authorised to borrow on mortgage or
bond a sum of money not exceeding 200,0001."
A PROPRIETOR 'Aced what rate of interest would be
paid for the mon ?
The CHAIRMAN said that reminded him of a vary im-
portant part of the statement which ho had omitted. The
proposal of the board was, anticipating that a general power
to borrow money, if unaccompanied by some terms, would
be objected to, that calls should be made to cover the money
borrowed, and that those calls should be sutjeet to tire per
cent interest, not chargeable upon the company, but to be
paid by those proprietors who took advantag of the money
borrow. d to defer the payment of their calls
W. JACKSON, Rig., said, after that explanation,
he had great ileasuse in seconding the resolution. It was
only fair that those who were relieved should pay the in-
terest which the company would incur in borrowing.
Mr. RUMIRENS —lf the defaulting shuehrliers neither
pay the calls nor the interest, what must be done ?
Mr. CATTERALL, a director—Forfeit the shares.
The CHAIRMAN stated that so aeon as the board ascer-
tained that they could obtain the money, they would itsue
circulars to each shareholder reouiricg to know whether he
wishes to take advantage of the loan. The board would be
guided by the &Leavers as to the amount which they would
borrow.
Mr. LEE—Then the whole 31/. is to be called up ?
The CHAIRMAN—Yes. About 25,000 sharehcHers are
expected to pay up. That would realise the sum of
475,9411., which will rather more than cover the whcle esti-
mated liabilitits ; but there will still be the Chester and
Birkenhead debt lett of 138,0001.
After several questions had been put and satisfactorily
answered, the !groin:ion wes put and unanimously carried.
The chairman referred to the disputes with :he cunt,guous
railways, and to the proceedings taken by ;:iste::tient st ..:e-
-holders in Chancery ; and the meeting soon afterwards
broke up.