The Express.
London, England, 1868-08-20 00:00:00

--•
INTET.LIGENCE.

IfIbLAND.

hanireatly uteetit-ig of this colon:A.ly Will
held ye•teroey at Ik , Mi. W. E. littrente-urt in the
ehair.
The 'overt and attompauying statement have already
appdeirest •
The ellilouwa, in moving the adoption of the reran.,
mid %hut with regard to the revenue tel the phut
lady-year, as they were all ewers, those had bees an
incense under every bead except that of mineride; there
the diminution had been between thirteen and fourteen
thinumad pounds. At the raiiCttig is Vuhriuiry lust be had
oeported an iucfxrn a mailer the same head of nem ly
Set that the board had been unprepared fir so .11444111 and
sharp adeeneise; hat thu tint weather laiil caused a dianin
u-
lion in the ceal tinflic, and thedepressed state of trade in
tie Weil districts had r resulted iu a dim* tion in their busi-
ness with that qiuirte r. Ile hoped that that would he
ma 7 temporaz7 -in fact, alrintly they bcheyeil there
• were 1111:1114.01114, of a rev Ind. The 111C/1)5114; 111 their re-
vise/4s during the part huff -yew had umouuted to
fifty-three and fifty-four thonsandpollll4/8 ; the: had been
da en or in Um aggr egat4) thesiceoutopublisfaxliunount-
ing to over 20,0001., the cause of which lie explained. With
nitwit to their working c xpenoes they had teen as low as
was compatible with the efficient working of the fine and
the oeivioe of the politic. The hon. gentleman adverted
in detail to the items of ex penditure umber the different
heeds. Forty-four miles of road had (lie add) been retold
in the emirs.. of lac half-yeur out of revenue. In the
leemioeivi• department, the cost had been rather less thee
in the previrme half-year, although there had been an in
4 lOW* Of pain mileage of nearly 300,000 miles. The rolling
stook hail net 'been 'inflected, bat repairs lied been made
at the soot ot the revenue. The debenture debt falling
in .haring the hatf-yeat had teen renewed at an average
rate of 41. tie. per echt. ; the average rate of the debenture
debt of the oompany was 41. Is. fit. per eout., which
phitol the Midland siZond on -the Est as ccmpared with
iagluother cennoinie4; and 82,000/. perpetuity preference
*ea hail heel.
to
at 4! per eqnt. The 111111. gen
man ntforrecl to the act of parliamdt in referent* to cons-
kens:diens foracen lents, wit' hhe said °Fended harshly., and
tic re. uminended railway pmprictors to bestir theruselves
with the view to obtain seine modification of its provisions.
ben cring to the sabject of the expenditure on capital
all omit for new works he said it would be kept within
the two millions specified at the commencement of
the year. In the first part of the half-year
fiery had been unable from circumstances to avail
themselves, of eassenger traffic on the Bedford and London
extension, but since the line had been opened, the result
hail been most satisfactory. With regard to the new lines,
on which:little progress had been made. power would be
for to extend the time for their completion.
plaute.) The hon. tanitlernan &dialed to the uegntia-
on* pending with the Loudon and North ‘Vedern Com-
pany en the subject .it the S.tzle. and Carlisle line: it
would 1.. prcnu.ttu e ,it present to make onythiaz public,
hut no pan.- would is spau.d to ',jug matter., to a matt,
bit toiy terrine:l6mi.
Mi. Pen r, M.P., •six ended the motion for the adoption
of the report.
wen idout••il, anti the dividends declared am
fr. 01111111•Iilli
Th. ..f • of thanks moved by Mr. to
the ioi.,i!tat..ni uuamittee, were leijueited to con-
then ,eiv;ces.

I.iNC.ISE IRE

AND

Ti.. Laif-yuarly gem rai meeting was liPhl at the
towlatp , e,. MR oche,rter. yestettlay. Mr. O. Wilson,
.I".,rtn.tn .•t the ininp.lny. pre.itieti. The report was
tan. n itP read.

The t HAIMMAN moved the adoption of the report and
a, counts. With regard to the revenue of the past half-year,
he thought if it was not pre-e minently satisfactory, yet
.0 omparison with other e ompaniee their proprietor; had
mach reaeon for congratulation upon the progress they
had made. The depressi on of trade and the dearness of
food had no doubt deprived the working classes of the
means of travelling to the extent they otherwise would,
but taking their revenue with all these drawbacks, it was
better by 110.000!. than in the corresponding half of last
year. The working expenses by which they had been
enabled to earn this extra sum, hail only increased at the
same time by 13,000/., or' 26 per cent., so that they had
beau enabled to add per cent. to dividend, after leaving
a balance to be carried forward to surplus of more than
4,000!. The passenger traffic had increased to 10.753,304
paasengers by the several classes, as asphaltlo,tt,;,sl.i.
10,21.5,j15. The receipts from the merchandise
tzaffic also showed an increase of 25,875/. On
the other hand, they had spent 74,9.12?. in mainteluniee of
way, against 66,8821. ; but a portion of this increase was
rendered necessary for the improvement of the viaduct at
Preston. The running expenses hail been 86,602/. against
89,7691. last year, and were less by 3,169/. But the cost
of renewals hail been 56,601/., against 41,844!., being
snore by 11,757/. The charges for locomotive power were
139,652!., showing an increase of 10,381/.. which wasattri-
l.utable to a number of engines having been rebuilt, and
others largely renewed, but they had spent no money out
of capital amount for renewals. The amount paid for
compensation had been 17,14(W., against 31,09'21. last
year, and 11,4871. in 1860: and he complained that in
giving compensation no respect was paid to the amount of
fare, but companies had the same amount of responsi-
bility where the fare was represented by almost the
smallest coin as by a greater, which he thought was un-
easonable. The traffic expenses ware 230,3171., against
234,644/. The total working expenses were 554,0211.,
against .141,8941. In glancing at the progress
of the company since the amalgamation, he said
the revenue at that time (18.19) was 1,754,0811.,
while in the your ending June, 1868, it was
2,b41,667/., an increase of 78,,586/., or 45 per cent. The
capital in 1859 was 18,471,4941., and it was now
22,933,396/., an increase of 4,461,902/., showing that the
companies had not acted upon the dog-in-the-manger
principle of occupying a district without expending libe-
rally to supply its wants. In the same period—from
11,59 to 1868—the dividends of the company had increased
from 4'. to t per cent., and he contended that in the
future similar management might be expected to give
similar remits to those which had placed this company
in its present proud position.
Mr. DrODALE seconded the report, and it was adopted.
A motion was_ adopted passing the dividend recom-
mended by the board, and made payable on the let Sept.
The meeting was afterwards made special, and autho-
rised the raising of capital under the Chorley Act.