The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-02-28 00:00:00

REPORT

The Receipts, on account of Revenue, during the past
half year, amount to the sum of £3,841 lis 4d, and com—
pared with the corresponding period of 1855, show an
increase of £BO3 19s 11d. It is gratifying to remark that
under the new arangement with the Manchester, South
Junction and Altrincham Railway Company, the working
expenses are considerably reduced. The Directors regret
that owing to the unusual severity of the weather, the
new goods shed at Warrington has not yet been com-
pleted ; and that consequently the company has been
deprived of a further accession of traffic. The Directors
have every confidence in looking forward to a steady
increase of both goods and passenger traffic, when the
resources of this line are more fully developed under the
existing agreement with the Manchester, South Junction,
and Altrincham Railway Company. With reference to
the powers given by the Shareholders to the Directors on
the 11th of August last, to apply to Parliament to raise
money for the purpose of meeting the stilt outstanding
liabilities of the Company; the Directors did not consider
it prudent to make any application during the present
sessions, the liabilities consequently remain the same,
but in order to provide for the more pressing of them, six
of the Directors are willing to incur a personal respon-
sibility in obtaining a loan under the authority and with
the indemnity of the shareholders.
The accounts showed that the receipts for the half
year ending Dec., 1856, amounted to £3,841 17s 4d, and
the expenditure to £2,554 16s lid, leaving a balance of
£1,287 Os sd.

The Chairman having moved the adoption of the report
and accounts, after a brief explanatory speech,
Mr. Caley, of Runcorn, complained of the wanton legal
expenditure, which had almost swamped the company.
He also alluded to the resignation of the chairman, and
asked why he was not present to give his reasons for
taking that step, as he ought to have been here. (Hear,
hear.) Had he (Mr. Caley) been in the same position,
he would have come down from the House of Commons by
an express train, to explain to the shareholders the reason
why he had resigned the chairmanship and his seat at the
board. (Hear, and cheers.)
The Chairman was quite ready to admit, that the origi-
nal Warrington and Altrincharn line had been almost
swamped by the enormous legal expenses which had been
incurred by' the directors. But under whose manage—
ment ? Why, under the management of the late ch Air-
man, Mr. Whitley, his brother in-law, who had been the
solicitor ; Mr. Charles Holland, and the late secretary.
Three years ago, he (the chairman) had advised an
arrangement with the Manchester and South Junction
Company; and, had that been carried out, the share-
holders would now have been receiving 3 per cent on their
share capital, but it had consthntly been opposed and
thrown out by the late chairman and the directors who
acted with him; and now the truth had come out. The
majority of the directors were against it, because they
were interested in an alliance with the Great Western
Company. A traffic arrangement for goods had conse-
quently been made with the Great Western Company,
which was proving most disastrous to this company, for
it was not producing them £2O per month. (Hear, hear.)
With respect to the late chairman of the company, he
considered it of the greatest possible importance and
advantage to the shareholders that he had resigned, along
with Mr. Holland, and he could only say, that had they not
resigned they would not again have been elected, as
directors. The chairman then expressed his confidence
in the arrangement which had now been made with the
Manchester and South Junction Company, and said the
interests of the shareholders would be materially pro-
moted by it. He was quite satisfied that the present
board were now working harmoniously together, and the
interests of the company could not be placed in better
hands.

Mr. White enquired whether an arrangement, at pre.
send. in force between the Birkenhead and Cheshire
Junction Company, and the London and North Western
Company, had the effect of preventing traffic from coming
over this company's line?
The Chairman, in reply, said the fact was, that at the
present time the Birkenhead and Cheshire Junction
Company had two suitors, the London and North Western
and the Great Western Companies. They were both
bidding for the line. If the Birkenhead and Cheshire
Junction should ultimately go into the hands of either the
one or the other of those two great companies, certain
results would follow, but should the Birkenhead and
Cheshire Junction ronamin on ;nrlopcna,nt ootnpo,nr, ho
confidently expected that a certain amount of traffic might
Ue expecten LO come over their line to Manchester.
In the further discussion which followed it transpired
that the Stockport extension would not at present be
prosecuted.
The report and accounts were adopted, and the retiring
directors and auditors re.elected.

EASTERN COUNTIES.—The half yearly meeting was held
yesterday, Mr. Ralph Walters, chairman of the Board of
Directors, in the chair. The seal having been affixed to
the register of shareholders, the Chairman moved the adop•
tion of the report, and, in doing so, he congratulated the
proprietors upon the improved prospects of the railway.
He dwelt upon the increased receipts, the savings which had
been introduced, and the prospect of a less embarrassing
capital account. He could speak personally of the accuracy
of the register, and must compliment the officials of the
company on the order of their books. The directors during
the last half year had not been unmindful of the perma
nent way, which was in excellent order. Already two
sums of £150,000 and £25,000, had been expended in that
way ; but as the works, in most cases, were rather renewals
than repairs, the amount had been charged to capital. The
reason the report of the engineer was not appended to that
of the directors, was owing to the simple fact the engineer
did not send his report in until 18 hours after the report
had gone to press and been partly distributed. Alterations
had been made in the working of the passenger traffic,
especially in regard to season tickets. Some of these changes
had given offence in some quarters, but it was impossible
to please every one, and the directors had preferred to
look more to the interest of the shareholders, than to the
complaints of their own detractors. The season ticket
system had been greatly abused on the line, as would readily
be admitted when he stated there were instances of
gentlemen having travelled on the line with season tickets
many months over due. At the same time the directors
were not infallible, and they were open to conviction upon
any points connected with working the traffic. The free
pass system hal been wholly abandoned, and in future
passes would be granted, not as a rule, but only in excep-
tional cases. The foreign cattle traffic and the business
on the Harwich line, were, on the whole, in a satisfactory
state, and with that remark he would close his observations
on the working of the line. There was one subject,
however, to which he must refer before he sat down,
and that was the East Suffolk, which he would de-
spatch with the simple remark that it had been got up by
parties solely for their own interest, without the slightest

regard for the public advantage. The motion for the
adoption of the report gave rise to a lengthened discussion ;
the chief subject of anxiety appearing to be the threatened
competition of the East Suffolk Extension; but Mr. Love
assured thf shareholders that they need be under no appre-
hension on that point. Mr. Love, in the course of his
remarks, instanced the continued increase in the traffic re-
ceipts as a proof of the success -f the new policy of the com-
pany. Ultimately the report was adopted, and the dividend
declared payable on and after the 6th of March.
NORPOLK.—The usual half yearly meeting was held

yesterday, at the London Tavern, Mr. R. Till, chairman of
the board of directors, in the chair. The report stated that
the amount credited to the fisTorfolk Company by the
Eastern Counties Company of £49,074 16s, as their pro-
portion of the joint earnings, after deducting the working
charges and other expenses in accordance with the agreement
for amalgamation, would enable the proprietors to declare a
dividend of £3 per cent. upon the ordinary stock of the
company for the half year, leaving a balance of
£1,353 lls ld to be carried over to the next account. There
were some items in the account of the last half year's
workings of the associated railways, and also in the former
accounts, which were objected to by the directors,
also by the Eastern Union Company. The directors had
given notice to the Eastera Counties Company of their
readiness to submit the questions in difference to arbitration,
in; conformity with the provisions of the agreement for
amalgamation. On the other hand, the board of the Eastern
Counties Company had brought forward a Irrge claim
against this company for expenditure on works upon the
Norfolk line. The amount of this claim is disputed by the
directors, and a proposal had been made to the Eastern
Counties board to refer this question aho to arbitration.
The report was adopted, and the dividend having been
declared, the retiring directors were re-appointed, and the
precceding,s terminated in the usual manner.
NEWPORT, APERGAVENNY AND HEREFORD.—YeSte-day,
the half yearly meeting of the above Company was held at
the London Tavern, the lion. W. E. Fttzrnaurice in the
chair. The report stated that the works.of the line from
Crumlin to the junction with the Taff Vale Railway at
Quaker's yard will be completed in August. Since the
last half yearly meeting of the company, a further sum has
been received of £84,138 10s on the 6 per cent. preference
stock. Of this amount £71,812 6s has been expended and
added to capital. Of the sums authorised to be raised at the
special meeting of shareholders of April 17, 1856, the amount
still to be paid under vote of the shareholders, is £180,718
Os Id, which will be covered by the remaining call
on 6 per cent preference stock, and the exercise of the
borrowing powers of the Taff Vale Extension Act. The
gross receipts of the line for the half year ending 31st