The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-03-07 00:00:00

94,442 16 9

Leaving a balance of
The traffic during the past half year has been very satisfactory,
the gross earnings having been• in excess of those for any
preceding half year, whilst the working expenses have not
.been increased. It may also be observed that the present is
the last occasion on which any deduoion will have to be made
on account of balances over estimated in former years as du?,
from the post office. As mentioned in the last report, the
directors era proceeding with the preparations for working the
line with your own locomotive engines on and after the Ist of
August next. Of the twenty new goods engines contracted
for, a few have been delivered, and 'others are in a forward
state. Five new passenger engines have also been contracted for,
and 80 coke waggons. The construction of the engine sheds and
workshops at Carlisle is proceeding sati3factorily. Land has also
been provided for erecting some small engine sheds at Preston.
In accordance with the resolutions of the special general
meeting. held in January last, the bill for constructing a rail-
way from your lino near Low Gill to Ingleton, has been
introduced into Parliament, and read a second time. Your
directors have presented a petition against the new bill of the
North Western Company, being in effect much the same as
that which wet deemed so objectionable last year, and success-
fully opposed. Your directors have deemed. It to be your
interest to give encouragement to a railway from the Durham
coal fields to join your line, and have promised to recommend
that this company should enlarge their station and sidings at
the point of junction, to accommodate such traffic as may be
mu ually interchanged between the two companies, charging
the new company a fair proportion of are working expenses
only, and should enter into arrangements to facilitate the
development of the traffic of the district to be
served by such new line. Your directors have also
deemed it expedient to inform the promoters of the
Hawick and Carlisle Railway that they will roco nmend
eou to agree to subscribe £lO,OOO towards that railway,
if such subscription should be authorised by Parlia-
ment. As mentioned in the last report, your directors have
given their support to the scheme for completing the railway
communication from the northern extremity of your line to
Partpatrick ; and a bill has been introduced into Parliament
this session for the pu pose of carrying that des'rable object
into effect. But your directors regret to be under the necessity
of reporting to you that, at the suggestion of parties having
interests adverse to those of this company, the promoters of
th© Portpatrick railway have been induced to contemplate
some exclusive arrangements with those parties, and to
introduce clauses into their bill which would operate pre.
judicially to your interests. Your directors are using their beat
endeavodrs by amicable negotiation to procure the withdawal
of these objectionable arrangements and clauses so that instead
of being forced into any position of hostility, they may be justi
fed not only in supporting the new company's bill, but also in
recommending you to afford to their undertaking, if authorised
by parliament, that material aid which was referred to in
a former half yearly report on this subject. Negotiations for
an amicable arrangement with the Kendal and Windermere
Company having, on their suggestion, been recently entered
upon, and made satisfactory progress hitherto, your directors
abstain from stating the grounds on which (for your interest
and in the interest of the public) they have felt it necessary to
exercise their undoubted right of carting the Lancaster and
Carlisle goods traffic from Oxenholme Station to Kendal, to
which the Kendal and Windermere Company have so greatly
objected. The object of the Kendal and Windermere,
in the pentling negotiations, is to secure an amalgamation
of their undertaking with this Company's; and this
is proposed to be effected by means of an ar-
bitration on the basis of the relative values of the
two undertakings. Should these negotiations be (as your
direc ors trust) brought to a successful issue, your sanction to
them will be sought in due time. Occurrences of public
notoriety have caused your directors to institute a full and
minute enquiry into the system of transfer and registration of
shares in your company. Ono of the checks all along adopted
by this company has been to prepare an account prior to each
half-yearly meeting, pointing out the number of shares of each
denomination held by each shareholder, and the amount due
for dividend thereon respectively, and showing on one side the
total number of shares issued, and on the other the total
amount of dividend declared ; and copies of this account were
seat to the bankers to enable them thereby to check the
dividend warrants. This at'rangement is well calculated to
prevent one description of fraud which has been practised. hut
your directors have thought it advisable to make some further
regulations and to adopt some further checks and precautions,
with a view to still greater security in a matter of such import-
ance.

The Chairman moved the adoption of the report,
stating that his observations to-day would be very short,
because when a line was in a flourishing state, the
chairman had not much to say. They would, no doubt,
all concur in his hope that the steady prosperity of the
line might continue. The first item in the report stated
that the gross revenue of the last half year. had been in
excess of the gross reveuue of any former half year.
That was so, and it was a very satisfactory state of things.
It showed that the traffic arrangements into which they
had entered with other companies had been anything
but injurious to the interests of this company. The
working expenses had not increased, being only 38 per
cent on the gross amount of traffic, a sum not at all high
when compared with the working expens-s of other
companies. He nex referred to the contract with the
London and Ndrth Western Company for working the
line, stating it had always been his opinion, that the
contract with the London and North Western was a good
one. The contract would soon cease, and be could only
hope, that when thy worked the line themselves, at the
expiration of that contract, they would do it as cheaply
as the London and North Western Company had worked
it for them. He did not wish 'o allude to the different
bills now before Parliament, but there were certain bills
affecting very much the interests of this company, and
all he would say, was, that they would watch those bills
with the greatest attention. Considerable expenses had
been incurred in the contest with the Little North Western
Company during the last session of Parliament. A bill
was brought in by that company, which, had it been
sanctioned, would very seriously have affected the
interests of this company. That bill was defeated, but
not without incurring a very considerable expense to
this company. The amount incurred was £3,200. After
con-iteration, the directors t bought that it was advisable
to charge that sum to capital, and not against the
revenue, of the past half year, because the expenses were
Incurred in defending the permanent interests of this
company. If, however, the shareholders thought that it
ought to be charged to revenue, and the dividend be
reduced to that sum, they could say so With regard to
the differences they had had with the Kendal and Win-
dermere Company, he was glad to say that they were
likely to bring the contest wiih that company to a close,
and that there was little doubt of an arrangement being
made which would tend to the- advantage of both coin
ponies. (Hear, hear.) He concluded by moving the
adoption of ihe report.
Henry Howard, Esq., of Greystock Cistle, the deputy
chairman, seconded the motion, but expressed himself
strongly opposed to the proposal of the rest of the
Jirect'rs, to subscribe £lO,OOO to the projected Hayrick
an i Carlisle line.
Mr. Crossfield, in a speech of some length, urged that
the parliamentary expenses of last session be charged to
revenue and not to capital. He moved an amendment
to that effect.
The amendment having been seconded, some discus-
sion upon it took place, and it was ultimately rejected.
Mr. Gillow expressed his confident belief that the
company would be able to find tlocomotive power upon
more favourable terms than they had hitherto paid to the
London and North Western Company, under the contract
- .„
eenk The report was eventually passed.
Saunders next asked tho chairman, if the
'4 the proposal he made at the last
'--ts of the company held in

With, .

•he result was,
^tings

Mr. W. n.
board had considero—
, meeting, to have the meet,..,
other ptn,ces than Liverpool ?
The Chairman replied that they bad, anti
the directors thought it ad v'sable to continue the
in Liverpool) on the ground that a great number of the
shareholders resid€d in Liverpool. and the southern
division of the county, and it therefore appeared to the
board that Liverpool was the best place in, which to bold
the meetings.
After some further discussion the proceedings ter-
minated.

STATUE OP NAPOLEON AT MILAN.— The Emperor of
Austria has.ordered the well known statue of Napoleon 1.,
the work of Canova, to be placed in the new public park at
Milan,