The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-09-08 00:00:00

BRIMS!! IRON COMPANY.

Yesterday • Meeting of the Shareholders in the above Company
was held at the City of London Tavern, for the purpose of Freely.
ing the Report of the Co.ninittee appointed to investigate their
Atm*, for the purpose also of conferring on the state of their affairs
generally, and to consider as to the propriety of altering a certain
clans.. in the deed of settlement.

At one o'clock precisely the Diree.oro entered the room. and
Sfox, E.q. took the Choir, and ordered the minutes of the last
er ng to be read.

A SIIIIAREIIOLDER requested to be informed. previous to she
niinutes of the lam Meeting being read, whether the Report f
the Public Press had been rdniittell.
The CHAIRMAN replied in the affirmative.
Mr. TATI.OR inquired how it wa. that 3lr. Wm. Clark Irma not
admitted to be a Shareholder, having purchased the scrip of the
Company in the public market.
The ( HAIRMAN said that the Directors held a distretionary
power,accotding to the deed of settlenievt, of sanctionirg any trans-
fer of stock.

Mr. TAY Loa said he thought Mr. Clark ought to be admitted to
the roam, and he would take the sense of the Proprietor's whether
or not he 'should be admitted.

Howler NO said, that if an individual was dis.inguished for
being of a prying tint, skims. th•.t was perhaps the very reason wny
he ought to be ad, )) tt et, ; but as the Directors hid the discretion,
according to the deed of settlement, of excluding whom they
though, proper, he thuaght the motion could not be entertained by
the :Sleeting.
Mr. TAYLOR said that he would not give un his motion.
A SHAREHOLDER said that no motion of the sort could be en.
tertained. Mr. Taylor might frame his nicnion as a recommenda-
tion to the Directors to admit Mr. Clark, and then it would be per.
reedy regular.
Mr. TAYLOR—If my conduct be correct, what care I who at-
tends the Meeting ? (Cheers.)
A DIREETost said that the Directors had exercised a Round dis.
cretion in rejecting Mr. Clark, who had been troublesome in other
Companies by his inquiries. Unless they altered the deed of set.
dement. the motion could not be put to the Meeting.
A SitARFIIM.DIER said they had better give up the bovines! at
once, if they were not to be permitted to go the length of ore►ingg a
recommendation to the Directors. lie knew nutlibtg of Mr.
Clark. but he never knew such a reason given for the exclusion of
an individual as because lie came into the Company for the purpose
of investigation. (Cheers.)
A SHAREHOLDER said, that his admission would be shad tram.
pliment to the Committee, who had been appointed for the purpose
of investigation. (Cries of •• No. no.")
A SHAREtioLDER then moved, That it he recommended to
the Directors to approve of Mr. Clark, and that he be accordingly
now admi•ted."

To this an amendment was moved to the effect that the Meeting
should proceed to the business of the day.
The amendment was then put and carried, and Mr. Clark was
therefore not admitted to the 3laeting.
‘IesCIIET, the Chairman of the Committee, then read the
Report of the Committee to the Mee.ing, which stated that a most
extravagant purchase had been nude of the Aberrychan property,
front alr. Atwood. That gentleman required that Mr. Philip
Taylor. who had been sent down by the Directors as superintendent
of their concerns. should make no inquiries as to the property, ex-
cept from himself or his agenu, to which Mr. Taylor most injudi-
ciously assented. The consequence was, the property was purchased
at an immensely overrated mine, and it was tolerably clear that
Mr. Atwood's intentions were frauttilent. A snit in equity had
hi en preferred against him in order to recover 22.5,900 f., which had
been paid on account of :MAO/ , which was the yu case money
erg e:d upon. The Committee, however, recommended to the pro-
prietors to refrain from entering into the particulars ..1 that tranue-
tion, until the suit in equity shall be decided. A gentleman had
been sent down by the Committee, and he thought the management
had hither.o been imprudent. The Committee also complained
that tk, y were unable to obtain plans of the works. The gentle.
man who ta they hal sent down est.maied the val. e of Aberystwitlt
at 3:.0001. It had cost the Company 72,11O1(. (Cries of shame,
shame.) The Report went on to say that although the Com-
mittee could rot congratulate the Proprietors upon the state
of their affairs, yet they sue no reason to despair. There
ant been a fall in every species of proaerty, and of course
it was to be expected that the property of the Company
'oust experience a similar depression. The operations of the Com-
pany had been too extensive, and too expensive also, and it appeared
to the Committee that a want of experience on the part of the Dime.
tors, as to mineral property,compelled them to rely upon others, and
thr y were unfortunate in those upon whom they had relied. The
Committee therefore recomended the introduction to the Directory
of one person acquainted wilt mineral property, and they also re-
commended monthly meetings of the Proprietors, and quartet ly
audi s of their affairs, and that instead of a Managing Director with
a salary of 20901. per annum, and 6001. per annum travelling ex-
Isamu, another person might be chosen at a smaller salary. They
re omm ntletl, in addition,thar steps should be taken to reduce every
branch of the expenditure, which reform could not fail to give the
Pro, factors confidence in the state of their affairs. They further
recommended calls to be made to the amount of 101. per share, in
quarterly payments of 'N. 104. per share, and at the same time ex-
pressed an opinion that it' the suit against M. Atwood should be
brought to a inertly taminat ion, sone of those calls would he un-
necessary. If the Proprietors do not come forward, their property
must be sacrificed ; but if they did come forward their concerns
niight yet flourish, if attended to with the same degree of skill and
economy that is adopted in the concerns of a private individual ;
though even in that case they could not hope for a dividend in less
than two years' time.
A SHAREHOLDER said, that before proceeding further, they
ought to pus a vote of thanks to the Committee for the labour they
had undergone in preparing so able a Report for the meeting.
M-. Sittuas said that the Report of the Committee bore rather
hard on the Managing Directors: but the Meeting ought to be
aware that Mr. Taylor was chosen by the Din elms at large. The
Managing Directors were certainly to blame; but for his own part,
as soon as he had heard of the misrepresentations which had been
made use of by Mr. Atwood or his agents, he protested against the
purchase.
Mr. PHILIP TAYLOR begged to be heard, as the Report of
the Committee clearly affected himself, both as regarded his judg.
meet and his integrity. He had not seen the Report, and could
not therefore be expected to go into details, in explanation. He
could assure the meeting, however, that with regard to the ex-
penses at Congreve's property aid Aberystwith, which had been
attended to by himself, they were as low as possible • and although
the property was not at present so valuable as it had been in 1823. yet,
upon investigation, they would find that the money had been fairly,
honestly, and judiciously expended. He regretted that some
member of the Committee had not gone down, as lie had proposed
to them, and examined personally into the expenditure. lie was
still a oinked that the properties in South Wales were of a good
description. He was aware that the temper of the times was not to
praise, but he felt convinced that a time would come when he
would get credit for what he had done with respeet to that property.
The circumstances in which he had been involved had prevented
him from performing the work in the manner he could wish to
have done it ; but dragged as he hai been into matters which,
with a due regard to his character, he ought never to have under.
taken, he had been unable to give the plans or estimates required
by the Committee. He had got credit with the persons connected
with the iron trade in Wales for the manner In which he had con.
ducted the affairs of that Company.
A SHAREHOLDER—Ay, for destroying it.
Mr. TAYLOR said he courted the most minute inquiry into the
plans and the expenditure.
A SHAREHOLDER said, that there was not the slightest impu.
lotion upon his judgment in the expenditure upon the estate, but
upon his integrity in giving 55.5.0001. for the property itself, which
was not worth a fourth of the money ; and if he would confine
himself to that, he would save much of the time of the Meeting.
(Hear, hear.)
The CHAIRMAN acid that, by the advice of the Solicitors of the
Company, Mr. Taylor was requested to say nothing upon that point
until the suit with Mr. Atwood should hays been terminated.
Mr. P. Taaraoa said he was as deeply interested as most per.
sons present, as a considerable proportion of what had been spent
was his own money. Ile had offered those few observations to the
Meeting, lest it should be supposed that he had previously seen the
Repot t, and had nothing to say against it.
A SHAREHOLDER asked how long Mr. Ogleton had taken to
investigate the property.
Mr. Al USCHET said he could not exac ly tell ; but the Com-
mittee had pressed him with letters, entreating a speedy Report ;
to which he replied, that he would not commit his character in
such an important affair by making a hurried Report. (Ilur.)
The same SHAREHOLDER said he understood that Mr. Ogleton
had been recommended to the Committee by the iron-masters of
South Wales.

Mr. MuscirET said he had been
master in South Wales.

by an iron.

The same SHAREHOLDER then continued, that most likely
that iron-master was no very warm friend to the Company; and
iet the Committee, on his bare request, had put themselves
nto the hands of a person of his recommendation. The Meeting
ought to know the data upon which he founded his calculations, or
else his opinion should just go for nothing. Some one or two of
the Committee ought to have gone down themselves.
Mr. MtrsexET said, that out of the nine individuals composing
the Committee not one of them were competent to value such pro-
perty. They had no authority to go; and it would therefore have
been imprudent and forward in them to have done so, not being
possessed of the requisite judgment to render such a journey avail-
able. (Cheers.)
A motion was then made to print and send round a copy of the
Report of the Committee to each Shareholder, prior to taking any
steps, in order that they might have an opportunity of taking it
into their co9sidcration.
Mr.'llow IN° observed, that agreeing to the motion did not at
all pledge the Meeting as to the facts contained in the Report.
A SHAREHOLDER suggested that Mr. P. Taylor should be
allowed to give any statement he thought proper within fourteen
days ; and that it should also be printed, and sent round with the
Report.
A GENTLEKAw, who said he was a barrister, thought it was
most sbsurd to involve the Company in a Chancery suit with Mr.
Atwood, when the matter in dispute might be as easily determin-
able in a Court of law, where it would be decided in six month.,
whereas in a court of equity it might be kept pending until three-
fourths of that meeting were in their graves.
The CHAIRMAN said thy had taken the advice of eminent legal
gentlemen, who were of opinion that they must succeed. It was
not a Chancery suit against Mr. /Vinod. The cause was in the
Court of Exchequer.