The Sun.
London, England, 1855-02-16 00:00:00

GREAT WESTERN.

•
The thirty-ninCh half-yearly general meeting of the Great
Western Railway Company was held at the Paddington sta-
tion yesterday. There was a large attendance of shareholders.
The chair was taken by Mr. Charles Russell, the chairman
of the company-,
The usual formal proceedings having been gone through,
The. CHAIRMAN said it would have been observed from the
accounts that it was not proposed to declare a dividend larger
than that which was paid during the last half-year. The
company had suffered in its revenue from the war and the
high price of provisions and other necessaries of life, which
had diminished railway travelling and trade, so that the re-
ceipts for the last half-year only very slightly exceeded the
receipts of the last half-year of 1853. At the same time
there had been made against the revenue several very heavy
charges, which were wholly of a temporary and transient
nature. Amongst these charges was 27,000/. for defi-
ciency, arising from the amalgamation with the Shrewsbury,
lines, ordered by a resolution passed at the last meeting
to be charged against the revenue of the half-year in which it
occurred. During the present year such an iMprove-
ment had taken place in the tra is on these lines, that
there was good reason to hope that this deficiency would
shortly entirely
4,2301., resulting from the union with the South Wales Rail-
disappear. Another charge was the loss of
way. Another charge, amounting to 7,7501., arose from the
reduction made by a very stringent award in the remunera-
tion for the mail service on which the directors had calculated.
Only one instalment of the claim remain to be settled, and
this charge would, he hoped, soon be obliterated. These
charges against the revenue of the half-year amounted alto-
gether to 47,000/. ; but the diiectors had the satisfaction of
knowing that they were in process of certain, rapid, and early
extinction. The interest ui ou the cost of construction of the
Birmingham and Oxford 'Railway, and of the Birmingham,
Wolverhampten, and Dudley Railway, had, from the dates of
their opening, been charged against revenue altogether. On
these lines there was yet no goods traffic, and the passenger
traffic could not be completely developed until this company
had -obtained a certain and continuous communication with
the north. By the completion of the latter of these railways,
and the amalgamation with the Shrewsbury companies, much
progress had been made towards the completion of this com-
munication. For its further promotion the directors were
negotiating an arrangement with tho Birkenhead line,
which would be submitted to the proprietors of this railway
at a special meeting, to be hold for the purpose in March
next. The difficulties which had occurred in connection with
the Wilts, Somerset, and Weymouth Railway, with which
the old proprietors were all familiar, and similar difficulties
in the north, had greatly increased the cast both of the
northern railways belonging to this company, and of that
line, and had imposed upon this company the necessity of
taking powers for the raising of additional capital. Had it
been a matter of choice, this was not the time which the di-
rectors would have chosen for such an operation; but it was
a matter of necessity, and they had no option. Although it
was necessary to take power for the whole amount at once,
it did not follow that the stock would all be issued it the
same time. The directors would issue it in such amounts,
and at such times, as should be most advantageous. The sum
proposed to be raised would enable them not only to complete
the Wilts, Somerset, and Weymouth Railway, but also to
lay down a mixed gauge between Oxford and Basingstoke,
which they were under Parliamentary obligations to do to
complete the Paddington station, and to increase, as
it was absolutely necessary they should increase, their
station accommodation on the line to Bristol, and as far north
as Wolverhampton. With the completion of the Wilts, So-
merset, and Weymouth Railway, they would have finished
all the works to which they were pledged, and have got
through all those difficulties with which they had been
struggling for the last .eight or ten years. They should have
secured their territorial position, done much to protect their
western traffic, created a new traffic in the north, and have
opened communication with the ports of Southampton, Wey-
mouth, Plymouth, Falmouth, Bristol, Liverpool, Milford
Haven, and Birkenhead. He (the Chairman) had always
been of opinion, and had always expressed that opinion, that
the time when they opened their northern lines and the
Wilts, bomerset, and Weymouth lines would be a time of
trial. They were now suffering from that pressure, and must
for some time continue under it ; but when they had passed
this difficult period, was it being too sanguine to hope
that they would then derive a large accession of traffic

from these sources ? Within the last few weeks the
directors had been engaged in remodelling their traffic ar-
rangements. They had secured the services of a very able
and experienced traffic manager, Mr. Newcombe, who had
entered upon the management of the northern district with
the amplest possible powers. They had made similar ar-
rangements in regard to the metropolitan and western dis-
tricts, and he hoped that they had thus provided the means
of a vigorous and energetic administration of the goods traffic.
The most promising circumstance was the friendly relations
which had recently been established between the London and
North-Western Company and this one. (Applause.) The
object of the arrangement which had been made was simply
to provide that the charges of both companies should be mo-
derate and reasonable, but remunerative, and that a stop
should be put to the spirit of reckless competition, which
ruined shareholders, and was, he believed, prejudicial to the
interests of the public, by rendering it impossible that com-
panies which were rash enough to act upon such a principle
should conduct their lines with efficiency or safety. To these
principals the directors of the company could have no hesita-
tion in giving their adhesion, because on them they had
always endeavoured to act. They never retaliated upon the
South-Eastern for obtaining, by means of extravagantly low
charges, some of their traffic from Reading, nor had they at
points where they had come into collision with the London and
~..orth-Western endeavoured to divert traffic from the
of thet company 'by extremely low rates. -)-tai....44Chear4
There never was a time at which they would not have entered

into an arrangement with the London and North-Western
Company upon these terms. The arrangement which had
been made between the two companies was in his opinion cal-
culated, if carried out in a judicious and considerate manner,
to prove not only advantageous to the great body of railway
proprietors, but also consistent with the soundest principles
of commercial economy, and conducive to the attainment of
most just and most rational objects of public policy.
The SECRETARY read the report, of which the following are
the essential parts :—" An analysis of the traffic manifests an
unusual stagnation during the last few months in railway
business of every description, the income from eaLh section of
those railways which have been long opened for public use
proving in 1854 to be nearly identical in amount with that of
the corresponding half-year in 1853. During the half-year,
29 additional miles of railway had been completed ; and
although the time has been short, and the disadvantages
great under which they have been opened for traffic, there
are satisfactory indications of prospective benefits from them.
The Wycombe Railway, of 9i miles, was opened on the
let August for the conveyance both of passengers and

goods. - The lladstoke branch, of 8 miles, was opened,
for the transmission of coals only, on the 14th Novem-

ber ; the Birmingham, Wolveihampton' and Dudley
Railway, of O miles, from Birmingham to Priestfield, and
the railway of 1 miles beyond Wolverhampton to the junc-
tion with the Shrewsbury line, were opened for passengers on
the same day. It is already known to many of those inte-
rested in the prosperity of the Shrewsbury lines, and with
much satisfaction, that the ruinous annihilation of all profits
in respect of those railways, so long existing, has terminated
since those undertakings have become the property of the
Great Western Company, by mutual agreement with the
London and North-Western Railway Company ; and that
the' competition for traffic is for the future to be carried on
at moderate but remunerative rates -the only method, as
your directors have always represented, which, in their opi-
nion, is calculated to insure both to the public and the pro-
prietors the substantial benefits of a fair and enduring rivalry
between two independent systems. It will be perceived from
the accounts that, as anticipated under the circumstances so
fully explained at the last meeting, your revenue is still en.
cumbered with a heavy.loss for those undertakings. In or-
der to secure the economical and harmonious transaction of
business over every portion of those continuous lines, it has
been deemed expedient to undertake the working and man-
agement of the Birkenhead lines, extending in one direction
from Chester to Birkenhead, a distance of 16 miles, and in
the other direction to Walton, near Warrington, a distance
of 17 miles towards Manchester. The principles upon which
that arrangement has been based are to secure to the Birken-
head lines all the traffic which shall pass over your rail-
ways, and to give to them the entire profit from every
source of their revenue ; the Great Western Company
being satisfied to undertake the expenses of conveying and
managing the traffic, at a very low percentage, in order to
prevent interruption to their business by want of uniformity
of system, or by obstructive misunderstandings and disputes.
The Birkenhead Company are to have secured to them a
minimum amount of gross receipts, with a definite increase
as already explained in the circular; and the Great Western
Company are to have the option within five years of taking
the lines on a perpetual lease at a fixed annual rental. The
directors recommend this arrangement for the sanction and
approval of the special general meeting. The lease of the
Cornwall Railway conjointly to the Great Western, Bristol and
Exeter, and South Devon Companies, under the powers of an
existing act of Parliament, has been suggested as the best
means which can be afforded to that company for raising
money to insure the completion of their undertaking, and
primarily of that portion of it between Plymouth and Truro.

It will be remembered that a mandamus from the Court
of Queen's Bench rendered the completion of a railway be-
tween Bradford and Bathampton obligatory upon the
company, and that legal proceedings, having a similar ob-
ject in respect of other lines, were only suspended upon an
undertaking from this company to apply to Parliament
for extending their power to raise additional capital, and for
a prolonged time to construct other portions of the Wilts,
Somerset, and Weymouth Railway. Resolutions of the
proprietors, from time to time, confirmed those proceedings ;
and the act to raise the additional capital and extend the
period for making the lines (which was submitted specially
for approval at a meeting of the company) received the royal
assent daring the last session. The time has now arrived
when the exercise of those powers must take place. The cir-
cular with the accounts has described the position and extent
of the additional lines of railway which will be thereby
brought into operation, and ,it may be mentioned that the
moneys to be raised by this creation of shares, together with
the balance in the hands of the company, will enable the di-
rectors to complete all the expenditure to which the proprie.
tors are pledged, by Parliamentary enactment, for new lines
or works connected therewith. The repayment of advances
already made from capital, in respect of the Wilts; Somerset,
and Weymouth Railway, by means of the said creation, will
cover the further cost of the Paddington station, which is
estimated at 150,0001., as well as of laying additional rails and
sidings of th 6 narrow gauge between Oxford and Basing.
stoke, and will complete the various improvements and ac.
commodations contemplated on every portion of the Great
Western lines as now opened up to Wolverhampton. The
only other augmentation to be made by the vote of proprie-
tors, will be for additional locomotive stock, needful for
the new lines referred to, as well as for an increasing demand
of plant over the Great Western and South Wales Rail Ways.
These requirements for new rolling stock will not be less
than the sum of 150,0001. over and above the sum which
has been expended, and which already shows an excess of
nearly 106,000/. over previous votes. Under the provisions
of the Amalgamation Act, 1854, she directors were added to
the Great Western Board ; one of that number being nomi-
nated by Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, Bart., M.P., of his
own right, in virtue of a privilege conferred upon him by the
Shrewsbury and Chester Act, the other five being selected by
the two Shrewsbury boards, and the whole number now con-
sists of is directors. Th.: retirement of five directors of the
united lioard takes place at the present half-yearly meeting,
when Mr. A. K. Baker, Capt. Bulkeley, Mr. J. W. Miles,
Mr, Henry Simmondss and Mr. John Williams have announced