The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-17 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

NAMUR AND LIEGE---MONS AND MANGO.
A meeting of original shareholders- in this company
was held at the George and Vulture Tavern yesterday,
for the purpose of taking into consideration the proceed-
ings already adopted in reference to the claim of the said
shareholders to the sum of 21. per share for arrears of
interest which they maintain has accrued to them under
the statutes of the cotnprny ; and also to consider the
question of the preference shares, as viewed by eminent
Belgian jurists, and Whether any'and what further pro-
cee4inge should :he:adopted in 'refatioit. thereto. The
a"civertisernent convening the meeting was signed by
Messrs. Barro%e, ;Boyer, Sanders, Elliott, Cartwright,
Warner, Gob‘At, M. Martha, M. Leclercq, M. Lengram,
Mr. Jephso:a, and Mr. Jones.
Mr. Joriav BowTErt, of Chesterfield, consented to take
the chair, and the proceedings will be more conveniently
recorded, by a brief summary of the subject under dis-
cussion_
The, fiat question dealt with by the meeting related to
the payment of the back interest due on the original
shares. The arrears claimed are due for interest under,
a.nd in accordance with, the statutes of the company,
which authorise the payment ; and the subject was more
especially discussed at the time of the transfer of the line
to the Great Northern of France fora fixed sum of money,
which was to cover the "debts" of the company. At
the time of the completion of the arrangements, however,
it was for the first time communicated to the original
shareholders that the " consideration" money was indeed
sufficient to cover the "debt," of the company, but that
the 21. arrear of interest claimed by the original share-
holders was not admitted as a debt of the company, and
was not, therefore, included in the sum to be paid by the
Great Northern. of France. A small balance equal to
about 4f. or st. was, however, offered to the shareholdeis,
upon signing a receipt "in full discharge of arrears of
interest." The transaction was regarded at the time as
a manifest violation of the express understanding between
the directors and the shareholders ; and the gentlemen
whose names we have given above as signing the
advertisement convening the meeting of yesterday,
felt it to be their duty to take the opinion of Bel-
gian jurists on the subject, and accordingly Mr.
Jones, who resides at Brussels, submitted the case to
M. Niessen and M. Bastoine, both advocates of the
Cours d'Appel, in Belgium, and these gentlemen ex-
press themselves unequivocally in favour of the share-
holders' claim. They consider that the 21. arrear of in•
terest constitute "a debt" of the company, which ought
to be liquidated before any distribution of dividend.
They argue that the statutes allow such interest, and
that certain shareholders having received the same, the
equality which, according to law, ought to exist amongst
r,Jartners, requires that the other shareholders should also
receive it. It is also maintained that it was an interest
which the original shareholders who subscribed for pre-
ference shares received by the deduction of the 21., re-
ceiving the 201. shares for 181. The conclusion arrived
at is, therefore, that the claim against the capital failing
for want of funds, the arrears claimed are a first charge
against the divisible funds of the company. .
Mr. JONES, having read the opinions to which we have
referred, stated that he had " attached" the company's
divisible funds (about 4,0001.) in Belgium, and recom-
mended that the matter should be proceeded with by ar-
bitration under the statutes—a process which, in point
.4 time, might take six months, at a cost not exceeding
1001. If they failed to obtain the obi -ct they had in
view by this process the Cour d'Appel would still be
open to them.

After some discussion, a resolution was passed declar-
ing the opinion of the meeting in support of their legal
claim "of 2& arrear of interest, and a further resolution
appointing Mr. Field, Major Way, Mr. Barrow, Mr.
Jones, and Mr. M'George, a committee to continue the
proceedings already commenced, and with fuil power to
take such other steps as they may consider advisable,
tnd to suspend or otherwise regulate proceedings accord.
ing as they may judge best for the interests of the
company.

A.-sul;seription of 6d. a share was also determined
I pon, and was signed in the room to the extent of 1,500
.r 1,600 shares.

By the terms of the advertisement it was proposed to
take into consideration the question of the preference
~tiares ; but upon the subject being brought on for dis-
cussion, the general feeling amongst the shareholders
.resent appeared to be that the present movement should
be regarded as entirely free from any charge of repudia-
don or the like, and accordingly no resolution was
:aken upon the 'natter.

Very severe strictures were generally passed upon the
.nanagernent, and in reference to the anomalous position
)f certain parties in the direction ; and a requisition was
drawn up calling upon the directors to convene a special
tneeting to consider the affairs of the company. Holders
if about 2,000 shares signed this document, but as the
3,600 shares were required (or one-tenth of the capital,
)reference and original), the co-operation of other pro-
prietors is requested.
It appears that the share capital of the company con-
-lists of about 25,690 original shares and 10,000 prefer-
rießasruse of 21. 2n/o. areless claim,tha n
e,nce. The number of shares, in respect of which the
ar
at
The meeting terminated with a vote of thanks to the
e3d4,0i300117:,000, so that the amount
chairman and the committee for their valuable services.