The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-01 00:00:00

Railway and Other Companies.

EAST INDIAN.
The half-yearly meeting of this company was
held yesterday at the London Tavern—Mr. R. W.
Crewford, M.P., in the chair.
Mr NOAD, the secretary, having read the notice
convening the meeting, the report was taken as
read.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the
report, said he trusted they would consider it very
satisfactory. The line was now opened from Cal-
cutta to Delhi, with the exception of the bridge
over the alumna at*llahabad and the bridge over
the same river near Delhi, which latter bridge had
not yet been sanctioned. Any passenger could now
be conveyed from Calcutta to Delhi or vice versa,
and goods could be sent over the railway. The line
was 1,016 miles in length, and he believed it was
the longest line possessed and worked by one corn.
pany. As for traffic, he thoug'it they had no reason
to be dissatisfied with it. They had had a very
steady increase in the passenger and goods traffic,
an increase in the receipts, and a diminution of ex-
penses. Whatever might be the amount of the re-
ceipts, it would not do what was requisite unless
the line was worked with economy. The directors
_ .
ha

—d given their attention to this matter with a view
,hat economy should be exercised in working the
_ine from one end to the other. The expenditure
was under the constant review of members of the
Board. Their system of audit in India enabled them
to see bow the business was conducted, to check
any portion of the expenditure, and keep it within
reasonable bounds. The progress of the works was
now chiefly confined to finishing up the works in
hand. With regard to theJubbulpore line,the works
on it were progressing to the satisfaction of the
engineer. The works were proceeding rapidly,
and he hoped they would be able to perfeet that
part of their system without the risk of disappoint-
ment, There only remained the short line, which
would have to be brought under the consideration
of the shareholders. It was proposed to start from
the main line at a point beyond Raneegunge to the
main line again near Luckserai. This was consi-
dered a preferable line to construct, as it would be
shorter than the main line between these points
and save the expense of doubling it for that dis-
tance. But, in addition to that, the power of obtain.
ing an ample supply of excellent coal at a cheap
rate, which the chord line would give them, was a
consideration of great importance to the company.
The country through which the line intended to pass
had been examined in various directions, and one
line in particular had been selected, but the dine
company
any
to for
raise their
additional
tore had received no official information about it.
When they received the necessary plans the direct-
s The b
:
would
°lilci come
tthe shareholders
authorisingthe p
capital received the Royal assent last session, but
the directors would not exercise any of these powers
without the assent of the proprietors, He would
ask them to sanction the raising of £1,200,000,
which would be necessary for the completion of the
Jubbulpore line. As to perfecting the main lice
and stations, the directors were not satisfied with
the estimates they had received es to the cost of
these works. Some three or four years ago an esti-
mate of the cost of those works had been made out,
but it differed so much in amount from the recent
estimate that the directors had sent for Mr. Power,
the engineer, to explain those matters to the Board
in London. They hoped that something useful and
satisfactory would be ascertained with regard to
those proposed works. A statement had appeared
in some of the newspapers respecting the proposed
construction of a bridge across the Hooghly from
the present terminus of the line at Howrah, with a
view to carry the railway into Calcutta. All he
could say was that they had not entered into any
arrangement of the kind, and they knew nothing
about it. There was no intention on the part of I
the Board of calling for any more money
until they ascertained from their officers what would
be absolutely required for the completion of the
works. Something had been said about closing the
capital account, and it had been said by the govern-
ing body that the •
capital account should be closed
at a certain Bum, but, however desirable, they did
not see at present how that was to be done.
There had been a consultation with the represen-
tatives of the railway companies on the subject
of revenue and capital accounts ; and it was
understood that
a principle would be adopted for
deciding those matters hereafter between each com-
pany and the Secretary of State. A circular from
the Archdeacon of Calcutta
had been forwarded, at
his request, to
the subject of ed •
ucation and religious instruction,
and the result has been a subscription of between
£7,000 and £B,OOO. The directors had
taken no
further part in it than
to forward the circulars with
the dividend warrants • •
to individual shareholders,
but they had no power as a company to subscribe
money for that purpose. He would be happy to
answer any questions.
Mr BAXENDALE seconded the motion for the
adoption of the report.
Mr MonGaie
wished to know the amount of capi-
tal which the company had expended up to the pre•
sent time, the amount advanced unt advanced by the Government
as interest on the £23,000,000
the company had
already paid up, and how much more would be
required for additional works before the capi.
tal account could be closed. He believed, if
they were to go on expend-
mg capital, that before
the debt due to the Government on interest account
could be repaid every one present would be in the
grave. He thought it very necessary for them to
go to the Government as a body of shareholders
and represent their case. They had a former claim
on the Government for losses
during the mutiny.
They had no doubt worked the railway economi-
cally, and if the fares were too low, as he thought
they were. they ought to have power to raise them
to a certain maximum amount. He did
not
want
to disturb things, but, as he and others held a stake
in the undertaking, he thought they
satisfied with 5 per cent. They should be allowed
to develope the traffic, exercise economy, and carry
on that great undertaking as a commercial enter-
prise. (Cheers.) They should not run express
trains at 30 miles an hour over the 1,000 miles, nor
carry less than full trainloads of merchandise.
The CHAIRMAN said the amount of capital ex-
pended to the present time was about £22,000,000,
and the amount of capital not having yet passed the
final audit by the Government authorities was about
£4,000,000. The audit was completed up to March
last year. It was because they did not like file
delay of the Government audit that the directors
had initiated and adopted, with the sanction of the
Government, their present very efficient system of
audit, which gave them the power of controlling
the expenditure. The receipts were paid into the
Government Treasury, and no money was paid out
without the sanction of the Government. Up to
the 30th of June last the Government had paid to
the company in the shape of interest on capital
£6,136,854, and they had received back from the
company £1,890,000 as profits on working the rail.
way, leaving a balance of £4,246,586 against the
company, which was to be repaid out of half the
, surplus profits above 5 per cent, He did not ens