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

BAHIA. AND SAN FRANCISCO.

come.

chair.

The half.yearly meeting of this company was held on
Friday at the London Tavern. Mr J. Samuel, chairman,
presided.
The report having been taken as read,
Tho CHAIRMAN, in moving its adoption, said that Mr
Watson, the contractor, had since the last meeting sent in a
claim to the directors for £75,000. It was true the engineer
in chief had previously intimated to the board that Mr
Watson would be entitled to about £15,000. The directors
then sent Mr Watson's claim to Mr Vignoles for his exa-
mination, and his opinion was that as there were other
things b consider he thought the £15,000 might be extended
to £20,000. At the same time he indicated that there was
an item of £47,000 for the erection of certain works, and,
among other things, for fitting up workshops, and as part
of this claim would depend on the legal interpretation of the
contract. he (Mr Vignolce) could not decide immedia'ely
upon it. The directors having received that intimation,
they thought, in the interest of the company, that it would
be undesirable to have recourse to legal proceedings and the
Court of Chancery; that if an amicable arrangement could
be come b with Mr Watson it would be preferable. They
paid Mr Watson £30,000 in full of all demands on the com-
pany, and mutual releases had been exchanged between the
company and contractor. That closed the claims against
the capital account of the company, and left them in a
satisfactory position. As regarded the traffic, it was any-
thing but satisfactory. (Hear, hear.) The proprietors

would see they had not fully earned the ad interim divi-
dend in July of lls per share, or at the rate of 2f per cent.
There was a balance of £3,033 to the debit of the account,
of which £1,200 was for income tax, which they ought to
have deducted rateably from the dividend warrants,
so that the actual deficiency on the half-year end-
ing June 30 was £1,825, or about 51 per share. If they
had paid 10s 7d per share instead of 11s the dividend would
have been at the rate of 5.3 per cent. for the year instead of
51 per cent. The prospects of the ensuing half-year were
not much more favourable than the last. He hoped that
the economy which Mr Clay had recommended would be of
permanent advantage had reduced the number of per-
sons employed on the line from 462 to 305—(hear)—and
had also :suggested very judicious measures as to the distri-
bution of stores,which would lead to some diminution of ex-
penditure ; but that could not take effect at once to the full
extent, because they had engagements to the end of the year
with English workmen. -Oa the other hand, the expense
of maintaining the way would be increased by the substitu-
tion of sew sleepers in the place of the decayed sleepers.
The decay had been more rapid than was anticipated. The
dividend for the year he estimated would be about £5 Os
per cent. (Hear.) With respect to their traffic, there were
clearances of land in the neighbourhood of the railway,
which indicated that agriculture was extending on land ad-
joining or near the railway. They were also succeeding
slowly in diverting the traffic from its original channels.
The planters were so wedded to the old routes that it was
only with the greatest difficulty that any of them could be
prevailed upon to give up those routes. At three places on
theirdigq,some vpy Aveaithy gentlemen were about farming
-business connections with the railway. The places were
Alagoinhas, Matta, and at a place near Bahia. Those
gentlemen were going to build warehouses, and had asked
the company to find the rails and requisite materials for
sidings to those warehouses, and they would find the labour.
He thought, on the whole, that their prospects were good
and favourable.

Mr T. M. IVEGuELIN, M.P., seconded the motion for the
adoption of the report.,
A long discussion ensued, in which Mr L. Cooke, Mr
G. Simpson, Mr C. Nicholson, Captain Gossett, Mr Goes,
and other shareholders took part, expressing considerable
dissatisfaction with the present position of the company,
the smallness of the traffic, and the disproportion of the
receipts to the working expenses, whereby the guaranteed
dividend paid by the Brazilian Government was reduced to
something like the rate of 51 per cent. per annum, instead
of being at the rate of 7 per cent. per annum.
The CHAIRMAN defend6d the directors, contending that
they had done everything they had promised ; they had
constructed the railway for a specified sum and had not ex-
ceeded the estimated cost. It was stated that the sleepers
had decayed more rapidly than was expected and the re-
newal of them formed a large item against revenue. The
maintenance of the way and works would, owing to the na-
ture of the climate and soil, be costly for some years to

The report was adopted.

On the motion of Mr NICHOLSON, seconded by Mr Gorz,
resolutions were unanimously passed to the effect, that a
committee of shareholders be appointed to confer with the
directors on the present position and future prospects of the
undertaking, and propose such measures in conjunction with
the Board as might seem to them desirable in the interests
of the shareholders, and to report their opinions to a future
meeting of the company, and that the committee consist of
Messrs Holloway, G. Simpson, Gocz, Morgan, and C.
Nicholson.

The proceedings concluded with a voto of thanks to the
chairman and directors.

COPIAPO EXTENSION.

The half-yearly meeting of this company Ohs Pabellon
and Chanareillo, under the law of Chili) was held on Friday
at the offices, 2, New Broad-street—Mr Holland in the

The report stated that there had been an expenditure on
the capital account, up to the 30th June last, of £200,463,
being an increase of £379. The traffic account for the year
ending the same date showed receipts to the amount of
£16,240, against the sum of £13,090 for the previous year.
The balance to the profit and loss account was now £7,463,
being an increase during the year of £3,406, after paying
£1,498 interest on eebentures, bonds, and loans.
The CHAIRMAN moved the adoption of the report, which
he said showed a satisfactory increase in the receipts of
nearly £3,200 ; and, deduc' log the increased cost of working,
there had been a positive result of £ ?,2 0 better than the
previous year. Tho increase in the traffic of the line since
the opening in 1850 had been slow, but it had been steady,
and the reports received from the manager led to the belief
that the increase would continue. The manager in Chili
informed the directors that a company who* property was
connected with this line proposed to form a new line to
mineral districts eastward, and if that were done a great
advantage would accrue to this company, as the extension
would open, it was r,ported, a Lew channel of permanent
income and benefit. The report presented was an encou
raging ono. Tb re was t positive profit of £7,400, which
ought to be in the pockets of the shareholders, and that it was
not was owing to peculiar circumstances. The share capital
of the company was but little over £76,000, while the ex-
penditure had exceeded that amount, and though the direc •
tors had authority to issue debentures to the amount of
£20,000, there remained bonds to the amount of £7,000 yet
to be issued to make up that sum. The profits had there-
fore been used in the place of the unissued debenture bonds,
and as soon as the money could he replaced with that from
the debenture bands, the earnings would be at the disposal
of the proprietors. He concluded by moving the adoption
of the report.
Mr FLETCHER seconded the motion.

Mr SURGEY expressed an opinion that the unissued
debentures might have been taken up if they had been
brought to the public notice, considering that they bore 7
per cent interest, and were well secured.
After some conversation, the report was approved, and
the direction was advised to press the debentures upon the
public as soon as the money market became easier.
A vuto of thanks to the directors concluded the pro-
ceedingi.