The Sun.
London, England, 1852-08-18 00:00:00

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commonly made use of in that room. He was Ch.. - •-•'. r:
t_
au engineer to the line. He was there simply i 00 1k7::;:-/ttl."7:r6.4:15.)
pacity as a proprietor; and until he knee, more 4.,,,„ :..?„..
loose astertions of Mr. Herapath and cf other gen t .. ..,i,V a IT _ 77+;
he would certainly prefer to tehe for granted the • -haat/a ...Leo
berate and responsible etatetrients maue by the dire: 4644 I Vr I SM:ANT
in the report nob? presented to him.—(Rear, hear.) Mr.
Herapath had said that the 'working expenses of the
Dorchester lice were 80 per cent.; but they had heard
from Mr. Reed that they were under 50 per cent.; and
they surely ought to receive such statemehes as the
asserteve. truth unless they were prepared to proveifielm false--
(Hear,
whathlefar they, he tend
fe
didl t t
no a bt
toot. Now
railwayiCowa the
it
won time
Question.)emthaeke lHe claimett'the right to
never be left to them to decide agaio--(Hear, and a
Voice—So
much the better.) Satisfies' be was that a
now,s oi
cri
n
reilway through the district would be msde, whether
this company made it or not.—(Oh.) But it was asked
why the
tended proprietors did not make the line them-
selves.—(llear.) The reason was this. They thought
that if they made the line to Salisbury they would put
29,0001. per eenurn into the pocky aof this company—
(olo—and that therefore, if they constructed the rail-
way for their own hen. fit, they would elect make it
for the benefit of the South-Westerns.—(Oh, oh.)
They asked for a four per cent. dividend upon.
the traffic over the line, because that traffic
would give the South-Westerns 29,0001. a sear upon
their main line; so teat a hhe they (the landowesees) re-
ceived the 4 per cent., they would br giving this com-
pany more than 5 per cent, upon the capital'they had
subscribed.—(Oh! oh 1) There were authorities quite ea
good as Mr. Herspath's. (Mr. Locke proceeded to quote a
pas ,st . a-e in tavour of the central scheme.) From what
atehority did they think he had read that extroct? No
otter than Mr. Herapath liiimselit—(Loud laughter.) It
was from Hera path's Railway Journal of the 29th of
January, 184;.—(Loud laughter.)
Mr. LIEHAPATH wished it to be understood that he
was the proptittor and not the editor of Iltrapath's
Journal. There were many things in it that he never
saw.—(Laughter.)
Mr. LocKE, in resuming, proceeded to combat the fear
which gentlemen had professed for the competition that
might follow. Surely the shortness of the central line
was the best reason in the world why the Great Western
should wish to keep up their fares. Personally he snould
be satisfied with either line; add one or the other they
would have. It was said that the Great Western did not
wish to move; but they had made up their minds to aci-
vance.. They were advancing.—(Cheers and cries of
"It is not true.") He would tell them that it was true.
An agent, authorised by both the companies, beet been
in the district canvas:Arita—Q-6es oi " Neuter) He
would mention ti. e name 0: Aar-. Dawson.—(Hear, hear.
Mr. iitoaellsola said there had been an attempt last.
year, whicti in,d tailed, because the country gentlemen,
tram 'ahem to much was expected, would do nothing.
ihe Great Western would do nothing unlees the central
scheme was persevered in.
Mr. LOCKE persisted in his statement; awl
Captain Motalsost said it was perfectly true. The
fact
was well knowD, and he ceuld confirm it.
Mr. LoctiE was astonished to have heard the contras
diatice, as the circumstance was well known in the dis-
trict. Be believed that the time was now or never, un-
less the SeutetWestertes were prepared to imperil their
eight or nine millions.--(Hear, hear.) Unless they ex-
erted themselves, the time would come when they would
have the broad gouge to Southampton. and then their
vast capital would most materially tuffer.—(Cries of
" Ohl") Gentlemen might fancy they knew better than
other people; but ho believed, upon his conscience,
that if they did not adopt the plant they would jeopardise
their nine millions.—(Loud cheers.)
Mr. HELPS, us a member of the committee, which had
reported last year, wished to say a few words. Doubt•
less his opinion
would not carry much weight, either
mentally or on the scoreof .
experience; but in one red
specs it ought to carry even - ti ,anofthe Hon..
I, more than that
Member for Honiton. perfectly disinterested.—
(Hear.) The Hoe. Gentlemanwas had avowed that he was
principally interested as alandowner; and though he did
not say that he (Mr. Locke)
wished to consult his in-
terests at the expense of the company's, yet he had ad-
mitted that which ought to makeh's
with distrust.—(Hear.) The H ain' Gentlemanvoeacy advocacy received
" Now or never." Why ho said so last
t said,
year. It was
his constant threat—the burden of his so Cheers.)
Mr. LOCKE-1 did not mean it as a threat.
Mr. HELPS—The burden of the Hon. Gentleman s
speech was that the line would barnacle, and if not bY
this company, by aeother. Be it so. Why did not th
others make it now?—(Hear, hear.) But the apathy
of the landowners was perfectly notorious.—(Hear,
hear.) They had talked of the contingent advantages
which the company would derive; bat that cut both
ways. Had not this company a metropolitan station
and a greater mileage; besides which, had not the agri-
culturists got their land to sell?—(Cheers.) If they
only got half what had teen made for land, it would
more than counterbalance any advantage to the company.
Mr. LOCKE said that three-fourths of the landowners
had agreed to take the agricultural price for the land,
and a great majority would take it in shares.—(Hear.)
Mr. HELPS said that was very vogue; for if the land
was near a road, they would say, " Oh, here is a
frontage; this is building lead."—(Cheers.) He (Mr.
Helps) was sick of these vaticinations of gentlemen
upon boards—they never seemed to place any bounds to
their imagination. They bud heard of Mitcham—" the
town wed suburbs of Mitcham." Why, he had lately
been there, and he was quite surprised to find what a
desolate spot it really was.—(Laughter.) Oa the as-
sumption that the company was certain to succeed the
calculation was disastrous. But what if it did not?—
(Hear, hear.) What if they went to Parliament to con-
test an opposition provoked by themselves, and failed in
it?—(llear, hear.) In this, as in all preceding similar
schemes of extensions, the proprietors were led away by
their attention being diverted from dividend. All this
was mistaken policy. Their business was to cultivate
the opportunities they had got, and to risk nothing. An
ancient maxim was, '` Spartans nactus co, hanc arna i"
but the maxim of the directors of the South-Western.
was the very opposite, and, as their dividend showed,.
with the worst results.—(gear, hear.) He hoped that
the preposition would be met on this occasion with a di-
rect negative.
Mr. Dicaatesoar begged to apologise for the hasty con-
tradiction ho had given to Mr. Locke—(Hear, hear)—
but he had offered that contradiction in consequence of
having received assurances from the highest authority in
the Great Western that they did not intend to take any
proceedings they could avoid south of their present line.
Mr. REED (a director) said that he did not perceive
the justice of the taunt thrown out, that the directors
were not acting like men of business, in abstaining to
describe the process to which they would resort for the
purpose of raising the capital required. To do so would
be absurd, since every thing would depend, when the

timo came, upon the state of the money market; and
therefore, as a man of business, ho stood godfa.'her to
that error, as some gentlemen supposed it to be. Gentle-
men had spoken as if the directors had pledged them-
selves to adopt the extension. They had not determined
on it at all; they were only determined on getting at all
the facts of the case, laying all th&e kits before the
proprietors, and throwing the whole responsibility
on the proprietors.—(llear, hear.) There were two in-
terests in that room; and it could not be proved
that the directors had ever uedertakcn an extension for
their own advantage. In this case the directors wreore.
1 venue showing that they were alive to the interests of iliepre_
jeopardised—the very
perty. They saw their property endanger their
energe-
-and under such circumstances they
were guard, and
tically doing their duty by standing
'3l'
Doubts had beau
preparing for defence.—(Hear, hear.)
the
e
work done for
thrown on the probability y,attacked.
of getting
were responsible
the amount named; but the eontr:ebad
been worked out
marrow oft he loinni
men, and the South-Western leitiiir,
tear..
) It was a,
if
by contracts.—ca.
t down their tariff, if
gested that Parliament would But parliament had not
they went for this extension.
sent, and Parliament would
the power against their seeing that their
not desire such an unjust only to make a moderate
. . fares enabled themguarantee. Guarantee was
existing s to the
dividend. Then, a
word, no doubt.—(Hear, hear.) No
uncomfortable s pressed hardly on many.
an
aO3 of Oa. . h-
doubt the AY---, with trifling exceptions, the South
railways' ,:d"',,taered clear of guarantees.—(A Pro-
Western .",,,,,t begin 'em, then.") If that was a
a "--- board of directors, for the
to the
prietor.,
belonged
They didn't
merit it
h,, never proposed the system.
board --c1 This was no guarantee at all: and the
e it now,
prOP°s
ws would it be so considered in the City? It was
tesf,', 5.."...
ferential dividead.—(Laughter.) If no profit
"11 "iarte 4 per cent. would not be payable; but if there
arose -----
id at! profi the refits on
extension
itself, then it would
6aou
(he payable to the landowners instead of to the
South-
western proprietary.
He did not argue the advantage
of the extension from the possibility or probability of it
being itself profitable. Ile might admit that it would
be a loss to the whole company. But, apart from all
other arguments, he maintained that the extension was.
necessary to secure to them that which they already pos-
sessed.—(Lloar, hear.)
Mr. DICKENSON here suggested that, as it was near
six o'clock, the meeting should be adjourned.—(Cries of
" Yes, yes, adjourn.")
Mr. MALINS supported the proposition of the direc-
tors, and asked the Chairman, as the point was of im-
portance in the consideration of the general question,
what was the position of the Basingstoke and Salisbury?
The CZ/MIKAN had received that morning a letter
from Mr. Coles, the Member for Andover and chairman
of the company formed to connect the line from Basing-
stoke to Salisbury, upon this subject, in which he strei
that it was the intention of thecompany to carry outhto is-
line in its integrity, hut that, as they did sot
wish to
to
tenets with the South-Western, they
wresrangement be
enter into nn arrangement. Should no aarpp
3;
1 to Par
speedily made, it was their intention.
thee o app
(Bait
liament next session for powers.
\
the Chairman) loft the South-Western
and unless the directors got I.!
prietors, they could not Y
however, was only one 1. in a dilemma.
authority from the pro-
all act effectually. This,
very well
reasons for coming
among
to
.ect.
to an early- decision on thesosubt.i. All he could say
ja Western shareholders
again, was, tint if the....inety miles long, and, at points
thought that a country .
fifty miles broad, was • - Going to be let alone, they were
had only to decide whether
greatly mistaken. They
or let others take it, for the purpose
they would take i
Be did not say this in the way of r
of injuring theme.
But b took the broad fact that they wer
threat.
,;13„:;fiv repudiated by the parties to whom I
sYsteml“-We bad hoped there would have been som
,r,,ef;enr,re unanimity on this occasion; but if the pi
`"'" ]swaned more time for discussion an sdjou
prietors d
to.—(No, and Yes.).
be agreed
ent wou perhaps
the (to
ra flurcniNs had been opposed to
Mr.
,chem-
a, but after what he had now heard be wa
I
zinced that they must proceed onwards. Still he.
d b'eche
e
like the terms, and he had a most decided
0 J.)
guarantees and preferential shares.-7(C
if the meeting ,
The CHAIRMAN suggested
that
the line, the "'
3'
agree to the desirability of making

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