The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-29 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

MANCHESTER, SHEFFIELD, & LINCOLNSHIRE,
The half-yearly meeting of this company was held at
Manchester yesterday—Mr. Chapman, MX., in the chair.
The report was taken as read.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the report
and accounts, said he could not congratulate the meeting
on the state of the traffic, which had been affected by the
badness of trade arising out of the American war. He
was glad, however, to say, that they were able to pay in-
terest on bonds and guaranteed stock, carrying over
£5,000 to next half-year's accounts. There was a
decrease of £3,000 in the passenger, and £15,000 on
goods traffic, but he was glad to say that their working
stock was in good condition, and they had hopes of decreas-
ing their working expenses. Ho congratulated them that
they had no bills before Parliament. The amount received
from the preference shareholders towards the Central Relief
Fund was £695. Ho concluded by announcing that Mr.
Gamble had tendered his resignation to the Board.
Mr. BARKER, deputy chairman, seconded the motion.
Mr. G. WILLS complained of the accounts at great length,
and was of opinion a change was necessary both in the
direction and management.
Mr. BAZLEY, M.P., thanked the shareholders for the re-
sponse which they had made to his recent appeal, and
having succeeded in effecting a change at the Board he would
retire from the meeting.
Mr. FITZGERALD complained that in Mr. Gamble's re-
tirement they had lost a valuable member of the Board, and
he did not approve of the conduct of Mr. Bazley in this
matter. He said the accounts would not bear investigation;
He also condemned the making of the Cheshire lines, which,
ho said, would never pay working expenses, and were only
made with a view of forcing the London and North-Western
Company into an amalgamation. He expressed an opinion
that the accounts ought not to be passed.
Mr. FILDES expressed satisfaction in tho election of Mr.
Mendel and Mr. Pender, M.P., on the Board. He then
reiterated charges made at former moetings, to the effect that
one of the directors had only a small holding in the stock of
the company, while he held the position of director in other
companies connected with this company, and derived a re-
muneration out of in proportion to his stake in the com-
pany. He ultimately moved that the relation of Mr. Lees
to parties interested in the professional business of the com-
pany rendered his individual action at the Board a breach
of the spirit of the law, and that he be requested to resign,
and that in the event of his refusal the Board be requested
to exclude him from committees and from all other direc-
tions, the qualifications for which were derived from this
company.
The consideration of the report, at the wish of the meet-
ing was postponed in order that the motion might be taken
first, and, after a long discussion, the motion having been
seconded, was carried.
Mr. E. WATKIN said he could speak of the executive in
the highest terms of praise, and, considering the badness of
the times in the last six months, the directors deserved cre-
dit for the result they had to show. He could not help look-
ing back, however, with regret, to what he believed to have
been those last chances, the realisation of which might have
placed this company today in a totally different position.
Reference had been made to the South Yorkshire Agree-
ment, on'which:there was a loss. Ho wanted to know how
it was that, having taken that line, not only for a commer-
cial, but for political purposes, the directors had hitherto
made no use of it in a political direction. The Great North-
ern Company were exulting in the anticipations of paying 9
per cent. But were they aware that this dividend was in
great measure derived from the £lBO,OOO a year of coal
traffic out of the South Yorkshire district, of which this
company (the lessees of the South Yorkshire), who paid
the whole of the loss, chose for some reason, or on account
of some difficulty, to make a clear present to the Great
Northern ? Were thay aware also that the value of the
Lancashire traffic exchanged with this company, via R et-
ford, was nearly £200,000 a year ? Mr. Denison ought to be
reminded that Parliament gave last year extensive powers
to the Great Eastern, and it could not be expected that that
company would keep out of the manufacturing districts.
If the railway map was now going to be altered, the part-
nership of this company and the Great Northern should be
adjusted on square and even terms.
The report was unanimously adopted ; the various gua-
ranteed dividends were declared; Messrs. Withers, Ponder,
and Mendel were re-elected directors; Mr. A. M'Dougall
was elected director in place of Mr. Gamble ; Mr. Unwin
was re-elected auditor, and the directors were authorised to
borrow on mortgage £75,000 in pursuance of the Garston
and Liverpool Railway Act.
The proceedings concluded with a vote of thanks to the
chairman.

RAILWAY BILLS.
Yesterday the railway bills declared to have complied
with the standing orders of both houses were those of the
London and South-Western, for amalgamation of the North
Devon Railway and Bideford Extension and for the lease
of the Andover and Redbridge Railway; the Stonehouse
and Nailsworth, for an extension from the Bristol and Bir-
mingham Railway to Stonehouse, at an estimated cost of
£66,000 ; the North and South Staffordshire Junction, for
extensions from Rugeley to Uttoxeter and Abbott's Brom-
ley ; the Ely Valley Extension Railway, for new lines and
to raise £95,000 ; Banff, Portsoy, and Strathisla, for exten-
sion to Portgordon and to raise £110,000; Formartine and
Buchan, to abandon extension to Fraserburgh and substi-
tute another line; the Banff, Macduff, and Turriff, for an
extension to the harbour of Macdnff and to raise £6,000;
the Glasgow and South-Western, to raise £286,000 to con-
nect Glasgow and Paisley with Paisley and Renfrew, and
to use the Ayr and Maybole Railway ; the Edinburgh and
Glasgow Railway, for a line to Dunfermline by Queens-
ferry and subsidiary branches and piers, &c., at an esti-
mated cost of £500,000; the Merthyr, Tredegar, and Aberd-
gavenny, for extensions to join the Rhymney Railway and
raise £100,000; the Milford Haven Dock and Rdataya,foor
revive powers for purchase of lands and to erxtbe
:inches at
completion of works ; the North-Eastern, foe.
-0 the Midland,
Newcastle and Starbeck and raise
for an extension from Bedford tno
aLilo4icalyOninalindonbdroannchanesd ttoo
unite with the Great NortheErnastern,
to improve Folkstone
raise £1,750,000; the South-Eastern,
Harbour, make new linesoo at and near Folkstone and Rams-
gate,The bills for the Marton and Hat,
and raise £135,0
bury Railway, and for the Dover, Deal, and Sandwich Rail •
way, were witluhawn.

The Duke of Wellington, no mean master in the
art of swearing, seems to have appraised oaths by
some sort of monetary standard. When asked by the Go-
vernment of the day what he thought of the proposal on
the part of the French Government to remove Napoleon's
bones from St. Helena, the Great Captain is reported to
have replied :—" Well, I don't see why they should not
have his bones it they want them. Why should we ob-
ject? They'll say we're afraid. But I don't care
what they say ? Who cares what they say? I
don't care a d-- what they say. I don't care a two-
penny d-- what they say." According to this au-
thority, then, if there is such a thing as a twopenny
damn, it seems rather hard to amerce this contemptible and
low-priced profanity at the rate of two shillings, which it
would certainly have cost his Grace ; and there should he
an ascending scale from the twopenny oath of a cabmanto
the affluent conumination of Shimei and Ernulphus.—
SR turday Review,