The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-17 00:00:00

Mr. W. P. Pula, M.P., seconded the motion,
and the report was adopted, and the various divi-
dends recommended therein were declared.

The meeting was then made special, and the
Chairman proposed a resolution for the purpose of
creating and issuing new shares under the following
acts of Parliament, viz. :—The Midland (New Lines
and Additional Powers) Act, 1865 ; the Midland
(Mansfield, &c., Lines) Act, 1865 ; the Bristol Joint
Station Act, 1865 ; the Cheshire Lines Transfer
Act, 1865 ; the Stonehouse and Nailsworth Act,
1865 ; the Tottenham and Hampstead Junction
Act, 1865.

The DEPUTY CHAIRMAN seconded the resolution.
Mr. TRAVIS moved as an amendment " that it is
the opinion of this meeting that no new share capi-
tal be created or issued by the Midland Railway
Company, unless the shareholders of the Sheffield
and Rotherham Amalgamated Company be allowed
to participate in the issues of such shares."

Mr. M‘TuRK seconded the amendment.
The CHAIRMAN said he was advised by the solid-
tor that he could not put such an amendment.
After a long discussion the original resolution was
carried, and the proceedings concluded with a vote
of thanks to- the chairman.

LONDON AND BLACKWALL.

The half yearly meeting of this company was held
on Tuesday at the London Tavern ; Mr. J. N.
Daniell in the chair.

Mr. J. F. Kennel, the secretary, having read the
notice convening the meeting, the report, an abstract
of which has appeared in The Sun, was taken as read.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the re-
port, said that the progressive condition of the affairs
of the company was, he trusted, as satisfactory to
the shareholders as it was to the directors. The pro-
gress of the goods traffic had been greater than that
of the passenger traffic. Since he joined the company
the directors had had great difficulties to encounter
in their endeavour to open their line to the traffic of
other companies. In those endeavours they were
met with objections on every side, and at length
they had gradually come to a position which must be
satisfactory to all the shareholders, and they were on
the eve of being allied to a large company. In look-
ing over their financial features the most important
were in the accommodation they had afforded for
warehouses, sidings, and the goods traffic of other
companies on their railway. This was not the case
at all with respect to the passenger traffic, which had
not shown much increase. They had now certain
plant on the railway for which they would receive
the interest of the money expended, so that for pas-
senger traffic nearly everything that came to them
ought to be profit. It would be the interest of the
leasing company to throw all the additional traffic
they could on the line, with a view to make the pro-
perty more valuable than it was at present. The
accounts were so clear that he thought they did not
require explanation from him, although he was ready
to give any information in his power. The working
expenses were about 33 per cent. of the receipts, and
he did not know that there was any other point to
mention.

Mr. MACNAGETEN seconded the motion for the
adoption of the report.
Mr. JEGGINS said he was glad to find that the ex-
penditure in Working the line had been so little in-
creased, and he thought, therefore, some credit was
due to the present manager for that result. Unless
there was some peculiar reason for carrying over so
large a balance as £2,498, he would move that the
dividend be at the rate of 4 per cent. per annum,
instead of 31 per cent. per annum for the past half-
year.

The CHAIRMAN said that no one would be more
ready to. receive 4 per cent., instead of 34 per cent.,
than the directors ; but the object of proposing the
latter arose entirely from prudential motives. On
the 31st of December next they would be called
upon to hand over the undertaking to the Great
Eastern Company, and it would be necessary to
square up the debenture account ; and, in doing so,
they would have to pay about £5,000 at the end of
the year for interest, as it were, in arrear, which
arose from some of the interest on debentures falling