The Sun.
London, England, 1865-10-30 00:00:00

GREAT CENTRAL GAS CONS UME RS.

The half-yearly meeting of this company was
held on Friday at the London Tavern ; Mr. Alder-
man Dakin in the chair.

Mr. Massey, the secretary, read the report, which
stated that, after paying all manufacturing and
other charges, there remained a balance of £20,673,
out of which the directors recommended a dividend
at the rate of 5 per cent. for the half-year, with a
further 6 per cent. for arrears of dividends on old
shares. Afier Christmas next it was the intention
of the directors to reduce the price of gas from 4s.
6d. to 4s. per 1,000 cubic feet, believing that the
increased consumption would enable them to main-
tain the dividend of 10 per cent.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the
report, said he thought every shareholder must feel
satisfied with its contents. The company was in
the most satisfactory condition, and there had been
an increase in the receipts during the past half-year
of upwards of £5,000 over the preceding six months.
The directors had announced their intention to re-
duce the price of gas on the Ist of January next,
and their efforts would be directed to making a still
fluffier reduction. Sxne, dissatisfaction, had existed
in the City on the gas question, which had resulted
in the Corporation having decided to go to Parlia-
ment for power to manufacture gas. Ile did not
for one moment expect that any committee of the
House of Commons would sanction any such
scheme, which would involve an expenditure of
£1,500,000, and the pulling-up of the pavement in
the streets to lay down new pipes. If, however,
Parliament did sanction any such scheme, he had
no fear that they would take care that those rights
guaranteed by legislative enactment would not be
extinguished without adequate compensation being
given. (Hear, hear.)

Mr. Alderman GABRIEL seconded the resolution,
which was agreed to.
The dividend was then declared, and a vote of
thanks to the chairman and directors closed the
proceedings.

OPENING OF THE INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES OF

TIIE SOUTII.

(From the New York Herald, Oct. 9.)
Every day we hear of something new in the way of re-
opening the trade with the South, and the development of
her industrial resources. At one time a new steamship
line is established, at another a railroad is rebuilt : again
we hear that financial institutions, large commercial
houses, places of amusement, colleges, schools, large and
handsome newspapers, are being commenced or revived.
This is all outside the agricultural development of the
country, which may be said to be at present in the infancy
of its new and changed existence. But the most important
of the recent reopenings in the South is the revival of a
line of railroad from Northern Virginia through East
Tennessee to Montgomery and Mobile, Alabama. This,
with the branch roads, and the connections which will
soon be made with direct Northern routes, will eventually
restore perfect intercourse between the North and South,
and link both sections again in bonds of common interest
and common destiny. Now can all- sections of the country
cheerfully unite in assisting to plant the South in an
industrial position in the Union which she has not hither-
to enjoyed. Her former opulence was more the result of
a monopoly she possessed in the growth of a single staple
than in all her other industrial employments combined
She can be aided in restoring that interest successfully,
with her changed labour system, by the introduction of
white labor and white or black labor-saving machines.
Her railroads and canals must be re-established, her tele-
graph lines rebuilt, her mineral resources developed, her
cotton fields ploughed, harrowed and planted, and her
population spurred to emulate the example of their
Northern brethren in engaging in worthy industrial pur-
suits. This can be done with a little trouble, if Northern
agitators would cease gabbling about abstractions, and
permit the work of restoration in the South to go on with-
out their mischievous interference.

Most of the railroad lines in the South were built by
Northern capital, and many Southern tradesmen have been
deeply indebted to Northern houses for goods bought
prior to the war. This shows the pecuniary interest the
North has had in the South. In view of these facts, a
pleasing feature has been disclosed since the war ended.
Not a few Northern creditors expressed doubts of the
honesty of their Southern customers, and declared their
apprehensions that they would never liquidate their claims
against them. But, contrary to their expectations, they
find their Southern customers coming North after the war,
paying off their old debts in gold and silver, making new
purchases, and leaving extensive orders for further sup-
plies. One Southern merchant brought to New York a
short time ago a huge bar of silver, the product of melting
his silver plate, and sold it hero to pay off Northern debts
contracted before the war. This act speaks well for the
intentions of the Southern merchants to liquidate Northern
claims, no matter what their ability may be. But their
ability is not so meagre as some may conceive. In nearly
every part of the South we hear of large quantities of
cotton, tobacco, and other products coming to light which
had been stored in the interior for lack of transportation
or from a desire of concealment. At the same time pots
and bags of gold and silver coin, and bars of bullion, are
being exhumed and brought forward to help to swell the
specie basis of the country. At the breaking cut of the
war private parties in the South wore probably as rich in
precious metals as many reputed more wealthy in the
North. It is evident that this Southern wealth has not
been exhausted, and the use made of it in paying off old
debts duo the north should inspire the latter with
a noble impulse to help to restore the South to her former
if not a higher position in the Union than she ever before
held. To do this, the best way to begin is to help her to
developo her industrial resources.

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