The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-24 00:00:00

BRISTOL AND EXETER.

The half-yearly meeting was held yesterday at
the company's new offices, Bristol ; Mr. J. W. Buller
M.P., in the chair.

An abstract of the report and accounts has ap-
peared in The Sun.

The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the

sreapotisrfta,ctsaio4.he trusted consideredts was a
sub-
it highly
increase hecretasey allintherecei p
the other side the excess of expenditure was not ject of great congratulation, the more so because on
consi-
derable, and not at all in proportion to the increase
in the receipts. The increase of expe ises was chiefly
caused by the charges—one for compensation on the
accident account, and the othet for Parliamentary
expenses, which had been considerable during the
past half-year. He regretted very much that there
should be so considerable an item for Parliamentary
expenses ; but in a company like this, surrounded
as it was with other companies, there were adverse
lines which must be watched. It was the endeavour
of the directors not to interfere with other com-
panies, but he was afraid that other companies did
not always pursue the same course towards their
line. With respect to the expenses on revenue ac-
count, the charge for the line and the locomotive
account showed a reduction of expenses. (Hear,
hear.) With regard to the line account, the de-
crease in expenditure had been progressive, but he
felt much indebted to the able engineer (Mr. Fox)
for the care which he had taken of the line. (Hear,
hear.) He hoped they might now consider that
they had arrived at an an average amount, and that
their expenses would not exceed the sum which
had been charged in the present half-year. The
locomotive account seemed to be in a very satisfac-
tory state, and under the management of Mr. Pear-
son nothing could be better than the condition of
this department. They would have to pay their
share of the loss on the Cornwall Railway. The
losses had hitherto been met by the Cornwall com-
pany from capital, but they had no longer any which
could be applied to this purpose, and therefore it
would be necessary for the several companies who
were answerable for the loss on the Cornwall Rail-
way to carry into their next revenue accounts their
proportion of the loss. Referring to the Royal
Commission which had been announced by the
Chancellor of the Exchequer to inquire into the
cost of railways and the charges made by them to
the public, the chairman said he agreed entirely with
the opinion expressed by the late Mr. Stephenson
on a similar subject, that if railway companies were
secure of impartiality and intelligence in the consti-
tution of the commission they had nothing to fear
from the issue. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. T. PO ELL seconded the motion for the adop-
tion of the report, which was carried unanimously.
Resolutions declaring a dividend at the rate of 5?
per cent. per annum, re-electing the retiring direc-
tors and auditor, and authorising the directors to
borrow from time to time on mortgage any sum not
exceeding £112,000, were adopted unanimously, and
a vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the
proceedings.

LONDON, TILBURY, AND SOUTHEND.
The half-yearly meeting of this company was held
yesterday at the London Tavern; Mr. J. N. Daniell
in the chair.

The report, an abstract of which has appeared in
The Sun, was taken as read.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the
report, stated that there had been a loss on the
passenger traffic as compared with the corresponding
period last year, but this loss had been more than
recompensed by an increase in the goods traffic.
He thought that an increase of traffic would arise in
connection with the Thames Haven and the Dagen-
ham Docks. Powers were sought to increase the
tolls between intermediate stations, but this would
not touch the through routes. The directors could
not see how the leasing of the Blackwall by the Great
Eastern could be detrimental to this company, and
though there had been a question of opposing that
amalgamation, this company had no funds for that
purpose.

Mr. C. J. ELEY, a director, after pointing out ap-
parent discrepancies between the accounts and the
weekly traffic receipts, said that owing to the excep-
tional circumstances under which the line was worked,
the expenses were enormous, but that in many im-
portant respects the proprietors had never stood in
so good a position as they stood that day. Referring
to what the chairman had stated with regard to the
leasing of the Blackwall line by the Great Eastern;
he expressed an opinion that at some future period
the company would have other means of reaching
London than they had at present, but in the mean-
time all propositions affecting the company's termi-
nal facilities would be jealously watched. (Hear.)
Mr. GoEz said the time was drawing near when
the anomalous position with regard to the directors
and the company must be done away with.
The report was then adopted.
On the motion of Mr. Parsons, Mr. Moxon was
unanimously elected director in the place of Mr.
Sydney Lawrence, who retired, and Mr. Gossett
was elected auditor in the place of Mr. C. Whetham.