The Sun.
London, England, 1862-07-02 00:00:00

BENGAL RAILWAY.

Yesterday an extraordinary general meeting- 01
this company was held at the offices in Gresham-
house, Old Broad-street, for the purpose of confirm-
ing the special resolutions passed at an extraordi-
nary general meeting of the company, held on the
29th May, for authorising the directors to raise a
further sum of £50,000 by debentures or shares, and
to increase the capital of the company to that
tent. Mr. Borrodaile was in the chair.
After the usual preliminaries,
The CHAIRMAN said it would be his duty 07°11
to move the confirmation of the resolutions passe",
at the previous meeting, but as they had present
Mr. Schiller, the company's agent, who had recently
returned from India, some of the shareholders would
perhaps be desirous of knowing the progress end
,
prospects of the undertaking. He then formabi
moved the confirmation of the resolutions.
Mr. MARSHAM seconded. the resolution, which
was unanimously carried.
Mr. F. SCHILLER, in answer to various questions
from the shareholders, said he had had the honour
not 'only of being in India the representative °
the company, but he and several of his friends were
deeply interested in the success of the railway 11°a
the port of Mutlah, with which the line was
so intimately connected—a port which must prove
of the greatest possible assistance to Calcutta itself.
The cost of the line would be much beyond ill!
original estimate, and although he could not 101
for 25 or 30 per cent. on the outlay, he was satisfied
he could fairly reckon on a profit of at least 101%
cent. The promoters of the scheme for opening d
line from Calcutta to the river Mutlah were induce e
to enter on the enterprise by facts which wtehre
familiar to those who were acquainted with
navigation of the Hooghley. They 0
saw that l
order to provide properly for the commerce of B.e
gal, they would be obliged to accommodate a portion
of the traffic which now went up to Calte
—(hear, hear)—for Calcutta must ever remain the
capital of Bengal. It was probable that the share'
holders would not for twelve months after the e°°3l3;
t
pletion find the undertaking remunerative, bu
was sure the undertaking contained within ts,
all the essential elements of success. Public opint
the
in Bengal, which was at the commencement of
line adverse to the prosecution of it, was now,ee
00d
tirely changed, and it was universally recognise
that the port of Mutlah would be necessary for id,
support of the commerce of Calcutta. He WZeo
in support of this view, mention a few fade' i
years ago certain lots of land which were to be Efor
in the neighbourhood of the line were put Up
de
disposal, but there were few bidders except th:Je.
who were in favour of the railway ; the 0013560
quence was that the greater part of the -land vire
disposed of at the price of one rupee Per the
with 100 rupees rent. Since that time vole 000
land so purchased had changed hands at "so
rupees per acre, and before he left India a Per,ea
who had purchased an acre for one rupee disP°-te
of it for 1,000, and this lot, had it been calcuttb;
would have realised 25,000. In referring to fer
advantages which the port of Mutlah would °_,°,.llhst
on the shipping, he stated that returns showed re,
during the last twelve months vessels of the agl
gate tonnage of 74,000 tons had touched gra°, leo
the river Hooghley, and that a large amount ted
had taken place in consequence. Having II by
out the delay which must necessarily be av°ideboet
shippers using Port Mutlah, he concluded a ra the
but interesting speech amidst the applause of
shareholders.
A cordial vote of thanks to the chairman el°l4
the proceedings.