The Sun.
London, England, 1865-10-13 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, OCTOBUI 13, IEC=.

AMERICA.

(From the Times Corresporulent.)
PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 29.

Had there not been an excitement in England
about the Fenians, which reflected to this side of
the Atlantic, there would not have been developed
in any part of America the least active sympathy
on the part of the 200,000 Irishmen said to be in
the American branch of the order with the move-
ments in Ireland. Heretofore the order has been
passive, limiting its revolutionary tendencies to a
few meetings, at which Irish oratory reigned in all
its florid rhetoric, or a funeral of gaudy equipages
when some " Mac" or "0" happened to die. The ex-
citement in England has caused an excitement here,
but nothing is to be at all feared by any English
garrison in Ireland. One fierce meeting in New
York, at which crowds attended, cheered, hissed,
and howled with all the fervour of the Emerald Isle,
but at which no American of any prominence ventured
to be present, and nothing was done that could in any
way help Ireland, is the sum total of all the Fenian
movements in America, since it was announced that
the English Government seriously feared an out-
break in Ireland. It has now been three weeks
since the news of arrests and martial law in various
parts of Ireland reached us, and every steamer has
been adding fuel to the flame one would suppose
ought to consume the hearts and enrage the minds
of an excitable people like the Fenians. But they
have done nothing, either openly or secretly. Be-
yond the meeting at New York, which resulted
merely in an expression of barren sympathy, not in
a resolve to give active aid, there has not been a
declaration of feeling from a single Fenian in the
land. The whole thing seems to have fizzled out as
soon as the first call for active operations was made.
The order is said to be preparing to help Ireland,
and to have opened a recruiting office in New York
and another office where bonds of the loan of " The
Republic of Ireland" are printed and sold ; but the
most diligent search can find neither place, and if it
could, I am sure, from the feeling of the American
Government, it would result in the suppression by
military force of every movement calculated to em-
broil America in a foreign war. If there are 200,000
Fenians in America willing and anxious to invade
and capture Ireland, they keep very quiet about it,
much more quiet than Irishmen are wont to do when
bent on matters of less moment, and the excessive
quietness of the whole order leads me to think that
nothing is contemplated by either leaders or followers
beyond the abuse of England or the expression of a
little harmless sympathy for the revolutionists in Ire-
land. England need not fear the American
Fenians, for abuse sent 2,000 miles across the At-
lantic cannot have much venom in it.
The truth is that Fenianism meets with no sym-
pathy in America outside the pure Irish population.
The Americans do not like the Irish, for the hun-
dreds of thousands who have come to us are all of
the lower classes— at the best of times very bad
specimens of the Celtic race. If the Americans did
-nothing to help Juarez to drive Maximilian from
Mexico they can do no more to help the Fenians to
conquer Ireland. Of themselves the Irish compos-
ing the Fenian order in America are perfectly harm-
less. Nearly all are very poor, many came to Ame-
rica by the charity of friends, and not one in a
hundred could be induced even by patriotism to
return again to Ireland. They get no sympathy
from us, for our people are sick and tired of endless
proposals to revolutionise Ireland. The Catholic
Church is opposed to them, and the pronunciamentos
of its bishops and clergy forbidding all good Catho-
lics from joining the order have almost paralyzed it.
The Government watches the Fenians closely, and
the first attempt at violating international law will
be suppressed with a strong hand. The head centres
may talk as loud as they please, and belabour Eng-
land to their hearts' content, but they must go no
further ; and so well do the Fenians know this that
I do not believe any of the circles are even cal-
culating the amount of military preparation neces-
sary before an invasion of Ireland would be at all
practicable.„ If sympathy from American Fenians
will do the Irish any good they can have any amount
of it, but they need lock for nothing else. They will
have to fight their own battles if they do fight,
for their sympathisers have very little money, and
still less of anything else calculated to fit out an
expedition to send across the seas. The Irish in
America are by no means united in their support of
the order, ft, many of them distrust it, others do
not wish to break the peace, and a vast multitude
who have been member of Fenian circles, finding
that year after year there was an endless drain on
their pockets with no tan gible result, have withdrawn
from the order, and refuse any longer to take part
in Fenianism. A few master spirits make all the
noise that is heard from America ; the great majo-
rity of the 200,000—if there be that many Fenians
in the United States—are merely silent and passive
spectators of the antics of the few. It is the settled
opinion in America that the branch of the Fenians
here will do little or nothing to aid the branch in
Ireland, and that if the revolutionists place any de-
pendence on the promises of the Irish Americans
they will be most wofully deceived. There are even
grave doubts if the Fenians do possess the strength
of 200,000 men they boast of, for their circles are
all small, and if they have a very large membership
the rank and file do not attend very closely to the
duties of the order. An estimate generally thought
reliable places the numberof active Fenians in Ame-
rica at 10,300, divided thus :—Chicago, 500 ; St.
Louis, 500; New York, 2,500 ; Cincinnati, 500 ;
Baltimore, 500 ; Cleveland, 400 ; Detroit, 400 ;
Boston,. 300 ; Hartford, 250 ; Newhaven, 250 ;
Springfield, 100; Albany, 200 ; Philadelphia, 1,000;
Pittsburg, 400 ; other places, 2,000. This is a very
small estimate, but, so far as any evidence is given
of activity in America, it must include all who can
be relied upon to take part in any revolutionary de-
signs, for 10,300 Irishmen bent on any other object
certainly would do more to attract attention than
the Fenians do. An invasion of Ireland by so small
a body certainly cannot be feared in England.

The Americans place no more dependence on the
prospects of the Fenians than they do upon the
hopes of !Juarez and his Liberal Government in
Mexico. We would rather ten times over have
Juarez possess Mexico than have the Fenians con-
quer Ireland ; but both are hopeless. If any one
has any doubt that the Liberal Government in
Mexico is gone beyond the power of redemption,
events should by this time convince him that Maxi-
milian's Empire is a success. Of late the friends of
Juarez have been sending us rose-coloured accounts
of his fortunes, but each mail as it came from Mexico
dissipated them. Even the letters written by Juarez
and Senor Romero, prophesying ultimate succeo,
were falsehoods. Advices which cannot be qu7-
tioned represent Juarez's- influence in Mexico as of
no moment whatever, and say the only spot he can
claim for his dominions is El Paso del Norte, on the
Rio Grande. The mercantile population of Mexico
were always in favour of Maximilian, because the
establishment of his government promised peace and
security, and the restoration of commerce to a firmer
basis than it had known for years. Senor Ortega
has been in Washington recently, casting about to
learn the prospects for having a loan taken to sus-
tain the dying Liberal cause ; but so badly was the
proposition received that he now denies that he ever
thought of Proposing such a loan to the American
people. President Johnson has lately shown unmis-
takable signs of withdrawing all countenance from
Juarez. Ile has always maintained a strict neu-
trality, but now he gives evidence that if it is found
that the majority of the Mexican acquiesce in
Maximilian's government his_Ambassador will be
received and his government recognised. The Libe-
rals can hope for no aid from the United States. It
was generally believed at Vera Cruz and Matamoras
at the date of our last advices from there that an
expedition to assist the Liberals was being fitted out
at New York under the auspices of General Ortega,
bid there are no more signs of a Liberal expedition
fitting out at New York than there are of a Fenian
foray preparing there to invade li'eland. The
agents both of Maximilian and Juarez in New York
deny thatanything of the kind is contemplated.
That the various guerilla bands into which the
Liberals have broken up their 'armies will annoy
Maximilian for some time to come cannot be de-
nied, for the guerilla war that has cursed Mexico
for years will not cease until the character of the

people is changed. But the Liberals never can hope
to overthrow the Empire. The truth seems to be
that along the Rio Grande frontier, contiguous to
the United States, the Liberals can manage to hold
their own and defy Maximilian, but everywhere else
the Empire is and will be supreme. Acapulco, the
last Liberal post on the Pacific coast, was captured
recently by French men-of-war, and all vestiges of
Liberal tendencies in that region have disappeared.
The population acquiesce willingly in the new order
of things, no doubt glad to see a prospect of perma-
nent peace. Want of money paralyses the Liberals
and makes all their movements inefficient. Along
the Rio Grande they have gathered their troops to-
gether—scarcely more than 3,000 in ail—and laid
siege to Matamoras. On Sept. 10 the Liberals
were before the city, but the garrison of 1,500 Im-
perialists successfully held it. The Liberals hope to
capture it, but in all their prophecies want of means
is the stumbling-block. If they only had a little
more ammunition, they say, they could drive Mejia
out, but they do not know where to get it, and will
keep up a desultory siege of the town until Impe-
rialist reinforcements come up the *Rio Grande,
when they will dissolve into predatory bands and
disappear no one knows whither. From the great
mass of falsehood that usually conceals the real state
of affairs in Mexico it is hard to extract the truth,
but there is no longer a doubt that Juarez's cause is
gone, and the end of his Presidential term, which
comes some time in November, will see the end of
the Liberal Government.

The political contests in America are so exces-
sively dull that the only exciting one, a fight for the
spoils in New York city, overtops all the others in
interest. This battle does not depend upon the re-
sult of an election, but upon an investigation which
is now being made of the most gigantic frauds ever
perpetrated in America. As every one knows, the
municipal taxes in New York are enormous, and,
as the city is always bankrupt, there has not been for
years the slightest doubt that the Treasury was
robbed wholesale. So the " Outs" have devised a new
mode of attacking the " Ins." For the last seven
years the same party has controlled New York, always
holding power, no matter what changes were made
in the political connections of the national and State
Administrations. A certain set of people have held
all the offices and divided all the spoils, and those
who cannot get in are now hard at work trying to
oust them by process of law. The honest New
Yorkers—those who do not wish to pay such heavy
taxes—have united for the time being with the
" Outs," and the battery brought against the office-
holders is extremely heavy. By the constitution the
Governor of the State has the right to remove from
office all persons guilty of peculation. Charges in-
volving frauds to the enormous amount of 30 mil-
lion dollars have been brought against the office-
holders, and those who bring the charges say they
can substantiate them all. They embrace stealings
for a period of seven years, and to answer them the
mayor and various other officials of New York city
were summoned last week before Governor Fenton,
at the State capital, and after a partial investigation
the examination was adjourned to New York, where
it is now progressing. The Governor says he has
the power to get back the 30 million dollars stolen
from them ? Out of or in office it is still the same,
the people have been robbed, and though the punish-
ment of the thieves may be a slight gratification, it
will be no protection against future robberies. Still
the case is important, and both sides are using every
possible means to influence it. I doubt very much
if the corporation of any other city in the world has
stolen 30 million dollars in the last seven years.

The recent meeting in London of the Confederate
bondholders has directed the attention of American
financiers to the subject of the Confederate debt.
there is not the slightest hope of any of the
Southern debt being paid, unless it might be such
State debts as were in existence before the war, the
amount of these debts will no doubt be of interest.
On January 1, 1864, the Confederate Secretary of
the Treasury made the following statement of the
Confederate debt at that time, with estimates of
expenses until January 1, 1865. To these I have
added the State debts, and an estimate of the ex-
pense of the war until General Lee's surrender :
Funded debt 8297,871,000
Non-interest notes 766,447,000
Interest-bearing note,: 102,000,000
Call certificates 89,000,000
Unpaid interest 181,000,000

Estimated expenses for 1864 1,427,488,000
Expenses until Lee's surrender in 1865 500,000,000
State debts 87,000,000

Total

$3,450,766,000

Paper was so much depreciated in the Confede-
racy that the debt increased with astonishing rapi-
dity, and when this enormous sum of nearly
$3,500,000,000 was suddenly swept away no one
could be astonished that it beggared the entire sec-
tion.

The President, without yet declaring a general
amnesty, has adopted a system of pardoning which
very closely approaches it. He now grants pardons
to the Southern people at the rate of 300 or 400 a
day, and though he has not yet pardoned any of
the military officers, he has given orders that no
one unpardoncd is to be unmolested. Alit(' siinileof
his signature has been engraved, and is affixed to
the pardon blanks by clerks. Very little examina-
tion is now made into the character of the applicant,
and the mere presentation of an humble petition
seems sufficient to secure a pardon. The pardon car-
ries with it immunity from confiscations. All estates
are restored to their owners upon the exhibition of
the pardon, and in Richmond, where nearly every
man's property has been seized, the rejoicing at the
President's sudden and most agreeable change of
demeanour is very great. The Richmond courts are
now kept busy in restoring confiscated property to
the owners.

Petitions for the pardon of Jefferson Davis are
sent to the President from all parts of the South.
Every Southern Convention bas asked that cle-
mency be extended towards him. In some places,
however, the military authorities are not pleased at
these exhibitions of friendliness for the great captive,
and at Lynchburg, Virginia, the commanding officer
recently dispersed a meeting that had assembled to
petition for his release. The expressions of feeling
all over the South shgw the sincerest sorrow for Mr.
Davis's misfortunes.

The Wirtz trial drags its slow length along, ex-
citing very little interest. The defence has been
opened, but thus far has been characterised by little
else than squabbles among the lawyers. Wirtz is
slowly dying, and will not live to be punished by
any earthly court. It is said that Howell Cobb, of
Georgia, is to be arrested for having ordered some
of the cruelties alleged to have been inflicted by
Wirtz. Robert Ould, the Confederate Commissioner
of Exchange, will be witness in Wirtz's defence.
General Lee has quietly begun his duties as Pre-
sident of Washington College at Lexington, Vir-
ginia, although he will not be formally installed
until October. next.

It is astonishing to see the facility with which the
Southern people work their way into the affections
of the North. In Washington City returned Con-
federates get all the choice positions, and in New
York they can command any business connexion they
wish. Prominent Confederate officers am, now en-
gaged in mercantile pursuits in New York, and, if
anything, are received more cordially for having
been Confederates. The transition is wonderful
from the hard words and harder blows of a year
ago. In the South the people are reconstructing the
State Governments in their own way. Both the
South Carolina and the Alabama Conventions have
given a death-blow to negro suffrage in their re-
spective States by enacting that the basis of repre-
sentation shall be the white population ; and in
South Carolina the establishment of a militia sys-
tem similar to that of Mississippi has been ordered
by the Convention, and the military have been told
to le. the people have their own way. Gradually the
people of the South are recovering the reins of
government from the military authorities, and as
one support after another falls fram the power of
the soldiers the people gain confidence and do things
they would not have dared to think of a short time
ago. In Kentucky Generals Palmer and Brisbin
have been Edieted for violating the slave laws of
the States in running off negroes, and thus far
neither has attempted to use the military power to
annul the indictment. The only act of lawlessness
committed by the soldiers this week has been the

arrest of the editors of the Clarksville (Tennessee)
Chronicle for too plain an expression of opinion
with -regard to Governor Brownlow.
In Kentucky and Tennessee—whether it be caused
by the leniency of the military is not known--the
guerillas have again appeared, and in Robertson
county, Tennessee, a gang of 40 have lately engaged
4,n indiscriminate murder and robbery. These out-
rages have been diabolical, and troops hal, e been sent
to capture them. In Kentucky the operations of
the guerillas have not been so bloody, but still are
such as to imperil the peace of the neighbourhood in
which they act.. They do not steal or murder, but
they arrest every man who brings suit against re-
turned Confederates, and compel its withdrawal.
Their head-quarters are in Morgan county, and
their latest prank has been the seizure of the col-
lectors of the United State's Internalßevenue, whom
they compelled to desist from collecting taxes. A
force of troops endeavoured without success to drive
the guerillas away, and now an entire regiment has
been sent after them.

Much litigation is feared in South Carolina, owing
to the destruction of all the State and most of the
district records during the war. In many of the
county seats the court offices,containing title papers,
deeds, wills, &c., were burnt, and endless law suits
must result. It seems the miseries entailed by the
war are never to cease.

A new political element has appeared in America
in the effort made by the working-men to establish
eight hours as a lawful day's work. They are hold-
ing mass conventions in all parts of the country, and
in many places have announced that they will vote
for no candiates for office who do Rot faithfully
labour for the eight-hour system. Their determina-
tion will have an important influence upon our
elections.

For the encouragement of applicants for office in
America, it is announced that 10,000 applicants for
such vacancies as may occur in the 2,700 places
in the Treasury Department at Washington have
already been received and filed away carefully for
future reference. As no office-holders resign and
few die, there is very little chance for the army of
aspirants.

The English delegation of capitalists will return
to New York to-night, when they will separate,
some going to Canada, others to England,' and a
few remaining at New York to complete business
arrangements. They have spent nearly four weeks
in examining the railroads of America, and no
doubt express great pleasure at the cordiality of
their reception in all parts of the country.
The captain of the emigrant ship Villafranca,
charged with cruelty to his passengers, has been
held in $5,000 bail to answer the charge at court.
The. Grand Jury of New York have indicted for
manslaughter the owners of the steamboat Arrow,
which blew up recently, killing some passengers.
Their trial will be the first in the United States in
which men are arraigned for causing the disasters
so common throughout the country.
The standstill race of the two gunboats, the
Algonquin and the Winooski, tied to the dock inNew
York, has ended, and the judges have decided the
performance of the two boats to be equal. The
Algonquin is high pressure, and the Winooski low
pressure, and to decide the merits of the two classes
of steam engines the novel trial was ordered. They
will soon race with each other on Long Island Sound.
In the first week of October the cargo of 700 y oung
ladies sent by Governor Andrews of Massachusetts
to furnish wives and housekeepers to the people of
Washington Territory, on the Pacific coast, will
sail from New York.

As I close the intelligence reaches me that the
President has decided on removing General Palmer
from command in Kentucky, and that he will also
soon issue a proclamation declaring the State relieved
from martial law, and restoring the civil authority.
The President has also received a despatch from
Governor Parsons of Alabama, announcing that the
State Convention, by a vote of 60 yeas to 19 nays,
has repudiated all war debts both of the State and
of the Confederacy, and has forbidden the State
Legislature making any provision for their payment.

The United States steamers Saranac and St. La-
wrence, of heavy armament and great speed, sailed
from San Francisco on Sept. 14 and 20 in pursuit of
the Shenandoah.

A letter from Capt. Hall, in the Arctic regions,
has been received in New York, announcing the
probable safety of three of the men who were with
Sir John Franklin. They are said to be residing
among the Innuits.

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

GREAT WESTERN OF CANADA.

The half-yearly general meeting of this company
was held on Wednesday at the London Tavern ;
Mr. Alderman Dakin in the chair.

Mr. B. Baker (the Secretary) having read the
notice convening the meeting, the report (an ab-
stract of which has appeared in The Sun) was taken
as read.

The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the
report, said he thought their prospects had consider-
ably improved, .and from the progress recently made
he thought the time was not far distant when the
shareholders would be again recompensed for their
outlay. The accounts were made out on one uni-
form plan, so that they could easily compare the
various items of one half year with another as far
back as the accounts extended. The capital ac-
count showed an increase in the expenditure of
£27,180 during the past half-year, and they had
paid off £72,700 of bonds, which had reduced the
amount of capital to that extent. The expenditure
of the £27,180 had been wisely laid out. The
balance of net revenue at the end of the half year
amounted to £152,078, and as compared with
£174,751 in the corresponding half year of 1864
showed a decrease of 122,672. This decrease was
caused by a falling off in the freight and live stock
earnings during the first two months of the half
year of £44,903, which was reduced by an increase
in the passenger traffic of £14,528, leaving £30,374
decrease. From this was deducted £7,701, the re-
duction in the working expenses leaving the net de-
crease £22,672. The decrease of traffic in the two
first months of the half year was owing to excep-
tional circumstances. The cost of converting the
American currency had also diminished their net
profits. In the corresponding half of 1864 the
average of exhanges was 1741, for the half year
ending the 31st of January, 1865, 2051, and in
the past half year the average price of Con-
version was 1531. The exchange was now pretty
steady, at 1431 ; the loss would therefore dimi-
nish as compared with corresponding periods.
Since January, 1862, the loss on exchanges amounted
to £370,671, which was a very large amount,
They had in fact earned a 5 per cent. dividend through-
out, but had lost the difference in exchanges, owing
to the war. The rates for local and through freight
had been raised since the corresponding period of
1864, by about 30 per cent., and thepassenger rates
by about 22 per cent. He thought with the in-
creased receipts, diminished cost of converting Ame-
rican currency, and reduction of working expenses,
they might fairly expect a little sunshine after the
darkness that had prevailed. The renewal account
had been very heavy during the past four or five
years. Their engineer had told them in one of his
reports that the railway would require £331,279
expended to put it in good order, by renewing the
way. Each half year had been since charged with
sums varying from £25,000 to £35,000 for that
purpose, and in the last account £26,317 had been
charged, but it was satisfactory to know they had
expended £283,720 in renewal of the way, and there
now remained only £47,558 to be expended to com-
plete the system and to perfect the renewals. The
cost was estimated five years ago, they were now
assured that the estimate was quite sufficient for the
purpose, and they proposed to spread the expendi-
ture of the £47,558 for renewals over the next two
half years, when there would be an end of that ex-
penditure. Another matter was their postal ar-
rangement with the Canadian Government. They
were much indebted to the exertions of Mr. Swin-
yard, their general manager, who had conducted the
matter for them with zeal, energy, and tact. The
Government had only allowed $7O per mile for the
mail service, which was totally inadequate. They
raised the allowance to-$lOO per mile up to the 31st
of August last, and since then further negotiations
were entered into for additional services ?aid the

allowance was fixed at $124 per mile of railway per
annum, which would give the company an increase
of about $20,087 per annum for that particular ser-
vice. They would perceive in the account they had
got £8,295 for postal service on the Sarnia branch,
which charge had not been brought before into ac-
count. The company had made arrangements with
the Montreal Telegraph Company for 20 years, by
which the railway company were to have the use of
the wires, and their own men work the telegraph
on the line. The importance of having the
telegraph entirely under their control was apparent,
and it would also be more economical for the com-
pany. The Commercial Bank case had been decided
in favour of the Great Western Company. The
company's agent at Bothwell informed them how
much that place on their line had increased in value
since the discovery of oil springs over a space of
four miles in length by three miles in breadth. A
very large quantity of land had been bought within
eight miles of Bothwell, and the price of land there
had risen from $2O to $5O per acre, and since to
$2OO to $3OO per acre. The line into this district
would become an important feeder to the railway.
There was now a sum of £36,810 available, out of
which the directors proposed to declare a dividend
of 2 percent. per annum, leaving a balance of £3,205
for the next account ; but as the auditors had re-
ported that there would be a loss of £4,670 in con-
verting $77,504 of American currency, there would
be some deficiency, and that a less dividend should
be declared. It was therefore for the shareholders
to decide whether they would have a dividend of 1i
per cent., or one of 2 per cent. as proposed. He
thought they might safely trust to the increase of
traffic in the current half-year to cover, the small
deficiency. He then adverted to the importance of
laying down a third rail on a portion of their rail-
way to suit the gauge of the American lines, so as to
allow American trains to run over their line. This
would prevent three breaks of gauge between Chicago
and New York, and it was expected that the whole
cost of the third rail would be repaid from tolls in
between five and eight years. It was estimated
that the loss by break of gauge was now £17,000 a
year, which would be saved by laying the third rail.
With regard to the Detroit and Milwaukee line,
the traffic receipts for the half-year ending the
30th of June last amounted to £147,870, against
£119,576 for the corresponding half of 1864, show-
ing an increase of £28,294. The net receipts on that
line in the first half of 1865 were $245,242, and the
interest on bonds $203,073, leaving a surplus of
$42,169. It could not pay its bonded debt a few
years ago, but now it left a surplus. There was no
capital account to go to, and the Milwaukee Com-
pany had to spend its surplus revenue to provide
additional cars to convey the increased traffic. The
third rail would help the traffic considerably on the
Detroit and Milwaukee line, and so indirectly benefit
the Great Western Company. There had been an
abundant harvest in Canada, and on the whole he
thought the prospects of the company were good.
The safe and punctual working of the rail-
way reflected much credit on the management of the
line and the officers of the company. He concluded
by moving the adoption of the report and statement
of accounts, and that a dividend at the rate of 2 per
cent. per annum be declared, payable on the Ist of
November.
Mr. HOYES, a director, seconded the motion.

Mr. FILDES, M.P., strongly recommended a traffic
arrangement, and the adoption of the one purse
system between this company and the Grand Trunk
Company.
Mr. HARTRIDGE would be very glad to see
friendly relations established with the Grand Trunk
Railway Cotnpany. He was not surprised to hear
there were some differences between the two com-
panies, but he thought there should be friendly
relations between them respecting traffic from Detroit
to Toronto. Beyond Toronto he failed to see what
connexion there could bebetween the two companies.
The CHAIRMAN stated that at the request of his
colleagues, when Mr. Brydges, the general manager
of the Grand Trunk, was last in England, he (the
chairman) proposed to Mr. Brydges that a friendly
arrangement should be come to with respect to the
traffic between Toronto and Detroit, but Mr.
Brydges declined to entertain that question, and
they parted good friends. Ile (the Chairman) was
sure if the shareholders knew the condition of their
line and that of the Grand Trunk they would not
be so very anxious for a joint working. If they and
the Granfi Trunk were united on that question it
would then be only two companies out of seven, and
it would probably induce the other five companies
to compete more fiercely with them for the through
traffic.
Mr. HAIITRIDGE was not satisfied that the one
purse system would answer in their case.
Colonel EVELYN thought they should not allow
any pressure in favour of the Grand Trunk interests
at their meeting. _ _

The report was then adopted, and the dividend of
2 per cent. per annum was declared, free of income-
tax, payable on the Ist of November.
On the motion of the CHAIRMAN, seconded by
Mr. HOYES, a resolution was unanimously passed,
approving the agreement bearing date the 19th of
September, between the Great Western Railway of
the first part, the Atlantic and Great Western Rail-
way (Buffalo Extension) of the second part, and the
Niagara Railway Company of the third part,
whereby the Great Western would work the Erie
and Niagara Railway for one year, and secure the
right of working its traffic over the Erie and Nia-
gara Railway for years, on terms to be agreed
upon.

Mr. S. HERAPATII said as the board undoubtedly
deserved the confidence of the shareholders, he would
move from that side of the table that the present
board of directors be re-elected.

Mr. HARTRIDGE seconded the motion, and hoped
it would be carried unanimously.

It appeared that Mr. Harris, of Darlington, was a
candidate for a seat at the board, but after an ex-
planation that he would be outvoted, Mr. Fildes,
who proposed him, withdrew his amendment, and
the motion was carried unanimously.
The retiring auditors, Mr. J. Young and Mr.
Smith, were re-elected.
On the motion of Mr. lIARTRIDGE, a vote of
thanks to the ehairman and directors for their valu-
able services was carried unanimously.

Colonel EVELYN then moved a vote of thanks to
Mr. Swinyard, the general manager, for his atten-
tion to the interests of the company, and the pro-
ceedings terminated.

had called the attention of the Government to the
question of providing diverging roads to the railway
stations, and that obligation had been admitted on
the part of the Government. To induce the rapid
construction of those roads the directors had re-
duced the tariff on the line, but they held in reserve
the power, should they deem it expedient, of re-
turning to the higher scale of tariff charges. They
were on good terms with the Government. He then
explained that Mr. Gainsford and Mr. 'Wickham
had been selected from a list of associated share-
holders to increase the number of directors from
five to seven, but some objection had been raised to
the selection of Mr. Wickham, on the ground that
he had seceded from that body. All he (the Chair-
man) could say was that the directors had received
no notice to that effect. There could be no doubt
Mr. Wickham would make from his railway know-
ledge a valuable member of the Board, having also
a large stake in the company. In nominating those
gentlemen the Board had only one object in view,
that of a good and harmonious working of the rail-
way. (Hear, hear.) That Association ought long
since to have been dissolved, but if there were any
real objections to the proper time to exercise them
would be on the retirement of directors in Apri
next, when they could vote on the question.
Mr. J. MoRGAN, a director, seconded the motion
for the adoption of the report.
A long discussion ensued, in which Mr. Gosset,
Mr. Ireland, Mr. Robertson, Mr. Jones; Mr. Goez,
and other shareholders, took par',, in the course of
which it was asserted that Mr. Wickham had seceded
from the Shareholders Association, and was, there-
fore, according to arrangements at last meeting, not
eligible for election.

Mr. WICKHAM contended that he had not seceded
from the association.; but he believed his view in re-
spect of the management of the undertaking con-
curred with that of the directors, and he would do
his duty if elected.
An amendment by Mr. Gossett, approving the re-
port with the exception of the paragraph relating to
the selection of Mr. Wickham, was on a show of
hands rejected, and the report of the directors was
adopted. A dividend of 12s. per share, or 3 per
cent. for the half-year, was declared.
The meeting was then made special, to repeal and
alter some of the articles of association.

Mr. Peachey, the solicitor of the company, ex-
plained the effect of the proposed alterations.
After a long discussion, and the rejection of
amendments, the proposed alterations with some
modifications were adopted.

A vote of thanks to the chairman and directors
concluded the proceedings.

NORTH LONDON (CITY BRANCH).

Yesterday an inspection of this new railway, its
terminus in Liverpool-street, city, and the stations
upon the route, showed that the permanent way and
general works were in such an advanced state as to
allow of an early opening of the line. At the city
terminus a large body of workmen are busily em-
ployed in finishing the booking-offices, platforms,
roof, and other portions of the station. The main
building has a handsome facade, clock tower in the
centre, on each .side of which are the offices of the
North-Western and North London Railways, those
of the North-Western being on the west and North
London on the east. There are five arrival and
departure platforms. The roof of the station is con-
structed of ornamental iron, and wood, and glass,
the two divisions being supported by cast-iron pil-
lars. In the terminus rails have been laid, and in a
few days the points and signals at the Sun-street
junction where the line enters the station, will be
completed. The rails from the City to Kingsland
are all laid. There is a station at the corner of
Old-street-road. Passengers will be enabled to pro-
ceed from the city station in Liverpool-street either
to Kingsland, Hackney, Bow, Stratford, Islington,
Camden-town, Euston-square, and all stations upon
the London and North-Western system. The new
line is about 21 miles in length, to its junction with
the North London Railway. The railway, it is un-
derstood, will be inspected in the course of a few
days by Colonel Yolland.