The Sun.
London, England, 1854-09-21 00:00:00

RAILWAY INITLLIGENC.I4.

MANCHESTER, SHEFFIELD, AND LINIK2LN- _
SHIRE.
A meeting of the 10/. preference and No. -1 quartbr-
shareholders, and afterwards a special general meeting
of the shareholders in this company, took place yester-
day at the Corn Exchange, Manchester ; the Right Hon.
the Earl of Yarborough presiding. Both meetings were
held for the purpose of receiving the report of the com-
mittee of preference sharehojders, appointed on the 2d
of August last, to consider the question of the arrears of
interest. -The recommendations of the report have
already appeared in The Sun.
The attendance of proprietors was not so-Urge as has
been usual on previous occasions.
Lord YARBOROUGH, in opening the proceedings, said
the committee of preference shareholders appointed on
the 2d August last, who had every right to the confi-
dence of the proprietary, both on account of their per-
sonal position and their very large stake in this concern,
had decided to recommend the capitalisation of the ar-
rears, at such amount as they shall stand on the 31st
December, 1555, by the issue of a 31 per cent. prefer-
ence stock, to bear dividend from the let January, 1856.
They had also reported a suggestion, that an option
should be given to issue, at an agreed rate, the for-
feited and unhand stock of the company to such parties
as might prefer it. The question presented so many
argument eonpti
opinion
nt itw
couldas
exist.ha r hardly y likely
Representations
an entire
proprietors, who were of opinion that 34 per cent, stock
concurrence
points
b e fore n ar
made to the directors by some of the original
erne pt
irtelseedn
ftoe d
romn
eoirev te
ihnalnietnhoefpfrere
their
ranrcre ea
shareholders
rsTbn but the
were
direo.
h urgeo 1d e r theefr
at
nonr
es ,p
taa sntnhoeyo
of
utrngee dteupon
ptrhoepposlfe,
adoption by the original shareholders. The committee
rewnocuel dslisaZ
had gone very carefully into the question, and therefore
thortirectors-would earnestly recommend the proprie-
tors to consider the matter as amicably and equitably
settled, and to arm the board with powers to proceed to
Parliament accordingly. In conclusion he would move
the adoption of the report of the committee of preference
shareholders, and that the directors be requested, to
refer it to a general meeting of shareholders for confir-
mation, and to authorise their obtaining powers to carry
out the same by act of Parliament.
Mr. CHAPMAN, the deputy
resolution, which was immediately putrma;
n
and carried by a
hands being large majority, about ten h held up for the
The business o the preferenceut
"Y —chaishareholsdeecros' dmedeettihni
meeting
negative.
having been concluded,
This meeting was made seeoial—fer 44 ____ • ." -

ole
of the report of the of the committee the prefereneionekiseatice sh
holders, and took place about an hour after the conclu-
sion of the previous one.
Lord YAEBOROUGH said that at the meeting just
closed the directors bad received the sanction of the
holders of the preference shares to the recommendations
of the committee appointed on the 2d of August. There
were some, as he had already observed, who thought
that a 3i per cent. stock was more than an equivalent
for the preference arrears ; but the directors thought it
was a question, not of per cent., but of uniting toge-
ther all classes of the proprietary in order to get the
thing settled, so that there might be an end to all differ-
ences of opinion among the shareholders as to what
should be done with the arrears, and to agree to a mea-
sure which would give the holders of those arrears a
saleable property in exchange for one which had no value
in the market. He would now move that the report of
the committee of preference shareholders, dated 31st
August last, which had been approved by the preference
shareholders at a meeting held that day, be confirmed,
and that the directors be authorised to carry out the
same by application to Parliament.
Mr. CHAPMAN seconded the resolution.
Mr. CARR moved, as an amendment, that the ques-
tion of capitalising the arrears be deferred for twelve
months, that the shareholders might have an opportu-
nity of seeing the benefit to be derived from the late
arrangements with the London and North-Western
Company.
Mr. CORFE seconded the amendment.

The amendment was ace ndingly put, and six hands
only were held up in its favour, the original motion
being carried by a large majority, with loud applause.
The proceedings concluded with the passing of votes
of thanks to Lord Yarborough and the directors, and to
the committee of preference shareholders.

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