The Sun.
London, England, 1854-09-08 00:00:00

No CONNEXION WITH ANY OTIIER ROUSE IN OR OUT OF LONDON,

except their own Establishments, as follows :
London City Establishment, 154, 155. 156, and 157, Minories, 84,
85, and 86, Aldgate, opposite the Church, all communicating.
London West-end Branch, 506, .507, 508, New Oxford-street, 1,2,
and 3, Hart-street, all eonamuicating.
Bradford (Yorkshire) Branch, 19 and 20, Bridge-street.
Sheffield Branch, 36, Fargate.
Colonial Wholesale Branch, Melbourne, Australia.
Merchant tailors Clothiers, Hatters, Hosiers, Furriers, Boot and
Shoe Makers, and General Outfitters for Ladies and Gentlemen.
IMPORTANT.—ShouId any article not give satisfaction, it will be
exchanged if desired, or, if preferred, the money will be returned
without hesitation. All goods are marked in plain figures, the lowest
price, trom which no abatement can be made.
The Establishments are closed from aunsw. on Fridays to sunset
on :,.aturdays, when business is resumed till 12 o'clock.
A new Book, with illustrations, entitled" The Echo of Public Opi-
nion," containing full lists of prices, our system et self-measum-
mat, &c., may be had on application, or post-free.
Tel l'on parle Francais. Qui si parle Itallano.
flier aprieht man Deutsch. Aqua as habla Espana. 1

BAIL WAY INL'ELLIGENCE.

SOUTH-EASTERN.

The half-yearly meeting of this company was held
yesterday, at the Bridge-house Hotel, Southwark ; Sir
John N. R. Campbell, IC.C.H., i❑ the chair.
The SECRETARY having read the advertisement con-
vening the meeting, and the report, which appeared in
The Sun of Saturday, having been taken as read,
The CHAIRMAN rose and said—Before commenting on
the report, I wish briefly to lay before the observation
of the proprietors the position in which I am now placed
for the first time, and after that I will endeavour to lay
before the meeting the matters of interest which have
-occupied the attention of the present board since my
accession to the office which I have now the honour to
hold in this company. It will be my endeavour to lay
before you the true position—good as well as ill—in
order that, by a thorough knowledge of your affairs,
you may the better aid the directors by your counsel
and advice, and to offer suggestions which, I may say,
will be gratefnily received both by my colleagues and
myself ; for it is an incontrovertible fact that many of
the evils which now burden this enterprise arise from the
want of such knowledge ; and, I am sorry to be obliged
to add, from negligence upon all those matters which
most seriously affect your own interest. It was on the
16th of March that you did me the honour to elect me a
director, and on the 18th of the same mouth I was sum-
moned to attend a board meeting. At that meeting, ac-
cording to the provisions of the Act of Parliament, the
directors proceeded to elect a chairman and deputy chair-
man of the board. They did me the honour to put me in
nomination for the office of chairman, and I was elected

by a majority on that occasion. But, gentlemen, I he-
sitated to accept the post which I now occupy, because I
felt that my knowledge of the details connected with this
great' undertaking was not such as would enable me to
perform the duties with advantage to you or with honour
to myself. I had but little time to reflect ; bnt I knew
that I should be associated a ith men of great practical
knowledge and experience, and that I should have the
benefit of that knowledge and experience, not only to
lighten my labours, but also to diminish the amount of
moral responsibility which I must assume—(hear, hear)
—and I take this opportunity of saying, in the presence
of my colleagues, that it is to their unceasing attention
to their duties, and their undeviating kindness, that I
owe the little knowledge that I possess of the policy, the
management, and the details of thik. great concern ; and
I can only say, that if my ability to learn is only com-
mensurate with their efforts to instruct, you will not
have long to regret the inefficient choice which the direc-
tors have made in appointing me their chairman. I pass
over the first two or three days of my office, when the
question of the Brornleybill was mooted, because I
shall have occasion to address you upon that bye-and-bye.
I pass on to the 23d of March, three days after my election,
which was the first day on which I had an opportunity of
looking into your affairs. The first point to which I gave
my attention was the state of the finances, and the means
which existed of paying the dividend which had been
declared on the 16th of March, amounting to 148,0001.
I found that on 16th March, after paying all outstand-
ing claims, there was left a balance of 9,5881. lie. 7d.
to the debit of the company. I found that the sum which
might be carried to dividend had been paid away for
purposes of construction. I found that the borrowing
powers of the company were exhausted with the excep-
tion of about 17;000/ , being the balance of 500,0001.
granted by Parliament in the previous year. • I found
also that works estimated in that 500,0001. were not yet
commenced, although the money had been expended for
other purposes. I found large and expensive staffs in
the various departments. I found that engagements
had been entered into which must be met by borrowing '
powers in the course of the present year. I found we
were hampered with profitless branches, abstracting
from your main lines no less a sum than 108,3401. from
your annual revenue. (Hear.) I found likewise seve-
ral claims outstanding which had to be met by the cur- I
rent revenue cf the year—that there were bonds to a ,

large amount falling due monthly, which had unfortu-
nately to be renewed, or the money to be provided at a
period when the money market was very heavy, and at
an increased rate of interest. In fact, I found that all

that could be got together had been expended, and that
no provision bad been made for the future. At the date
of which I speak you are aware of the state of the money
market. You know that money was worth more than

5 per cent., with the prospect of an increased interest as
the works progressed. There were many public loans in
the market, and almost every railway company was in
the field as borrowers ; and you are aware how difficult

_
it was to arrange any pecuniary matter, for at that time
almost every enterprise seemed to be struck with pecu-
niary paralysis. Under these circumstances, it cannot
be wondered at that the banking interest declined to
make the large advance which we required for the
payment of the dividend ; and on several occasions we
were met, not perhaps with positive refusal, but with
reluctance to make the advance ; and I can say it
was only at the last moment we were relieved from our
anxiety. by the handsome manner in which our bankers
came forward to enable us to meet the dividend, and
pay our liabilities on that occasion. (Hear.) It was
then I entertained the idea of calling you together to
tell you the state of your affairs, and to place before
you the necessity of foregoing the dividend which had
been declared on the 16th of March. But this was over-
ruled by my colleagues, who were more experienced
than myself, and the matter was settled in the manner'
I have declared. to you. The next point to which I wish
to direct your attention is the change which has taken
place in the management since the new directors were
appointed. You are aware that the offices of chairman
and managing director were vested in one and the same
person ; and that was a system which the reconstructed
board did not think was conducive to the interests of the

company. (Hear, hear.) It was a union of offices in
the hands of one person, giving complete control over
the legislative, the executive, and the financial policy of
the company. which we thought ought not to exist ;
and, in fact, was a centralisation of authority which
we thought ought to be divided into shares of individual
responsibility. (Hear, hear.) The union of such offices,
embracing such extraordinary powers, involved duties
so various, so numerous, and so onerous, that it appeared
to us impossible that any one person could discharge
them efficiently, however able, however intelligent, and
however active that person might be—(hear, hear)—and

We• thought the legislative and the executive Powers
ought to be so distinct as to leave room for the exercise
of that free judgment which experience proves to be most
conducive to the departments over which they preside.
In consequence of this determination we put forth
advertisements, having first settled in our own minds
that the appointment of a distinct paid manager was a
sound principle, because'we thought it was the proper
channel for bringing all the administration of our affairs
into a uniform circle. We thought it would be greatly
beneficial throughout the whole line, and we thought at
the same time that the general control would be vested
in your hoard, who would be responsible to you for their
acts and their proceedings. (Hear.) An advertisement
was put forth calling for candidates to tender their ser-
vices for.the office of general manager, and it is due to
those gentlemgn who sent in their testimonials to say
that they were all of a very high character. The post
was conferred upon one of your own distinguished
officers, and I will tell you the reason why. Captain
Barlow had been for many years in the service of the
company, and had filled a situation of great responsibi-
lity with credit to himself and with frequent commenda-
tions from the company. His testimonials were in all
respects equal to those of the other candidates ; and I
may mention, which•l believe is not known to every
one of my colleagues, 'that some of those gentlemen (and
I more particularly allude to three), who sent in highly
valuable testimonials, and who now hold responsible
situations on railways, told me in their private commu-
nications that they did not wish in any way to interfere
with the appointment of Captain Barlow, who they con-
sidered so admirably adapted for the situation. (Loud
cries of " Hear, hear.") There is another thing which
influenced my colleagues and myself in making this ap-
pointment—that is, in the capacity of resident engineer
an one portion of the line, your late chairman, unsoli-
cited by Captain Barlow, and, as far as I know, by any
other person, selected that gentleman to the respon-
sible position of superintendent of the railway—thus
showing the estimation in which the talents of Captain
Barlow were held by your late ch•irman. (Hear,
hear.) I believe this to be a most proper appointment,
and I have received written communications from share-
holders in various parts highly approving of this step,
which we have taken as one of the first which has dis-
tinguished our term of office. (Hear, hear.) In order
to make the system more effective it became necessary
to supply the place vacated by Captain Barlow, and to
associate with him a man of knowledge and tried expe-
rience in railway matters, who would be able to take
upon himself the duties of general manager in the event
of our being from any cause temporarily deprived of the
services of Capt. Barlow. For that office we have se-
lected Mr. James Brown, who was for some time con-
nected with the Chesterford and Newmarket Railway,
and previously to that with others, and we believe the
results will be beneficial to your interests. It was felt
to be desirable to introduce an officer who was free from
any predilections to any particular line of policy, and
whilst we are by this means enabled to uphold in the
strictest integrity all your interests, you may be assured
that no sacrifice of them will be made unless we secure
for you proportionate and permanent advantages. The
appointments to which I have alluded have, I believe,
generally had the effect of bringing all the officials of
the company into juxtaposition with one another, and
have been the means of establishing such a good under-
standing that there is now a greater freedom of inter-
course and interchange of sentiment amongst them than
previously existed ; and power and vigour are given to
the efforts of our officers, with the knowledge that all
their proceedings are brought under the general cogni-
sance of the board, who are always ready to receive
from their subordinates any suggestions that may tend
to promote the prosperity of the concern. (Hear,
hear.) The next step which we thought necessary to
adopt • was the appointment of committees under the
several heads of finance, traffic, stores, and works. The
appointment of these committees, whose proceedings are
regularly laid before the board at each meeting for ap.
proval and confirmation, seems to work extremely well.
The division of labour has proved very useful, and the
general supervision which is exercieed by the board over