The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-17 00:00:00

HOP DUTIES.

Mr. FREWEN presented a petition from the hop
planters of the county of Sussex and Weald of Kent,
and others interested in the cultivation of hops, assem-
bled at a public meeting held on the 14th day of Decem-
ber last, praying for a total repeal of the excise duty on
hops. The hon. member then proceeded to move
"that the excise duty on hops is impolitic and unjust,
and ought to be repealed." A deputation which had
waited upon the noble lord who was lately at the head
of the Government had received no support, and, there-
fore, had urged him to bring the subject before the house.
In the year 1849 the duty had been 145,6931., in 1850
424,7021., in 1851 and 1852 236,6231., so that the aver-
age was little •more than 200,0001. per annum. This
tax was first imposed in 1711, and considerably increased
in 1802. In 1505 it had been decreased 2d. in the pound,
but even now it amounted to nearly 141. per acre. A
large crop, in fact, which ought to be a blessing, is by
the operation of this law actually made a curse. In some
cases the amount of duty paid for the hops grown upon
five or six acres out of a hundred, actually exceeds the
rent of the whole farm. He could prove that within the
last fortnight four-fifths of the hop planters of Sussex had
signed a petition for the total repeal of this tax. He
was aware that a meeting had been held at Maidstone,
at which resolutions had been proposed hostile to the re-
peal of the hop duty, but this would only show that the
gentlemen whopassed those resolution s, held in their hands
an improper monopoly. He was aware that to-day a large
deputation had waited upon the head of the Government
and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, praying that the
tax might not be repealed, and it was natural for
planters of ample means to expect, by the operation of
this large tax, to beat down opposition. The operation
of the tax was to drive a large portion of the land out of
cultivation, and this surely was impolitic, and with
these views he had brought forward the present
measure.

Mr. FULLER was understood to agree with the 1
measure of the hon. member for Sussex.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER trusted
that the house would not now be led into the discussion
of the question. He would freely admit to the hon.
gentleman that the case of the county of Sussex is un-
doubtedly a hard one, as compared with some more
favoured districts. But he regretted not to be
able to go any farther with the right hon. gentle-
man. The opinion of the hon. gentleman that the
tax was of slight importance to the Exchequer was
erroneous. Considerable importance was attached to
the 300,0001. raised by this tax. It was, however, im-
politic to consider any single tax by itself. It was im-
politic to remove a tax before it was decided how to raise
the necessary expenditure of the year. He was convinced
that the house would not sanction this motion. It
would soon now be seen what was the estimated
expenditure for the year, and then, if the revenue
of the year exceeded that expenditure, it would be
time for the honourable member to bring forward his
measure. He entertained no doubt that the house would
refuse to adopt the motion of the right hon. gentleman.
He had been called upon by an hon. member to give up
the whole of the advertisement duty, and he had. heard
that night of a motion to be brought forward for the
repeal of the wine duties. It was his duty to give a
negative to the motion before the house.

Mr. BALL should vote against the continuance of the
tax, and was confirmed in this intention by what had
fallen from the Chancellor of the Exchequer with regard
to its inequality. The removal of this tax was only
carrying out that free-trade principle which had been
confirmed by the house.
Mr. DEEDES was sorry to say that it was not the
first time ho had opposed the member for Sussex on mo-
tions of this ,sort. It seemed to him that it was
the intention of the honourable member to play Sus-
sex against all England, but he hoped that the
umpires would see to the fairness of the game. The
attempt to repeal the hop duty by a planter, was a sui-
cidal act.

(LEFT SPEAKING.)

GIIEA T WESTERN RAILWAY-(THIS DA Y. )

The general half-yearly meeting of this company was
held this afternoon, at the Paddington Station ; Charles
Russell, Esq., the chairman, presiding.
After the usual preliminaries had been gone through,
The CHAIRMAN addressed the meeting as follows :
Gentlemen, the accounts which we distributed among
you on Saturday are quite as satisfactory as the directors
expected they would be. We were always aware—and
we often so stated to you—that the years 1852 arAl 1853,
when we opened our northern lines, and befo:e the traffic
on them and on the South Wales line ee:eld. be fully de-
veloped, must of necessity be years 2pressure to us. It
was for this express reason that we reserved a larger
balance than we were in the habit of maintaining ; and
I think we have cause to oe satisfied that we have been
enabled to pass over the first of those periods by
drawing to so sriall an extent on the amount
so reserved. The most prominent event of the
last half-year has been the opening of the line to
Birmingham. We were very much pressed by our
Shrewsbury friends to hasten the completion of that
portion of the line with the sincere object, I am satisfied,
of accelerating and bringing into action the traffic
arrangements which were entered into between the three
companies ; but that object, I am sorry to say, has been
defeated by the delays and obstructions which were in-
terposed to the opening of the Stour Valley line. There
were other considerations, however, which made it im-
portant to us not to delay the opening of that line. By
the terms of our purcl•a,se of the Oxford and Birming-
ham and Wolverhampton and Dudley lines, we are com-
pelled to pay to the proprietors of these lines 5 per cent.
for a period of six months, after the opening of any por-
tion of them ; and while money is easily obtained in the
market at the rate of 31 per cent., it becomes, of course,
extremely desirable that we should accelerate as much as
we can the completion of that portion of our contract.
The general results of our half-yearly account may be thus
broadly stated :—We have charged to our revenue account
the interest on 1,347,0001. on account of the Birming-
ham and Oxford line, from the day that it was opened,
and we have still maintained our dividend of 4 per cent.
by drawing on our reserve to the extent only of 9,0001. ;
and we are enabled to carry forward 64,000/. as a balance
to meet the exigences of the present year. (Hear.)
This, too, we ha 7e beau enabled to do, although we have
been obliged, in conformity with the provisions of the
Legislature, to reduce our charges not with reference to
the Birmingham and Oxford only, but on our entire
line, from one end of it to the other ; although we have
as yet opened our Birmingham line for passenger traffic
only, with very insufficient accommodation for that
traffic, and during a season peculiarly unfavourable to
travelling, although we have as yet had scarcely any
mineral traffic from the South Wales, and although we
have had no merchandise whatever brought by our
northern friends. (Hear, hear.) I think, combining
all those circumstances together, the directors are justi-
fied in expressing to you the great satisfaction
which they feel at the financial position of our
company. The question as to the Oxford, Wor-
cester, and Wolverhampton Company, and as to the
Shrewsbury lines remains very much in the same state in
which they were when we last met you. Indeed it
could hardly be otherwise, for we every day feel more
and more convinced that that question is of a magnitude
and character which can only be settled by the interven-
tion of the Legislature—(hear, hear)—and since we met
you there has been a short November session of Parlia-
ment,
in which, of course, no railway business was
transacted. From the bills introduced by the Oxford,
NVorcester, and Wolverhampton, and by the London and
North-Western Company, we infer that the policy of the
former company
is to be the same as that which so sig-
nally failed in the last session. It appears to be still
resolved to endeavour to dissolve those relations with the
Great WeEltern which are clearly enjoined by the act of
incorporation, and to seek new powers to form alliances
if they think fit with the London and North-Western
and other narrow gauge lines, or to wake a new
access themselves to the metropolis by means of the
Mid-Western Railway, which was rejected by the
House of Commons last session of Parliament. It is,
gentlemen, no fault of the Great Western that we are
obliged to appeal again to Parliament. Immediately
after the close of last session by desire of my colleagues,
I addressed a letter to the chairman of the Oxford,
Worcester, and Wolverhampton Company, expressing
o
friendly arrangement
with r desirethat
company,for the
andrenewalof suggesting
modes by which we
thought it might be carried into effect, and I am sure
when I mention them to you yputwill_ not consider
they were at all unieasonable. We offered tllem, ffra,
if they still desired to lease that line, that we would

take it on terms the same in principle, and better in
amount, than those which were actually ac2epted from
the North-Western Company, but to which the law
would not permit them to give effect. We offered them,
secondly, if they were prepared to dispose of the line,
that we would become purchasers of it, but on
its actually ascertained value, when it should
have been opened and the traffic fully
.de-
veloped, and that we would work it for them in the
meantime under such an arrangement that every shilling
of profit should go into their own pocket. (Hear, hear.)
We offered, thirdly, if they should prefer it, to enter
into an arrangement with them similar to that which
they had made with the South Wales Company, and
which I believe practically succeeds to the satisfaction
of both companies. We offered, lastly, if they were not
inclined to adopt any one of those arrangements, that we
would save their capital—an object of great importance
to them—by providing stock for working their line, and
under such an arrangement as might be determined to
be equitable between the parties. My letter to the
chairman was dated the 23d of August last, but we re-
ceived no answer to our proposal until the beginning of
November, and then they intimated to us in express
terms that they preferred renewing the same struggle in
the present session of Parliament which they had to en-
counter in the last. There was then no alternative
left to us but to defend our rights in the best manner we
were able, and we feel perfectly convinced that the Le-
gislature will give the same verdict upon the Mid-
Western Railway this year that it did last, and we will
still persevere and endeavour to enforce the provisions
of the act of incorporation, by which they were bound to
work their line continuously with the Great Western
Company. (Cheers.) In the course of our opposition
to the Mid-Western Railway last session of Parliament,
we contended, as we had done successfully in 1847, that
the districts between Birmingham and London could be
better supplied with railway communication by means
of the " dropped" lines of the Great Western than the
lines passing through the midst of them. It is neces-
sary that we should take every precaution in our power
to give effect to the system which was approved of on
both of those occasions, and it is necessary there-
fore that we should go to Parliament in order to
obtain an extension of time for making the short line
to 'Uxbridge and Henley. Nearly in the same category
may be included a short line from Melksham to Devizes.
All those lines do not exceed a few miles in length. We
have already entered into a contract for the purchase of
the land over which they will run, which must be carried
out, whatever other arrangements may be made, as we
have incurred various expenses. We always contem-
plated the completion of those lines. With us their com-
pletion was but a question of time ; and we really believed,
putting aside every other consideration, that, in an eco-
nomical point of view, the best thing to do was to com-
plete them at once, and get them out of hand. The
confidence of the directors in the ultimate success of our
Shrewsbury line has in no degree been shaken by the
proceedings which took place at the meeting on
the 31st of last month. It has been our
purpose from the beginning, and it is now
our purpose to give effect to that alliance, and I
sincerely hope we shall be able to accomplish it in the
ensuing session. lam sure the directors of that com-
pany will admit that we made large modifications on our
original engagement, with the view of propitiating the
support of their proprietors. We had consented to waive
all technical obstacles to their proceeding with their bill,
provided only that the London and North-Western Com-
pany would enter into an engagement in no way to im-
pair our legal rights. We went even further : we de-
parted from the principles we had prescribed for our-
selves,,and assented to give a qu'llified guarantee in the
interval if the proprietors would support the alliance
with the Great Western. 1 said it was argued at that
meeting that it was extremely unjust and unreasonable not
to give the same guarantee to the proprietors who
opposed us as to those who supported us—that is, that
we should waive the entire consideration for which alone
the guarantee was to be given. But it is not my inten-
tion to enter into a controversy which some of the
speeches delivered on that occasion might provoke. The
letter we sent after that meeting contains the arguments
on our part fully and fairly stated, and I do not think it
would be possible for me to add to the force of it. The
Shrewsbury proprietors thought fit to decline the terms,
and for myself I avow frankly that I am not sorry they
did. I have myself individually the greatest objection
to guarantees. (Cheers.) They often act most injuri-
ously and unjustly to the companies who give them, and
particularly in the present case, where, though the
guarantee was to be given by us, thel line was to remain
in the hands of their directors. Now, far be it from
me to impute to those gentlemen anything dishonour-
able or unfair ; but I am sure it must be obvious
to them, as well as to every one who hears me, that
there cannot be the same security for careful manage-
ment, for just and fair rates of charges, on a line where
the proprietors happen to be sure of obtaining a dividend
from another company, as on a line where the proprietors
depended entirely upon their own resources. (Hear.)
I, therefore, think we were right in declining those pro-
positions. The Shrewsbury Company having refused
our terms, we now fall back on the original agreements
—first the traffic arrangement made with them in Jan.,
1851 ; and, secondly, the amalgamation agreement,
which we entered into in May in the same year. lam
happy to announce to the proprietors that we have this
year introduced very few bills into Parliament. (Hear,
hear.) Almost all, at least all the most important ones,
are with reference to the Northern lines, and for the
purpose of giving effect to the Shrewsbury Act. We
have a bill confirming the traffic arrangement, a second
confirming the amalgamation agreement, another seek-
ing running powers, and for laying down the broad
gauge over the lines, and a fourth for making some
trifling deviations about Wolverhampton and that part
of the country. These are the most important bills
which it will be our duty to carry forward by every means
in our power. Our earnest endeavours shall be devoted
to settle those long-pending questions in the ensuing
session. In those efforts we feel satisfied we will be
supported by the good faith which has invariably actu-
ated the proprietors of the Shrewsbury Company. I
do not, however, overlook the difficulties that are to be
encountered, but the Shrewsbury proprietors cannot re-
proach us if, yielding to extraneous influence or seeking
for other arrangements which in the end they will find
impracticable, they draw themselves into a protracted
struggle through successive years—they cannot complain
of us if we feel bound, under those circumstances, to
seek for Parliamentary approval and confirmation of
the agreement entered into by them with us.
I do not believe the Legislature ever can or will permit
the control of the Shrewsbury line to fall into the hands
of the London and North-Western Company. It is ut-
terly at variance with the policy which up to the very
last session they have consistently pursued ; and I am
liappy to find that Mr. Clive—than whom there is no
man whose Parliamentary experience enables him to
form a sounder and more practical judgment on such a
samewith
theopinion.full trusteenfi confidence
he a ltlhgaot:
of our bills,
the question—was
te
the will with
Legislatureto onell or
suostthaeinr allotrhe
policy which'
regardParliamentof
the
lines, and confirm the engagement
themselvesw volun-
tarily has invariably pursued in rieefteerenhceiehttohe tphorese.
pro-
prietors of the Shrewsbury Company
themselves oppressed
they considered
I have thus referred as
and North- Western Company.t
tarily and deliberately entered with
by
yt athteimLeewndheeen
im-
portantly the interests of
I have intimated
pretty
clearly the policy which
period.
were always, and are
briefly as I can to the qfueesuironesemwphaicnhyaafftectthemopsrtesentstill, prepared to
friends or to disarm
agree-
ment either to satisfy our
cannot consent to endanger
it is our intention to putresruei.nteWaeny
our opposition, but we reasonable
Western Company
by
undue
of us we mus't, though
such concessions be demanded
that course, stand on our
the interests, or damage
dthuee
ecreendeietesioefu t.h e a
nd Great
if
we shall reluctantly pTurhseu
cehairman concluded by calling
rights. (Cheers.)
lows:—
on the secretary to read the ,report, which was as fol-

"During the last half-year of 1852, for which the accounts
have been recently transmitted to the proprietors, the line
of railway between Banbury and the town of Birmingham
has been brought into partial use, having been opened on
the Ist October, but exclusively. or the conveyance of pas-
sengers. The accommodation in buildings, sidings, and
approaches to the goods sheds, requisite for carrying on a
merchandise traffic, could not be proN:ded at that time,
and it was therefore impracticable to undertake any busi-
ness in conveying goods or minerals, even for local pur-
poses, over the Birmingham line. The income of the coin-.
pany has been, consequently, but slightly increased by tho
limited use made of that railway ; and when the general
reduction of fares and rates ,on all the Groat Western
lines, as well as the long continuance of wet weather, (di-
minishing everywhere the usual traffic of passengers, but
increasing the expenditure for maintenance), are taken into
account, the result of the half-year may be considered favour-
able to the future prospects of the company. For it must be
remembered that the effect of the compulsory reduction con-
sequent upon opening the Birmingham and Oxford Rail-
way, was necessarily most disadvantageous at the very
commencement, before any increase in the number of tra-
vellers or quantity of goods, ordinarily anticipated from a
lower scale of charges, could be obtained to countervail
the loss. The accounts of revenue and expenditure
ofh tavhe
e
been made up in the usual form, for the informaon
proprietors. The peculiar circumstances of the last half-year
of 1851, when the receipts had been so greatly increased by
the Exhibition, forbid any attempt,
.by means of the
usual comparison between corresponding periods, to show
the progress of railway traffic, or to explain the nature
and causes of any difference which may appear either in
the income or charges upon it. It may be mentioned,
however, that the two principal items of increased expen-
diture in the present accounts, consist of maintenance of
way and locomotive power ;—the former is to be accounted
for by an unexampled season of weather, affecting the
works and drainage of the railway, and the latter arises
principally from the greater number of miles run but is
augmented by increased cost of materials and labour, and
heavier repairs occasioned by the effects of the g
wet weather
and partial floods on the line. After chargi interest on
an expenditure of 1,347,115 k for the Birmingham and
Oxford Railway from the day of its opening, and defray-
ing all charges on the loans and fixed ca
it
the disposal al of the Com-
pany, there will remain 228,50 X•
of the. ss. 7d
usual dividend
at of
the company, which will admit
.
being paid at the rate of four per cent. per annum, leaving
s balance of 63,7771. 15s. 3d. to the next account. Under
the terms of agreement for the purchase of the Birming-
ham and Oxford and Birmingham, Wolverhampton and
Railways unitedly, those railways will be trans-
Dudleythis company, on the Ist April next, from which
date of urther portion of the capital expended on the
former line will become a charge on the revenue.
The accounts of the Kennet and Avon Canal have sari
made up, and the directors have the pleasure to
report that there will be a surelus,. after defraying every
charge and paying the guaranteed dividend to the Kennet
and Avon shareholders out of the separate receipts from
the canal traffic. The lease of a portion of the South
viral©o Railway between Grange Court and Swansea came
and some ques-
into operation on the 19th July last, subject to specific
conditions in the agreement between the two companies.
The covenants in that deed have rendered it necessary to
refer to Sir.Waliain Cubitt.certailapoints .for decision, r.p..
Latin g to the charges for working foie South Wales line
with locomotive engines and other plant ;