The Sun.
London, England, 1853-08-24 00:00:00

The general half-yearly meeting of this company was
held yesterday at Derby, and was attended Ellis, the
numerous body of shareholders. Mr-
chairman of the directors, presided.
Mr. J. F. Bell, the secretary, read the report of the
directors. It stated that the gross receipts from the
traffic of the half-year ending June last have exceeded
those of the corresponding half-year of 1852 by the sum
of 46,9971. exclusive of receipts from the North-West-
ern. The proportion which the working expenses,lsave
been borne to the receipts (exclusive of rates, taxes,
Government duty, and the provision for the renewal of
permanent way and increase of rolling stock) laS been
441. 17s. 6d. per cent., as compared. with 4/. Bs. 7d. per
cent., as compared with 411. Bs. id. per cent. in 1852 ;
the percentage, however, of 1852 did not include the
working of the North-Western. The balance available
for dividend is 173,4061., and the directors recommend
dividends payable on the Ist of September as follows :-
as, 12s. 6d. upon each 1001. Midland consolidated
stock • 18s. 9d. upon each 1001. Birmingham and Derby
consolidated stock, 31. upon. each 1001. consolidated
preferential stock ; 11. 10s. upon each Erewash Valley
share ; and 2s. 3d. upon each share of 161. 13s. 4d.,
being 41 per cent. upon 51. per share paid up. This
will leave a balance of 2,0841. to be carried to the next
- account. There has been a great increase in the cost of
the maintenance of way-one-half of which is caused by
the reinstatement of the line and works from the da-
mage done by the floods of last winter. The high rate
of wages, the additional length of line maintained, and
the larger traffic upon it, have also contributed to that
result. The many advantages arising from the use of
the fish-joint, when applied to rails of the ordinary
construction, have induced the directors to purchase
from the Permanent Way Company the right of using
this and all their other patents, which will effect a
considerable saving. 161 miles of double line have been
relaid, and 15 miles fish jointed during the half-year.
The increased speed and weight of the trains, however,
render it necessary to proceed more rapidly than they
have hitherto done with this work, and with the substi-
tution of 801 b. rails for 561 b. and 651 b. rails, and the
directors recommend that so much of the cost thus in-
curred as represents the " increased " strength of the
permanent way should be charged to capital, and the
remainder to revenue. The works between lateGlcese
and Stonehouse, which were much impeded by the. to
a unfavourable weather, are now proceeding Pa y
completion. The narrow guage from Stonehouserabolut twoto
Bristol is completed, jwith the exception o
miles, and it is anticipated that there will be an unbroken
narrow guage to Bristol in the course of the autumn.
Ten new goods engines and tenders and 590 waggons
have been added to the stock since lalst halft-yea.r, and
the cost has been charged noncet ,as au
largeof the addi-
tion to the goods and mineral traffic, the directors have
contracted for 20 new goods engines and tenders, at a
cost of 52,0001., to be charged to capital. The mileage
of trains for the half-year has been 3,009,993 miles,
against 2,603,068 for the corresponding period of 1852;
and the weight of goods and minerals carried has been
1,846,016 tons, against 1,508,058, being an increase of
337,958 tons. With respect to Parliamentary proceed-
ings, the directors state that they found it necessary to
oppose the bills of the Leicester and Nuneaton, the
Ambergate, Nottingham, and Boston, and the Stam-
ford and Essendine railway companies, as they con-
tained clauses very inimical to their interests. The
bills of the two first-named have been rejected
by Parliament, and the objectionable clauses struck
out of the Stamford and Essendine. The bills promoted
by the Midland Company for the construction of
the Leicester and Hitchen Railway, and for the conver-
sion of the debenture debt of the company into pre-
ference shares or annuities, have received the Royal
assent ; but the bill for amalgamation with the London
and North-Western has been withdrawn, in consequence
of the appointment of a select committee of the House
of Commons, which advised the house not to allow of
any amalgamation this session, and which has since re-
ported against the amalgamation of very large companies.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the report,
said, that the position of the company with respect to
the revenue of the line was exceedingly satisfactory.
The increase of their earnings had far exceeded expec-
tation, and it was still progressing at a most gratifying
rate. Turning to the other side of the question, how-
ever, he at once admitted that it was far from satisfac-
tory. (Hear, hear.) They must, of course, have anti-
eipated a considerable increase in their expenses from
various causes, which must be obvious to every one.
In the price of all the materials employed in the re-
pairs of stock, and especially of locomotives, there had
been a very great increase ; but he confessed that he
and his brother directors had been surprised at the end
of the half-year to find the amouut by which the ex-
penses had exceeded those of the former half-year. The
expense of the permanent way had increased by 3,800/.
The proprietors would remember that at the last meet•
ing he had stated, with reference to the heavy floods,
that Mr. Barlow, the engineer, had informed him that
they would inflict a cost on the company of something like
10,0001. About 3,0001. of that sum they bad paid last
half-year, and he believed that something like 4,000/. of the
present 8,0001. was attributable also to the consequences of
those tremendous floods. 1,2001. had been occasioned
by the Little North-Western, and the remaining 3,0001.
was partly accounted tor by the high wages, and partly
by the high prices of materials. When it came to be
examined, he did not think that there was anything to
be dissatisfied with with respect to the increased charge
on account of the permanent way. (Hear.) In the
locomotive power there was an increase of 22,000/.
About 6,000/. of that had arisen from working the Little
North-Western, reducing that increase to 16,0001. In
the half-year, however, they had nearly 406,000 ad-
ditional miles, and carried 337,000 ions more weight
than in the previous half-year. The Locomotive Com-
mittee were disposed to 'exercise the utmost amount of
economy that could possibly be practised in that depart-
ment consistently with the safety and efficiency of the
stock, but beyond that they could not and were not pre-
pared to go. (Hear, hear.) In the coaching depart-
ment, also, there had been an increase of about 7,0001.,
1,0001. of which arose from working the Little North-
Western, and the remainder from the increased rate of
wages and materials. In the merchandise department
there had been an increased expenditure of nearly 10,0001.,
],OOOl. of which was attributable to the Little North-
Western, while the remainder had arisen from the same
fertile source of increased expenditure-the price of
materials and wages. The directors, however, had
come to the conclusion that the merchandise department
at the various stations required a very close revision.
During the continuance of the floods in the winter it
had been necessary to put on a great number of extra
hands beyond what was requisite for the ordinary
traffic. Many of those hand had since been dis-
pensed with, but not to the full extent, and measures
were being taken for strictly and stringently investiga-
ting the state of the staffs at every station, great and
small, and for making such reductions as with safety
they could make. (Hear, hear.) They did not intend
to do anything in any way to impair the working of the
line, but every effort that men of business could exert
should be made to reduce this charge to the lowest pos-
sible point. (Hear, hear.) The directors were as
anxious as the proprietors could be to keep down the
expenses ; but every man of business knew that in the
present state and tendency of things in this country it
was not possible to expect any great reduction of expen-
diture ; but they must be content if they could keep ex-
penditure at its present amount. The directors were of
opinion that the time had come when they ought to go
thoroughly through all their sources of revenue. Almost
every class of people, in whatever trade engaged, were
making money out of the present circumstances of the
country, but themselves. They were so tied down in
many cases by their maximum rates that they could not
help themselves ; but they intended to go carefully
through the whole of their rates, and in every case where
it was practicable and safe to increase their rate of
charges. (Hear hear.) That was really the only way
of meeting the difficulty. To a considerable extent he
hoped they would be able to accomplish their object. In
some measure it had already been effected ; but it was
their intention to go through the whole of the rates
again withtitiheetview of raising them. He was not afraid
of losing
had a sinking traffic.
a bit. It was not as if they
and it was their Zet.ay toThey
deal
with
hn
it,
, immenseaed
to t
maker a ffi c,
the most of it.
Little North-Westeorrn With regard to the
(Hear, hear.)
might have been a
loss of 1,000/.
by itself, but, looking at the t thisraffi e wykeaiorh,
ittatkoinokg
to
and from the Midland,was convinced that
on the whole it was a great lie'
to them. The traffic
orEzaeldtelt3ween 40 and 50 per
upon that line had increasNe,d,
Irthe Midland, and
cent., owing to its being
to the traffic which they mutually
nanexdtcon-voyed from each other. (Hear, hear.)
im-
portant question was that of the maintenance
and it was one which the proprietors must ninceeet boldly,
° f way,
They were aware that up to this time railways
almost an experiment. He had been a railway ddir been
24 years, and he remembered that they began with e3c5t117
rails, then they got to 401 b., then 561 b., then 651 b ,
then 701 b., and now they thought that nothing less than
801 b. rails would carry them safely. But not the rails
only, but the chairs and sleepers had also increased in
weight; and, inasmuch as their original rails had been
451 b. and 651 b. rails, it was necessary that every one of
them should come out at once. If the meeting were of
opinion that the cost of replacing them with 801 b. rails
should be defrayed out of revenue,
it was for them to
say. so. The directors thought that that would be an
unjust course towards the present. proprietors, so long
as they were a shifting proprietary, and suggested that
the difference between the weights of the two rails
should be borne by the capital. The labour of raelacyitnigje,
they thought, should be paid nut of revenue, and
difference in weight only out of capital. (Hear, hear.)
They had often talked in that room about closing the
capital account; but he had always told them that they
never could close it until they bad developed the whole
traffic of the country and had brought the railway sys-
tem to a perfect system. They must develop° the
traffic, and they might depend upon it they could
not carry it on with the old rails. The directors
were bound to see that the line was safe for the pub-
lic to travel on, and it was not safe while they had
only 561 b. rails where 801 b. rails were required. It
was for the meeting to say whether they would charge
the cost of laying down those to revenue or to capi-
tal, because there was no questionr but they must be laid
down. A great many patents
andltd been obtained at dif-
ferent times for connecting improving rails. For
several years past the directors had paid considerable
attention to the "fish-joint," as it was called, in use
upon the Eastern Counties line, and they we
satis-
fied of the great benefit which resultedfromi
ts use that
they did not intend in future to lay any rails
withoutit.
fish-jointre
should be also charged to capital. (Hear, hear.) he
They were of opinion that the expense of the