The Sun.
London, England, 1853-12-02 00:00:00

METROPOLITAN AND GENERAL FREE-
HOLD LAND SOCIETY.

Last evening a very fully-attended meeting of the
directors and shareholders in the Metropolitan and
General Freehold Land Society was held at the London
Tavern, Bishopssr6ate-street. The chief business of the
evening was to ballot, for the ninth time, for 80 rights
of choice of allotments on the estates possessed by this
successful society-40 for those members who preferred
the rotation list, and 40 from the ballot section.
Shortly after the hour appointed, eight o'clock, the
chair was taken by J. G. Philps, Esq.
A great number of new shares having been taken up
among the gentlemen present, and the usual routine
business having been transacted,
The CHAIRMAN rose, and said it gave him very great
pleasure to witness such a numerous attendance that
evening. In opening the business of the evening, it
might be as well to inform the meeting that it was the
intention of the directors to alter the number of rights
of choice to be balloted for that evening from thirty,
the number originally intended to be drawn, to forty—
(cheers)—and it was the intention of the directors to use
their utmost exertions to greatly increase that number on
the next meeting of the shareholders. Gentlemen, said he,
at this enterprising time it required something more than
a bill thrust into the hand by the perambulating adver-
tiser, or animated sandwich, as he has been facetiously
termed by one of our greatest writers—it required
something more than this to induce the public
to attend a meeting of this description. A society,
in order to become worthy of the support of the
public, must have existed for a time long enough to be-
come entitled to that support ; it must be well and
widely known both as regards respectability and security
beyond the mere handbill or advertisement. Englishmen
at this time of day reasoned before they attended a
meeting of this description ; they wished to ascertain
what had been done a,nl what was intended to be done,
and having done so, in order the more fully to be satis-
fied,j
they determined to attend a meeting and judge for
themselves whether such society was
worthy to be° con-
sidered as a safe and solid undertaking. It was with feel-
ings such as he (the Chairman) had just expressedtnhathlaiet
beheld the very full and respectable attendance
room that evening. It showed most conclusiveily tthat
this society did possess that ingredient which
entitled it
to• the support of the thinking portion of the public.
Gentlemen, one of the many benefits of freehold land.
societies was that it greatly extended the franchise, and
for this one fact alone they deserved the most extended
support. He (the Chairman) firmly believed and
trusted that they would go on extending the franchise
till the voice of every one would be heard and the power
of every one felt. A movement few had contemplated
had now taken place, and that movement he could at-
tribute to nothing but the spirit of fairness which pre-
vailed
in freehold land societies, and in no society snore
so than in the Metropolitan and General Freehold Land
Society. (Cheers.) It was not in the nature of men,
generally speaking, to attend at meetings of this descrir-
tion without the hope of getting something—(laughter)
—and he trusted that the greater part of those present
that evening would not be disappointed. The great
spirit of commerce had now entered into freehold land
societies—that commerce which caused a spirit of emula-
tion to exist in the bosom of the poorest as well as of
the highest in the land—that commerce which induces
the poorboy to spend his last 2d. to purchase a link in
order to assist them in threading their way through a fog
—(laughter)- -he thinks he has made a good investment
of his capital, though you, for whom lie made the pur-
chase, may think otherwise. Now, when commerce had
done all this, was it to be wondered at that it should creep
into their society? It might have occurred to some one pre-
sent to ask himself what benefit lie would derive from
being presentat this meeting ; he would tell those who had
thought so that, by joining this society, they were placing
upon themselves the necessity of providing means to ob-
tain that which they would one day find to be the best
investment they had ever made. Gentlemen, during the
past year we have had 600 drawn rights. (Cheers.)
That he (the chairman) considered something more than
nothing. (Cheers.) He advised those shareholders who
might be so fortunate as to obtain rights that evening to
hold tight, and property that was at the present time
worth only 3 or 4 per cent., would in a very short time
realise at least from 10 to 12 per cent. In addition to
the 600 drawn rights, the society had marked off 200,
and the simple fact of so doing very plainly showed that
the remainder stood a very good chance of soon obtain- '
ing theirs. Their subscribed capital amounted to 15,0001.
—(cheers)—and he only hoped the society might continue
to receive the same amount of support as hitherto, and
they would have nothing to complain of. He begged
to thank the meeting for the patience with which
they had listened to the few observations he had felt
it his duty to make—(cheers)—and he would resume his
seat by assuring the assembled shareholders that no
exertions would be wanting on the part of the directors
to further the general interests of the society. If any
gentleman had any question to put to him respecting
the society he would have great pleasure in answering
him to the best of his ability. ,
Mr. WEST, with the permission of the chairman,
would like to make a. few observations. With respect
to the estate of the society situated at Barnes, he had
\
great pleasure in informing the meeting that the whole
of the drainage work had been completed. It had been
very up-hill work for one of the directors, and he hardly
knew how the society generally would be able to thank
him. Nothing could be safer as an investment for saving
than this society. They had had larger sums deposited
with them, and by this means they had been enabled to

purchase property which would greatly benefit the whole
of the shareholders. It was a well-established fact

that there could not be a safer commodity for the in-
vestment of money than land. The estate lately pur-
chased by the society at Barnes was, in his estimation,
quite equal to the estate situated at Stoke Newington,
the property of the National Society. The manner in
which the roads had been laid down had been the ad-
miration of all who had had the good fortune to see them,
and those who had not he advised to lose no time, but
go at once and satisfy themselves of the truth of his ,
assertions.

The CHAIRMAN then called for the appointment of
three scrutineers, and said lie would prefer having the
names of three gentlemen All.lO had not officiated before
in that capacity, as fresh names in the detailed proceed-
ings of a society like theirs always looked best. (Cheers.)
Mr. Jesse Turner Mr. Crofts (of Croydon), and Mr.
Thomason (of Wandsworth) were then appointed scruti-
neers, and the seals on the ballot-box having been veri-
fied and removed, the balloting for the eighty rights
of choice then took place. At the termination of the
drawing,
The SECRETARY announced the numbers as follows :-
804, 791, 803, 793, 2943, 3127, 800, 810, 2385, 2576,
2886, 1643, 2418, 802, 2863, 2880, 808, 2078, 3029,2737,
2911, 820, 805, 679, 815, 2470, 2468, 2908, 788, 813,
2952, 2020, 2443, 811, 2225, 1942, 814, 2444, 726, 790,
801, 807, 1647, 816, 678, 727, 2876, 2669, 729, 799, 2131,
3020, 730, 818, 320, 819, 3035, 2767, 797, 789, pOl9,
2446, 809, 817, 2499, 677, 319, 806, 2484, 680, 796, 3104,
728, 2203, 3157, 812, 2581, 2358, 2028, and 2838.
A vote of thanks was then given to the Chairman,
who briefly acknowledged the compliment in a neat
speech, in which he passed a high eulogium on the assi-
duity of Mr. White, the secretary. The proccelings then
terminated.