The Sun.
London, England, 1838-03-16 00:00:00

MANCHESTER
AND
LEEDS RAILWAY COMPANY
(BY EXPRESS.)

Yesterday (Thursday, 15th March) the third half-yearly
General Meeting of the Leeds and Manchester Railway
Company was held in the large room of the York Hotel,
King-street, Manchester. About twelve o'clock between
sixty and seventy shareholders had assembled, when James
Wood, Esq., was called to the Chair.
The CHAIRMAN having read the resolution calling the
meeting said—Gentlemen, the time has now arrived when
the Directors of this Company are called upon to meet the

Shareholders, and give an account of their proceedings
since the last occasion upon which they met—l mean since
their last general meeting, held on the 14th of September,
and I can assure you, Gentlemen, that the Directors feel
it to be a pleasure on their part, as much as their duty, to
lay before the Shareholders an account of their.stewardship.
It is not, Gentlemen, my intention to occupy much of your
time on the present occasion, as the Report itself is of
such a nature as to convey to you all the important facts
and details of our proceedings, in a manner much more sa-
tisfactory than I could possibly convey them ; and I am the
more gratified at this, because I conceive that, when any-
thing comes before the Shareholders in the shape of a Re-
port, it is consequently entitled to a weight much greater
than it could otherwise lay claim to, falling from the lips
of any one individual Director. The Report will, how-
ever, state to you, that there are now four-and-twenty miles
of the line from Manchester to Leeds let to contractors, and
that these four-and-twenty miles are in active operation. I
believe about two-thirds of the land for the entire line has
been purchased, and I think I may say to you that the
Directors indulge a hope which I trust will be found
correct, that the remaining portion of the land required for
the entire line will be purchased in the course of the present
summer. Gentlemen, you are all as well aware as I am,
that there have been certain reports very current that we
never would complete this Railway, or that if we had the
inclination that we had not the power to do so. We have
long since laughed at these idle tales, and I am happy
to say, that we may now laugh at them completely. In re-
ference to these idle tales, I need only inform you of what
has already been effected, as sufficient proof that the Di-
rectors arc disposed to do that for which they bound them-
selves by their Act ; and what they have done also proves
with equal satisfaction, that they have the power to perform
that which they have undertaken. Gentlemen, I may
here venture to say on behalf of the:Directors, that they
are not so reckless of their own characters—that they
arc not so reckless of the interests of the Share-
holders—that they aro not so reckless of their own
interests, as for a moment to entertain the idea that
they would never be able to undertake the work as-
signed to them—and they are not so reckless of their cha-
racter, as for one moment to suppose, that they would
never be able to perform that which they had first set down
and calculated the cost for. The reason, Gentlemen, I
say this is, that I greatly fear a number of the Shareholders
have been misled by these idle reports, and too many of
them may, perhaps, be induced to dispose of their shares
in consequence at far less than their intrinsic value. But
let me not be misunderstood. The Directors have no right
or disposition, to dictate to the Shareholders what they
should do with their stock—they have no wish to give
them any directions on the subject—but merely to recom-
mend them to pay due attention to the report, when
they will be enabled to judge for themselves, and when
they have formed their own judgments to act accord-
ingly. The time, too, Gentlemen, has now arrived
when three of the Directors must leave office. The
three that have gone out by lot are Messrs. Smith,
Barrow, and Burton ; but though they have gone
out by lot, I do hope and trust (and in saying this I feel
that I only express the feelings of my brother Directors)
that they may be replaced in their former stations. You
must be aware that the situation I hold is one of no little
responsibility—a responsibility I should shrink from if I
were not surrounded and supported by a body of gentlemen
who well understand the work they have undertaken, who
act together with the most perfect cordiality, and who, I
think I may venture to say, on all great questions that
come before them, are perfectly unanimous in their opi-
nions and decisions. I hope, Gentlemen, I shall not be
deemed travelling out of the line of my duty if on the
present occasion I express to the shareholders that perfect
confidence which the Directors have in their respected en-
gineers, Messrs. Stevenson and Gooch.—(Hear, hear.) I
know that these individuals would much rather that their
works praised them than that they should be praised by
me or any individual in this assembly ; and I have
no doubt their works will praise them, and that when, in
conjunction with the important works they have already
been engaged in, they have accomplished their present un-
dertaking, they will have earned for themselves an impe-
rishable name. I may also, Gentlemen, take occasion to
bear my testimony to the talents, and unwearied diligence
and perseverance of our respected Law Clerk. No indi-
viduals but those at the Board of Directors can judge of
the labour and toil that that individual has been called
upon to perform, and I feel pleasure in saying that he has
hitherto conducted himself to the perfect satisfaction of
the Directory, and I trust to the Shareholders them-
selves. There is another individual to whom I would beg
leave to direct your attention, one whom the gentlemen
present know was selected as the Managing Director, on
whom should devolve the chief labour of purchas-
ing land for the line. We were, undoubtedly, most
happy in that selection, and we should fail in
our duty did we not boar testimony to the physical
energy, great mental power, and unwearied exertions
of that gentleman.—(Hear, hear.) It is impossible for me,
I am sure, to express in adequate language the estimation
in which we hold the labours of that individual, but when
you do know them I am sure you will afford him that
raced of praise to which he is so justly entitled.—(Cheers.)
Before I sit down I would beg to inform you that the other
lines of railway that come in connection with our own are
now in progress of completion—namely, the North Mid-
land, the York and North Midland, and the Hull and
Selby—and we have every reason to suppose that those
lines will be opened at the same time as our own, thus
giving us a connexion between the Western and Eastern
Seas—between the ports of Liverpool and Hull. The
Chairman concluded by observing that the Reports of the
Directors and Mr. Stevenson would be laid before the
meeting, giving them all the information they could by
possibility require or demand on the present occasion, and
to which he craved their best attention.—(Cheers.)
JOHN JELLICORSE, Esq., Secretary to the Company,
then read the following Report :