The Sun.
London, England, 1849-07-04 00:00:00

RAIL. WAY INTELLIGENCE.
EASTERN COUNTIES.
A special meeting of this company was held on Mon-
day at the London Tavern, for the purpose of consider-
ing and approving of two Bills now before Parliament—
one for authorising. the amalgamation of the Norfolk
Railway with the Eastern Counties; and the other to
permit the Eastern Union Company to sell or lease their
undertaking to the Eastern Counties Company, or to
amalgamate. Mr. Anderson took the chair.
Me. RONEY, the secretary, read the advertisement
convening the meeting, and afterwards, the side notes
of the Norfolk Amalgamation Bill; during which he
was interrupted several times, and eventually it was
ch termined the whole of the Bill should be read
throughout, containing forty-one clauses, which was
read accordingly.
The CHAIRMAN then moved that " the Bill be ap-
proved, subject to such alterations as Parliament may
insert." •
Mr. Knereeenb seconded the motion.
Mr. MACPHAIL on moving an amendment, referred
to a letter which he had received by Mr. Price from
Mr. Till, the Secretary of the Norfolk Company, dated
September 4, 1848, which stated that the capital of the
Norfolk was 1,700,000/. It was now stated that
2,107,0001. had been expended, and ho could not under-
stand how in so short a time the capital should be- in-
creased 400,0001. He thought the matter should be in-
quired into before they gave their consent to the Bill,
and would move an amendment that this meeting do ad-
journ for one month.—(Great applause.)
Mr. PRICE seconded the amendment, and, in doing so,
complained of the increased cost of the Norfolk from
1,300,000/. to 2,300,000/. Ho believed that 200,0001. or
300,0001. of it had been laid on for other purposes than
those of the Norfolk Company; and that all the accounts
submittedt to,the Committee of Investigation, with re-
spect to the question of amalgamation, had been
" cooked."—(No, no.) He then read Mr. Till's letter,
which stated, in reply to a question, that the capital ex-
pended in September, 1848, amounted to 1,708,2501.;
the length of the line open was eighty-two miles; and
the portion in course of construction was twelve miles in
length. He declared that the only witness examined in
favour of the Bill was Mr. Duncan, their late solicitor,
who was now employed in promoting the Bill.
Mr. KENNARD, a director, said it did not matter at
all to him when the truth came out, whether first or last.
He was deputy-chairman of the Northers and Eastern,
and once held shares in the Norfolk Company, but as
soon as he found that the interests of the Norfolk Com-
pany would clash with those of the Eastern Counties
Company, both he and Mr. Anderson sold their Norfolk
shares. lie adverted to the apparent change of Mr.
Reek's opinion with regard to the amalgamation ques-
tion, and quoted passages from a former speech of that
gentleman, aud also from a letter written by him in Sa-
turday's paper, stating that there was a difference of
25,000/. per annum between the accounts furnished to
the committee and those made out by one of the directors.
The chief discrepancy in the two accounts arose from the
circumstance of charging the revenue with the interest
which will be payable on the whole of the Norfolk ca-
pital when it is raised, instead' of only charging the
revenue with the cost of the finished portion of the line.
This would account for the apparent discrepancy of
the 25,000/., which had no right to be charged against
the revenue of the last year. He then showed that the
statements with regard to the Norfolk traffic were by no
means fairly made out towards that company, and that
a statement sent him by Mr. Price, respecting the Eastern
Counties' receipts, perfectly agreed with his (Mr. Ken-
nard's) calculations with regard to the amalgamation—
to the effect that if the traffic averaged 14,000/. per week,
the Eastern Counties shares would be worth 41.; 15,000/.
a week, 81.; 16,000/. a week, 12/.; 18,000/. a week, 161.,
and if they average 20,000/. per week, the shares would
be worth 20/. He was sorry that the Lowestoft was
added to the Norfolk; but he felt satisfied that the amal-
gamation with the Norfolk would give them a perfect
hold of the Eastern Counties' district.
Mr. Casa explained that the amount mentioned by Mr.
Price only referred to the Norfolk line proper, and did
not include that of the Lowestoft Harbour and Railway.
Mr. KENNARD contended that if they did not amalga-
mate with the Norfolk, the latter would not be trifled
with, and would make a short line and convey their
traffic over the Great Northern Railway to London,
which would be a considerable advantage to the latter,
and a great loss to the Eastern Counties.
Mr. MEEK replied at some length to the charges re-
specting the two accounts. There was clearly a dif-
ference of 25,787/. per annum between them, but he had
no confidence in either of the accounts. There was no
need of hastily deciding on the amalgamation, because
the Eastern Counties had leased the line under a work-
ing agreement for more than seven years. He com-
plained that he had received a proxy paper from the
company's office soliciting his proxy, which he calcu-
lated would cost, if sent to every shareholder, 900/. He
thought that individuals were not so patriotic as to pay
for these proxies out of their private funds, and he de-
precated putting the company to such an expense. lie
concluded by moving " that the Bill be not approved,
and that the meeting be adjourned to the 2d of August
next to receive the report of the committee on the amal-
gamation."
Mr. EAST seconded the motion.
Mr. RONEY, in reply to a question, stated, that all he
knew about the proxies was that, on that morning week,
he received a great many of them, printed officially, to
be sent to the shareholders; but the Board of Directors
had tsken no part in it whatever. He had received let-
ters from shareholders asking for proxies to be issued
by the company; and he had received letters from other
shareholders complaining of having received them.
A DIRECTOR said he would never permit the money
of the company to be expended on proxies.
Mr. CHRISTIE explained, that the proxies had been
sent by a party of gentlemen holding stock to the amount
of 200,000/. in the Eastern Counties Company, who are
anxious that the amalgamation should take place, be-
lieving that it would be highly advantageous to the
Eastern Counties Company. He had gone into the
figures and accounts of the Eastern Counties with Mr.
Glynn, and they were satisfied that if the low rates of
tolls fixed by Parliament were revised, and good ma-
nagement adopted on the part of the directors, they
would bo enabled to earn a good dividend.—(Hear,
hear.) The traffic on the railway only required to be
carried on in a business manner to pay the proprietors.
Mr. flows recommended the proprietors to adopt a
middle course, to have no more committees of inquiry,
but to select a board of directors as soon as possible;
and concluded by moving an amendment to the effect
that it was improper to proceed with any bills until a
board of directors be appointed.
After a long discussion, in which Mr. Ellis, Mr. Josiah
Wilson, Mr. Kennard, Mr. Cash, Mr. Macphail, Mr.
Fryer, and Mr. Box took part, it was agreed to with-
draw the amendments proposed by Mr. Hews and Mr.
Macphail, in favour of Mr. Meek's amendment.
The amendment proposed by Mr. Meek was then put
to the meeting, and on a show of hands it was declared
by the Chairman to be lost.—(Loud cries of " Shame,
shame.") A poll was demanded. The original motion
was then put, and declared by the Chairman not to be
carried.
The CHAIRMAN then submitted the Bill for permitting
the Eastern Union Company to amalgamate with the
Eastern Counties Company at any future time, provided
that three-fifths of the shareholders should give their
asient to the amalgamation.
Mr. RONEY read the marginal notes of the Bill, which
contained 22 clauses.
The CHAIRMAN stated that the Bill was merely a per-
missive one ; it did not bind them to amalgamate, lle
then moved a resolution to tile effect that the Bill be
approved.'
An amendment was then moved that the Bill be not
approved, aud on a show of hands the ameniiment was
declared carried, and the original motion was lost.
Mr. FIELD demanded a poll.
The meeting was then adjourned to Tuesday at
.five
o'clock, and after a vote of thanks to the Chairman the
meeting separated.
ADJOURNED MEETING.
The adjourned meeting of the proprietors of the
Eastern Counties Railway Company was held yesterday
at the London Tavern, for the purpose of receiving the
scrutineers' report of the poll on tho Bill for amalga-
mating with the Norfolk Company. Mr. Anderson
was in the chair.
The scrutineers reported as follows:
IN FAVOUR OF THE NORFOLK AMALGAMATION.
Personal votes (138 proprietors) ... 3,287
Proxy votes(s47 proprietors) ... ... 17,716