The Sun.
London, England, 1849-12-07 00:00:00

CAMERON'S COALBROOK RAIL-
WAY COMPANY. ee
An extraordinary general meeting of the proprie-
tors
of the above railway took place yesterday, at the
Company's Office, Moorgate street, for the purpose
of taking into consideration the propriety of increas •
ing the capital of the company, of sanctioning or
disapproving of a branch line to Llanelly of 21
miles in length, and confirming certain contract
loans which some of the directors had advanced to
the company; Mr. Winthrop, chairman of the Board
of Directors, in the chair.
The advertisement convening the meeting having
been read,
Mr. J. DANFORD read the following protest, which
was addressed to the acting directors, secretary,
officers, members, shareholders, and subscribers of the
company :
" Take notice, that the meeting convened for this day
is illegal, as far as the same relates to the making of any
further call upon the shareholders of the said company,
and that such call, if made, will be invalid and fraudu-
lent, and a breach of faith towards the shareholders and
subscribers of the said company, and •contrary to the
original engagement that not more than 61. per share
should be called up.
" And take further notice, that the said company is a
fraudulent and illegal association, and void as a bubble.
" And take further notice, that by the Act of Parlia-
ment mentioned in the advertisements and notices con-
vening the said meeting for this day, all the powers and
authorities contained in the registered deed of settlement
are superseded and avoided, and are no longer in force.
" And we protest that the company pretended to be
constituted by the said deed of settlement hath no legal
existence, and that all the pretended proceedings
thereof at the meeting of this day aro null and void.
" And we protest against the holding of the said
meeting for the purpose of, or with reference to, any
further call, and against all proceedings of the said
meeting, for the purpose of making, or ratifying, or
enforcing such call."
The CHAIRMAN insisted that the protest was false
in fact, and called upon the shareholders to resist the ,
proposal to have it entered on the minutes. It would
be a ruinous proceeding to abandon the concern ; but
if the shareholders would second the exertions of the
acting directors, it might soon be made a profitable
undertaking, without involving any great additional
outlay.
Mr. Jour( DUNFORD made a formal motion that the
protest be entered upon the minutes, which was
seconded by his son, MACVARREN DANFORD, and
unanimously rejected by the meeting:
Mr, ELDERTON, the solicitor to the company, at
the request of the Chairman, then explained that
three of the directors, namely, Messrs. Winthrop,
Barham, and Smallbone, had advanced 1,6501. to the
company under an agreement that all future calls
paid into the bankers of the company should be
carried to their account until such sum had been
repaid. This amount had been applied to the discharge
of some judgment debts that had been hanging over the
company. There was a second contract made as far
back as 1847 with Mr. Winthrop, for a loan
amounting to 2,8001., which bad since been embodied
in an agreement, whereby Mr. Winthrop advanced
an additional sum, making in the whole 5,0001.,
which, it had been arranged, should be discharged,
and had in fact been liquidated by the calls made
upon the shares held by Mr. Winthrop
Mr. DANFORD asked how many shareholders there
were in the company ?
Mr. ELDERTON replied about ninety. He then
read a resolution approving of these contracts, which
he said the shareholders must deal with as they thought
fit, simply explaining that the moneys so raised had
been expended in the payment of the company's debts.
Colonel BAINES took exception to the resolution till
he had received some explanations of the present con-
dition of the concern.
Mr. SMALLBONE said he bad been sued as a share-
holder for debts to which they were all jointly and
severally liable, and these loans had been contracted
for the purpose of paying those debts and preventing
the shareholders from being sent to gaol.
The resolution was then formally moved by Mr.
HUGHES, seconded by Mr. TAYLOR, and carried
unanimously.
The CHAIRMAN said he had now to inform the
meeting that there were parties ready at once to
complete the line to Llanelly. He need not tell
them that when that was accomplished the
undertaking must become highly remunerative ;
but the question for them to consider
was this—could they legally expend any slight addi-
tional funds they might raise in the shape of a call upon
the construction of the line without the sanction of
their landlord, Colonel Cameron ? He was afraid
they could not, but he was in a position to state that
the landlord was ready and willing to make them
every concession.
Mr. ELDERTON explained that originally the shares
of the company numbered 20,000, of which 4,186 are
now held by the general public, 11,970 by Mr.
William Cameron, and 3,655 had been forfeited by
Ow non-payment of calls. It was proposed, with the
sanction of Colonel Cameron, which had been ob-
tained, that the shares should be divided into three
classes, designated reapectively A, B, and C.
Class A would consist of the 4,000 forfeited shares,
which it was proposed to re-issue to the public
guaranteed with a preferential dividend up to 61. or
81, and free from the existing liabilities. Class B
would
.he made up of the shares now held by the
public and 4,000 of the shares held by Mr. William
Cameron, which would come in for dividend after
class Aup to 61. or Si. per cent. ; while class C
would be composed of the 4,000 in the hands of Mr.
Cameron, which would be the last shares to carry
dividends. This arrangement would have the effect
of reducing the liabilities the company were under to
Colonel Cameron by some 12,0001. ; but if it could
be done with the consent and advice of counsel, the
Colonel was willing to make any other concession
that could assist the operations of the shareholders.
The consideration the Colonel expected at the
hands of the shareholders, in return for these
concessions, were the undertaking of certain
mining work, completing the line to Llanelly, which
was consented to by the landowners, and consenting
to the making of the last call of 41. on the shares now
held by the shareholders.
This proposal gave rise to a lengthened discussion,
but nevertheless it was ultimately agreed to, and
resolutions accordingly passed sanctioning it. It was
understood, however, that the call was not to be put
in force or paid in one large sum, but that the direc-
tors were armed with that power to enable them to
come to terms with the landlord, Colonel Cameron.
Thanks were then voted to the Chairman, and the
meeting terminated.