The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-15 00:00:00

officer for the large sum of 2,300,0001 , though the Act 0
incorporation originally authorised them only to rai
Ise
1,500,000/. The ten directors subscribed for 30,000'5
one up to 260,0(104 Now the Glasgow, Dumfries, and Caral-
lisle Railway Company, the other company in question, wlf
originally empowered to raise 1,300,000/. in 52,000 shares in
25/. each, and as yet they had only raised 5/. a share,, or
243,000/. in all. The Ayraiiire company had raised this 10".
for its extension schemes 153,0001. The subseription contract
of the Glasgox, Dumfries, and Carlisle Company had bee!'
signed by eight directors and the secretary for 1,908,0"
being 170,000/. for each director, and 186,000/. for the secres
tart'. Such were the responsibilities of these two comp
who had only in the one case raised '243,000/. and 153,074
respectively towards the large amount of eal3l
for which the directors had signed.—( Hear, bear,)
be
Now these two Commissioners came forward with Billsto7
this House, and they proposed to raise by the six B befog
the House a capital of 6,389.0001. These Commissioners esor
before this House, and declared themselves ready and able
raise this amount of 6,398,000/., and the only guarantee aeY..
offered for this large amount was the subscr_pi two of the dire.
tors to the contract deed of the company. Now he would !eau_
the contract deed, for he had furnished himself with all datel;
documents. The report of the Commissioners said tbtsst_
original capital of the Greenock Company was 1,2in22,74
and they sought to increase that capital by loans to, thekin
instance, 3,532,000/. and in the other to 2,866,00 a, loa te
a total of 6,398,000/. which was to be guars°44,,p
by the subscription of the directors to the contract
acs
(The lion. Member then read extracts from the report erl;t:
directors, showing that in compliance with the standing ooesneli
they had, through the instrumentality of the Natinnai__. of
of Scotland, paid in to the Accountant of the Corr ,i_et
Chancery the ten per cent. on their capital requireclebY_rss
standing orders.) That was done in order to secure th euw
pang, and he stated the facts in order that the whole :I the
matter might be brought out. He deeply regretted that.4ls
Scotch Bank had been found to act in such a way, and el:o,s.°
any chartered bank; but above all that the National Bank
land should consent to place themselves in such a position•
there was the company for forming aline to Bury St. Ednniss
the report of which he held in his hand. That corn
last session sought to obtain six Bills, the united capital
to•
raised being 2,000,0001. with power to get 700,0001. of fete
By the Acts which they obtained in 1845 and 1846 tneijo is.
entitled to raise still further capital, and for this the/
ode
sued 16,000 shares of 251. each. On these they ha° En ems
call of 224,0001., and the whole amount that same praise,',
rsco
these calls was 2041. They had issued about 22,00° sharital
which they had raised 90,0001.. and the whole of the espso,
which they had obtained was 334,000/. Now, this °lila
came before Parliament in the present session for six for
The subscription contract was signed by twelve directors.o_4
1,612,000!., and they asked for powers to raise an lulditidn;
capital of 2,700,0001. Did not such a state of things es_os
require amendment? He was sorry, indeed, that honest raitiows/
companies should suffer for these acts, but his resolution °O7
effective must be general. He could increase the Inn he
companies who had been guilty of these malpractices.u_ to
thought he had mentioned sufficient to induce the et
accede accede to his resolution. He really thought that Parlirior,
ought to stop the progress of every railway sill broug ts,ar
ward this session, but such a course as that might inflict.
rin
insot
tire upon many deserving companies, and be was therefloporis.
prepared to propose it. He thought it necessary that several
ment should interfere in some way in this subject unto ''sais.
grounds, he thought the public ought to knovv what the. is th•
ings and conduct of every railway board was; he though:l2o
House ought to interfere in consequence of the pressure, woof
the country felt from the present state of Ireland and nelikeltl
provisions in this country, and upon the ground of the their
which manufacturers experienced in obtaining discount on
Bills. He anticipated nothing but distress and confusle°
co:sit
the Commissioners not interfering in the subject. Ile
not have believed it possible for such transactions as h.ewish
referred to to have taken place in open day He did telosished
to say anythiu 1 against any individual director;
claim the
only to call attention to the whole system, and to ;e
interference of Parliament. if they allowed things to goeo o_i;
the same way they would be alone responsible for tits
inwoo
chiefs that might ensue. He did not know anY west.' , she
effectual for checking the evil than by thc House affirtatnis,
resolution he had moved. lie did not contemplate any fled
sition to the resolution from any free and independent
esoi.ot
her. He begged, therefore, to move the resolution "
read to the House. Gentletosn
Mr. GREEN begged to suggest to the Hon. to
the propriety of making a slight alteration in the resolaT
the effect, "that in every Bill to enable, &c., a clause.r`"
.
be introduced," &c., so as to remove all technical objeetl °
Mr. HUME having assented to the suggestion, thoogb
Mr. JOHN ABEL SMITH seeonded the motion, cd:
he did not quite agree with him in all the particulars to
bb
the Hon. Member had adverted. He thought,
the House was under a great obligation to the Honh
for having called its attention to this subject, as it appear'
their
him that the state of the railway legislation demanhat if the
most serious consideration. He was also of opinion, t .00 sod
statements which he had made were correct, reolut
not go far enough ; and without intending to raise they e",
h tention
which haeen so lately and so justly occupying t-es, ught
of the househe meant the monetary system—be t-° ss the
one could deny but the influence of railwaysini°
portant
wGen_ le.
din a 110
capital of the country formed a most
element in its consideration. He therefore hoped
—ent
resolution might elicit from the House and the Goverenuia___
some opinion as to the propriety of proceeding with th
way Bills, at present in progress. before Parliament. It
enough for them to remember that during the last two yes,:;
they had sanctioned Bills to raise a capital exceeding
millions, while the Bills before the House of the present year,
embraced a capital of 87 millions. Considering the present
that
state of the country, the vast call made for provisions, and the
uncertainty of the future harvest, it behoved the House and the
Government to pause ere they sanctioned any other scheme At
present. He had no wish to depreciate railway enterprise, of
the advantages they conferred, but he did hope something
would be done with the Bills at present before Parliament. He
would not be justified in saying more at present, as he did it
id
order to draw forth the opinions of the House, art
to learn what the intentions of the Government were'
.t.
d
ego:doe:I
never
heSeerwl
Hha TedonnH taken. Ot
Member
Riere railway
foreseeni
steedbwtet hahroyi
this
sgowhs
rhtaaatrsit s
notowof
Montrosereatnsdh iindt
gowhosshe;oe
niranaetetneehd
nett, odwthetwasoen closertdeytoherefore.
stablehytieeeaC hras dk:
whet'
these Bills were before the House, and nine or ten Hon. Melt''
bers used to meet at twelve or four o'clock, and settle all tiles*
important measures. As it was too late for the Hon. Memberto oppose the progress of the measures with effect now, still, es
he agreed with the motion, it should have his support. 11°
hoped that this motion of the Hon. Member for Metal
would be followed by others of a similar character, and though
this was late in the day, it would have his earnest and cordial
support.
Mr. HUDSON was not at all surprised that this Vs.--
had been brought before the House on the present occasin
but he wished to say a few words on the motion which bat
been submitted to the House. He was exceedingly glad "Is
in all companies to which the Hon. Member had referred,tota:
large amount of capital which had been entrusted to them,
and the large amount of mileage for which that capitai 511
raised had not been included. He had expected that sons
thing would have been brought to light concerning thehanic,hbboi:
he had not said a word relative to the companies with w
the outlay on railways,
was connected. The Hoorn.nits motiont sought totlayst.foopr
storeast Member's
f " Hear, hear," and "No, no.") lie
on that outlay.—( Cries o
the formation of new lines ; ,at any to put a limitatMo
had strong feelings on the subject.
Mr. SMITH explained that he ha
tdn heo thought that some
limiting the outlay for railways, Isu_ n
a word about
law should be imposed for restricting the formation of e.
railways.
Mr. HUDSON—In other words, the Hon. Member wool
restrict the outlay for the promotion a new lines in order:tit:
retain the monopoly which was in the possession of the co:,
panies who had the old ones. If they restrained the outlay pot
railways—if the House interfered for that purpose al
restrict the outlay for ironworks, for cotton factories, and
other manufactories in the country, in which large number:o
able-bodied labourers were employed, for in no business
there a greater number of labourers deriving comfortable nag.%
and in which capital was more usefully expended, than in I',
promotion of railways. The people of this country ht
mined the way in which their capital should go, and he thoug
that the House ought to be ver cautious of interferiels
with any business on which so large a number of ir
pourers depended. He had himself been very anxious to obis
the number of able-bodied labourerswho were occur';,.
wprhinornciplhee,
they
yd
under those with whom he had to do, and he found that thyso
directors
instituted over whom were not less than 50,000 people
receiving
the honour to preside. , P.
should not employ the men in that way, and would deprsc's
large class of that subsistence which th y'h d hitherto eerr.
With respect to the creation of so ey a
were called into man kinds of shares, "sm.o
existence under various twice, t"--
circumstances,
was no difficulty whatever in the sloe.
accounts to which the ..-
ember had referred. He • dange'
would directly sa thasbtand:fpithte::
quite agreed with the t
hin*
of companies undertaking to raise large sums wit
any capital paid up. It was not the fault of the system fiat
various railway companies had been placed in an unfair Vs!'
thls
tion. He always considered it more safe for the public of
country to invest their money in railways than in foreign seen;
cities. He thought the resolution one which required grebe
consideration, and he did not think it would be wise for
Hon. Member to press his motion. He thought that the
Committees of the House were too willing to give facilities tn.
companies to raise large sums of money who had themselve;
no capital. It had been said that 88,000,0001. had been spells
in the construction of railways, but the country derived a re-
venue from that soure of upwards of 9,000,000/.. and conferred
turera,
also innumerable benefits upton the merchants, the manufae•
and the cottagers. Had there been a good harvest this
year there would not have been the slightest difficulty felt as to
a pressure upon the money market. He thought that the
House had power in their hands already to put a check to the
evil complained of by the Hon. Member, by not too radii,
granting powers to new companies which had no amount of
capital paid up.
Lord HARRY VANE said that the Hon. Member who
spoke last entertained some doubts whether the resolution
would accomplish the object intended. He himself concurred
in those doubts, but he thought something ought to be done in
the present uncertainty of railway affairs. 'The capital pro-
posed to be raised by the railway companies at present fore
Parliament was most enormous, and he thought it absoblueteli
essential that the question of capital should form a special. enr:
sideration with the Select Committee, as the attention of tt:
Committees sitting on groups was confined, and verviropers'Yi
too, to the merits of each case referred to them. or enws`;
he leave out the Great Western Company from the scopnesn
his observations; and he considered that Parliament sb
•from
interfere and prevent the directors of these companies s do,
signing contracts for the sole purpose of purchasing grea"_oo.,
tricts. Looking at the great difficulties of the railway.
e c_...00
panies themselves, he considered that it would be a whol'
check to prevent interest being paid upon calls. t had
Mr. E. ELLICE said that he was glad that this subjr.
been brought under the notice of the House, for he con itlerg;
that Parliament should have interfered a long time ago', two
had been selected to preside ever a Committee in whien
companies were suing for powers to raise additional terght
and he reported to the House at that time, whenthe
tte„
Hon. Baronet the Member for Tamworth was Prim ensiorder
that it was requisite that some steps should be tt be
to check the progress of unmatured railway schemes,. :slot
was sorry te say that they did not receive any attentriooeunSs.
, the late Vice-President of the Board of Trade, or
ef.
otos".
deed, until lately, even the present Government. H.,°_s_lboy
ceeded, however, in passing a resolution requiring.nan
order to
Bills to be referred to the Railway Commissioners e to
inquire as to their financial amounts, 'and to enabLonsetne''
sore
report to the House. The standing orders of the a 0.,
ould pass
openly evaded, and he hops.d that the House w _ or.
solution that the standing order of the House, requirinso:,,
tain number of shareholders to sign a contract, which sla
5.
la
binding on themselves, their heirs, and executors; Idloun'e,
hereafter be strictly adhered to. If this Behoed
there would no longer be a door open for fraud. sine future
that his Hon. Friend would postpone the discussion to
01_ the
day, in order to give time for further consideration
subject. the s°°'
Mr. HODGSON said that it would be better for
s,
Member to withdraw his resolution. It would be amo es°,
'on that
heard of injustice if at this period of the session
es receive
lution putting a wholesale stop to all railway come ant' the attack
the sanction of the House. He denied the Justice F. 13
was one
which had been made on the Ayrshire company, wnw.,,,ofries,
of the most substantial in Scotland. The Glasfow,
dertakinfifs
and Carlisle Company was also a most respect e
and did not deserve the aspersions east upon it.