The Sun.
London, England, 1847-12-23 00:00:00

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DIRECT LONDON AND EXETER
, AILWAY,—(THIS ,DAY.)
A meeting of the shareholders of this company was
held •at the Guildhall Coffee-house to-day, for the
purpose of considering the best means to wind up
sltisfactorily,the affairs of the company ; Dr. Burnett
in the chair.
Mr. ROBINSON said that the financial statement
that was made at the last meeting of the company, in
1846, having been unsatisfactory, the present meeting
had been convened. From the statement it appeared
there were large
.sums that had been • paid, to the
solicitors and the engineers, and respecting which the
fullest information should have been afforded the share-
holders. There were three modes open. to the share-
holders—the first to appoint some gentlemen to
confer with the committee of management with a
view to an arrangement ; the second, to institnte a
suit in equity ; and the third, to avail themselves of
the powers of the Act of Parliament, and put the
company into the Court of Bankruptcy. • ,
After some discussion as to which mode shoulcl be
adopted, •

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Mr. Isaacs moved a resolution, to the effect that it
was the opinion of the meeting that the winding-up
of the affairs of the company would be best accom-
plished by bringing, the matter under the jurisdiction
of. a Court of Bankruptcy, and that the necessary
steps be taken fur that purpose..
Mr.. D,04350x seconded the resolution, which was
carried by a large majority.
Thanks were then voted -to the Chairman, and the
meeting separated.

CANADA. COMPANY---(THIS DAY.)
The half-yearly meeting of this company was held
to-day, at tha offices, St. lielen's-plaCe (Charles
Franks; Esq., in-the chair), for the purpose of de-
claring a dividend, and to elect a director in the
room of John Easthope, Esq., who had been dis-
qualified from ill-health.

The 'CIIAIR,MA,N. said Mr. J. W. Freihfield was the
only gentleman who had offered himself to fill the
vacant office,. and if there was no opposition
he would submit.-his nathe to the approval of the
meeting, - - _
There-.being no- oppoidtinn. 14% .Freshfield was
accordingly elected.
The CHAIRMAN then read the report, which con-
gratulated the proprietors on the increasing pros-
perity of the company. The emigration to Canada
this year, especially from Ireland, had been unusually
large, the number who had landed at Quebec from
January to the 27th of October last being 92,819 ;
many of them, however, were persons quite unfit to
undergo the hardships of a settler's life, and 'were
very deficient in that general intelligence so impor-
tant to settlers in a new colony: Many came extremely
ill-provided with means for their immediate support;
and suffered from diseasei with which they had in some
cases embarked; they therefore had experienced
great difficulty in obtaining employment, and upon
the whole great loss of life had attended the emigra-
tion of the year. The expenditure in some of the
provinces of Canada had been less advantageous than
usual ; but the increase of settlers on the Huron
tract had been great, as up to the 25th September,
14,032 had settled there, making in the aggregate
16,643 settlers in the district, many of whom were
valuable emigrants, who had removed with their
families from some other part of the British do-
minions. The lands disposed of by sale up to the
24th of November amounted to 23,801 acres, at an
average of 15s. sd. per acre, and by lease 78,194 at
15s. 9d., making altogether 101,995 acres, exceeding
the leases and sales of last year by 58,065 acres, and
at an average increase of ls. 3d. A considerable
sum of money bad been sent home by emigrants
through the hands of the company.
The report was received, and a dividend of 6 per
cent. on the capital stock, free of income-tax was de-
clared payable on the 10th of January.
The CHAIRMAN, in reply to a question, stated that
the settlers were allowed to hold the land on lease for
10 years on paying 6 per cent. on its value, when the-
land would revert again to the company. • The im-
provement of the land was secured, and of course its
value enhanced, and if the settler did not cOmply!with
the conditions he was liable to be ejected.
Mr. FRESIIFIRLD having thanked the meeting for
his election, and a vote of thanks having been passed
to Chairman, the meeting separated.

EXCHEQUER.—(THIS DAY.)
(Sitting at Guildhall, before the LORD CHIEF BARON
and Special Juries.)
MACHER V. SOUTH^WESTERN RAILWAY.
This was an action brought for the purpose of re-
covering the sum of 125/. 16s. 101, being the value
of a certain bale of silk, sent by the plaintiff, from
Andover to London, by the South-Western Railway,
and which was alleged to have been stolen by one of
the servants of the company.
Sir F. Thesiger appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr.
Martin for the defendant.

It appeared that the silk in question was forwarded
from Andover in the month of March. Upon the
arrival of the bale at the Nine Elms station, it was
handed over to Messrs. Chaplin and Horne, the
carriers to the company, to be by them conveyed to
its final destination, and it was while under the charge
of Messrs. Chaplin and Horne that the robbery was
alleged to have taken place. Upon the 10th of
March the solicitors of the plaintiff wrote to the direc-
tors of the company, requesting payment for the tniss-
ing goods, and in answer to that communication he was
informed that his application would receive attention in
due course. The principal evidence in support of the
robbery was that of a person who stated that he was
emiloyed occasionally by the police to hunt .afters
suspected characters, and that he had seen the person
charged with the robbery take the bale from one of
the carts of Chaplin and Horne, but declined to give
any information to a police-officer whom he met im-
mediately afterwards, on the ground that the police-
man appeared to him to be " a raw Irishman. The
witness further stated that he had followed the pri-
soner for several days to watch his motions, and
finally pointed him out to a policeman, who took him
into custody on the charge of stealing the bale.
James Johnson, the party su charged, was committed
by the police magistrate, and upon his trial at the
Old Bailey was acquitted.
On the part of the defendant Mr. MARTIN con-
tended that the directors of the South-NWstern
Railway were not liable, their railway being' em-
ployed only for the purpose of conveying the goods
in question to London, and that having arrived at its
destination at the Nine Elms station, the liability of
the company was at an end.
2'he LORD CHIEF BARON dissented from that
opinion, and ruled that that would depend entirely
upon the arrangement which might be made between
the parties. In this case it appeared that the railway
company professed to carry the goods the whole dis-
tance, and employed others to act for them after.
Such persons, so employed, would undoubtedly be-
come the servants or agents of the company, and'their
servants would also be the agents or servants of the

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company.
Mr. MARTIN, in replying upon the evidence, said
it would be very hard upon the railway compapy if
they were to be called upon to pay so large a sum as that
which they were now called upon to pay, they having
received only the trifling sum of 2s. •3d. as carriage
for the goods. The plaintiff; to be entitled to make
good his claim for 'compensation ought, in compliance
with the Act regulating the carriage of goods by
carriers, to hare paid an additional sum beyond the
charge for carriage as insurance. The plaintiff de-
clined to do so, and having refused to pay a small
additional sum, he must bear the consequences. The
Learned Counsel then proceeded to describe in very
strong terms the conduct of .the witness who stated
that he had seen the goods stolen, but refused to give
any information which would lead at once to the
detection and apprehension of the person who had
committed the theft, and thought that the jury ought
not to attach much weight to hii evidence. The
person whom he had charged with the robbery had
been tried, an]. by the verdict of a jury had been ac-
quitted. Looking carefully to the whole of the
,'case,
he confidently anticipated that the jury would return
their verdict for the defendant.

The LORD CHIEF BARON, in summing up, told the
jury that the real questions for them to consider were,
whether the goods in question were or were not
feloniously stolen by one of the servants of the com-
pany, and whether the plaintiff gave notice to the
defendants that the silk was worth more than the
sum of ten pounds.
The jury after a short consultation returned a
verdict for the plaintiff for the amount claimed.

COMMON PLEAS.—(THIS DAY.)
(Sittings at Nisi Prins, at Guildhall, before the LORD
CHIEF JUSTICE and a Special Jury.)
BENNETT V. PENINSULAR AND ORIENTAL STEAINI•TACHET