The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-07 00:00:00

GROUP XX.

This Committee met at the usual hour this morning; Mr.
Goulburn in the chair.
BIRMINGHAM AND OXFORD JUNCTION,
AND BIRMINGHAM, DUDLEY, AND WOL-

VERHAMPTON AMALGAMATION.

Mr. WHATELY opened the case for the promoters of this
Bill. He went at some length into the circumstances con-
nected with the passing of the Birmingham and Oxford
line, pointing out to the Committee the fact that it was
conceded by Parliament on the ground that the line should
always be an independent line, competing with the London
and North Western Company. The Learned Gentleman
then proceeded to detail a correspondence which took
place before the passing of the Bill between
Lord Hatherton, the chairman of the company, and Mr.
Moseley, the tenor of which appear( d to express a desire,
on the part of certain large shareholders in the undertaking,
that the directors should endeavour to come to an amicable
arrangement with the London and North-Western Company,
but the directors declined to do anything of the kind, feeling
that the interest of the public was far more important than
that of the shareholders; and the line was therefore allowed
to pass, in direct opposition to, and as a competing line with,
the London and North•-Western Railway. The Learned
Gentleman then related the occurrences which had taken
place at the various meetings which had been held to consi-
der the question of amalgamation, and with which the readers
of The Sun must be familiar, they having so recently been
before the public. The Learned Counsel was then about to
call evidence, but he was interrupted by
The Cnafax.trt, who said the time had arrived when the
Committee ought to decide whether the petitioners against
the Bill had any locus standi in the Committee.
Mr. CoCKBUUN contended that the petitioners, who were
the great mass of the shareholders of the company, had a
right to appear and oppose the Bill, inasmuch as they had
never given their sanction to the measure in special general
meeting assembled according to the provisions of the com-
pany's Act of incorporation. The directors had throughout
acted in direct contravention to the wishes of their consti-
tuents, while in makkg an agreement with the Birmingham,
Dudley, and Wolverhampttn Company for amalgamating the
two concerns, they not only sacrificed the interest of the
shareholders by attempting to unite their line with another
of inferior ♦alue, but actually did that which they had no
authority whatever to do. Now these petition2rs who were
upwards of three-fifths of the shareholders in the company
were deprived front voting at the special meeting called to
consider the amalgamation by the act of the
directors themselves, who purposely delayed the
issuing of the sealed certificates, and refused to
adjourn the meeting until they had performed that duty.
The Committee, therefore, seeing that these petitioners, who
were shareholders in the company at the time of that special
meeting, having been deprived of their privileges by the
conduct of the directors, could not refuse to hear them on
meetings, that occasion, and he trusted the Committee would not
gthslat
attempt to exclude them from a hearing. At all the subsequent
received the sanction of att.
bise-epdal:eeda:
exception of the twelven was igd director:,
three-fifths re, aerfi
the
he e refo.r
shareholders
h e
tainednf
the fttherii!hiseoi issuing of the sealed certificates, the pro-
posedohlda
de r
n, withev er
The Committee pecial general meeting assembled.
adjourned at the usual hour.
ebryecashusaeretht
t h coam":l7

i d
GROUP xxi.
The Committee met at the usual hour this morning; Sir