The Sun.
London, England, 1848-06-27 00:00:00

DUBLIN.

The scrutiny into the validity of Mr. Reynolds'
majority was resumed yesterday, and in the course of the
day the petitioners succeeded in striking off four votes.

LOUVAINE A LA SAMBRE
RAILWAY.

A meeting of the shareholders in this undertaking
was held yesterday afternoon at the Queen's Hotel, St.
Martin's-le-Grand, for the purpose of taking into con-
sideration the affairs of the company preparatory to the
general meeting to be holden at Brussels, in compliance
with the statutes; Mr. Barnes i❑ the chair.
The report stated tbut the call which was made
payable on the Ist of May last, had turned out to be a
complete failure, the directors only having received
upon it about 1,0001. It also stated that the decree of
the Belgian Government had appeared allowing the
company until the month of May, 1857, for the execu-
tion of the main trunk line.

After considerable discussion, in the course of which
it appeared that 21,0001. had been already expended,
.and that the directors had no money in hand, and were
unable, therefore, to proceed with the works, it was
ultimately agreed that the meeting should be adjourned
until that day three months, the directors promising
. in
the meantime not to be parties to the forfeiture of the
unpaid-up shares.
A vote of thanks was then passed to the Chairman,
and the meeting adjourned.

BANK OF AUSTRALASIA.
The fourteenth annual general meeting of the proprie-
tors of this bank took place yesterday, at the offices of the
corporation, in Austin-friars, for the purpose of receiv.
ing the annual report of the directors, and for the elec-
tion of three directors, in the room of those who went
out by rotation.
OLIVER. FARRER, Esq., took the chair at one o'clock,
and called upon the Secretary to read the report.
The Secretary then read the following report:. In submitting this their fourteenth report to the
proprietors, the directors proceed to notice the transac-
tions of the past year of account, ending the 11 th of
October last, and such other matters of interest as are
connected therewith. The statements (made up to
the, abo:e-mentioned period) from the various
brenehee in
,i.:e colonies, exhibit, upon the whole, a satis-
factory resua, particularly at Hobart Town, Melbourne,
Adelaide, and viewed distinct from the old accounts, may
be considered as realising the expectations entertained
by the ditectors. The proprietors, will be pleased to
learn, that no material loss has been incurred by bills
remitted from the colonies on houses that have stopped
payment, or on those held in the London-office as
security for loans. The directors have to congratulate
the proprietors upon the successful issue of the appeal
. in the case against the Bank of Australia. The Privy
Council has decided every point in favour of the
Bank of Australasia, directing the costs of the action at
Sydney to be paid by the defendants, together with in-
terest upon the original debt. The directors have
transmitted the order in Council to Sydney, with in-
structions to proceed at once to recover payment of the
debt; and they will, as soon as possible, place themselves
in a position to follow such a course, as circumstances
may render necessary, with regard to the shareholders
in this country. The labour question, on which the in-
terests of the colonists and of the hank so ma-
terially depend, appears at last to have excited the ac-
tive attention, not only of the Government,but also of the
public generally. Emigration from this country has
been resumed ; and the directors have substantial
grounds for stating, that a further extension is in
progress. If labour be adequately supplied, a great
improvement in the value of all Australian property
must follow, but, up to the latest adrices, the want
of hands was severely felt, particularly in the older
settlements, and formed a topic of loud and general
complaint. Whatever, therefore, may be the well-
grounded hope for the future, the period embraced in
the present report shows no amelioration in this re-
spect. The continued depreciation in the price of
wool, the great staple of the Australian colonies, at
the same time, operates powerfully to keep them in
the state of depression from which they have so long
suffered. And, under the joint influence of these
unfavourable circumstances, the value of land and
stock, and all depending interests, remains nearly in
the same uncertain position as heretofore. The effect of
this state of things has been to cause a serious falling off
in the estimated value of the properties held in security
for old debts, as well as to affect the position of many of
the old debtors to the bank, and to lead to the apprehen-
sion of a considerable loss beyond that already cal-
culated upon. The directors would have been well
pleased, had they been able to arrive at any estimate
satisfactory to their own minds, or which they could feel
justified in laying before the proprietors, as to the extent
of such further loss on the old accounts, but this has been
found impracticable, in consequence of the superinten-
dent, Mr. Hart, and Mr. Atherton, taking such widely
different views on the subject, that the joint report
which they had been directed to furnish, cannot now
be looked for. Mr. Hart is of opinion, that by follow-
ing a course of gradual liquidation, the properties may
in most instances be made to realise the amount which
they represent on the bank's books, without leaving
any serious deficiency. Mr. Atherton, on the other
hand, apparently basing his calculations on the present
depreciated value of property, estimates that the loss
on winding up these several concerns will be very
considerable. It must, however be borne in mind,
that since Mr. Atherton's arrival in the colony,
his
opportunities of personally conferring with Mr. ilart
bed been few, owing to much of the short time he
had been there, having been occupied in
it' • ing
hall itihe
ch branches of the bank, including the
remote‘slt
of Adelaide, in South Australia: the directors
re,rhaow
ever, induced to hope, that after he has had an
oppor-
tunity-
of duly weighing the reasons assigned for his
calculations by Mr. Hart, who has had much local
experience, he may feel himself justified in forminga
more favourable opinion of the value of those
securities,
than he entertained when be addressed the Court.
With such conflicting opinions before the directors it
is obvious that some further time must be permitted to
elapse, and greater progress made in winding
up
the old accounts, before they can hope to be able
to submit any estimate of losses that can be relied
upon ; and in the prudence of this course, they look
confidently for the support of the proprietors. Were
sales of properties held by the bank to be forced, there
can be no doubt that a very serious sacrifice must lee
submitted to, in the present state of the colonies ; a
course which the directors are not prepared to sanction,
though they have given instructions, that no favourable
opportunity of effecting realisations shall be neglected.
The Secretary also read the following abstract which
exhibited the operations of the year of account em-
braced in the report :
Nett Profits in the Colonies and in

London, fur the year ending 11th
of October, 1847, after deducting all
expenses of management ...
Deduct deficiency on bad
debt fund, at 12th
October,lB46, as shown

... £50,369 17 10

. .
in last report ... ....£3,124 13 0
Law expenses in the suit
against the Bank of

Australia 1,261 5 1
Irrecoverable debts writ••

ten off this year, in
LondonandthoColonies 7,063 10 5

16,451 8 6

---
Balance on bad debt fund not yet ap-
propriated ... £33,315 9 4
The directors cannot encourage the expectation, that
this sum will suffice to provide for the whole losses that
may hereafter arise on secured accounts and other de-
pendencies, which cannot at present be realised, or
wound up ; neither, as already explained, are they in
a position to form any correct estimate of the amount
by which the fund may be exceeded by such
losses, as that must depend on the future welfare
of the colonies. They beg, however, to remind the
proprietors, that the arrears of interest due by the Bank
of Australia upon their debt, and not yet introduced into
the accounts, as well as the costs of the action to be re-
covered at Sydney, will form a considerable augmenta-
tion to that fund. The assets and liabilities of the bank
at the balance of October, 1847, stood as follows:
ASSETS.

Government stock, specie, and cash... .£326,729 16 1
Bank premises ... ... ••• ..• 23,516 311
Bills receivable, and other securities,.. 1,472,984 4 8

LIABILITIES.
Capital ... X 900,000 0 0
Circulation ... ... 106,931 0 0
Bills payable, and
other liabilities ... 226,519 7 9
Deposits ... 536,325 010
Suspense interest ac-
count ...
Bad debt fund

••• 19,536 6 9
••• 33,915 9 4

X 1,823,230 8

--- --- .£ The CLu 1,823,230 4 8
tax then addressed the m eeting at SOlllO