The Sun.
London, England, 1848-11-08 00:00:00

gentlemen " for their cruel practices. If the ra

peeentidd ; a
be
e maiid it is all but
de,or,ifit
were certain
ereinadet,hawt the line
(midnot
neveryield
him a half per cent. But, to his astonishment, the
directors of the said-scheme are pleased to mak a call
of 51. per share on the 200 shares held by the sup-
posed party. He• does not respond to it; he is
threatened with " proceedings ;" and, at length, the
harpies of the law are let loose upon him. He has
no alternative but to sell, at any price, his shares in
the old and good line, to pay his call on the new and
bad line—and hence depreciation necessarily follows.
But, Sir, this is not all. It may so happen that
the old line itself is entangled with the new concern.
It has, perhaps, leaned it at threefold its value ; or, it
may have subscribed a large portion of its required
capital; and thus the young monster, in place of
"feeding" the pareht trunk, is a mere blood, sucker.
Sir, unless I am greatly mistaken, the. pith of the
evil is here. If shareholders expect any permanent
improvement, they must compel their directors to
knock these monsters on the head; the blow must
not only be vigorous, but instantaneous. No as-
surances of an "intention" to " wind up" must he ac-
cepted ; the thing must be done. If the best and
soundest schemes in the country are at discounts of
from 20 to 50 per cent., what rate awaits the genera-
tion of lines now. struggling for existence ? Share-
holders, you must either kill them, or they will kill
you.—l am, Sir, yours, &c.,
Nov. 7, 1848. ANTI-DISCOUNT.

NORTHERN COUNTIES UNION

RAILWAY.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE S7IIV.
Six,—Knowing your anxiety to see the existing
railway liabilities reduCed, I trust on that account
you will insert the following letter in your next pub-
lication.

I am desirous to call the attention of the share-
holders of the Northern Counties Union Railway to
the absolute necessity of having the concern brought
to within as small a compass as possible. It appears
the directors, in conjunction with those of the Stock-
ton and Darlington Railway, have caused a survey
to be made for a line between Darlington and Bar-
nard Castle, and from thence on to the Tebay line.
It seems to me perfect madness entertaining for one
moment the idea of such a project; in the first
place, where is the .money to come from to
make the line; in the next, where is there
traffic to pay 1 .per tent on the outlay; it is
monstrous that the funds of the shareholders should
be thus wasted. I wonder what authority the direc-
tors have for taking such a step. According to a re-
solution passed at last meeting, it was resolved that
no fresh contracts or agreements should be entered
into without the sanction of the proprietors. From
last report the funds amounted to 76,7771.—that
20,0001. would cover the liabilities, and that the
powers of the Act would expire in 1853. Now, Sir,
I would strongly recommend every shareholder, great
or small, to take steps (in order, at once, to limit the
powers of the directors) similar to those of the Liver-
pool, Manchester, and Newcastle Junction, and return,
say three-fourths of the money in hand,.or about 15s.
to 20s. per share—to limit the number of the
directors to six, or appoint new ones in their room—
to remove the office (say) to Darlington, and reduce
the secretary's salary from 5001. to 1501. a year ; for
it is quite clear his duties cannot occupy him more
than two or three hours a day,
In my opinion it would be useless applying for a
dissolution Act, and a mere waste of money—there-
fore, let the expenses be reduced to the utmost pos-
sible limit—allow the Act to expire, and then close
the accounts, finally. I would strongly recommend
the above .suggestions to the careful consideration of
the shareholders, and those Whose .views coincide
with them. Address, stating number of shares, amount
paid, &c., to A. M. Z., post-office, Middlesborough,
Yorkshire.
I enclose my card 'and address for your private
satisfaction. A. M. Z.
Nov. 2, 1848.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sirc,—Only three years ago any proposed line of
railway whose imaginary profits were supposed to-be
ten per cent., was offered 'and eagerly swallowed up
by the short-sighted public and capitalists, greedy to
obtain an investment for their money that would
realise so large a return of interest. the time has
arrived when more than that greatly desires return
can actually be acquired, and yet it is mostextraordi-
nary, it is now completely overlooked, either from
mistrust or ignorance. In your paper you have
already offered some valuable suggestions as to the
large amount of interest that will accrue from the
purchasein Most of the great Worki trunk lines, at
the present low prices. Without being at all in-
terested in any railway, I have taken the trouble to
look into the return of some of those in the course of
completion, and I now send you the first result of my
investigation, which,'-if you think proper to publish, may be of service to your readers, by showing tl?em
the golden opportunity they are losing. The fiction
which previously they were so. anxious to gain has
now become a reality.
GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY.
In the half-yearly report, the directors state, that
the line will not be completed until early in the
spring of 1850, so that previous to the opening, three
half-years' interest, at the rate of five per cent., will
continue to accrue on all-calls paid up,'due 31st De-
cember, 1848; 30th June, and 31st December, 1849;
and payable one month thereafter respectively; after
which, of course, such dividend as the line will be able
to pay,
Under the new optional arrangement of dividing
the shares, whereby the 251. shares are divisible into
A's, or deferred, having' 121. 10s. all paid up, and
bearing interest at four per cent., and B's 41. 10s.
paid, with V. more still to pay, guaranteed a prefer-
ence interest and dividend- of six per cent., it follows
that the A's 121. 10s.,- paid at a discount of 10/., or
21. 10s. per share, will yield to the purchaser 20 per
cent. certain on the purchase money, from the three
half-yearly interest instalments due 31st December,
1848; 30th June and 31st December, 1849; that is,
30 per cent. of the purchase:money will accrue in the
shape of interest in 13 months, from and after 31st
December. (This date is taken because share's pur-
chased previously will not•be settled for until early in
December.) Moreover, if the line whcri opened only
yields a dividend of four per cent., the purchaser will
continue to receive ten per cent,. oh the purchase-
moneyl but if the line yield;

'way property of the 'country were in a sound condi
tion, the up-and-down game of the "Bulls" and
" Bears" would be at an end. There might be, and
there would be, fluctuations from certain legitimate
causes, but the mad panic-work would cease.
And now, Sir, let me in a few words state what I
conceive to be the great desideratum. It is a simple,
but I believe a sure, remedy for the evil. I mean,
Sir, the official abandonment of all the schemes
of 1846 and 1847 which -hare either not yet com-
menced operations, or have not proceeded to any
great extent. Shareholders in these. lines may
rely upon it that should they have ever
paid up twenty ' per cent. upon their shares, the
first loss will be the least. Every additional call
paid upon such stock is so much good money thrown
away. If these parties have any spare cash left, let
them turn it to some other account, rather than pur-
sue delusive schemes, which will never pay working
charges.
The pressure of theie new and ruinous under-
takings upon the holders of shares in old companies
is perhaps not generally understood. I will suppose
that the holder of twenty shares in the London and
North• Western, Great Western, or any other leading
line, has had the misfortune to take up '2OO shares in
some wretched scheme at the fag-end of the land.
He has paid one or two 'calls upon the 200 shares ;
they are perfectly worthless ; the works are sus-