The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-26 00:00:00

" REPORT OP OCTOBER 23, 1846.

" Gentlemen,—lt is exactly a year today since we
had the honour of calling you together for the first time
to a general meeting. On that occasion we submitted
to your inspection the measures which we had adopted
to establish, by the formalities required by the Govern-
ment authorities, the existence of the company which
we had formed, and at the same time to insure the ex-
execution of the enterprise to which they related. In
fact, as soon as we were authorised by the ordonnance
of October 24, 1844, confirming the concession, we
set to work, without waiting for the approbation of our
statutes, which did not take place until seven months
afterwards, and appointed the persons required for the
execution of the line ; we appointed our head engineer
and the other engineers acting under him ; ordered our
stock for construction and working ; had surveys made
of the ground, and decided what line of direction should
be taken, and, finally, submitted the plans of the whole
railway to the examination and approbation of Govern-
ment authorities. These plans,* though sent in to the
department of Public Works in July and August, 1845,
did not obtain the Ministerial approbation for nearly a
year after, that is to say, in June and August, 1846.
It results from this fact, and from the brief explanation
that we have given above, that if we had waited for the
approval of our statutes in order to commence our pre-
paratory measures, and for the approval of our plans in
order to commence and proceed with our works, we should
be still at the very first steps of our enterprise, in place
of being able to announce to you to-day, as we have the
satisfaction of doing, that the works from Amiens to
Etaples are very nearly terminated; that the section from
Amiens to Abbeville is ready to be opened for working,
-and that the works on the rest of the line are in such a
state of advancement as to induce us to hope that the line
as far as Etaples will be constructed in the spring of
1847, and that the whole line can be delivered to public
circulation in the course of the following summer. To
have brought matters to this point, and to have taken
on ourselves the responsibility of purchasing our ground,
and urging on our works on the proposed line, we must
have felt the most perfect confidence in the plans of our
head engineer, and been certain that the line of direc-
tion which he had proposed, and which we had presented
to the Government, comprised in itself all the conditions
necessary to ensure the approval of the superior authori-
ties. The result has justified our provisions ; our plans
have met with the most complete
a comppolertteionassoefnttana metnotwithstand-
ing„hwith,
the opposition
wthheichoomwpeandyidinntohte
hesitate to
assume.favourable
position which it at present occupies. In this situation
awnedcould
responsibilityaav thusefi fixed
placedand declared to yon the precise
stationary
yn
and
dcmerotriai
ville could be opened, were it not for the 'delays which
nngwsotorekks,
period at which the section b. etween Amiens and Abbe-
independent of our will, and which we
dweety
awnedhianvetheexpdeerliivenercyedofinoutrhesetaxtei
against such a re-
sult,every precaution to protect ourselves _
sfatrotalfrolym expecting, inasmuch as we had taken
as manufacturers seemed to offer fair guarantees for
either giving our orders to persons whose position
their exactitude in strictly fulfilling their engage-
ments, or in giving ample time for the execution of the
order within the periods agreed on. T hese delays, however,
will not have the effect of postponing the period which we
assigned last year for opening the section between Amiens
and Abbeville ; as whilst we have adopted measures
calculated to protect the interests of the company against
these delays, we have secured, in case of need, the assist-
ance which the Rouen Company has already on various
occasions afforded us, as well as that which has been
offered us by the London to Dover Company. Although
the experience acquired up to the present time has
demonstrated how little pecuniary advantage results
from,the working of sections of lines, we have, however,
been of opinion that in the circumstances in which we
happen to be placed, there would be large compensations
for us in opening even at this season of the year the line
from Amiens to Abbeville. By so doing we shall attain
the double object of forming our working personnel, and
of keeping up, and even increasing in that direction, the
circulation of passengers and goods between France and
England. The choice of a gentleman to direct the
working of the line has been the object of our most seri-
ous consideration. The importance of this post, the
grand responsibility which it involves, the administrative
talents, the constant care, activity, and vigilance which
it demands, renders the choice a matter of great diffi-
culty. We had seen these qualities united to a remark-
able degree in our head engineer during the execution
of the works on the line; and we came to the conclusion
that we could not do better than entrust the working of
the line to him who had so ably directed its construc-
tion. By an arrangement entered on, at our sugges-
tion, with M. Bazaine, whose zeal for the interests of the
company on all occasions we feel pleasure in declaring,
that gentleman will unite in his own person the func-
tions of engineer and of head of the working of the line.
A question closely bound up with our existence and
with the working of the line is that of our relations with
the Northern Railway. The bases on which the inter-
course between railways running into one another de-
pends have been fixed by law; but the task of regulat-
ing the manner in which these relations are to be con-

du"cted is left to the arrangement of the companies them-
selves, subject to appeal to the Minister of Public Works,
should they not be able to agrea. The draft of the conven-
tions to be fixed on between the Northern and Boulogne
Companies for the correspondence of transports between

* With the exception of our plans in the arrondisse.
meat of Amiens, which, were approved of in Decem.
her, 1845.