The Sun.
London, England, 1846-11-07 00:00:00

SOUTH WALES RAILWAY.

---
A special general meeting of the shareholders in this
undertaking was held yesterday afternoon, at the offices
of the company, in West Strand, for the purpose of consi-
dering the propriety of leasing the line to the Great
Western Company.
Mr. Louis Vigurs, the deputy-chairman of the com-
pany, presided.
The report stated that it was proposed to lease the
line for five years, at 5 per cent. on the paid-up capital,
and for five years more, at 5 per cent. and half the surplus
profits, with the option of amalgamating with the Great
Western Company after that period.
The heads of the agreement having been read,
Mr. ROACH took exception to several of the clauses,
and complained of their not being so simply worded as to
be intelligible. In the first place, he thought the ad-
vantages of the arrangement preponderated in favour of
the Great Western Company, who, for every 200 shares,
would be entitled to 100 votes, while the shareholders
of the South Wales would only have 38 for the same
number. It would have been more satisfactory to the
shareholders generally had the Great Western Com-
pany liberally proposed to lease the line at 7 or 8 per
cent. rather than offer them a complicated and wordy
agreement, which required the mind of a lawyer to com-
prehend.—(Hear, hear.) He decidedly objected to the
basis upon which the amalgamation was to take place
at the expiration of ten years, because their line would
only have been in working existence that period, while
the Great Western would have been in operation some
18 or 20 years.—(Hear, hear.)
The CHAIRMAN said he could remove the latter ob-
jection, by simply stating that the directors, after the
agreement had been confirmed, would submit a resolu-
tion to the meeting, authorising them to negotiate for
expunging the clause respecting the amalgamation, and
amending the assignment, by making it a lease in per-
petuity.
Mr. SMITH had no doubt but that the line would pay
ten per cent., for, independently of the local trade, there
would be traffic enough coming from the south of Ireland
to make up 6of the 9 per cent. He thought, therefore,
that the Great Western Company ought to have dealt
more liberally with them.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. T. WILKINSON thought it would be more for
their interests to accept a lower rate of interest, with
an early participation in the division of prospective
profits.—(Hear, hear.) As the arrangement stood now
t would b
they would eeight
wld participate in the
surplus probably years,
calculating the works
stiopoccs profits,three,
uriy
a befored
in the meanwhile they would have
to be content with a common rate of interest.—(Hear.)
The CHAIRMAN said they had duly considered all
these matters, and, in the present state of the money-
market, and the prospect of railway profits
being shortly redueed, they were of opinion that
the arrangement they had come to was the
best for the interest of the shareholders. They
had had to deal with two classes, the speculative
and those who embarked their money in railways for the
purpose of permanent investment. The amendment he
had mentioned, of a lease in perpetuity, would insure
their shares being taken up by the latter class.
A resolution, confirming and approving. of the agree-
ment, was then put from the chair, and carried una-
nimously.
The CHAIRMAN then proposed a second resolution,
empowering the directors to take the necessary steps to
amend the clause relating to the amalgamation, or sub-
stituting one making the lease a lease in perpetuity in its
stead.
A PROPRIETOR wished the arrangement to be
amended in another respect, namely, that the surplus
profits should be divided immediately on the opening of
the line,
The CHAIRMAN said the Great Western Company had
been asked to make that alteration, but they declined
doing so.
In answer to another question,
The CHAIRMAN said the subject of allowing interest
on calls was now under consideration of the directors.
The works would be all completed within the estimate,
and portions of the line opened in about two years.
The resolution was then put and carried unani-
mously.
Thanks were afterwards voted to the Chairman, and
the meeting terminated.

GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY
COMPANY.
A special general meeting of the Great Western
Railway Company was held, at one o'clock yesterday
at
the Paddington station, for the purpose of considering
the propriety of taking a lease of the South Wales line,
and of afterwards amalgamating the two companies if it
should be deemed expedient.
Mr. C. RUSSELL the chairman of the Company, took
the chair. He said that the present meeting was called
to affirm the arrangement that had been proposed to be
made between the Great Western Railway and the
South Wales Railway Company. When the report of the
meeting at Bristol, in August last, was laid before the
proprietors, he took the opportunity of stating the prin-
ciples which the directors had determined to take for
their guidance with regard to the proposed arrangement.
lie stated, first, that the construction of the South
Wales Railway, and the charge and responsibility of it
should rest upon its promoters •, secondly, that the line
should be placed in the hands of the South Wales Com-
pany till after a certain period had elapsed ; thirdly,
that in order to facilitate the completion of the line a
certain and fixed value should be given to the shares of
the company; and lastly, that these conditions should
be so arranged as not to impose a large and unreasonable
responsibility on the Great Western Railway Company.
A long and complicated discussion had taken place on
these propositions, but during the three months
which they had continued the principles which
he had now enunciated had been invariably
kept in view, and they would find that they
had been carried out in the heads of agreement entered
into. The charge of completing the line was to be left
in the hands of the South Wales Company, and the
South-Western Company were to have no concern with
it till the main branches were completed from one end
to the other. The benefits to result were to be secured
to the company till the amalgamation with the Great
Western Company took place. The Chairman then
stated the conditions on which the line was to be leased,
which will be found in our report of the proceedings of
the South Wales Company, in another part of
this evening's paper. These terms the directors
hoped were sufficient to enable the South Wales Com-
pany to raise all the money they should require.
The Great Western Company did not purpose the
arrangement as one from which any large profits were
to accrue. Their object was to secure the completion of
the line, and the profits they looked to were from their
own line, in connexion with the South Wales Company.
It was always the policy of the Great Western Company
to afford all the assistance in their power to the tribu-