The Sun.
London, England, 1848-10-28 00:00:00

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No. 17,501.] RONDO;

N 9 OCTOBER 28, 1848.

[PRICE SD.

EJNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, Aug. 21,
1848.—The SESSION will be publicly OPENED on TUES-
DAY, October 31, at Two o'clock, p.m., when an ADDRESS to the
STUDENTS will be delivered by the Very Rev. JOIIN LSE, D.D.,
Priseipal.
The Classes for the different branches of Study will be opened as
follows :

he latter direction. A very considerable class
if capitalists—men who might be thought competent
co examine any scheme of accounts—confess themselves
tut of their depth when they come to railways. If they
amid see their way clearly, they would be only too
•iappy to buy shares, as they can do now apparently, to
pay Bor 10 per cent. for their money. Let every com-
pany put out such a scheme as shall remove all suspicion
and defy all cavil. Let all the liabilities, debentures,
u. preference shares be clearly stated, and let the whole
'peculation be exhibited in its complete and working
orm. The public will then lee what chance there is of
good, bona fide dividend three or four years hence."
Was this the language of hostility, or of friendship?
file North •Western Company at least justifies our ad-
vice, for it admits that it has hastened the publication
of its statement in consequence of the panic; and, if we
mistake not, it will find its shares rise in consequence.
POST.—The statement of their accounts, which has
'or some time been expected from the London and
North-Western Railway Company, will be found in our
iolu mns of this day. It is opportune, important, and
atisfactory, and will go far towards relieving the public
mind from an anxiety injudiciously and to a great extent
unjustly created with regard to the value of property in-
vested in those great undertakings which have so largely
employed the capital and so materially promOted the
commerce of the present age. We were the first to dis-
courage the daring and desperate speculations which,
under all possible and impossible pretences, were,
some eighteen months or two years ago, palmed on the
unwary or the credulous: Our anticipations were ve-
rified, and men, if not richer for our earnest warnings,
became wiser by their own bitter experience. But caution
may be overstrained, as Well as enterprise; and if the
recklessness of 1846 was generally fatal, the fears of
1848 have been extensively injurious. Both were ex-
aggerations of truth, and in exact proportion to its error
each has hurt the cause which it misrepresented. Whole-
some adventure in the one case, and judicious prudence
r 1 the other, were overstrained, and " frightenud from
their propriety." Both these evils arose from the' ab-
sence of sound information. The hopes of the public
and its fears are easily excited by general statements of
good or evil. The more vast and vague the promise or
hreat, the deeper and more active is the sentiment pro-
duced. It is therefore with much wisdom, and, we doubt
!mot, it will be with corresponding benefit to its affairs,
that the London and North-Western Railway Company
has addressed to its shareholders and the public a
statement in detail of its engagements and liabilities.
The depression of railway stock—a depression
which has weighed most severely on the interests of
whosesuf.
fering with any considerable reduction—has been
.
itnhcaotmlaersgaereansdo important body btoodybroifn
gthceerctitoimnmanudnidtyeep
created by the apprehension that the companies had en-
;raged themselves in the formation of auxiliary and
branch lines to an extent beyond their means, and tha
consequently even the most remunerative of the esta.

q

blishea trunk communications were in danger of being
swamped by the ruinous expense of such ancillary spe-
culations. As far as the London and North-Western

line is concerned, the accounts no; before the public
completely prove that such apprehensions are ground-
less. The capital actually expended on the main line and
on branches producing revenue, including the plant for
all branches, is 18,598,556 j This represents 438 miles
of road formed and bearing traffic. Of branch lines in
the course of formation, but not yet producing revenue,
there are 62 miles for the works, for which, with their
stations, &c., 1,481,3291. had been expended up to the
30th of June last, and a sum of 836,8962 is required for
their completion. For subsidiary lines, in which the
company is interested by subscription, contribution, and
guarantee, extending to 641 miles of road, the amount
paid is 3,098,4331., leaving yet to be advanced a sum of
1,846,7981., forming a total subscription of 4,945,2311.,
and the lines " to make which powers have been ob-
tained, but which will not be acted upon without further
and full consideration," would cost 3,876,963/. The
whole amount, therefore, actually expended up to the
30th of June last is 22,835,120/., while the entire sum
which may be required to complete these undertakings
is no more than 3,136, 626 L—a state of things which,
considering
was
seven that
pteh re
cent.,last dividend,
is
tbev
very
r yr
odeclaredver se atof its
doubtful.mini-
Nor is the state of the accounts of capital and revenue
less conclusive. The directors remark that—

" From the summary it will be seen that the total
ultimate expenditure is expected to be 25,862,012/. The
account will therefore stand thus

Dividend upon total
share capital 0f...X21,047,747 at 7 p. cent. £1,473,342
Loans, 4,814,2651.

at 4i per cent
Less at 3i per cent
on 4,945,2312, as-
sumed return on
capital of subsi-
diary lines, as per
Schedule 3

216,642