The Sun.
London, England, 1846-02-16 00:00:00

RAILWAY COMPANY.
The half-yearly general meeting of this Company
was held on Saturday at the Nine Elms' Station. Wil—
liam Chaplin, Esq., chairman of the Board of Directors,
presided.
The notice calling the meeting having been read, and
the minutes of the last half-year, as well as of a special
meeting of the 20th January having been confirmed, the
report, of which the follo;wing is the substance, was react'
by the secretary to the shareholders:—
" Tile gross amount of divisible profit realised in the List
half-year appeared on reference to the accounts submitted to
the meeting to be 108,468/. 17s. 4d., out of which the directors
recommended the payment of a dividend of 2!. 2s. Gd. per
share (subject to income-tax), leaving a balance of 10,9051.
17s. 4d. to be carried forward in favour of the current halt-

year.
" The passengers had inereasPd in number during the half-
year full 35 per cent., whilst the absolute increase of earn-
ings by the Company had not been more than eight per
cent. These results will doubtless improve in favour of

the Company.
" With reference to the works connected with this line, and
now in course of execution, the directors had pleasure in an-
ticipating the opening of the Bishopstoke and '_;alisbury
Branch early in the ensuing summer.
" The purchase of houses and buildings on the extension
line to Waterloo-bridge was proceeding with all the rapidity
which can be expected in the case of properties so numerous,
and the interests in which are frequently so complicated. The
removal of the existing building had commenced, the plans
and specifications of the works were prepared, and the whole

would speedily be under contract.
" The directors are enabled to announce that Bills for
authorising all the branches and extensions of this railway,
which were sanctioned at the recent special general meeting,

. _
had been presented to Parliament.
" It seemeti probable that the renewed discussion of the
lines to Portsmouth would be taken up in the House of Lords
under circumstances which could not be unfavourable to the
interests of this Company, whilst they would ensure for the
public a re discussion of this important subject, and a re-ex-
amination of the several projects without even the possible

mischief of delay.
" A desire was expressed at the recent special general
meeting, that the next report should contain a recapitulation
of the capital of the Company, and distinguish the respective
privileges of thd shares. The directors had complied with

this request.
" The old share coital consisted of 4
each; upon 16,060 of wfiiCh oily 251.43-er snare naa men-ac-
tually paid; but these shares also 'Were,. by the terms of the
Act under which they were raised, taken as fully paid up,
and entitled to precisely the same dividends and privileges as

tares of 501.

the other old sliares.
" Next, in point of date, stood 288 shares created under
the Gosport Branch Act, and these bore a fixed dividend of
5 per cent. per annum, in priority to every other payment,
excepting the interest on the bonded debt of the Company.
" The Bishopstoke and Salisbury Branch was constructing
by means of a capital of 240,000 i., raised in 6,000 shares of
40/. each (whereof 281. per share had been called up), bear-
ing no dividend or interest during construction, Upon these
shares the first dividend (being in rateable proportion to that
on the 50/. shares) would accrue as from the Ist of July next,
the directors having every confidence that the branch will be
opened before that date."
The CHAIRMAN then addressed the meeting. He said
that he would not long occupy their time, as the report
was sufficiently ample to explain every particular referred
to. It was, however, the fashion for the chairman to
make some sort of a, speech, and he would conse-
quently advert to one or two of the topics to be brought
before the shareholders. They would recollect that at
the last half-yearly meeting he had led them to expect
an uniform dividend of 10 per cent., and also the revision
of the principal affairs of ,the Company. This revision
had produced a remarkable, improvement in the manag-
ing department. There was a visible and marked
difference in the regularity and departure of
their trains. Those arrivals and hpartures were made
with the utmost precision they had now a greater
number of trains, and the increased ,speed had given
very general satisfaction. The fast trains travelled at
the rate of 40 miles an hour ; three others at the rate
of 30 miles ; those which stopped at tut few intermc-
diet. stations at 23 miles ; and the trains which stopped
at all the stations, 16 miles an hour, which was a speed
beyond that required by Act of Parliament. They had
had the good fortune to be free of all accidents in the
course of the last half-year, and he trusted that the
civility and courtesy of the servants had been marked
by the, public at large. These new arrangements
had, however, left a blank between the hours
of nine and twelve, which however they proposed
to rectify in the approaching month of March,
when the traffic would be considerably improved.
They might, perhaps, be aware that al,,e inconvenience
resulted from the Guildford branch only being a single
line of rails, because they could not with the same cer-
tainty time the arrival and departure of the trains.
They propused, however, in the course of that day to
obtain the permission of the meeting to make this a
double line, as soon as they might find it convenient so
to do. They would observe that there was a very great
increase in the amount of their merchandise traffic for
the last year, so great indeed that they were at first put
to a considerable inconvenience from the want of

••• ••••
waggons, B.:c. That want they had now supplied. He
could not pass over this part of the report
without one other observation. Although they had
obtained an increase of above 31,000 tons of merchan-

due within the last year, the addition to their funds was
only some 1,0001., and this merely on account of the
low prices they had felt it necessary to charge for the
transmission of those goods. The whole amount they
had carried was somewhere about 77,393 tons.
The great majority of this traffic was inter-
mediate, or from station to station, so that it afforded
satisfactory proof that they had a large positive traffic,
which could not be made available by any of the com-
pain.- lines from Portsmouth, Basingstoke, or Reading.
Out ofei the total amount of 77,000 tons, only 21,000 were
transmitted to and from Southampton to London, and
16,000 out of that 21,000 tons Isere accounted for by
exports and imports from that town. Now, deducting
2s. 6d. for loading and unloading at Southampton,
there remained but 7s. 6d. as the carriage to and
from Londoa. They had also, within the last year,
established daily tickets, which was a measure found to
be very productive to the Company; and he would sug-
gest that the residents in the Isle of Wight should be
allowed a second day's advantage, as they were not
placed in the same favourable circumstances as the re•
sidents on the mainland. No doubt, the export and im-
port trade would be increased by the contemplated
change in the corn-laws.—(Laughter.) And it would
be their duty to give, in the most liberal man-
ner, every increased accommodation required in
consequence. If this law were passed, such assistance
would be required by the agricultural interests in the
districts which they accommodated. By this means
every facility would be given to the interchange and
mixture of soils ; it would enable the different districts
to bring their produce to the London market, from
whence they would receive manure in return. Be
had heard that the farmers of Hampshire raised four
quarters of wheat per acre, for which they received
101. or 11/. ; but would it not be better for them
to raise from thirty-five to thirty-six tons of Swedish
turnips, for which they would receive from 36/.
to 37/., if they could once get them to London?
He proposed doubling the line to Guildford as early as
possible to join the Dorset line. He had at first great
doubts as to what would be the result of that line in
Parliament, in consequence of the unfavourable report
of the Board of Trade; but he had now great expecta-
tions from that quarter. The directors had also felt
it necessary to double the line from Southampton to
Redbridge, and he thought that the line from Southamp-
ton to Dorchester might also be doubled. He had also
a proposition to make with regard to the steam navi-
gation from Southampton to Havre ; and, in order
to show the necessity of what he was about to
propose, he would refer to a paper which he held, and
from which it appeared that the passenger traffic by
steam-boat from Boulogne, Ostend, and Dieppe, had
been steadily increasing since 1842 ; the steam-boat
traffic between Havre and Southampton had been de-
creasing in the exact ratio of the increase at the other
place. He bad, therefore, the intention of laying before
them a proposition for the establishment of first-class
steam-packets at Southampton, and he believed that if
such an arrangement could be carried into effect it
would be very beneficial to the interests of the Company
The expense would not fall entirely on the shareholders,
as several gentleman unconnected with the Company,
had offered their co-operation in the matter. He had
received a communication from the parties engaged in
the Paris and Rouen and Havre and Rouen Railways
offering to give every facility for the accomplishment of
such a project, and the boats running between Havre
and Southampton would be sufficiently remunerative,
provided they could allow a better access to them for
passengers by a reduction of their charges. It would be
the interest of the shareholders to take part in such a
speculation.
Mr. MILLER said that he wished to make a few obser-
vations with reference to the proposed system of steam
navigation, with regard to which he was afraid that se-
veral of the shareholders laboured under a misapprehen-
sion, as they believed that there would be a very great
expense attendant upon it. He was connected with the
South-Eastern line, which was reaping a handsome di-
vidend from the system of steam-boat navigation which
had been established, and,which not only paid itself, but
caused an increased capital to the railway. Mr. Row-
land Hill, the chairman of the Brighton board, estimated
their profits at 25 per cent. He thought that the ex-
ample was worthy of being adopted by this Company,
In answer to several questions put by shareholders,
The CHAIRMAN said the 288 shares in the Gosport
branch had all been paid up to the full (501.). The 250
shares of 50/., which had been granted for the improve-
ment of the Nine Elms station, had not been issued, nor
had they been paid upon. The increased traffic of which
he had spoken, viz., 7,000 additional trains, and an
increased run of 121,435 miles, had only added
about 5,000/. to' the expense, and had added con-
siderably to the profits. The engines and wag-
gons were all in working order, and a higher
speed had been obtained. It had been thought fit to
extend the limits of the day tickets to the time of
48 hours for people going to and coming from the Isle
of Wight, as such a course would be very convenient
to the passengers and would cause a greater influx of
them to the island. The lines which had reference to
that Company, and which had passed the Standing Orders'
Committee, were, the London-bridge Extension, the
Epsom, the Egham, and the Farnham and Eltham. The
lines that were before the Standing Orders' Committee