The Sun.
London, England, 1848-08-30 00:00:00

EXETER AND EXMOUTH RAILWAY.

The fifth half-yearly ordinary general meeting of the
shareholders in this company was held on Monday at
the otHces, Bedford-circus, Exeter.
Mr. E. WOOLMER. chairman of the board of directors,
presided. In opening the proceedings he remarked that,
althotigh it was called the fifth half-yearly meeting, it
was virtually only the first; for, as the 37th clause in
their Bill prevented their Act from taking effect until
after the Exeter, Yeovil and Dorchester line should ob-
tain the royal assent, they had not before had a regular
meeting. Owing to the great opposition evinced against
that Bill by rival companies, that Act, which was before
Parliament in 1846, only received the royal assent a few
weeks since; and, therefore, up to the present time the
company (Exeter and Exmouth) had been in a state of
abeyance. When the monetary pressure came on, the
dir,-ctors thought it expedient to introduce a Bill for the
purpose of extending their powers and postponing the
purchase of land, as they did not deem it expedient to
proceed with the works while railway property was at
so low an ebb: which Bill, he was happy to say, had
passed both Houses of Parliament; but as soon as the
directors deemed it expedient they would proceed with
the works.
The SECRETARY (Ur. Cleach) read the following re-
port:—

" The special Act for the construction of your railway
received the sanction of the Legislature in 1846, but, by
the 37th clause, the powers of the Act were not to begin
to take effect until the Exeter, Yeovil, and Dorchester
Railway Bill, then before Parliament, had passed either
in that or some future session. Such have been the pro-
tracted deliberations of Parliament, and such unparal-
leled opposition was evinced by the promoters of com-
peting lines, that it was only a few weeks since that the
restrictions on the exercise of the powers under your Act
of incorporation were removed by the royal assent being
granted to the Exeter, Yeovil, and Dorchester Railway
Company's Bill. Upwards of two years have elapsed
without the possibility of any active measures being
taken for carrying out the undertaking, and referring to
the depressed state of railway investments, which would
further retard any immediate operations, your directors
introduced a Bill into Parliament this session for ex-
tending the powers contained in your Act, with a view
to postpone as long as may be found convenient the out-
lay of capital in the purchase of land, or the construction
of the railway. This Bill has passed both Houses of
Parliament, and only awaits the royal assent.
" Your directors have to report that they are prepared,
in accordance with the 7th clause of your Act of Parlia-
ment, to pay interest at the rate of 4 per cent. per annum,
which has accrued on the deposits from the date of pay-
ment to the 30th of June, 1848, being at the rate of
2s. 4d. per share.
" The financial account was as follows:—Receipts
17,1671., expenditure 9,1321., leaving a balance in hand of
8,035/,

" The outstanding liabilities are chiefly those incurred
in passing the Act of the present session, which we ven-
ture to hope will not exceed 7001."

The CHAIRMAN moved the adoption of the report,
which was seconded by Mr. W. H. S. GEORGE, and car-
ried unanimously.

Some formal resolutions, fixing the salaries of the offi-
cers, were passed, and a vote of thanks to the Chairman
and directors for their services was proposed and unani-
mously agreed to.