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

N0.17,501.] LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING;

ETNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, Aug. 21,
JJ 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. Jour/ LEE, D.D.,
Principal.
The Classes for the different branches of Study will be opened as
follows :

PUBLICATIONS.

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.
FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.
TIMES.—It will be seen by reference to an advertise-
ment elsewhere that the directors of the London and
North-Western Railway Company have responded to an
urgent and general call, by a detailed statement of their
affairs. On the brief inspection which is all we have
been able to give to this document, we beg to congratu-
late the public on possessing at last a full, distinct, and
intelligible account of the greatest railway company in
the world. We will add, that as far as we are able to
judge, the directors are likely to effect their object,
which, we presume, is to assure the useful generation of
monied men that the North-Western Railway is a safe
and improving investment. The cautious gentry who
" have money in their pockets against a rainy day," and
who, when the rainy day does come at last, are too apt to
hold their pockets somewhat too tight, look at an
undertaking in several points of view before they sink
their capital in it. Is it free from mystification, and
therefore secure from foul play, or considerable crrors of
judgment in its conductors ? Is it sufficiently insured
from a serious depreciation? Are its resources so elastic
and so founded on the national prosperity as to grow
with the growth of the State? But perhaps the question
to which the money-market attaches the most practical
value is the general competency of Vie undertakers to
their work—a matter which in itself admits only of a
conjectural estimate, but which depends much on the
weight and frequency of the calls to be made on their
purses. The most profitable scheme in the world may
ruin its shareholders, if the majority of them are men of
straw, unable to meet the demands of aven an economical
expenditure. Unless we mistake, the first point to
which all men of business will direct their attention in
this statement is the amount of the calls still likely to
be made, and of work likely to be dose. On this point
they will receive unexpected satisfaction. The tabular
statement begins with the original trunk, and proceeds
thence to the finished, unfinished, guaranteed, and con-
temp'ated lines. But when we pass to the explanations
below, it will be seen that the directors hasten to allay
the public impatience by inverting the order, and knock-
ing off in a lump all the lines, not yet commenced, in
the fourth table. Fifteen branches, for which
Acts have been passed authorising the directors
to raise, in stock, in shares, and by loans,
3,876,963/., are shelved at once, and evidently will
not be attempted without due warning, and without
also much better times. Now, shareholders are occa-
sionally told not to fret themselves on account of a
branch till it is really begun, as they will have an op-
portunity of voting against it at a general meeting. But
notwithstanding this assurance, these branches have
constituted an incubus on the mind of the public. Be-
sides that the mass of the shareholders are not the best
inform, d and the cleverest people in the world, and do
not always know whether a branch has been commenced
or not, there has been a general impression that the
directors could do just as they pleased, and that general
meetings were very much matters of course. There
was hardly a conjecture as to what branches would be
made, and what postponed ; and as late as last
July, the able and excellent secretary of this very
company could give no more explicit information than
that several, for which the company had powers, would
not be made. Now, it is true there is no express under-
taking in the terms of the present statement, nor, indeed,
can there be, as the directors cannot answer for their
own continuance in office; but the world at large, led as
they are by appearances, will be very glad to see these
fifteen branches put under one category, as lines which
it is not intended to proceed with at present. Proceed.
ing, or rather going back through the tabular statement,
the directors come to No. 3, which exhibits the subsi-
diary lines, in which the eampany are interested by sub•
scription, contribution, or guarantee. This looks, at
first sight, rather a heavy list, including lines amount-
ing to 641 miles. The total, however, remaining to be
paid is not more than 1,846,798/. The value of the nine-
teen undertakings in this table, or rather of the com-
pany's interest in them, depends upon detailed consider-
ations, which constitute the principal matter of the
remarks appended to the statement. The directors
wish to show either that the risk is little, or that it is
shared with another company, or that its payments
will depend on its own profits. The expose certainly
does seem likely to alleviate apprehension. Responsi-
bility is a formidable word, and never more so than
when it assumes new and strange forms. In the
column stating the nature of the guarantee will
be found eight different arrangements made with
the shareholders of the subsidiary lines. The mere
sight of No. 3, which is a synopsis of nineteen important
agreements, shows how large a field there was for the
solicitude of those who had to pay calls, and knew little
of partnerships, except that they often comprehend a
knave and a fool. In this case it was generally believed
that the North-Western had too often suffered the Me-
zentian process of union with a dead and unprofitable
undertaking. Even if it were true to some extent, there
can be no doubt there was great exaggeration. At any
rate the danger is now no longer obscure and indefinite.
People can see for themselves how far they aro compro-
mised. On the branch lines and other works in course
of formation it is estimated that there only remains
to be paid 830,8964 The total expenditure to which
the company is committed, under all heads, is little
more than three millions, or a million a year, looking to
the probable termination of the works—a very consider-
able drain under ordinary circumstances, and only likely
to be severe in conjunction with many other similar de-
mands, and in times of pressure and distress. The di-
rectors certainly seem to make out their case. Their
weekly revenue on the average of the year ending with
last June was 42,1941. They estimate that when all their
branches and subsidiary lines aro completed, and when
also the prosperity of the country shall have somewhat
revived, they will have a weekly average ;of
48,618/, which will pay 7 per cent. Au increase
of 6,424/. does not seem too much to expect
from several hundred lines of new railway
profitable in themselves, and bringing traffic to the
original line. Drawbacks and contingencies there un-
doubtedly are, but they are taken
intoge account by the
directors, who seem to have made a safe estimate, and
to be anxious to understate, rather than exaregerate, their
probable resources. There can be no mistake in as-
suming a certain regular increase of traffic from the in-
creasing rate of population and trade; and though in
half-a-dozen years there will be some serious competi-
tion in the field, the peculiar territory of the North-
Western will do much to fill up the gap. And now a
word for our own part in this matter, for we have
dye
been misrepresented. have been called enemies
of the railway interest, and we know not what besides.
How stands the fact? In 1845 and 1646, and
again at the beginning of last
our very best to limit railway year, we did
t speculation and
railway Acts within practic-bounds.. We con-
tinually urged on the Legislature the duty of counting
the cost, and providing a rocuuguhldbut sufficient estimate
of how much the country
that the Bills actually passepdurbear. We predicted
oswould be found to exceed
the capital free for such
famine, or other disaster shouldPinte purposes—especially
ecWy if war,
What is
result ? The greatest and ervenes
strongest railway company
in the world is obliged to throw over, for the present,
branches to the amount of 3,876,963/. How much
money has been lost in obtaining the Acts and driving
rivals from the field ? Looking to all the re-
sults, we have little doubt the North-Western
would gladly give half a million that our ad-
vice had been taken in time—at the beginning
of the session in 1846. But for the last twelvemonth or
more we have scarcely said a word about railways. It
was no longer of use. The Bills were passed, and the
lines were in progress, or at least at the mercy of di-
rectors. During the long decline of railway prices we
have let that simple fact tell its own tale, and have not
said a word that could add to the ruin or the bitterness
of the unfortunates who had invested their property in
this slippery material. About a fortnight since, in this
month of October, as proverbial for its commercial
bleakness as November for its physical gloom, shares
had been depreciated to a preposterous and absurd
extent. We were well aware that the depre-
ciation was not justified by the state of the
undertakings themselves. The sellers, however, had
it against them.
It was notorious at the same time
that there were capitalists enough looking about for in-
vestments, and finding none to theirmind. There was
no want of money, nor is there at this moment. It was
evident—and every well.informed person in London will
bear us out in the belief—that the want of good railway
getrust
their own judgments. dmany
not
information aggravated the crisis,hiu atphdey could
capitalists from a field
in
nNhurthwh
ed_ North-Western, i7etsotreso,f u
had promised several com-
panies, particularly the
but the
information. Nevertheless, noneappearedj;
Weekly Share List, published by the authority of the
Stock Exchange, volunteered some statements, which
showed at least industry, and some degree of
care. As a
matter of news they were inserted in our City intelligence.
We took the opportunity of calling the attention of the
railway companies to the mystery which had contributed
so much to the depreciation of the shares, and their c
at the same time invoked 'n
sequent difficulties ; and
the
-
good sense of capitalists to discover_ the. real worth of the
property which they seemed so afraid of touching. So
far from adopting the statements of_ the Weekly Share
List, we expressed our distrust of them. We said," We
will not mention names, nor will we.cbolmmit ourselves to
the statements of anxious and possi y suspicious scru-
tineers. But in declining this responsibility we only
mark our sense of the unfairness practised or permitted
against the public. That unfairness consists in the
continuance of a mystery and entanglement where there
need be none, and where there should be noonday pub-
licity." Further on we lamented the ruinous effects
of a needless panic—" Any extensive depreciation
of private property is
sure to prove an universal
disaster; and even an exaggeration of its value will lead
to mischievous results. It is the former evil under which
•
we are now suffering." is * * *
" But what can the public do in the matter, and how can
they mitigate an evil by which the whole nation is more
or less affected? We reply that the public may inter-
fere to demand the utmost possible information on the
subject. If railway shares rose and fell in the market
simply according to the prospects of railway traffic, the
abundance of money, or other palpable considerations,
there might be no call for public interference. But con-
fessedly there is an almost inscrutable mystery upon the
financial state of our great railway companies. That
mystery excites alternately the wildest hopes and
the most frantic fears. At preacut it works in

the latter direction. A very considerable class
of capitalists—men who might be thought competent
to examine any scheme of accounts—confess themselves
out of their depth when they come to railways. If they
could see their way clearly, they would be only too
happy 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,
or preference shares be clearly stated, and let the whole
speculation be exhibited in its complete and working
form. The public will then see what chance there is of
s good, bona fide dividend three or four years hence."
Was this the language of hostility, or of friendship?
The 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
for some time been expected from the London and
North-Western Railway Company, will be found in our
columns of this day. It is opportune important, and
satisfactory, 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 1346 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
in the other, were overstrained, and " frightened 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
thureecd.
at, trisdeeper
thereforeand
withm more active
sdvewitstohm, and,
the sentiment
doubt
oporoc
dt
not, 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
that large and important body of the community whose

FRASER'S MAGAZINE for NOVEMBER,
Price 2s. 6d., or by post, 3s. contains :
1. Views of Edinburgh. 8. The Present Condition of the
2. Keats and his School. British Navy.
3. The Inundation of Pest. 11. 9. General Cavalgnac and his
4. The Aristocracy of England. Father.
5. Thoughts in Rhyme. By the 10. The Fairfax Coh•espondence
late John Sterling. No. H. 11. The Universities.
6. Yeast. No. V. 12. Current History.
7. Lines to
London : John W. P

'arker, West Strand.

UNITED SERVICE MAGAZINE,
vv And NAVAL and MILITARY JOURNAL,
for NOVEMBER, 1848,
CONTAINS:
The Sack of Rome. By Prince Louis Napoleon.—Milltary Ca-
reer of General Cavaignac. Concluded.—Requiem upon Duelling
What's a Board ? wts Dioclides —A Visit to the United Service In-
stitution.—A Few Thoughts upon the Revolution of 1848 In Yucatan.
By Major O'Connor.—The Smuggler's League.—Tho Naval Articles
of War and the Marine Mutiny Act. By Tristram.—Jotrney into
the Andes.—A Visit to Santona. —The Milliary System and Re-
sources of Sardinia.—On the East India Company's European Troops.
By Major Bennett.—The Royal Horse Artillery.—Stations of the
Army and Navy—Promotions and Appointments—With all the Pro-
fessional News of the Month.

11. Hurst, Publisher, King William-street, Strand.

CHOLERA.-MORISON'S PILLS.
The 89th Number of THE HrGETST, for November, is now
ready, and contains most important communications as regards the
Cholera.

Also, an Answer to the Doctor Correspondent of the " Dispatch."
Case of Cholera cured by a doctor with Arsensie I! ! Oh, oh Hear
it people of England. Arsenic in Cholera ! !
Office, 368, Strand. Price Id., or 2d. rer post.

THE ROYAL POLYTECHNIC
INSTITUTION, REGENT-STREET.
♦ Lecture on Sanitary Measures connected with the Progress of
Cholera and other Epidemics, by Dr. Ryan, daily, at Half-past
Three, and on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday Evenings, at Nine
o'clock.—Also on the Manufacture of Gutta Perchs, by Dr. Bach-
honer, Mornings and alternate Evenings.—An entirely new Phan-
tasmagoria, by Childe, every Evening at Eight o'clock, with ap-
propriate Music—The Dissolving Views, with historical descriptions.
—The Chromatrope, with New Effects.—The Microscope at One
o'clock dally.—Diver and Diving-bell--Working Models explained.
Open daily front Eleven to Five , and in the Evenings (including
Saturday) from Seven till Half-past Tem.
♦dmission, Half-price.—The New Catalogue, Is.

Illustrated by 26 Anatomical Coloured Engravings on Steel.
ON PHYSICAL DISQUALICATIONS, GENERATIVE INCAPA-
CITY, &ND IMPEDIMENTS TO MARRIAGE.
aew Edition, enlarged to 196 pages. Just published, price 2s. 6d., or
by nest, direct from the Establishment, 3s. 6d. in postage stamps,
pm SILENT FRIEND, a Medical Work on
I
the infirmities and decay of the generative system, from ex-
cessive indulgence, infection, sod the inordinate use of mercury,
with remarks on Marriage, and the means of obviating certain dis-
4ualifications. Illustrated by 26 Coloured Engravings, By R. and
L. PERRY and CO., 19, Berners-stroet, Oxford-street, London.
?üblished by the Authors : sold by Strange, 21, Paternoster-row
Hannay, 63, and Sanger, 150, Oxford-street ; Starie, 23, Titehborne-
street, Haymarket ; and Gordon, 146, Leadenhall-street.
PART I. treats of the anatomy and physiology of the re-productive
organs, and is illustrated by Six Coloured Engravings.
PART 11. treats of the consequences resulting from excessiveindul-
gence, and their lamentable effects on the system, producing mental
and bodily weakness, nervous excitement, and generative incapacity.
It is illustrated by Three Explanatory Engravings.
PART 111. treats of the diseases resulting from infection, either in
the primary or secondary form, and contains explicit directions for
their treatment. The consequences of early neglect and of the abuse
of mercury, are also clearly pointed out. This section is illustrated
Seventeen Coloured Engravings.
PART IV. treats of the Prevention of Disease by a simple ap-
plication, by which the danger of infection is obviated. Its action
is simple but sure. It acts with the virus chemically, and destroys
its power on the system. This important part of the Work should
be read by every Young Man entering into life.
PART Y. is devoted to the consideration of marriage, and its
luties. The causes of unproductive union are also considered, and
the whole subject critically and philosophically inquired into.
Tan CORDIAL BALM OF S7RIACIII( is exclusively employed in treat-
Tag nervous and sexual debility, impotence, &.c., 11 s .and 331. per
bottle. The Concentrated Detersive Essence, an anti-syphilitic
remedy, for purifying the blood in cases of infection, secondary symp-
oms, eruptions, and the abuse of mercury, 118. and 335. per bottle.
'erry'v Purifying specific Pills, 2s. ad., 4s. 6d., and 1 is. per box, a
certain .emedy in gonorrhea, gleet, strictures, and chronic inflamma-
tion of the bladder. Consultation fee, if by letter, IL al. Packets
with advice to be had at the Retablishment only, by which the fee,
H., is saved. Attendance daily at 19, Ben:ars-street, from Eleven
til Two, and Five to Eight; on Sundays from Eleven to One.

incomes are so limited as to bring certain and deep suf-
fering with any considerable reduction—has been
created by the apprehension that the companies had en-
gaged themselves in the formation of auxiliary and
branch lines to an extent beyond their means, and that
consequently even the most remunerative of? the esta-

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

line is concerned, the accounts now 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 18,598,5561 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 836,8964 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 4,945,231 L,
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 22,835,1207., while the entire sum
which may be required to complete these undertakings
is no more than 3,136, 6261.—a state of things which,
considering that the last dividend, declared at its mini-
mum, was seven per cent., is the very reverse of doubtful.
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 25,862,0121. The
account will therefore stand thus :

Dividend upon total
share capital of X 21,047,747 at 7 p. cent. £1,473,342
Loans, 4,814,2651.
at 4} per cent
Less at 3i per cent
on 4,945,2311., as-
sumed return on
capital of subsi-
diary lines, as per
Schedule 3

216,642

173,083

43,559

1,516,901

Working expenses 40 per cent. on gross in-
come 1,011,266

Total
Average per week, to pay 7 per cent... .f 18,618.
" The gross revenue of the year ending 30th June,
1848, was 2,194,093 L, or on an average of 42,1941. per
week.

"It therefore remains for the shareholders to decide
whether the preceding calculations are sound and
moderate, and if so, whether there is a reasonable pro-
bability f the gross revenue of the company from the
main line and branches to be opened increasing to an
extent of 6,4241. per week by the year 1852, when all the
capital will be called up, and the subsidiary lines be in
operation.
" To produce such an increase, there is the additional
revenue to be derived from all the lines enumerated in
Schedules 2 and 3; and that steady annual increase,
which, with the exception of periods of severe depression,
has taken place since the lines were opened—to which
should be added, that economy of management which,
increased experience will enable the directors to introduce.
" On the other hand, the directors do not overlook
the fact that a certain amount of traffic will be abstracted
by competing lines. It will be much less than is usually
supposed, and the general traffic is secure to the concern."
We congratulate the company both on the resolution to
publish its accounts and on the accounts which it has
published. It is right that, in matters interesting society
so deeply and so extensively, there should be neither
secrecy nor mystification. And we feel assured that the
safety of the public and the prosperity of enterprise will
be promoted and secured by a course of proceeding cal-
culated better than the most eloquent arguments to
dispel the clouds which have recently gathered over
prospects so important to the whole community, and
so vital to the numerous classes more immediately
concerned.

ADVERTISER.—We congratulate the public, as well
as the shareholders, on the indications of improvement
in the market value of railway property which have ap-
peared within the last few days. We pause not now to
show in what way the public are interested in the pros-
perity of railways. That we did some days ago. We
recur to the subject, for the purpose of calling attention
to the confirmation which is thus early given of the
soundness of the advice we tendered to the shareholders,
when we told them that there was no real cause for the
depreciation which had taken place, and counselled them
not to sacrifice their property, if they were in circum-
stances to keep it. That advice we now repeat, There
may be some slight occasional fluctuations in the market
value of shares, but they will, ere long, not only ac-
quire their proper position in the prices f the day, but
retain it when they have acquired it. The severe storm
by which they have been assailed will, now that it is
about to subside, be succeeded by a long-continued
period of tranquillity, in which railway prices will be
remarkable for their steadiness. :Mr. Hudson, in his
letter to certain shareholders of the Midland Rail-
way, concurs in this opinion—one, wo may here re-
mark, which we do not now express for the first time.
It is no small satisfaction to us to find that Mr. Hudson
coincides with us in several important matters, which
we were the first to bring before the public. Some
weeks ago, when cautioning bona fide shareholders
against disposing of their property, we adverted at great
length to the fact that the quotations which had ap-
peared day after day in the Stock Exchange lists, of
prices which were constantly declining, were not the
quotations of actual sales, but of fictitious transactions,
In which the " Bears " had been systematically engaged.
We appealed, in proof of this, to the records of the trans-
fer offices of any of the leading companies. Mr. Hudson
comes forward and proves the accuracy of our statement.
He distinctly affirms that, during the recent panic,
the number of transfers of shares which have taken
place has been less than usual. And this, not as re-
gards one or two of his lines, but as respects all the rail-
ways with which he is connected. We are in a condi-
tion to affirm, that the same thing may be predicated of
the stock of the London and North-Western, the Great
Western, the London and South-Western, and, indeed,
of all the leading companies. The depreciation in the
value of railway property which has caused so much
alarm, and led to such disastrous results to many of the
most respectable families in the country, has been pro-
duced by those unprincipled practices which w e formerly
exposed as being resorted to by the "Bears," and which
Mr. Hudson characterises by the mild term of " a com-
bination to depress shares." And, here we beg to make one
or two observations on the subject of these fictitious sales
those nominal transactions which have for some months
past figured on the Stock Exchange lists, and misled, to
their ruin, thousands of simple people who are un-
acquainted with the mystery of iniquity which is
in unceasing operation among the speculators in Capel-
court. It is much to be regretted, that the companies to
which we have referred, did not, when they saw the pro-
perty of their shareholders daily diminishing in valu',
and principally through the quotation of fictitious sales,
give an official intimation in the public journals, that
these transactiions were nominal not real. In confirma-
tion of this, they might have published weekly the num-
ber of transfers which had actually taken place ; and
when it had been seen that the number of real transac-
tions bore no proportion to the number of fictitious sales,
the minds of shareholders would have been disabused.
All apprehensions would have died away ; confidence
would soon have been restored, and the " Bears " would
have been completely caught in the trap which they had
set for the public. There is oho other point in Mr. Mid-

[PR ICE SD.

son's letter to which we may allude with a special
gratification. We refer to what he says of the
Weekly Stock Exchange List. Our journal, now five
or six weeks ago, was the first to direct attention to the
unspeakable mischief which this publ'eation, by iti
gross misstatements, was weekly working.: We cha-
racterised the course it was pursuing in the strongest
terms which it would have been prudent for us to
employ. Nor did we spare the Stock Exchange Com-
mittee, under whose sanction it was issued, any more
than we did its conductors. It was idle for them to
cause an intimation to be put into it, that they were not
to be held responsible for the opinions it expressed, cr
the statements it contained. It came out avowedly
under their auspices, and at the very moment they were
disclaiming responsibility for what it contained, the
conductors were neutralizing the value of the
disclaimer by publishing in all the public journals
that they had got the sanction of the Committee
of the Stock-Exchange to the insertion of ad-
vertisement, in the List. This clearly showed
that the publication was entirely under their control:
So, at any rate, the public understood the matter. And
so understanding it, it was no wonder if the price of
railway shares tumbled down, day after day, when a
publication, issued under the authority of the Stock Ex-'
change Committee, boldly asserted that stock which was
paying six and seven per cent. was not in a position td
pay more than three or four per cent. Mr. Hudson comes
forward and indorses all we have said respecting this!
mischievous publication.
" I wish," says that gentleman, "I could call the
serious and grave attention of the Chairman of the.,
London Stock Exchange to a publication, which is issued
weekly, professing to be under the sanction of that!
body. lam aware that the statements which appear in'
that paper are stated not to be* published under the
authority of the Stock Exchange; but I cannot close my,
eyes to the effect that they produce on the mind of the
public, who naturally consider. that they have that sanc-
tion. If these statements were correct and true, no per-
son would havers-right to complain; but when they are
almost in every instance incorrect, and their general
tendency is to depreciate railway property, it would be
well that the Stock Exchange should disavow a publica-
tion which is calculated to do so much mischief."
Such pointed observations, coming from such a quarter,
cannot be without their effect. The Stock Exchange
Committee are now bound, in justice to their own
character, as well as in justice to the holders of railway
shares, to withdraw their sanction entirely from the
publication. This they are bound to do at once, and in
the most public manner, so that no one may hereafter be
misled by its erroneous representations, If this be done,
the publication will cease to do mischief by ceasing to
exist.—[Since the above was put into the hands of the
printer, we have received the gratifying intelligence that
this mischievous publication has been brought under the
special consideration of the Committee of the Stock Ex-
change, and that they have come to the resolution of
prohibiting the insertion of any more " statements" re-
garding railway accounts. The resolution is thus
worded—
" That Mr. Slaughter be required in future to limit
the contents of the Weekly Share List to the usual
tabular railway statistics, prices, and official corre-
spondence."'
So, then, our object is accomplished. The sting has
been extracted from the wasp. Henceforth the Weekly
Exchange List will be as harmless as a dove. This is
one essential service which has been rendered to the
railway world.]
CHRONICLE.—We publish this day the . exposé,
officially promulgated by the North-Western Railway
Company, of their 'financial position and prospects. It
presents a detailed and elaborate picture of the past ex-
penditure, and the existing liabilities of the company,
arranged under four distinct heads, with a summary,
forming a fifth schedule, of the total capital which re-
mains to be provided for each class of liabilities. The
result of this statement, which is plain and distinct
enough even for persons little practised in accounts to
comprehend, must tend, we think, to dissipate the wild
rumours which have been ignorantly or designedly
circulated within the last few weeks respecting the
situation of some of the leading companies, and to
disabuse the minds of shareholders of those
panic terrors which have led them at once to sacrifice
their own interests and that of the commercial commu-
nity upon whom this new mania of apprehension has, in
various ways, operated most injuriously. The classifica-
tion adopted in the tables before us appears to be an ac-
curate and a convenient one. The first head exhibits
the expenditure and liabilities upon the main line and
branches now producing revenue. The extent of rail-
way included under this division is 438 miles. The total
amount authorised to be created in shares, was 1,047,7471.
—the sum at present received upon shares is 14,044,5741.;
upon debentures 9,186,672/. ; making together 23,231,2461.
The expenditure incurred, down to Ist July last, was
18,145,6241., the aggregate estimated outlay being
18,598,5561. So that the sum remaining to be expended
on account of the whole of the main line and branches,
at present yielding revenue, is little more than 450,0001
The second schedule shows the branch lines in course of
construction, and not yet productive. These are nine in
number, but the extent is only sixty-two miles. Among
the most considerable of these works are the enlarge-
ment of stations at Liverpool, Manchester, Crewe, Bir-
mingham, &r'. The total estimated outlay is 2,318,225/.
Of this sum 1,481,329/. has been incurred ; 836,8961. is
yet to be expended. Schedule 3 is that to which the
public and the shareholders will probably look with
most solicitude. It specifies the subsidiary lines in
which the company are interested by subscription, con-
tribution, or guarantee. There are nineteen lines in-
cluded in this category. To fifteen out of this
number the company had, up to the 30th of
June last, subscribed to the amount of
3,098,433. They are still under engagement
to subscribeZl,B46,79BL The sum is undoubtedly
large, and, at present prices, the subscriptions to the
Caledonian, the Chester and Holyhead, the Bucking-
hamshire, and some other concerns may not appear to
have been very advantageous investments ; but then it
should be recollected that these were not mere specula-
tive adventures. The concerns embarked in are all
naturally connected with the company's main line ; they
are calculated to further the development of its traffic ;
and the influence which a participation in the property
of them affords, is of essential importance to the
North-Western directors. Adverting next to the gua-
rantees, we must acknowledge that, whatever may
have been the sins of other companies, we find here
little to support the imputation of improvident bargains
against the London and North-Western. Some of the
higher guarantees, such as the North Union and the
Scottish Central, have been undertakes jointly with other
companies, and, even if the arrangemen ts should not prove
remunerative, the amount of these liabilities is compara-
tively inconsiderable. In other cases, the rate cannot be
deemed immoderate; nor, according to the test of the
Share Market, has it at any time been so viewed by the
people. The engagement to the Buckinghamshire line
is 4 per cent., to the Coventry and Nuneaton 5, to the
Huddersfield, Manchester, Leeds, and Dewsdury 7-10ths
of the North- Western dividend for the time being, to the
Stour Valley 2-3ds of the same, to the Shropshire Union
one half. The return which these lines will yield must,
of course, be at present problematical; but upon what-
ever data they may be computed, there appears to be
little ground for charging the directors with having sa-
crificed the interests of the proprietors by any very ex-
travagant bargains, or outrageous concessions. In the
majority of cases, the amounts which the com-
pany has undertaken to, pay are not more
than a reasonable indemnity to the under-
takers for their enterprise ; and, taking one
line with another, we believe that the anticipation, that
in a few years they may be expected to yield a margin
of profit to the North-Western Company, is by no means
over sanguine. Sdhedule 4 comprises a class of under-
takings
which, if not actually abandoned for good and all,
may, we trust, be considered as indefinitely postponed.
The outlay which they would absorb is set down at
3,876,9631. The expenditure as yet incurred is stated to
be nil. The Parliamentary expenses which must have
been incurred in obtaining the Acts, we presume, are
charged elsewhere. But the lines themselves not having
been commenced, there can be little question, under
the present circumstances of the company, and of the
times, that there .will be no disposition, either on the
part of, 'directors or proprietary, to add these four
millions to their capital account. Sctveral years
will probably elapse before the fifteen branches
and extensions enumerated in this schedule will be
called _for, to satisfy the demands of the public, or
will excite the cupidity of the .shareholders. The sum-
mary of the several classes above specified (the last be-
ing excluded), shows that the total ultimate amount of
capital to be expended upon the works and engagements
of the Company will be 25,862,0121. If the entire
amount of authorized stock and share capital should be
fully called up, which is contemplated as likely to occur
in 1852, it will reduce the sum raised upon debentures to
4,814,2651. The great question then arises, as to the
amount of profits which it will be practicable to divide
upon this capital. Upon this point, the estimates formed
by the Directors id their present manifesto are a fair
subject for scrutiny and criticism, to which they will no
doubt be rigidly subjected. The public must judge
whether or no it is a reasonable anticipation to assume
that, in four years from this time, the average
receipts upon the main line, increased, as it will
then be, by the branches specified in Schedule. 2,
and by that development of traffic from the
completion of the works of the Subsidiary Com-
panies, may be expected to 1116 i-ease to 'the extent of
6,424/. per week over the average of the year just ex-
pired. They must judge, too, whether the estimate of
a return of 3i per cent. upon the lines guaranteed and
subscribed to, which are enumerated in schedele 3, be a
modest or an over-sanguine estimate. That
.40 per
cent, upon the gross income is likely to form, at"-the
period in question, a sufficient deduction for working
expenses, will not, perhaps, be much questioned. These.
then, are the data upon,which the directors build their
calculation of a minimum dividend of 7 per cent. upon
the entire capital in 1852. This, of course, is not pro-
pounded as the measure of their hopes, or even of their
expectations, but only as a safe and cautious estimate of
'their ultimate position. For ourselves, we must avow
that the impression we have formed, upon the
review of , their affairs now taken, is, that the share-
holders in, this great undertaking may repose a well-
founded confidence in the issue of their investment.
The opinion which we have always expressed, as to the
, ,.
ultimatolouninerativenoiii "of "railway property, Is ratter