The Sun.
London, England, 1848-03-31 00:00:00

i6UN, LONDON,_ FRIDAY EVE_NING, MARCH 81,

NEWPORT, ABERGAVENNY, AND

HEREFORD RAILWAY.

The third half-yearly general meeting of the share-
holders of this company was y. sterday held at the
London Tavern, for the purpose of transacting the ordi-
nary business of the company, and for the election of
two directors and cne auditor, in place of the same
number who retired.

The notice convening the meeting having been read,
the Secretary proceeded to read the report, from which it
appeared that a contract had been catered into for the
construction of the portion of the line between Ponty-
pool and Abergavenny being a distance of 91 miles, and
that so much land as was required for the commence-
ment of the works had been placed in the hands of the
contractor. The usual notices had been served on land-
owners for purchase of the lands between these points;
but in consequence of the continued depression in the
money market, the directors had made arrangements
for a suspension of the contract, and they had not
proceeded further towards acquiring the land.
In the depression still existing in railway under-
takings, the directors considered that a further suspen-
sion of the contract was advisable, and they hoped to
be able to make arrangements with the contractor for
that purpose. Application had been made to the Com-
missioners of Railways, under 11th Vict. cap. 3, for an
extension of the period granted for the purchase of
land and the construction of the line. The preliminary
application had been acceded to, and the required forms
were being proceeded with ; and, on their completion,
the compulsory powers of the Newport, Abergavenny,
and Hereford Railway Act, for the purchase of land,
would be extended to August, 1851, and, for the construc-
tion of the line, to August, 1855. The powers of the
" Extension to Taff Vale Railway Act," for the taking
possession of land, would also be extended to July, 1852,
and, for the completion of the line, to July, 1856. The
report of the directors at the first general meeting of the
company stated that the remainder of the purchase money
for the Hereford, Grosmont, and Llanvihangel Tram
Roads, amounting to 45,9681., was payable in March,
1848; but they had now satisfaction in stating, that in
consideration of the pressure of the times,
those companies respectively had been induced
to accept 15 per cent. in further payment, in lieu
of pressing for. the total discharge of the obligation at
the present time; and had agreed to accept payment of
the balances as follows, viz. :-15 per cent. in September
next; 15 per cent. in March, 1849; 15 per cent. in Sep-
tember, 1849; and the balance in March, 1850. Under
these arrangements, further payments have been recently
made as follows:

To the Hereford Tram Road Company ... £2,919 0 0
To the Llanvihangel Company ... 3,262 10 0
And to the Grosmont Company ... ... 2,437 10 0
The directors regretted that it should have been neces-
sary to resort to legal proceedings to enforce payment of
any of the arrears of calls, but they felt that the in-
terests of the company left them no alternative. Under
the arrangements with the Monmouthshire, Welsh Mid-
land,
and Great Eastern and Western Companies, 9,696
shares in this company, of 251. each, had been registered
in the names of proprietors in those companies ; the
original 501. shares in this company had thus been
reduced to 251. each, and the proprietors been relieved of
calls and from future liability to a corresponding amount.
The directors repeated that their confidence in the in-
trinsic merits of the undertaking was unshaken, and that
their determination to suspend the works for the pre-
sent had been formed solely from a desire to relieve the
shareholders from calls during the present crisis; and from
the conviction that under the extraordinary circumstances
which had arisen, a temporary suspension of active pro-
ceedings would not prejudice the position of the company.
The expenses of Oil: management had been very con-
siderably reduced with a view to assist the company as
much as possible. From tile statement of accounts laid
before' the ineetingit appeared that the total receipts of
the ':company' since its 'formation had amounted to
72,814/. ss. lid.,
ill'th.e expenditure to 65,7961. 3s. Bd.,
leaving a balance hand of 7,0181. 2s. 3d.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the report,
took occasion to review the circumstances of the com-
pany from its commencement. Railway property, with
all other kinds of -property, had no doubt suffered very
considerably under the late pressure, this company had
not escaped; the directors had thought it necessary, in
consequence to reduce their expenses as much as pos- ,
sible,' and to make only those calls which were absolutely
necessary to enable therrf to meet the engagements pre-
viously entered into: This company was ori-
ginally proposed to be united with the Monmouthshire
Railway, but it had been found necessary to separate the
two Bills. An alteration also in the levels of the eom-
pany had been made by Mr. Miller, civil engineer, the
effect of which would be to save a sum of not less than
45,0001. in making the railway, and to give to the com-
pany a means of connexion with the other lines to the
north of Hereford. An extension of the line had also
been proposed to the Taff Vale Railway, which would
afford the means of bringing into communication a vast
agricultural with an immense mineral district, and render
no doubt great benefits to the company. There had been
some intimations of winding up the affairs of the com-
pany; he did not, however, think such a course would be
practicable, at least none of the shareholders could
clear out of their engagements except upon payment of
61. per share. The subject had been publicly brought
before him only by two persons, Mr. Spackman and Mr.
Newbon; with respect to those gentlemen, he would
only say that there were some gentlemen who would
undertake to wind up anything, even the falls of
Niagara, if they could only get 6d. per share for doing
se. For his part he could only say that he
would never consent to the suicidal policy of
winding up the affairs of this company, neither
would he consent to desist from his endeavours to
bring the affair to a prosperous conclusion for all parties
concerned. He and his brother directors held a very
large stake in the concern, and the shareholders might
be sure that they would not consent to carry on any
policy which would prove injurious to their own interests,
and those of the other shareholders of the company.
A SHAREHOLDER moved as an amendment the ap-
pointment of a committee of shareholders, to inquire
into the accounts of the company, some of which ho
considered to be most exorbitant.
Mr. NIOTT seconded the amendment.
Considerable discussion took place upon the subject.
The amendment was, however, ultimately withdrawn, on
the ground that it might be considered as a want of confi-
dence in the directors.

The report was then adopted, with but two dissentients.
The lion. J. E. Knox and W. E. Snow, Esq., wore
then unanimously elected directors of the company, and
J. E. Rogers elected an auditor in the room of NV. E.
Scow, 11,q.
The allowance of the directors was then ordered to be
reduced from 8002 to 4001. per annum, and the salary of
the secretary reduced from 6001. to 400/. per annum.

The thanks of the meeting were theri ♦oted to the
Chairman, and the meeting broke up.

NAMUR AND LIEGE RAILWAY.
A special general meeting of the shareholders of this
company was yesterday held, at the London Tavern, on
special business.
The chair was taken at one o'clock precisely.
The notice convening the meeting having been read,
The CHAIRMAN (Mr. A Spottiswoode), said that the
object of the directors in calling the meeting was to lay
before the shareholders the state of the company. Va
rious communications had been made with the Belgian
Minister on the great point of granting the company a
little more time to complete the railway. This
concession had been promised to them. The
great desire of the Government was to keep
the people employed; this course would be decidedly t•
the interests of the company to adopt; but the direc-
tors r, quits d the means of carrying out the line from the
shareholders, and he trusted that they would take into
consideration their own interests, and provide the neces-
sary funds. They had already expended some 600,000/.
or 700,0001., which would all be lost if the line was not
completed, and upon the other hand, if completed, the line
would be a source of great profit to the shareholders. Ne-
gotiations were now pending for a loan, but this was not
enought to answer all the purposes of the company.
The directors proposed to issue debentures bearing five
per cent. interest, and a supplementary bonus, which
would be about equal to an additional five per cent.
payable to the holder of the debenture at the termina-
tion of the period therein named.
In answer to a question put by a SHAREIioLDER,
The CHAIRMAN stated that about twelve miles on the
least profitable part of the Mons and Menage branch
had been opened, and its returns were sufficient to pay
all the working expenses.
Colonel Sir F. SMITH said that he had but lately been
connected with the company, and previous to his joining
it he was of opinion that the Namur and Liege Railway
would not be able successfully to compete with the navi-
gation of the Meuse ; he was, however, of a very dif-
ferent opinion at present, and he firmly believed that if
the line could bo completed, the returns would
prove quite equal to what had been originally
held out. lie thought that it was desirable to
make a strong pull altogether to complete the
line, and keep the men at work, who, if unemployed,
might prove a serious evil both to the Government of
Belgium and the company. He thought that the
holders of every share in the railway might be allowed
to advance money upon loan to the company, at an inte-
rest of 10 per cent. lie had looked carefully over the
whole proceedings of the company, and was in every
way perfectly satisfied with them.
Mr. MosTes, the accountant of the company, gave a
financial statement of the company. Upon the first call
all the shares had been paid up ; on the second call 120
shares fell in arrear ; the third, 3,700 shares ; the
fourth, 2,010 shares ; the fifth, 5,350 shares ; the sixth,
5,585 shares; the seventh, 6,070 shares; the eighth,
2,270 shares. The whole of these shares had been for-
feited, and the total amount thus gained by the company
had been 125,810/. The total amount received by the
company from the shareholders had been 640,170/. A
loan had been taken by the contractors of 14,940 f., also a
loan which was now in the Belgian funds, of 281,693 f.
The interest paid to the shareholders had been
35,284/. 18s. 6d. The amount expended by the company
had been on
The Namur and Liege Railway £326,025 3 3
Mona and Menage Railway 229,963 17 1
Locomotives
Carriages and waggons 23,240 0 0
Stores, clothing, &c 2,204 5 11
Cash iu hand
Expenses of the company 7,210 6 2
Mr. STOKES, the engineer to the line, said that about
twelve miles of the line between Namur and Liege,
commencing from Namur, was ready to receive the per-
manent way, and the whole of the line could, it the funds
were found, be ready for traffic within a twelvemonth. It
would be necessary to raise an additional capital of
about 250,0001. for the purposes of the plant upon the
railway. The estimated total cost of the line and
its branches would be about 1,250,000/. In order to

complete th© Mons and Menage Railway a sum of
90,400 L would be required, and about 440,0001. for the
Namur and Liege Railway.

Mr. G. Rennie, engineer•in-chief of the company,
gave a satisfactory account of the works of the company,
and the economy with which they a-ere carried on.
In answer to a question put by a shareholder, Mr.
RENNIE said that not one English workman was employed
upon the works, and that an extension of the time for
completing the railway had been allowed by the Belgian
Government.

In answer to another question put,
The CHAIRMAN said that the number of shares upon
which 161. had been paid was 25,0001.
After some desultory discussion resolutions were
agreed to, authorising the directors to call up the re-
maining 41. upon each of the shares, to give them the
power of increasing the capital of the company, and to
raise loans.

The thanks of the meeting were then voted to the
chairman, and the meeting broke up.

LONDON, BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH

COAST RAILWAY.

The adjourned meeting of this company was held yester-
day, at one o'clock, at the London Tavern; Mr. Grenfell,
M.P., in the chair; but was again adjourned until Mon-
day, the 17th of April, in consequence of the committee
appointed to investigate the accounts and to report
upon them not being yet prepared to do so,
and on the understanding that the report should be
printed and circulated amongst the proprietors on the
14th. The directors were much blamed by the pro-
prietors for not advertising the proposed adjournment.
The directors replied that they considered the matter
was not within their province, as the committee was
appointed by the shareholders; and, besides, the notice
of the adjournment came to them too late to enable them
to advertise it to Leeds and distant localities had
they c( n sidered it their duty to do so. The direc-
tors stated that they had strongly objected to
a proposed adjournment to the Ist of May, becauso
they had for seven weeks been under the gross end un-
founded aspersion which had been cast upon them at the
first meeting.
The CaAIRMAN intimated that if the Committee had
made their report to-day, he should have resigned his
office; for no man, after what had taken place, of right
feeling and understanding, and who knew what was due
to his character, would continue to hold the position of
chairman. From this day they might consider him no
longer in their service ; in fact, he abdicated—(Laugh-
ter)—it was the fashion now to abdicate.
Mr. PARSONS (the deputy-chairman) made a similar
statement.

Mr. WISHAW, the chairman of tho committee,
stated in reply to the lion. Gentleman, that all the books
and papers had been placed before the committee, and
that the aid of the clerks and other servants of the
company had been placed at the service of the body.
Mr. TAYLOR, another member of the committee, stated
that the investigation of the committee had led to this
result, that though the company might not pay a large
amount for some time, its affairs were in a satisfactory
state; and, further, that none of the committee were
disposed to sell their shares at any price the market
might offer for them at present, or for some time to
come.—(Cheers.)
Mr. l'Attsorts said the statement was very satisfactory
and gratifying to the directors, and must, he believed, be
equally so to the proprietors.—(hear.)
The meeting then separated.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.
HOUSE OF LORDS. March 30.
Their Lord hips met at Five o'clock.
ODD FELLOWS.

The Duke of WELLINGTON presented a peti-
tion from a society of Odd Fellows, the name of which
we could not catch, praying that it might be placed
under the provisions of the Friendly Societies Act.
Lord CAMPBELL presented a petition to the
same effect.

The Marquis of SALISBURY presented a peti-
tion, praying, as we understood, that no alteration
might be made in the law with respect to these so-
cieties.

Lord BEAUMONT defended the prayer of the
petition he had presented, and stated that none save
those interested in the continuance of the anomalies
that existed at present in societies not under
the provisions of the Friendly Societies Act
would have prepared such a petition for presentation.
He begged to present two other petitions of the same
prayer as those he had presented. 450,000 persons
had joined these societies in the dark, and all they
wanted was to be placed in the light.
BOROUGH SUPERANNUATION FUND

BILL.
On the motion of -Lord CAMPBELL this Bil
was read a second time.
IRELAND—ELECTORAL DIVISION S
A HMS.

The Marquis of LANSDOW NE said he had to
present two documents of considerable importance.
The first was a report of the Committee appointed
to report upon the expediency of altering the poor-
law boundaries, and the electoral divisions ; the
second a list of the arms and ammunition surrendered
to the Irish Government, and those seized and
detained under the provisions of the Act of 11th
Victoria.

notice of his motion were sufficiently explicit to
have enabled those members of her Majesty's
Government who were connected with the different
public departments to have come prepared with an
explanation of the details. The Noble Marquis, in
the first place, disclaiming for himself any respon-
sibility, except as to two items, namely, a sum of
1,4951. for an increase of charge in connexion with
the Board of Education, and a minute fraction of the
increased expenditure in the Post-office department,
on account of an old woman—with these exceptions
the Noble Marquis considered that he was not liable
to any blame, and appeared perfectly satisfied with
his own conduct. Now, it might be all very satis-
factory to the Noble Marquis, but that was no reason
why the public should view his conduct, as a member
of the Government, with equal satisfaction. Then
came his Noble Friend the Secretary for the Colo.
Dies, and he wanted the House to believe that the
sum of 4,523/., set down for retired allowances in his
department, was in fact an increased charge for
postage.—(A laugh.) That was all the explanation
which the Noble Earl at the head of the Colonial De-
partment could give to their Lordships. As to the Noble
Earl at the head of the Admiralty, he declared that
he was taken quite unawares by the speech of his
Noble Friend (Lord Ellenborough) ; he had no no-
tion that the Noble Earl was going to talk about the
Admiralty and Somerset House. But the Noble
Earl at the head of the Admiralty attempted to give
some explanation of the department under his con-
trol, and he stated that it was discovered last year to
be in a state of disorganization—that the accounts
had been badly kept, and all business allowed to fall
so much in arrear that it was necessary to work
double tides to bring it up. In other words, the
Noble Earl's explanation amounted to this—that the
clerks whose negligence had caused the business to
fall into arrear were set to work extra hours to bring
it up, for which they received extra pay I As to the
Customs, not a word had been offered in explanation
of what had been going on in that department. It
appeared to be abandoned altogether, and yet the cir-
cumstances which his Noble Friend had brought
under the notice of the House were of a very extra-
ordinary nature. Within the last few years the
Customs' duties had been, not diminished, but alto-
gether repealed upon a great number of articles. The
effect of that proceeding had been to abridge mate-
rially the labours of the Custom-house officers ; yet
what were the facts disclosed in the return which had
been laid before the House ? It appeared that in the
year 1847 there had been an increase in the number
of persons employed of 62 ; an increase of 1,8571. in
salaries; an increase of 16,5001. in emoluments; an
increase of 5,6461. in retired allowances ; and an in-
crease of 25,0001. in expenses.—(Hear, hear.) The
result of all this was, that the cost of collecting the
customs last year amounted to 49,0001. more than it
had ever done before.— (Hear, hear.) For this not a
shadow of explanation had been offered to their Lord-
ships. The Noble Lord at the head of the Post-
office had given something like a satisfactory ex-
planation of the increased expenditure in his depart-
ment, for he said that it had been caused by increased
accommodation afforded to the public, and was justi-
fied by increased returns. The only circumstance
which detracted from the satisfactory nature of the
Noble Marquis's explanation was that the expenditure
appeared to be progressively increasing. It appeared
that 2,300 persons had been added to the establish-
ment during the last two years, and an equal number
might be added in the next two years.
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE—I hope so.
Lord STANLEY—WeII, if the increase should be
accompanied with a corresponding increase in the
revenue, and additional accommodation to the public,
there could be no objection to it, and no one would
begrudge the Noble Marquis the extension of his
valuable patronage.—(A laugh.) Speaking of pa-
tronage, he would take the liberty of observing, that
the Noble President of the Council seemed to under-
value the patronage which the Government had ob
tamed by the increase which they had made to the
public departments. They were told of an old woman
receiving only 10/., but the average value of the
appointments was 30/. a year.—(Hear, hear.) The
Noble Postmaster-General must know from expe-
rience that, trifling as such appointments appeared
to the President of the Council, there were nu-
merous applicants for them, and those appointments
afforded him the opportunity of obliging some
of his political friend; and, it was necessary
to add, of disappointing others. Appointments
of 25/., 15/., and 10/, afforded a Government the
means of obliging their adherents, the return being
that the persons who had obtained the appointments
should support those who supported the Government.
—(Hear, hear.) The subject to which his Noble
Friend had called the attention of the House was
one with respect to which their Lordships and the
public were entitled to have the fullest explanation ;
but, since the Government did not seem to have ex-
pected the present motion, he would recommend that
it should be withdrawn now, and brought forward
apaia at a future period.
The Earl of AUCKLAND said that the Noble
Lord had misunderstood what had fallen from him.
He did not intend to admit that there had been any
negligence on the part of the clerks employed at the
Admiralty; but that, in consequence of the accession
of business, it had teen found necessary to bring
up the arrears and to increase the establishment.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH then wkhclrew
the motion, saying that he would consult with the
President of the Council as to the day when he should
bring it forward again.
Adjourned.