The Sun.
London, England, 1846-08-27 00:00:00

vantageous, and that they come within the limits and
estimates originally prepared.-- (Cheers.) Gentle-
men, you must be aware that these extensive
works cannot be accomplished without demands upon our
resources. The directors have therefore, on this account,
and on many other general accounts, thought it expe-
dient to consider whether some arrangement cannot be
accomplished with the Great Western Railway Com-
pany, for the purpose of drawing still closer the rela-
tions between the two companies.—(Hear, hear.) This
arrangement they always contemplated as one of ex-
treme probability and advantage, and they think that
there perhaps can be no period at which it would
be more desirable and more advisable than the pre-
sent.—(Hear, hear.) Preliminary discussions have in
consequence taken place between deputations from
the two companies, but your directors have not thought
it right to proceed further than preliminary discussions
without first obtaining your concurrence, not to the
completion, but to the entertainment of the question.—
(Hear, 'tear.) It is an arrangement of such magnitude,
that the directors of the Great Western Railway Com-
pany have thought it right to take such powers from
their proprietors; and, guided by similar reasons, the
directors of the South Wales Railway Company are de-
sirous to be armed with similar powers. The principles
and objects of such an arrangement were briefly stated
by me at the last meeting of the Great West-
ern Railway Company, and the proceedings
at that meeting have probably become known to
most of the proprietors who are now present. The
objects which such an arrangement seemed to offer were,
first to give a more steady and certain value to the
shares of the South Wales Railway Company, and to
secure to that company the ultimate possession of all
the advantages of their own line, and, after a certain
time, of the traffic which shall be completely developed
and fixed. And in concurrence with those two objects,
it must be plain to the proprietors of the South Wales
Railway Company, that the proprietors of the Great
Western Company will expect to be protected from any
disadvantages which may result to them from
the facilities which they are willing and desir-
ous to afford to the South Wales Company.
Gentlemen, as soon as the details of this
arrangement shall be so far accomplished as to be pre-
pared to be laid before you, a special meeting shall be
convened, and your opinion shall be taken upon it.—
(Hear, hear.) lam perfectly satisfied that nc arrange-
ment can be advantageous either to one company or the
other which does not provide reciprocal advantages to
both.—(Hear, hear.) It will be the object of your
directors, in forming any arrangement, to give this cha-
racter to the terms between the two companies.—(Hear,
hear.) As soon as they are completed they shall, as I
have already stated, be made known to you, but the de-
cision of this question will ultimately rest with yourselves.
Gentlemen, I am not aware that there is any other
subject on which it is necessary that I should trouble
you. I will request the secretary to read the report,
and after that is read I shall be extremely happy to offer
any further explanations that may be required of me
by any proprietor.—(Cheers.)

The SECRETARY then read the following report of the
directors:—

" The proprietors are aware, that the South Wales
Act of 1845 conferred power on this Company to con-
struct a railway from Chepstow to Fishguard and Pem-
broke, with a branch from Newport to Monmouth, leav-
ing the completion of the line to a point of junction with
the Great Western Railway a subject for the considera-
tion of Parliament in this present session. A Bill was
introduced accordingly in February last, which received
the royal assent on the 27th ult., and the directors
have much pleasure in congratulating you on its being
attended with the important result of perfecting, in con-
nexion with the Great Western and Gloucester and
Forest of Dean Railways, an unbroken line, on one
uniform gauge, from St. George's Channel to London,
crossing the Severn at Gloucester.

" Two alternative modes of crossing the Severn were
proposed by your directors, and submitted to the pro-
prietors, which underwent a full and lengthened discus-
sion with the Lords of the Admiralty, one being a
bridge at Hock Crib, the other a tunnel at a point a
little higher up the river. The tunnel was rejected by
the Committee of the House of Commons, and the bride
could not be constructed under the powers of the Act in
such a manner as would accord with the views of the
Admiralty.
" Your directors have always considered it of great
importance to improve the access to the very valuable
mineral resources of the Forest of Dean. The pro-
prietors have been already informed of the engagement
entered into with the Bullo Pill Railway Company for
this purpose. Parliamentary powers to carry this agree-
ment into effect were sought for in the present session,
but the Committee of the House of Commons having re-
quired conditions to which your directors deemed it in-
expedient to accede, they had no alternative but to with
draw the clauses of the Bill, but they adhere strictly to
the terms of the agreement, and propose to seek powers
to carry it into effect at the earliest practicable period,
and in the fullest manner.

" With the exception of the Margam deviation,
powers have been obtained to carry out all the devia-
tions, branches, and extensions, proposed for the im-
provement of our line : these have been already enu-
merated in the report presented at the last meeting, and
include, as the proprietors will recollect, branches into
the towns of Swansea and Haverfordvvest.

" Acts hare been passed this session for the Vale of
Neath, Llynvi Valley, and Tenby Saundersfoot and
South Wales Junction Railways, which must be regarded
as important tributaries to the main line.

" sets have also been passed for the Waterford, Wex-
ford, Wicklow, and Dublin, and the Cork and Water-
ford Railways, which will afford the means of opening
out the traffic of the south of Ireland to this line, and
in the case of the former of these measures, an addi-
tional line of communication between England, Dublin,
and the northern parts of Ireland, through the interven
tion of the South Wales Railway.
" Parliamentary powers having been now obtained for
a complete line to Gloucester, it is important that a rail-
way should be constructed from Cheltenham to Oxford
on the same principle, as a means of shortening the com-
munication between South Wales and the metropolis. A
company has been already formed to carry this measure
into execution, to which your directors will give their
cordial support in the next session of Parliament.
" Your directors are desirous to submit to the pro-
prietors the expediency of some arrangement with the
Great Western Railway Company which shall render
more intimate the connexion between the two companies,
and facilitate and ensure the early completion of the
works. With your approbation they will proceed to a
negotiation for the accomplishment of this object—the
details of which shall be laid before you at an early
meeting specially convened fur the purpose, but they
have not thought it right to-conclude a matter of such
importance without obtaining in the first instance the
specific concurrence of the proprietors.
"As regards the progress of the works, your directors
refer you to the report of your engineer which is an-
nexed.

" Some difficulty has been experienced in negotiating
with persons interested in the land along the line ; but
your directors cannot contemplate that any further im-
pediments will be thrown in the way of the completion
of a railway of such manifest national as well as local
importance • and they make an earnest appeal to them
to afford all the facilities in their power.
" The usual statement of receipts and expenditure is
annexed to this report ; and your directors have thought
it advisable to pass a resolution, acceding to the wishes
of many of the proprietors, by authorising interest at the
rate of 5 per cent. per annum to be allowed on all pay-
ments made on the shareholders in anticipation of calls,
as sanctioned by Parliament."
The SECRETARY afterwards road the following report
of Mr. Brunel, the engineer:—
" I have great pleasure in reporting the very satis-
factory state of the arrangements made for the con-
struction of the line.

" Nearly the whole of the lino from Chepstow
(where the power of our first Act commenced),
to Kidwelly, with the exception only of that por-
tion of the line between Cardiff and Neath, which
was affected by the proposed Margam deviation,
has been let by contract in a satisfactory manner : these
contracts, forming an aggregate length of 54 miles, com
prebend all the heavy works between Chepstow and
Carmarthen, or indeed Haverfordwest, as the works
beyond Carmarthen and to the junction of the Haver-
fordvvest branch are not of a serious character. The
heaviest works are in and through the town of Newport,
and from Neath through Swansea to Loughor.
" At Newport some considerable progress has been
made with the shafts of the tunnel and the construction
of the bridge over the Usk, and in the neighbourhood of
Neath a commencement has also been made by the con-
tractor. The portion between Swansea and Loughor
was the subject of an Act for a deviation which has only
just passed, but the contracts having been prepared in
anticipation, have been let immediately on the passing
of the Act, and generally, as far as we can now enter
into possession of the land, we shall be enabled to pro-
ceed with the works.

" Steps have already been taken for preparing to
proceed imms•diately with the works between Chepstow
and Gloucester, under the power of the Act just passed."
The reports appeared to give general satisfaction, and
were, received with applause; at the conclusion of which
The CHAIRMAN moved that they be approved of by
the meeting, and printed and circulated amongst the
members.

Mr. STUTeLY—WiII this report of the directors give
them authority to negotiate with the Great Western?
The CHAIRMAN—Yes, to negotiate, but not to con-
clude the arrangement. Indeed, our Act requires that
before any arrangement shall be entered into between
this and any other company, it shall be referred to
the proprietors for their sanction, and three-fifths, I think,
are requisite to give such a sanction.
A SHAREHOLDER said that he perceived by the
accounts that some of the shares had not been paid up,
and he wished to know what was the intention of the
directors with regard to the defaulters ?
The CHAIRMAN said that the circumstance of those
shares not being paid up was not in consequence
of tiny neglect on the part of the directors in
urging upon the defaulters to pay up the calls that
had been made upon them. Those urgent requests
on the part of the directors had in most cases been suc-
cessful, and they would take every step for procuring the
payments of the calls as rapidly as they possibly could.
Of course there were remedies in the hands of the
directors, but they were remedies to be resorted to only
in extreme cases.
The resolution proposed by the Chairman was then
seconded and unanimously carried, after which
Mr. ROCHE said—Gentlemen, before we separate, I
think that the thanks of the Coripany are due to the
directors fur the exertions w aich they have made
during this session in bringjng our Bill to its
present state of perfection. I see now no obstacles
in the way of our proccedinz with the objects of this
Company, and I have no doubt that the directors con-
sider the line to be of so much 4.5 to induce
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