The Sun.
London, England, 1848-10-30 00:00:00

1,520,163

X,
. 2,194,093 Average, 42,194/. per week

caster and Car isle .. 17,1,00
Interest upon hankers'

babuieesr 22,270
Rents (net receipts) .. 13,887

54,057

2,140,036 Average, 41,1541. per week,
" It therefore remains for the shareholders to con-
sider whether the preceding calculations are sound
and moderate, and if so, whether there is a reasonable
probability cf the gross revenue of the company from
the traffic of the main line, and branches to be opened,
increasing to an extent of 7,8691. per week by the
year 1852, when all the capital will hate been called
up, and the subsidiary lines in operation."
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
CHAS. E. STEWART, Sec. i
Euston Station, Oct. 28, 1848.

RAILWAYS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sin,--I am requested by a large body of share-
holders in Exeter, to return you their sincere thanks
for the prominent part you have taken in suppressing
the system of "bearing." Many families have been re-
duced to extreme poverty in this neighbourhood by
that system, and we expect Exeter is not alone. This
system has brought railways into the present degraded
position, and the parties who have directed me to
write this letter, feel satisfied, if the Government will
place an ad ralorens duty on all and every transaction
in and out of the Stock Exchange, the evil will at
once be remt.died.—Yours, Sir, &c.
Exeter, Oct. 28, 1848.

HENRY MATCHER,

TO TUE EDITOR OF THE SUiV.
Slll,—Permit me to suggest that an ad valorem
duty be placed on all and every transaction in and
out of the Stock Exchange. The gambling system
of " bearing" will then be soon at an end. Not one
transaction in fifty pays the stamp duty at present,
although the successful operators pocket their thou-
sands yearly, while the poor shareholders have their
last shilling wrung from them.
Your obedient servant,
OBSERVER.

Exeter, Oct. 28, 1848.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sxa,—l was obliged by your insertion of my last
note, of the 21st instant, and as a railway proprietor,
not a speculator, I once more thank you for the very
constant and straightforward way in which you have
advocated the unjustly attacked and depreciated rail-
way interest. You may remember the point I
arrived at in my last communication, namely, that
shareholders should not be frightened out'of their pro-
perty by the "Bears ;" and I ventured to give certain
prices which I predicted three or four leading lines
would stand at on the 30th of June next, challenging
any party to show cause against my assumptions.
We seem to be improving already, and it only
there he nerve, " pluck," and sensible determination
on the part of the holders, we have seen the worst,
and " a better time is coming."
I venture to ask for a portion of your columns, to
address a word to my brother shareholders on another
point, and it is this : Do not let the present improvement
throw you off your guard, or, to use your own em-
phatic words in Saturday evening's paper, "they
must not sink into apathy because a change has taken
place." Let there be no relaxing in constant, and,
as far as is practicable, combined efforts to strike out
something which shall sensibly and permanently im-
prove their property. What is this to be ? I can
only occupy your room by giving general hints,
leaving it for you or others to amplify.
Ist. I am satisfied that an endeavour should
be made to promote a meeting of the chairmen
of every railway company in the United King-
dom, who should (after appointing a secretary)
go fully and frankly into the financial position
of their respective companies, so as to arrive at
the sum total of their liabilities for unfinished
works, and when this is settled, I would recommend
an interview with the Government, and a strong
though respectful demand for public assistance
towards the completion of their works without further
present calls upon the proprietors. I believe that
if the Government would advance on loan to the
leading companies of the United Kingdom sufficient
money to go on with the best of their works gra-
dually, confidence would be restored, hundreds
of families rescued from ruin, and a serious blow
averted from our staple interests and commercial
credit. It is useless now saying railway men were
mad, let them bear the brunt. It is too late to say
this. Mischief is done, and more will he done,
unless prompt and energetic measures be taken to
arrest the plague.
2. Let shareholders call upon the directors to
publish clear, intelligible accounts of their position,
liabilities, and prospects, based upon the model of the
one from the London and North- Western, now
printing, I do not doubt, at your office, for this
evening's paper.

3. Let ;ig"urous efforts be continued to put a stop
to bearing, by doing away with time bargains. Let
the Stock Exchange committee clear themselves of
imputations which, justly or not, rest upon them, of
affording improper facilities to gamblers. Let seven
days be the extent allowed for the delivery of shares,
and we shall have a deal less doing of that fictitious
character now too prevalent.

4. Let an effort be made to do away, or have
materially lessened, the transfer duty, and a complete
alteration in the principle on which companies are
now assessed for parochial taxes.
But I must stop. The hints may be worth follow-
ing out. As regards the first, I am quite sure that
Government ought and, sooner or later, must come to
the rescue, and I have good reasons for believing that
they are not indisposed.—l am, Sir, yours obediently,
Sheffield, Oct. 28, 1848. IJOPE.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Six,—Your impartial remarks upon the state of the
Railway Share Market embolden me to call your at-
tention to the necessity of some alteration taking
place in the mode of conducting bu-iness in this vast
ro
It seems quite preposterous that the chief,
ipperty.
ndeed only, market should be the Stock Exchange,
where the doors are closed, and the greatest caution
adopted to allow none but members to enter.
The owner of railway securities is obliged to con-
fide his business to another (perhaps inferior)
management, and to listen to a secondhand version
of matters affecting his nearest interests.
There ought to be an open railway share market
established under a proper committee as to admittance
and bye-laws, but accessible on easy terms and
general facilities.
Railway shares would then undergo less violent
fluctuations, unless occasioned by merit, and the public
would hold their property with more confidence,
both as speculators and investments, unless this mode is
adopted, or the present Stock Exchange opens its doors,
investments will materially decrease, since no prudent
man will leave to his family securities governed, as it
were, by men with closed doors playing their own
games.

Sir, an open Exchange would prevent "Panics,"
and tend greatly to promote the interests of this com-
mercial country.
Asking your attention to the subject, I remain your
obliged and CONSTANT READER.
Oct. 27, 1848.

STOCK- JOBBING ACT AND
"BEARING" OF RAILWAY STOCK.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—You did me the favour to insert my letter on
this subject in your newspaper of Monday, 23d inst.,
but in a subjoined note you expressed a doubt as to
this most salutary Act being applicable to railway
stock. The words of the Act, however, expressly
include "any public or joint-stock or stocks, or other
public securities whatsoever, or any part, share, or
interest therein," which expressions humbly appear
to me amply sufficient to cover railway stock. lam
quite aware that the Act has been found not to apply
to Colombian bonds, as being neither public, British, nor
joint-stocks, but railway stock seems to be both, being
constituted under British Acta of Parliament, public

,013,442

2,533,605
•• Average per vv.ok to pay 7 per cent., 18,7ar. from traffic.
" The grog.; revenue for t e
pear ending 30th of June,
1846„ ivas
Deduct Dividend, Lan-