The Sun.
London, England, 1848-11-01 00:00:00

49C
•
W . •
.17:501 N d LODON-
„WEDNESDAY
•

_ _______ _
nIDLAND 4.ll'L'''lV‘A 'Y.'
" Newby Peek, 0ct,24;1848.
Siree-On behalf of tt.e Directors of the, Midland Railway,Corn-
pany, Yam requested to acknowledge'the rdceipt aniAddress.from-
a number of Shareholders resident in Liverpool and the neighbour-
hood which you have transmittedlo.them.. • -
The Directors would have been content merely to acknoWledge
the receipt of the Address, had it not contained an imputation upon
them,"which they cannot pass • over i#r silence. Tire- Shatiehdlders
commence their address by ascribing the depression of their pro-
perty to " the want of public confidence in the integrity Of the ma-
nagement." The Directors, therefore,aleeire that you will immeelf-
ately furnish them with a list of the specific charges involved in this
statement, in order that they may convene a Special Meeting of the
Company, and have the opportunity of refuting the accusation thus
brought against the integrity of a, body orgentlemen who feel that
they stand as high in the estimatfoa of the public at'large as the in-
dividuals who have appended their nfunes to this calumnious ,docu-
meat, which comes with a pecullarly.bad grace from a body of Share-
holders who, prior to the appointtnent of the present Director*, were
only receiving a two-and-a-half per cent. dividend. since that time
the dividends have been increased Wadi and seven percent.
In the meantime I may be. allowed to offer, to you, as one of the
Shareholders who have signed the address, a few remarks upon the
several suggestions contained in it. • •
i.eTou call upon the Directors to close. the capital account. 'No
person is more fully aware fhan yourself that the shareholders have
had the power of passing a, vote to that effect at' any half-yearly
meeting. But supposing the development of a new traffic, producing
a revenue of 20,0011. or 30,0001. per annum, should require an out-
lay of 60,0001., how absurd is would be to say that such outlay ott
to be taken out of income. •
2. You call upon the Directors to examine and pay all outstanding
accounts ofthe solicitors.;These accounts are now undergoing a atrial
examination, and as soon as the .solicitors' ate satisfied to accept the*
amount the Directors think due to theme their, bills will be paid.
But surely this is a matter which 'must be left to the discretion of
the Directors ; had they given way to. the:, pressure of the Pro;
prletors when they were urged to settle the demands of the contrac-
tors, they might have sacrificed a very large sum for the sake of an
immediate settlement. They sacceeded in,making great reductions,
.and so much wai saved to the Company. "'The claims of ' the con=
tractors amounted to 89,8771., ande...,were finally liquidated for,
17,7231. lbs. 7d. Your objection ,to any further Parliamentary ex-
penses being incurred, without thesanetiorimPthe, Shareholders, is
; it is clear that no Parliamentary expenses of any importance
can be incurred vvithout such sanction: ' '
S. You call for a reduction of -the, aalarieslof -our epgimeers. We
have only one engineer employed upon the lines,-and, considering,
the abilities of that gentleman, the Hireable do not think him over-,
Paid.
4. You iegiire that stations shall not be enlarged.. Should traffic.
increase, how is it ,to .be conducted rithpgt pereesectpeonemrataz,
.tiblinVbeite.4Thareholdersl44ll. the hseompotafxot, ce,cfck
aeon matters orthil kind:VW/Mt t`e "tdielieMciei
appoint others in whom they have greater confidence.
5. The Directors are called upon to enter into no further contracts.
ftranst have escaped your recollection that at the last half-yearly
meeting I gave an assurance that the Directors did not intend to
engage in any further contracts.
6. You allude to traffic which you do not consider remunerative to
the Company. The Directors are entitled to ask you to be more
explicit, and to state specifically what traffic is meant.
7. You thisik the number of trains ought to be reduced. This is a
question which must be left to the judgment of the Directors ; for
nothing can be more difficult than to determine, from time to time,
what trains ought to be run. I consider it would he an unwise and
impolitic measure to take off the express train, which you suggest
should be done.
8. The alteration you propose in the mode of appointing Directors
would require a new Act of Parliament.
e. Yon ask the Directors to purchase all stores by public contract.
have no doubt you are aware that this is generally done, but it not
enfrequently happens that the Directors can purchase articles hi the
market much below the contract price, and when they can do so they
often avail themselves of the opportunity.
I have now answered or cotnmented upon every point of the ad-
dress, except that which relates to the depreciation of the value of
shares, with which the Directors feel that they have little or nothing
to do. Their duty is to obtain all the traffic they can, and to pay
the Shareholders good dividends.
The address you have sent is signed by seventy Shareholders, this
is a small proportion of the ervire number, which exceeds 8,000.
You are a holder of capital stack in the company to the amount of
3501., and you describe yourself in the address as a broker. From
your experience in that business, I have no doubt you are well Ithle
to inform the public how the old railway stock of this company has
become so much depreciated.
In my position as Chairman of several railway companies, I have
received numerous complaining letters, all, I am hound to say,
couched In a courteous and respectful manner; and I have answered
them hy assuring the parties of the soundness and stability of the
concerns over which I preside. The acknowledgments I have re-
ceived in reply have been generally satisfactory; many of the parties
stating that they were holders of stock in a variety of foreign and
other new hues, and that they were compelled to Fell the stock of
sit lines to pay for the new. When the supply exceeds the demand,
and when a regular combination exists to depress railway property,
I believe any course which Directors may pursue will be of little
avail. Yet, after all, the amount of stock transferred in the com-
panies over which I preside has been less than usual, which shows
that many of the quotations of sales are merely nominal. I have
no fear of not seeing railway property again placed in a better
rOSIOCPTI in the market, though not at the extravagant price it has
hzetefore arrived at, and then its proper and true value
will be maintained in a manner that will he more satis-
factory to all parties. Consols have been at 47, they are now at
St!!, and have been at 100. •If you or your friends can, by any
effort, advance them to 92 or 93, I have no doubt you will see a
great advance in railway property. The Bank Stock has paid 10
per cent., and is now only paying seven, and the price has fallen con-
siderably ; but no one ever doubted the integrity of the management
of the Bank. The surprise to me is, that in the excitements and
commotion which have prevailed, railway traffic has been so well
supported. Even the present amount of traffic justifies the anticipa-
tion that the rate of dividends will not undergo any material diml-
nation ; and this remark applies to all the lines over which I have
the honour to preside. I wish I could call the serious and grave
attention of the chairman of the London Stock Exchange to a pub-
lication 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 pro-
duce on the mind of the public, who naturally consider that they
have that sanction. If these statements were correct and true, no
person would have a right to complain —but when they are
almost in every instance incorrect, and their. general ten-
dency is to depreciate railway property, it would be well
that the Stock Exchange should disavow a publication
which is calculated to do so much mischief. I must, in con-
clusion, request that you will call the Requisitionists together, and
that thero may be no delay in sending a list of the charges im-
pugning the integrity of the Directors, who are anxious to meet and
repel the calumnious imputations that have been made against
them. Nothing but a sense of duty to the large body of Share-
holders who have hitherto given their confidence induces the Di-
rectors to retain their seat at the board; and as soon as that con-
fidence is withdrawn they will most readily and gladly resign their
trust into other hands by whom the affairs of the Company may be
more ably conducted,
I perhaps night observe, before I conelado my letter, without
pledging myself to the statement, but merely giving it as my own
individual opinion, that I believe another 51. call upon the 501.
Shares, with the arrears of calls now owing, will complete all the
works in course of construction, arid the remaining 211, per Share
will remain applicable to the liquidation of the debt. The liabilities
of the Company are under the consideration of the Directors, in
order to enable them to lay a statement before the Proprietors,
which it is anticipated will he done within a very early period.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
GEORGE HUDSON.
To J. Hosghton Brancker, Esq., Liverpool.

110 the PROPRIETORS of the YORK,
NEWCASTLE, and BERWICK RAILWAY.
A STATEMENT of the AFFAIRS of this Company is In prepara-
tion by the Directors. mut a Copy will be forwarded to each Pro-
prietor as oarly as practicable.
By order,
JOAN CLOSE, Secretary.
York. October 30, 1848.

ON NERVOUS DE/SILITY AND GENERATIVE DISEASES.
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