The Sun.
London, England, 1851-09-01 00:00:00

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" In ee enformity with the resolution which was'passed
-im on sly at the last general meeting, authorising us
ent e r into an agreement with the Great Northern
Asian. s for the working of the lines of this company
iy the G reat Northern Company, and to affix the com-
pany's seal thereto, but leaving the detailed terms of
such agreement to the discretion of the directors.' we
concladec an agreement with the Great Northern Rail-
way Cora, palsy, to which the common seal of the respec-
tive comp, allies was affixed on the 16th of May, and on
the 10th r, It. the Great Northern commenced working
the traffic c ver the East Anglian lines in pursuance of
that agreement, the heads of which will be read to the
meeting aftess this report. The Eastern Counties Com-
pany having by every means in their power obstructed
the through .communication at Wisbeach, the present
receipts can form no criterion of the extent of traffic
that may be e xpected to result from the arrangement
with the Great Northern. We have every reason to
expect that when the obstruction at Wisbeach is re-
moved, a ne iv and extensive intercourse will take
place betwee n the East Anglian district and the
northern and midland counties, as well as towards the
south; especially as the great estuary scheme, which is
now making :rapid progress, will render Lynn one of
the best pore!: on the eastern coast, and enable it
to command az, extensive trade with the Baltic and the
ports on the North Sea. The opening of the Towns'
Line' of the ( heat Northern, which is to take place next
spring, will ',Hord a new and important vent for our
traffic. As the East Anglian has Parliamentary power
to run over the Eastern Counties line from Wisbeach to
St. Pee's, we, have no doubt that that company will be
compelled t o remove the obstruction which they have in-
terposed, tsnd which has caused great inconvenience to
the public. Previous to carrying into effect the agree-
ment with. the Great Northern, it was absolutely neces-
sary that the receiver should be removed; this could not
be effected without the consent of each of the numerous
creditors who had been made parties in the Chancery
suit, which had been instituted by the committee of cre-
ditors, and as those parties refused to give their consent
without security for the payment of their costs, it be-
came necessary to deposit the sums in the following
statement, to abide the taxation of costs, and 500/. to
covet the expenses of the committee; also 500/. to cover
the actual outlay of the receiver, Wm. Seppings, Esq.,
to whom all who are interested in this company are
much indebted for the manner in which he per-
formed the responsible duties of his office, and for
having relinquished his claim for commission. The
new-Act, which received the royal assent on the 24th
July, authorises us to carry . into effect the measure
which was referred to in the last report, for the reduc-
tion of interest on the new 7 per cent. Preference shares,
and a large proportion of the issued shares have been
surrendered for the purpose of being converted into 5 per
cent. shares, on the condition that the creditors agree
to the proposed arrangement. The House of Lords hav-
ing rejected the clause which required a large portion
of the beard to consist of the holders of the new shares,
and which was made a proviso in the agreement proposed
by the committee of creditors, that agreement becomes
void. It is therefore necessary to apply to the creditors
for their assent to a new deed, which is now in course of
being signed. We trust that both bond and simple con-
tract creditors will see the great advantage that will ac-
crue to them from placing the affairs of the company on
such a basis as will put an end to that ruinous waste of
money in law which has, during the last twelve months,
absorbed an amount equal to half a year's interest on all
the liabilities of the company. It will be satisfactory to
all parties interested in the undertaking to be informed
that notwithstanding all the difficulties with which we
have had to contend during the last two years, the liabili-
ties of the company have not been increased, further than
the amount spent in law, which now swells the amount
of overdue interest; the total amceunt of bond and
simple contract debts being under 308.000 L, to which is
to be added arrears of interest, about 22,000/. It is
quite evident that if the creditors had unanimously
agreed to the proposals made by the board there would
not now have been more than half-a-year's interest in
arrear. As we have considered it desirable that the
present accounts should, as tar as possible, embrace all
the debts due by the company, and the accounts of the
company's solicitors were received too late to admit of
their being examined by the board, we have instructed
the accountant to enter these accounts provisionally.
We have the satisfaction to inform you that the line
which connects the East Anglian with the Great
Northern at Huntingdon has been completed, at an out-
lay of less than one-third of the estimated cost of that
lino as originally planned, and that the present junc-
tion is much more convenient and satisfactory to the
public. The coal traffic suffered greatly from the ex-
treme mildness of last winter, and from the ' turn-outs'
amongst the sailors and porters at Lynn, which lasted
for several weeks; and the general traffic continues
to be unfavourably affected by the depression which
prevails in those districts which aro mainly agri-
cultural. The prospect of an abundant harvest gives us
reason to expect a large increase in the traffic receipts,
as soon as the through communication at Wisbeach has
been re-established. From a statement of the receipts
and expenditure to the 9th July, 1851, it appeared that
the receipts were 1,332,521/. Is. Id., of which sum there
was a balance in hand of 585/. 14s. scl. The receipts
arising from the Seven per Cent. Preferential Stock,
created by resolutions of the 28th February, 1849, were
23,7351. 11s. 5d., which sum was 2041. 9s. sd. more than
the expenditure on this account. The statement of re-
venue account from the Ist January to the 9th July,
1851, showed receipts of 17,5661. 15s. 10id., and de-
ductines the disbursements, there was a balance of 5,3861.
17s. lid."
The CHAIRMAN said the directors had to apologise
for the lateness of the date when the report was issued.
That was owing to a delay in receiving the auditors'
report and the accounts, which did not reach the
board till after Wednesday last. He now proceeded
to make a few remarks on the auditors' report. The
directors, in their report, stated that the soli-
citors' bills had been entered provisionally, as they
had not had time to enter into the items. He sug-
gested, with respect to these accounts, that the au-
ditors should make some arrangements with the so-
licitors, or that some other course should be adopted;
but he did not think they should have brought the
subject under the discussion of the meeting, which
could not enter into such minute items as lawyers
bills were composed of. With regard to the remarks
of the auditors on the agreement between their com-
pany and the Great Northern, he did not say that
the directors considered they best fulfilled their duty
to the company by submitting that agreement to some
of the most eminent men at the bar, and having ob-
tained their sanction and approval as to its being per-
fectly valid, affixing to it the common seal of the
board. With regard to the expressions of the auditors
respecting the claims of the company against the
Eastern Counties, he did not know whence they ob-
tained their information. Certainly it was not from
the board or himself. Though the claims might be
settled amicably, it was their duty to inform the
shareholders that no progress had yet been made towards
that settlement. Having wade these remarks, he would
proceed to state a few matters relating to the coin-
pany. Ile hoped that an arrangement so beneficial
to the company us the conver-ion of the debts into
preference stock, and the conversion of the shares al-
ready issued at 7 per cent. into 5 per cent. stock,
would be agreed to, and he had every reason to be-
lieve that such would be the case. At present he was
not able to state more on that subject, as a delay had
occurred in obtaining signatures, but every effort
would be made to effect that purpose. With an ex-
pense of over 11,000/. for law costs, it would be
ruinous to proceed. The working expenses had been
for the last half-year at the rate of 61. 12s. Bd. per
mile per week. It had been stated in some news-
papers that the expense amounted to 12/. per mile per
week, and the receipts were 91. per mile per week,
showing a loss of 3/. per mile per week. Now where
did the payments come from if such was the case ?
Nothing was clearer than that the working expense
of the company was as stated in the directors' report,
at the same time that the plant, &c., were inext;
ex-
cellent order. Having referred to the accounts
show that the average consumption of coke was very
small, he proceeded :—So much for those
endeavouring to upset the arrangements wo which,
if carried out, as they had every
hope they would be, would actually relieve
reason to
that com-
pany from debt. The whole amount of the prefer-
ence stock at 5 per cent., if the
be 330,0001.
and debts were
converted into shares, would b
they had sold out stock in '
849, 3h3,
he should
Now,l
ke to
know what would bethe
if
value of their preference
shares or their original shares. At the present time
the total amount of their liabilities was 330,000/. In
e
the beginning when they were first made
the company was in a
acquainted withtflielir affairs,
state almost
really hopeless. Their lines were only
half finished, and their funds were all expended. At
the present time they had 68 miles of railway in ex-
and it only remained for an improve-
mencelletnitn order,
t the agricultural gricultural districts for the company to
derive a fair and remunerative profit. He was happy
to
say that in the present year the harvest in Norfolk
was in a better condition than it had been. He
would now allude to another topic. During the
period of four years neither he nor the other directors
bad received any remuneration. Now that was
neither in accordance with their dignity or the dignity
of the company ; and he thought, before separating,
that they should take the subject into considera-
tion. Their staff was at present reduced to the
secretary, the remainder having been transferred
to the Great Northern Company. Such being the
case, he trusted that the shareholders would excuse
any delay that might take place of a secretarial clia-
racier. He concluded by moving the adoption of the
paper.
Mr. E. SELF seconded the motion.
tions, said he
The CIIAIRMAN, in reply to some
thought it was better not to interfere with
to there lawyers in
drawing up a legal document. With regard
being any litigation respecting
t
the agreement, he be-
lieved there was no docu inn that was not open to
litigation. He believed,
however, that the agreement
would be found to
the Act of Parliarnenbeet inlude the company from giving
conformity with the spirit of
accommodation to o
for railway- litigation. That
agreement did not
preclude
companies as well as the
Great Northern,otuo pass over their line. All it said
l
afford the same accommodation
was, that they
on the same teeinshg
.
The liberty of using their station
was another story.
The heads of the agreement having been read,
peciraly looked to iu
The cuAutmeal said it was $