The Sun.
London, England, 1851-09-12 00:00:00

SHREWSBURY AND BIRdINGI TAM..

The half-yearly meeting of this compan y was held
at Shrewsbury yesterday. Mr. 0.-insby tC. ;ore, M.P.,
chairman of the hoard of directors, presin't .d. There
was a numerous r.tternianee of shareb9la'ers. Mr.
Butt, Q.C., attended as legal adviser to the iirectors.
The SECRETARY read the report, an aly,;tract of
which appeared in The San yesterday.
The CHAIRMAN said, the expenses to whipwhich they
had been subjected by the litigation in which they
had been engaged rendered a dividend impossible.
That li'igation bad, however, been forced upon them
against their inclination, and he feared they had not
yet conciliated the parties with whom
i they bad to
'deal. He attributed this to the manner n which the
London and. North-Western Company treated them.
There was a statement made by the chairman
,of that
company, at the last half-yearly meeting, to which he
wished shortly to allude. Mr. Glyn stated that the
Shrewsbury and Birmingham line was made under
the auspices and in connexion with the London and
Birmingham. He (Mr. Gore) begged to deny
that position.---(Hear, hear.) It was true that
when they first went to Parliament they had the
full support of the London and Birmingham, and
he supposed that Mr. Glyn referred to that period ;
but at that time it was merely the London and
Birmingham and not the London and Nort.h-
Western, and came no further than the town of Ihr-
hmotgevbearm: likTeheth
Lemonsedlovnes, aanndxioßuisrmtoinggo were,westward.
They w
ard.
They were opposed by Mr. Moss and other directors
of the Grand Junction line, and owing to the errors
committed by the engineer then employed by the
Shrewsbury and Birmingham Company, their Bill
was then thrown
out. What was the result ? Before
the next session of Parliament the Grand Junction
was purchased by the London and Birmingham Com-
pany, and then the policy of that company towards the
Shrewsbury and Birmingham was decidedly different
to what it had been previously. They were opposed
by the London and North-Western in Parliament.
He (the Chairman) must also take notice of another
statement in Mr. Glyn's speech. In that speech his
Hon. Friend said that the London and North-Wes-
tern Company bad formed a reserve fund, and for
what purpose ? To pay for litigation. This was a
most remarkable statement. They (the Shrewsbury
and Birmingham) were a small and poor company;
the London and North-Western a rich and powerful
one. This was very unfortunate for them and they
could not help it. If the shareholders of the London
and North-Western Company were content to receive
a dividend of 5 per cent. instead of a dividend of 10
per cent., it was their business not his, and there he
must leave it. With these remarks he would conclude
by moving the reception of the report, and he hoped
that at the next half-yearly meeting he should be able
to congratulate them on a better state of things.
The Hon. R. H. CUTE seconded the motion.

Mr. W. J. BEALE, solicitor to the dissentient share-
holders, then handed in a protest against any retire-
ment, election, or re-election of directors, which is
inconsistent with or otherwise than in uniformity
with and upon the basis of the several resolutions
passed at the adjourned special and ordinary meetings
of the proprietors of this company in the months of
April and May last. And against all and every of
the persons since and now assuming to act as the di-
rectors of the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway
Company, and also against the appropriation of any
part of the money due from the Stour Valley
Company.
The protest was signed J. Webster, R. Scott, W.
B. Collis, H. Pincher, and J. Chesshire.
Mr. SCOTT said, he found by the report, that the
directors had sold 1,829 A shares and 3,216 B shares,
amounting in the aggregate to 31,644/. He wished
to know at what period of the year those shares had
been sold ?

Mr. KNox (Director)—From the commencement
of the half-year to the end of March. The shares
were sold regularly by brokers i❑ London, Liverpool,
Birmingham, and Manchester, in the usual way of
business, and at the market price.
Mr. SCOTT—WiII you produce the directors' mi-
nutes ?

The CHAIRMAN—They are not here ; and you know
you barn no right to their production.
Mr. SCOTT —Fur what purpose were the shares
sold ?

We wanted

Mr. liNcx—To get the money.
it.—(Loud laughter.)
The, CIIAIILMANI put the motion that the report
be received.

Mr. BEALE—I beg to say that I cannot allow this
resolution to be put without pressing my question. I
believe that on the 6ch of May the majority was in
favour of the dissentient shareholders, and that upon
that the Birmingham Stamp-office was cleared of the
nece,sary stamps for transfers by the directors. I
was told that the directors sat up the whole night,
and that on the morning of the Bth when Captain
Probyn and Mr. Geach called at the office of the
company at Wolverhampton, the directors were again
in the operation of transferring shares, with the view
of obtaining proxies in favour of their policy. Those
were the rumours I heard, and I call upon the direc-
tors to prove by the production of their books or
otherwise, whether they were correct or erroneous.
Mr. ROY replied, that as Mr. Beale wished the
meeting to receive rumours as evidence of facts, he
might be allowed to say that rumour told him that
the Stamp .office at Birmingham had been cleared by
the London and North-Western Company.
The CHAIRMAN thought 'such a course of observa-
tion could be of no service to the company ; it could
end in no useful result.

Mr. BEALE said he was content, the chairman not
having denied his statement.
A SHAREHOLDER wished to know whether, when
the Stour Valley Railway wrs opened, which it was
understood would be the case in October, the Shrews-
bury Company would have the power of running over
it from Wolverhampton to Birmingham ?
Mr. Roy replied that the directors were making ar-
rangements consequent upon the expected opening of
that line, and as to the power of their running over it
there was no doubt entertained by any person.
A shareholder wished to know whether the Lon-
don and North-Western Company had given them
any notice of their intended opposition to the Shrews-
bury and Birmingham Company running over the
line ?
Mr. Roy—None whatever.

Sir 13. LEIGHTON moved that the sum of 2,5631.
12a. 93, charged in the report to capital account as
extraordinary expenses, incurred by the recent litiga-
tion, be charged to the revenue account.

This resolution was opposed by Mr. Ror, one of
the Shrewsbury and Chester directors, and lost by a
large majority.
Mr. BIRD next moved that a dividend of 15. 6d.
per share be paid to the class A shares out of the
disposable capital of the company-3,3001.
This also was rejected.
The following gentlemen were next elected di-
rectors of the company in the room of those retiring
by rotation :—Mr. Badger, Mr. Barlow (Great
ed to
Knox,Western
adpitraeicnt oßr)u,lliAeli re.yPerks,
(Great
Dir. S .
Westernse
Mr. Baird, M.P., Mr. C. Emery,
Mr. SCOTT protested against the legality of these
elections, and a vote of thanks having been pa
the chairman, the meeting separated.
and
mPhr. Phillips,
jli director),Ps'hir

RAILWAY TRAFFIC RETURNS.
GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.—RetOriI Of traffic for the
week ending Sept. 7 '" £23,303 11 4
Corresponding week last year... 18,93 17 2
MIDLAND RAILWAY.—return of traffic for the week
ending Sept. 7:— £24,279 8 9
Corresponding week last year... 23,668 10 5
Aggregate, 1850 ... £241,856 13 10
1851 ... '230,927 18 11
EASTIDN COUNTIES AND NORFOLK RAILWAY....TraffiO
return for the week ending Sept. 7
Passengers, parcels, &c. ...£10,143 5 6
Merchandise, cattle, and cartage 4,498 11 7

Total ... ... ... £14,641 17 1
Corresponding week of 1850 ... 13,691 17 6
BRISTOL AND EXETER RAILWAY. —Traffic for the week
ending Aug. 31 :
Passengers ... ... ... £3,988 311
Goods ... ... ... .. 1,11 l 6 4
Parcels ... ... ... ... 148 5 0
Mails ... ... ... ... 223 4 2

Total £5,470 19 5
SHREWSBURY AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY.---Traffic re-
ceipts for the week ending Sept. 7 :
Passengers _.• £4Ol 14 5
Carriages, horses, and parcels ... 11 19 7
Live stock 2 2 6
Merchandise and minerals ••• 190 13 3

Total ..
.tr',o6 9 9
Corresponding period last year.. 726 17 6
SCOTTISEi CENTRAL RAILWAY,--Traffic for the Week
ending Sept. 7, 1851 :
Passengers (14,672), parcels, horses,
and carriages ...
....£1,538 4 7
Goods, cattle, &c.
706 7 1
Total 2,2.14 11,
Corresponding week in last year,.. 1,664 ,
Perth, Sept. 10, 1831.