The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-16 00:00:00

EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW.

Pp Tuesday the half-yearly meeting of this com-
pany was held in Glasgow, Mr. Blackburn, M.P.,
in the chair. The report was held as read.
The CHAIRMAN moved the adoption of the report.
He said, the directors were sorry to see a falling
off in the returns of the half-year, but the de-
crease was common to all the railways, and he
thought it unnecessary to detain them with
further remarks upon that point. There was a
prospect of a revival of trade, and the directors
hoped that in the next half-year they would more
than recover what they had lost during the last.
Partly by diminishing the number of trains and
reducing the mileage they had endeavoured to
diminish the working expenses as much as possible,
but railway work was a very expensive matter.
Trains could not be well run, and safely, for no-
thing, and the expense must be fairly met. The
sum of £13,000 had been set aside for the Stirling
and Dunfermline Company. Only £12,250 was
paid on account of rent, and the balance of £750
was paid off this year, so that there was £6,023 still
to be met. The other charges had been met, in-
cluding those for interest, which had risen consi-
derably. The largest amount on which interest had
been paid was at the rate of 41 per cent., but
the average charge on that head had been
£4 75., including the Stirling and Dun•
feimaline debt, making the debenture charge
about £4 55., which was a medium between
the charge paid by the Caledodian and South-Wes-
tern Companies. The directors hoped they would
not exceed 4 per cent. in the loans to be -taken up
at present. He would like to see someuraore of their
debenture stock at 4 per cent. taken up, and he

could honestly recommend it to any shareholder
who might have any spare capital as a good invest-
ment. The capital account required only £20,200
to close it. With the lines and works they had in
hand, they estimated that the total amount required
would. be £28,000 ; and as £B,OOO o = that had al-
ready been expended, they had no reason to doubt
that £20,000 more would be sufficient to close the
account. He certainly thought it very desirable
that various charges which in some other companies
were placed to capital account should be met by
revenue. It was necessary that they should be
paid. somehow, and it was obviously better to pay
them each half-year than allow them to stand as
capital account and. accumulate interest. It was
extremely desirable that all railway_ companies
should close their capital accounts as soon as pos-
sible, and he hoped the shareholders would second
the directors in their endeavours to do so._ It would
certainly be a great thing, he thought, for the first
and oldest railway company in the country to set
thG example, and to be the first to get their capital
account closed. They had issued £450,000 to the
Stirling and Dunfermline Company, and there was
£30,000 standing in the name of the directors yet
to be issued. The whole of the transactions with
that company had been settled now, excepting some
balances of accounts, which could easily be arranged.
The motion was seconded by. Mr. DUNLOP, de-
puty-chairman, and unanimously agreed to.
A dividend at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum
on preference, and 3 per cent. per annum on ordi-
nary stock, was declared.
The directors were then authorised to create and
isue 4 per cent. guaranteed stock to the amount
of £480,000, of which £450,000 was for the S tir-
lin g and Dunfermline Railway Company and £30,000
to be sold by the directors at such time and price
as they might deem advantageous to the company;
and also authorising them to borrow from time
to time, on mortgage or bond, the sum of £160,000,
of which £130,000 should be applied in paying off
the debentures and bonds of the Stirling and Dun-
fermline Railway Company, and £30,000 to the
general purposes of the company.
• A vote of thanks to the chairman closed the pro-
ceedings.