The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-29 00:00:00

GREAT WESTERN.

The following is the report of the directors to be
presented to the adjourned meeting to-day :
" When the directors recommended the adjourn-
ment of the general meeting, held on the Bth inst.,
they did so in consequence of the pendency of nego-
tiations for raising a sufficient sum of money to
enable them to meet the pressing claims on the com-
pany. A proposal was made to the Government for
temporary assistance, which, looking to the peculiar
circumstances of the case, the large interests in-
volved, and the ample security the company were in
a condition to offer, it was hoped would have been
acceded to, The directors, however, regret to state
that their application was ineffectual ; the Govern-
ment, whilst reserving their ultimate freedom of
action, having declined to adopt the proposal
submitted to them. Feeling the uncertainty
of any external assistance being obtained of suffi-
cient amount to relieve the company from the bur-
then of its temporary loans and other immediate and
pressing claims, the directors renewed their appeal
to the shareholders to take up the unissued 6 per
cent. stock to the extent of £1,000,000, the calls
thereon being spread over a considerable period, and
the subscriptions being made subject to the condi-
tion that the whole amount should be obtained. The
directors regret to state that the applications hitherto
received from the proprietors in answer to this ap-
peal amount to little more than £250,000, of which
upwards of £50,000 has been subscribed by the
directors and officers of the company, in addition to
their previous subscriptions. The directors must
again earnestly impress on the proprietors the con-
sideration that so long as the temporary loans are in
existence, it is impossible,in the present state of the
money market, to sustain the credit of the company,
or to place it in such a financial position as to give
to debenture holders that confidence which its am-
ple and improving revenue justifies. They trust that
those proprietors who have already offered to sub-
scribe will waive the condition on which they have
consented to do so; and they would once more urge
on the remaining proprietors the policy, in their own
interest, and for the protection of their own property,
of at once coming forward and taking up the re-
quired amount of the stock in question. The direc-
tors have already been able to arrange for the re-
newal of a considerable portion of the debentures
falling due in the course of next month; and they
trust that those debenture holders with whom such
arrangements have not been made may be induced
to postpone their claims for the repayment of their
principal. Considering the large margin of net re-
venue, amounting to more than £1,000,000 per an-
num, after payment of all rent charges and deben-
ture interest, there cannot be a doubt as to the
security of the interest on all the debentures and de-
benture stock of the company; and it may reasonably
be hoped that, when the position of these securities
is properly understood and appreciated, confidence
in them will be restored, and that some general
action will be taken by Parliament to enable rail-
way companies to replace the whole of their deben-
tures by a permanent stock. The directors are
themselves taking measures in their bill of the pre-
sent session for the issue of a debenture stock to the
full extent of their borrowing powers ; and in the
meantime an arrangement is being made with the
Bank of England to open an account there, to which
will be paid, from time to time, out of the weekly
traffic receipts, a sum sufficient to meet the inte-
rest on debentures and debenture stocks. Under
the existing circumstances of the company the di-
rectors have no alternative but to recommend that
the shareholders, both preferential and ordinary,
should be paid their respective dividends in prefer-
ence stock until the temporary loans are paid off,
and the finances of the company are put in a sound
and safe position. Assuming that the affairs of the
company are not complicated by the pressure of
debenture holders, and that its available revenue
can be appropriated in discharge of the temporary
loans, these liabilities might be extinguished in the
course of about 12 months. In lieu of dividend
warrants it is therefore proposed that irredeemable
preference shares of £2O each, authorised by the
Act of 1866, bearing interest at 5 per cent., should
be issued to each shareholder in exchange for an
equivalent amount of dividend. For any fraction
of a dividend not amounting to £2O an obligation
would be given, such obligations being convertible
into snares when presented for that purpose, in