The Sun.
London, England, 1858-08-14 00:00:00

rails end other materials, which the Oxford, Worcester, and
Wolverhampton Company were willing to give instead of
the payment they had agreed to make. There would be
further sums available from the Bedminster and Yeovil, sa
that the ooly stun would be £1,107 for labour. There was
another resoiutior, for authorising the construction of a bridge
over the West London, the total cost of which would be
£lO,OOO, which was to he shared by the Great Western and
the London and North-Western ; the proportion which each
was to pay being left to arbitration. The bridge was abso-
lutely necessary fir the converaierce of the traffic upon both
e lines. The crossing was now on the level, and the question
was constantly arising whether the trains of the Great
Western should wait for those of the North-Western or vice
' versa. The cost of the bridge would be less than that of the
' litigation which would arise if the oestion were left open.
Mr. MILLS. moved that the X 37,000 should be applied to
the payment of dividend.
Another PROPRIETOR seconded the motion.
Mr. SAINSBURY was decidedly in favour of postponing
the dividend.
The CHAIRMAN said that the directors, after mature:-
considering the question, had come to the conclusion tt,at
they would, by retaining the balance in hand, material -
improve the financial position of the company. The debe,-
tures would, during the next half-year, be more reach')
taken up, and at a lower rate of interest, if they had th.,
balance in hand, than if they had not. The prefOaence
holders would know that they were certain of their
dends, and generally the financial position of the coo:
would be improved.
Mr. STORGE and other proprietors stns
mended that the balance should stand over
half-year.
Mr. ATKINSON (one of the directors) had ,'
payment of the dividend en the last occasion
be the men' as he told the meeting now,
ruin of the company if they had a urvitienr: oft
the next three years. (Oh, oh.) There was not in
point of fact a divisible surplus of L 37,000; £10,600 et'
it was a balance carried over as a charge against
the South Wales Railway, and it was not certain
that it would be acknowledged. Besides this, there
was £13,000 not acknowledged by the South Wales,""l",'"lt,
had been taken into account and divided. ' 800 oose •
sums mieht become chargeable td revenue .... future
years. He did not say it would be so, but at present tio;
South Wales Company had not acknowledged the du'
There was also £9,230 on the Shrewsbury lines taken
the account which' was not paid, and was not to :.
until' November. He had recommended that a fair arm
reasonable sum should be put to the debit of the account, to
meet the charges in dispute with the South Wales Company.
The answer that the directors gate was, that to do so would
be to admit the claims the South Wales Company made,
which they did not.
A PROPRIETOR—And a very good answer, too. (Hear.)
Mr. ATKINSON lia,l told the deputy-ebairtuan, three
years ago, that there would be no dividend.
Lord BARRINGT'ON—But I was not obliged to believe
you.
Mr. ATKINSON—But it now turned out that he was
right. (Hear.) lie had told the late Mr. Russell, years
ago, that by the time the whole of the lines were finished the
Great Western would not pay 2 per cent. Mr. Russell
laughed at him, and replied, " Oh, impossible; under no
circumstances can the Great Western pay less than 4 per
cent." Be strongly advised that the whole of the surplus
arising on each halt-year's working for the next three years
be applied to the payment of the debts of the company, and
placing it in a sound financial position; their shares, which
now stood at £5O, would then be at least £OO.
The CHAIRMAN explained that Mr. Atkinson had, in
conference with the directors, admitted that the £lO,OOO
ought in strictness to appear in the accounts. This £IO,OOO
was not disputed. (Yes.) No; the South Wales admitted
the £lO,OOO, but they said they had claims against the
Great Western in respect to another account which the
Great Western had against the South Wales. There could
be no question that in respect to interest, dividends, and
other claims, a much larger emouit would come into the
revenue of the Great Western ultimately than was now
credited.
Mr. MILLS, after Mr. Atkinson's explanation, would
withdraw his motion.
A vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the business
of the meeting.

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.
The half-yearly meeting of this company was held at the
Euston Station yesterday—Sir harry Verney, 31. P., in the
chair.
Mr. Wm. Long (the secretary) rend the advertisement
convenivg the meeting and the report of the directors,
which stated that the rent for the half-year ending the 81st
December, 1837, amounting to £24,900, had been duly
received from the London and North-Western Railway
Ctmpany. This sum, added to the balance brought from
the last account, amounted to £26,281 I3s. Id. The pay-
mews to the proprietors during the half-year had been as
follow :—Arrears of dividends paid since last account,
£lB2 ls. Gd. ; paid on last dividend, £24,209 19s. Gd.—
leaving a balance of £1,889 I2s. Id. to he carried forward to
the next account. Owing to the depressed state of trade
during the last six months, the traffic of the line showed a
decrease as compared with the corresponding half-year of
18.57.
The CHAIRMAN moved the adoption of the report, and
expressed the regret of the directors that the traffic had
slightly fallen oft; owing to the general depressiox which
had prevailed throughout the country. Though the traffic
had fallen off as compared with the corresponding halfof the
two previous years, it was in advance of all previous years,
anti he could assure the proprietors that everything was
done to promote the bests interests of the company.
The report was adopted, and Mr. Carter re-elected an
auditor.
A vete of thanks to the chairman closed the proceeding..

EAST LANCASHIRE.
The half-yearly meeting was held at Bury. The report
an abstract of which has already appeared on Thursday,
was taken as read.
Mr. T. DUODALE, chairman, in moving the adoption of
the report and accounts, said the revenue of the past half-
year, as compared with the corresponding half of 18.7,7,
showed a falling cif of £8,022. Tnis was caused by the
great depression of trade. There had also been a compara-
tive increase of working expenses, because light trains could
not be worked at proportionably less cost than full ones.
The attention cf the directors, however, had been
turned to a more eernomical working of the traffic by
using coal instead of coke, from which great advantages
were already accruing. Mr. Lees, their locomotive superin-
tendent, had already adapted many of their engines to the
purpose at a cost of only £4 per engine, While the cost of the
apparatus for consuming smcke would oray be about :20s,
per annum. Übe advantages of this change would be un-
derstood when be told them that the quantity of coals con-
sumed would be only the same as they had used of coke,
while the cost of coal would be only one-half. A great
saving had been effected by this means during the past half
year, but it had been more titan counterbalanced by the
falling ell' in traffic. The merchandise traffic had been in-
creasing for some time, leading to the impression that the
commercial gloom was passing away. In fact, the returns
from that source last week showed an increase of £22.
There was a decrease in the passenger traffic still, but it
must be remembered that the returns were now being com-
pared with the exhibition traffic of last year, and art allow-
ance should be made on that account. The directors recom-
mended that they should withdraw a small portion of the
reserve fund under these circumstances, and m,ke a
demi , f p,r cant.

- •
Air. BLAcircLocK seconded the adoption of the report.
Mr. BRADSHAW said he found the reserve fund to be
£70,000; but he found no interest put down as accruing
from it, which would not be the case unless the directors
kept the money locked up in a box. Ile thought they
should take some of it to replace the deficiency in dividend.
The CHAIRMAN said they were drawing to a small extent
upon the reserve fund to make up the dividend ; but ns they
had to replace some portions of the permanent way, It was
undesirable to draw deeper upon this reserve. The reason
no interest was placed against tlds item was, that the
amount of reserve fund had been lent to capital, and thereby
they had avoided making an writ call upon the share--
bolder:. (Hear, hear.)
The report was put and carried unanimously.
A resolution was alsa adopted declaring a dividend at the
rate •f 3:1 per cent. per annum on the general share capital
payable ou the Ist of September.
The
te dm. authorisinge e tingw 3s
thethe ins s madeu
t f n e w special,sltafornerns:lll
enadielrrlelBr theis
et
ion
a do
hill
for purchasing- the Blackburn Railway,
of
paying off all or part of the moneys required in discharge
of the liabilities of that company, and fir red_
- curling the
ordinary preference sock of the same cotapany.

WEST DURHAM.
The annual meeting of this company was held at Darling-
ton on Wednesday—Mr. N. Plews iu the chair.
The report stated that the accounts for the year ending
the 30th day of June last showed an available balance ti
£1,972, out of which the directors proposed a dividend at
the rate of 10 per cent., leis income tax, payable on the
18th inst., which would amount to £4,589, and leave £383
for the next account. The reserve fund of £2,500 retnalned
in the same position as at tke commencement of the year.
Hesalutious were passed adopting the report, declaring &
dividend at the rate of 10 per cent. per annum, and re-
electing Mr. J. Pollelae and Mr. J. Buckton, the retiring
directors, and Mr. M. Middleton, the retiring auditor.

SALARIES OF STIPENDIARY JUDGES.—There are
now in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
54 judges of superior courts, with salaries of £241,804, and
395 judges of inferior courts, with salaries of £292,663,
making a total of 449 judges, and £.534,467 amount of
salary. In England the Lord High Chancellor receives
buatrpizipeteamrosn3:: In
stock having
£lO,OOO a-Tear ; the Lords Justices of Appeal, DUO° each ;
the Master of the Rolls, £6,000; and the three Vice-Chan-
cellors, £5,000 each. The Lords Chief Justices of the
Courts of Queen's Bench and Common Pleas receive
£B,OOO each, and the puisne judges £5,000 each; but the
Lord Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer (Sir E. Pollock)
has only £7,000. The Judge of the Court of Admiralty
receives £4,000, and the Judge of the New Probate Court
(Sir C. Cresswell), £5,000 a-year. The Bankruptcy Com-
missioners in London receive £2,000 each, sad thore in
the provinces, £l,BOO each ; the First Commissioner of the
insolvent Debtors' Court receives £2,000 and the other two
commissioners £1,501) each. Twenty judges of County
Courts receive £1,500, two £1,330, and 38 £1,200 each.
Eighty-five revising barristers receive £2lO each. The chief
magistrate of the city of London receives £1;503, and 22
Inferior magistrates £1,200 each. In Ireland' the Lord
Chancellor receives £B,OOO a- year, and the Master of the
Rolls £3,969. The Ltrd Chief Justice of the Coati of
Queen's Bench receives £5,074, that of the Common Pleas
£4,612, and the Chief Baron of the Exchequer £4,612._
_The.
.
puisne judges receive salaries of X 3,688 to £3,725. InPr°.!
Scot-
land the Lord Justice-General in the Hight Court of Justi-
ciary ciary and Lord l'resident of the Coui t of Session
_rece d
£4,800, and the Lord Justice-Clerk £4,500, while
091,1
tLotr
the
31st ut Session and Justiciary receive £3,000 each.
a balance of
ARMY PRIZE MoNEr.—There
acicsount of unclaimed
itsc,hpsi dote eau
nsl
0811fitisisitx:olef:Pi.):11,12:ese
6a. 1 sdao.: above,B:li.
stock yet there
to that
ainanueadriyn' le a
Bank
t ale
nG uk Rohr
iarim3Ys7pliizeonmotnheeydferobriat
,51,. The existence of this amountin-
-3011;4u balancee ce
oflu tbleiirs, accountlBs 7,
arises
fromtiefutil'idelul‘
having '
ivEsewsi
gnt
Tati
thioden Threesa
Ic8e,o:
tnpl Cent.teGro?.anr,r..
.7c,
of stook aud cash, nute 1..
e,(l.set,etr.nyt:ovv.
the:antdnic.re Is on the
i
idbhee:briieltan'u'iatd,de ea, s o ecasio i) required,. been from time the
emea to
time effected when the prices were considerably higher.
VANCOUVER'S. ISLAND.--110 House of Commons
has ordered a return of lands in Vancouver's Island sold to
raintidis thhaevneamb been sold, fsotliid
companyloaorneyaii individualis
ton, i
whomor ethon Ip,
tala company, :
t; lauds it nate, made up from the andp persona
t r the
se
neyfinll
fills two
,i)
aciattel colonial
a s u
Parliamentaryrve yor .
paper.l lat o f
The Hudson's holdersll..
jof.
lja)
figures fur 6,190 acres in the Nanalmo
district, and for 1,130 in the Victoria district, apart from
smaller portions of land elsewhere. The extent oftelf
brought under cultivation cannot be ascertained.