The Sun.
London, England, 1867-05-02 00:00:00

THE SUN, LON

the general manager of the Great Eastern had
£3,000 a year, the deputy manager £l,OOO a year,
the secretary £2,000 a year, and resident engineer,
£1,500 a year. The salaries paid were about half
those amounts, and any further increase would de-

pend on the prosperity of the company. He hoped
the shareholders would disregard all unauthorised
statements in future, and continue their confidence
in the present board. He wished, for the benefit
of the company, that Mr. Laing had succeeded in
financial matters, but as to himself he saw his way
tolerably clear for carrying the undertaking through
_ _

its difficulties. They would now proceed with the
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business of the meeting.
Mr. BAXTER, solicitor, reads the heads of the
first bill, which was for the purpose of enabling the
company to separate the undertaking of the Metro-
politan Extensions from the general undertaking as

to capital and revenu2. The bill extended the time

'or the purchase of land and completion of works.
[t also gave the preference shareholders voting

powers to the extent of one vote for every £5OO
stock held by them in the company. In the event
of the Metropolitan Extensions becoming a sepa-
rate undertaking it would be called the Great
Eastern Metropolitan Undertaking. The Great
Eastern directors would have the management of
both undertakings, but the capital and revenue of
the two undertakings would be kept perfectly
distinct. The ordinary shares of the Metropolitan
Extensions might be divided into deferred and pre-

'erred shares, similar to those of the Great Northern

Railway. The money already expended by the
Great Eastern Company on the Metropolitan Ex-
tensions would be represented by shares in that
undertaking. Under the East London Railway
Act the East London Company had power to make
a railway under the Great Eastern Extension Line
from Shoreditch to Liverpool-street by paying half
the cost. The titne for the purchase of laud was
extended two years, and for the completion of
works three years. Every portion of the debenture
stock of the Great Eastern Company would in
future have the same rights.
Mr. BRISTOW doubted the chance of floating the
Metropolitan Extensions as a separate undertaking.
Mr. MAUDE thought the power of voting in right
of preference shares might be some check in future
on expenditure for extensions.
Mr. C. LEGG wished to know how the Great
Eastern were to get back the £600,000 they had
already expended on the Metropolitan Extensions.
Mr. CHRISTIE thought it a wide course for
the directors to promote the bill, as it would
enable them to relieve the Great Eastern
Company from the difficulty of raising the
new capital for the extension lines.
Mr. Serjeant SPINES remarked that the bill gave
the company permissive powers to separate the two
undertakings if deemed expedient, which, if sanc-
tioned by Parliament, could be done at some future
meeting of the company specially convened for the
purpose.
Mr. LEGG, of Leeds, said he considered they
would have had a good property were it not for the
action of an unprincipled set of men. Ile thought
it very injurious to ladies, trustees, and other per-
sons holding stock in the company, to have false
statements circulated among them from time to
time, tending to mislead them by depreciating the
value of their property. He was glad the directors
had proxies intrusted to them representing two mil-
lions of stock, to check adverse proceedings, and to
enable them to carry out an honest and wise policy
for the benefit of the company. He hoped the di-
rectors would abstain in future from giving any
particular information to sections of shareholders
which was not given to all.
The CHAIRMAN, in reply to questions, said the
present directors had inherited difficulties from their
predecessors which they had to deal with as they
could, so as to produce the least loss to the com-
pany. Four of the directors, of which he was one,
raised £300,000 to meet the first difficulty of the
company when they came into office. The whole of
that sum had been paid off with the exception of
£46,000. The Metropolitan Extensions land claims
arnounte.l to £1,900,000, of which £500,000 would
be returned by the sale of surplus lands. The East
London Company would pay half the cost of the
land and works from Shoreditch to the intended
station at Liverpool-street. If everything came to
the Worst, all that the present company could DC
debited with in respect of those extensions would be
about £7511,000. By the plan proposed the com-
pany would be enabled to get rid of liabilities in
respect to the extensions, and get back the £350,000
paid for land and £230,000 for works, making to-
gether £600,000. They had not paid Mr. Laing
up to the present time any part of the £5,000 which
he was to receive for his financial services.
Mr. LAING, in seconding the motion for the ap-
proval of the bill, said if the proprietors repented of
the bargain with him for his services they could say
so, and he would cancel the arrangement, leaving
them with perfect good humour. If they were satis-
fied to let the matter remain as it was he would do
his best for them. A financial bill was being pre-
pared for Parliament, and when it came before the
proprietors he would give them full explanation of
the exact state of their affairs in reference to that
matter. He had not succeeded in raising the money
for them, and he believed that no one could, under
the circumstances. They had a large concern that
had cost £26,000,000, their receipts were about
£2,000,000 a year, and the expenses were about
half of it, leaving £1,000,000, which represented
about £20,000,000 ; their liabilities were not half
that amount, and there was, of course, ample secu-
rity to cover all their liabilities.
The resolution approving the bill was then carried.
The CHAIRMAN contended that the position of the
company was now much better than it was nine
m onr;
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sub-
mit was to authorise the company to run their
steamboats to two other ports besides those of Ant-
werp and Rotterdam. During the cattle plague last
year the cattle traffic was stopped at the ports men-
tioned, but if they could have run from Harwich to
the two other ports they could have secured a great
portion of that traffic. The steamboats should have
a fair portion of that traffic. The steamboats should
have a fair trial ; if they did not pay they would
abandon them. The goods traffic had increased by
£12,000 last year, and were it not for the stoppage
of the cattle traffic they would have had better re-

turns.
The bill was unanimously approved.
The next bill was promoted by the Norwich Board
of Health, and sanctioned the construction of a road
to the company's station and a bridge over the line
at Norwich. The Great Eastern was authorised to
subscribe £5,000 towards the road, and a certain
level crossing would be got rid of.
A resolution approving the bill was carried.
The meeting was then made special, and after
some discussion the consideration of agreements for
working the Meths and Eye and the Tendring
Hundred Railways for ten years was adjourned,
with a view to obtain certain modifications in these
agreements.
A formal, resolution for converting £130,000 of
Eastern Union preference stock, that had been re-
deemed by the company, into Great Eastern pre-
, ference stock of like amount, was agreed to.
Mr. RIGLEY stated that he, Mr. Robinson, and
Mr. Chadwick resided in Manchester, and had
joined the committee of shareholders with a view to
assist the directors iu improving the property of the
company. They were surprised when they saw the
pamphlet alluded to by the chairman, and distinctly
repudiated all connexion with it. (llear.)'
rho proceedings concluded with a vote of thanks
to the chairman for the way iu which he had con-
ducted the business of the meeting.