The Sun.
London, England, 1858-08-26 00:00:00

EXETER AND EXMOUTH.

The report of the_directors states _that although by the
act of last session a very miferia/ change has been effected
in the course of the line and the relations of the sharehelders
with other companies, yet the .main feature of the under-
taking—viz., that of a line of railway between Exeter and
Exmouth—remains unaltered. By a clause in the act it is
required that te company shall, on or before the 31st of
October, 1859, either open the railway for the public con-
veyance of passengers, or prove to the satisfaction of the
B;ard of Trade, that the company have paid up
one-half of the amount of the company's capital Cl
£50,000, and have expended a sutn equal in amount to that
one-half. This latter provision, although it gives ample
time, yet precludes any delay in carrying out the under-
taking; and the directors have accordingly made a call of
£2 per share, payable on the Ist of October, to enable them
to complete the purchase of land ; and have also given in-
structions to the engineer to take the necessary steps, so
that tentier4 maybe at once obtained fur the construction of
the line.

SOUTH DEVON.
The half-yearly meeting of this company was held at Ply-
mouth on Tuesday—Mr. Woolcombe in the chair.
The Cruntauts -said that, considering the whole state
of commercial affairs, he thought they had no reason for
apprehension or discontent. There was scarcely any fairer
way of testing the progress of a company than by comparing
the amounts divided year after year in corresponding half-
years on consolidated stock. This had been done with the
following results :—ln 1849-50 there was no dividend; in
1851 the available sum amounted to £4,854, in 1834 to
£5,486, in 1835 to £5,486, in 1856 to £6,983, in 1852 to
£3,900, in 1853 to £3,990, in 1857 to £12,277, and in 1858
to £7,347. The year 1857 was altogether exceptional, as
there were extraordinary receipts from the agricultural
meeting at Newton, and as there was also an accumulation
for " rest." But, comparing 1838 with.lBs6, they could see
that there was a very decided increase, £7,347 as against
£6,983. Another excellent test of progress was whether the
sums added to capital account bad increased or diminished
the amount of profits. In many of the larger companies the
progress had been from larger to smaller dividends; they
bad progressed from no dividend at all to a small one, which
they hoped to increase. In 1836 the interest on prefer-
ence shares was £18,375; in the present year it was
£21,5354; thus they had added mc,ra than £3,000 to
the interest on their preference shares, and at the same
time increased their ordinary dividends. The gross
amount received per train mile run on the Great Northern
was 4s. 2d.; en the Mishaps', 4s. ; on the Londou
and South-Western, ss. 2d.; on the South Wales, 6.. 3d.;
on the Manchester, Stafford, and Lincolnshire, 6t. 5J.;
on the Bristol and Exeter, 7s. Id.; on the. Great Western,
7s. 3d.; on the South Devon, 7s. 4d. To get that large
amount per mile, it was clear their officers had so
arranged the trains that they might be well filled. Un-
fortunately large dividends did not depend wholly on this,
but en the amount of preference charges which must be
paid before a dividend was declared. Much had been said
lately on competition between railways, and he believed that
even there they had felt the effects of it. It was a question
most interesting to shareholders, and called for acti,e inter-
ference. A mistaken course had been pursued, treaties and
contrivances, more or less ingenious, had beau tried, and an
attempt at protection had been made, which he thought was
wrong in principle. In railway matters, as in evertbing
else, free trade was the only sound principle, and all such
attempts, however ingenious, must end unsatisfactorily.
They should trust entirely to the free course of commercial
enterprise. Railway companies were bound to receive
traffic without preference from whatever sources. They
must, be thought, obtain an accession of traffic from the
Tavistcck, and especially from the Cornwall Railway. Sixty
or seventy miles in extension of their line must bring them
traffic. After some further observations, he concluded by
moving the adoption of the report.
Mr. D. DERRY seconded the resolution, which was car-
ried unanimously.
The CHAIRMAN having moved, and Mr. DERRY seconded
a resolution for a dividend of 1 per cent. per annum, which
was carried with similar unanimity, She meeting separated.