The Sun.
London, England, 1866-08-27 00:00:00

Railway and other Companies.

GREAT NORTHERN.

The half-yearly general meeting of this company
was held on Saturday at the King's-cross Station ;
Colonel Packe, M.P., in the chair.
Mr. OAKLEY, the secretary, having read the
notice convening the meeting, an abstract of which
has appeared in The Sun, was taken as read.
The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the
report, said it had hitherto been his good fortune in
presiding at their meetings to congratulate the pro-
prietors on the dividends they were to receive. He
regretted to say on the present occasion he was
compelled to recommend a decrease in the dividend
at the rate of a half per cent. per annum for the past
half-year, as compared with the same half of 1865.
They had earned £50,000 more than in the corre-
sponding period, but it had cost them £47,000 to
earn it. The capital account had been increased
during the half-year by the sum of £766,700, but
about £131,000 of it was due to the incorporation
of the West Yorkshire Railway with their own ;
they had got that line for the capital which was in-
vested in it. There had been a large expenditure
on the works they were now carrying on for the de-
velopment and accommodation of the traffic, also
for the purchase of land, the West Cheshire, Liver-
pool Extension, and other joint lines, of £335,478.
On the rolling stock for carrying on the traffic
they had expended £156,719. The increased re-
ceipts from traffic had not been confined to any
particular branch, but had been derived from
nearly all sources of revenue. There had been an
increase of £23,000 in passengers, mails, and so
forth, and of £35,000 from merchandise. There had
been a slight falling off in mineral traffic, not from
any deficiency in the tonnage, but in the rates they
had charged, owing to the fact that they had carried
more from coal-fields that were nearer than from
the more distant fields of Yorkshire and Durham.
There had been an increase in the expenditure of
£3,456 in relaying the line, partly from an addi-
tional length relaid and in having laid down steel
rails in stations and on some of the steep inclines.
In Mr. Sturrock's locomotive department there had
been a considerable increase of expenditure. The
trains had run 290,000 miles more than for the cor-
responding half of last half year ; they repaired 25
boilers as against 15 boilers last year, and many of
the engines had got so much below " par" from
bard work that it was necessary to increase the
number and extent of the repairs. The work had
been done, and the charge had been heavy. In the
coke and coal consumed there had been an advance
in price to the extent of £2,000 ; there had also
been a heavy increase in the cost of labour. Pro-
bably the proprietors were not aware that nearly
9,000 hands were employed in the undertaking, and
the increased amount they had been obliged to pay
during the half-year on the item of labour was not
less than £13,000. They could not foresee this
additional charge at the beginning of the half-year,
but the demands upon them were of that nature
that they were bound to comply with them. The
item for compensation was also heavy, amounting
to £12,058. The amount paid to passengers was
£2,250. The claims upon the company for damage,
loss of goods, and parcels, some of which ought never
to have been brought against them, and although
they did all they could to prevent those charges
and to sift them, had amounted to more than
£5,000. There was also that unfortunate accident
in the Welwyn tunnel, where, owing to the negli-
gence or mistake, of the signalman at the mouth
of the tunnel, a collision took place, and serious
damage was caused by the conflagration which en-
sued. They did all in their power to avoid acci-
dents, as it was their duty to do, but certainly
£12,000 in the half-year was a frightful amount,
and they hoped it would be much less in future.
There had been an increase of £4,818 in the item of
rates and taxes. A large portion of this increase
had arisen from the cattle disease, which had spread
over the country through which their lines passed.
The cattle-rate had amounted to £1,200. In addi-
to the cattle-rate they had been compelled to expend
£BO4 more, in compliance with the Orders in Coun-
cil, in painting and whitewashing the cattle pens and
trucks. He trusted that those items would not ap-
pear again in their accounts. The cost of fooder for
horses amounted to £2,800 more than for the corre-
sponding half-year, and it was those items that had
made up the £17,000 increase in the expenditure.
Then with regard to another matter they took pos-
session of the West Riling line on the Ist February
last, by which the traffic between London and Leeds
had been accelerated by about 20 minutes in time,
to the satisfaction of gentlemen in the West Riding
district, and he trusted it would prove aremunerative
investment. Their position with respect to the Roy-
ston and Hitchin line, which had reverted to them on
the Ist April last, was not quite so agreeable, because
the Great Eastern had not yet doubled the piece of line
and covered the station to give that accommodation at
Cambridge they were bound to provide for the Great
Northern byAct of Parliament. At present the state
of things at Cambridge was most unsatisfactory.
There was no shelter for passengers, and the trains had
to come as they best could, when those of the Great
Eastern were out of the way. They had already fre-
quently pressed this matter on the Great Eastern, and
would continue to do so until the accommodation they
were bound to provide had been afforded them. Ile
then referred to the bills that had been promoted by the
company in the last Session, and which had received
the Royal assent—the Great Northern (Additional
Powers) Bill, to authorise the company to acquire
land and to construct sidings and works to facilitate
the working of the goods and passenger trains at
the London stations, and at various stations on the
line ; the West Riding and Grimsby Transfer Bill ;
the Cheshire Lines Bills; the Bradford, Eccleshill,
and Idle Bill ; the Edgware and Highgate Bill, for
a line between Finchley and Barnet was passed,
and as the whole undertaking of the Edgware and
Highgate Company had been acquired by the Great
Northern Company, the line now sanctioned be-
tween Finchley and Barnet would be constructed by
the Great Northern Company. Arrangements had
also been made with the Midland Company to avoid
the construction of a projected railway between
Saxby and Bourn adversely to the interests of this
company ; but in lieu thereof the two companies
had agreed to lease jointly the two short lines be-
tween King's Lynn and Bourn. Running powers
had also been obtained over a short line to be con-
structed by other parties, from Wood-green, on the
main line, to the Alexandra Park ; and an agree-
ment had likewise been made to work a line, when
constructed, between Louth and Lincoln. The
Great Northern, acting in concert with the North
Eastern Company, had obtained the insertion of
clauses in the Bill for amalgamating the Scottish
North-Eastern and the Caledonian Railways, which
was passed by both Houses of Parliament. He
trusted that those clauses for facilitating traffic
with Scotland over the East Coast line would be
found to work satisfactorily. They had had a great
struggle and incurred heavy expenses in Parliament
to
get the various powers, and he had no doubt they
would be beneficial to the company. He was ready
to answer
any question they might think requisite
to putt, him, and d concluded by moving the recep-
tion and adoption
of the report.
Colonel DiP:colinE, deputy-chairman, seconded
the motion.
Mr. HoonEs said he objected to the policy of ex-
tensions acted upon by the directors, and attributed
that policy to the circumstances that, with one or
two exceptions, the directors were a self-elected
body. So long as the proxy system existed this
state of things would continue ; it was no use what
any one said at those meetings, he was
sure to be
overwhelmed by a host of proxies. He was glad
that the subject of proxies had attracted the gatten-
tion of Parliament, and lie hoped something would
be done. He had protested two years Since against
the loan of £300,000 to the London, Chatham, and
Dover Railway Company, the interest upon which
he understood had not been paid for three-quarters
of a year by that company. • His protest on that
occasion was not regarded, and the money was lent
accordingly. They were now going to ask to spend
another £1,000,000, and no doubt the proxies would

carry it.
The CHAIRMAN in reply to a question, stated that
the new preference shares would be issued pro rata
to the holders of both ordinary and preference
stocks.
Mr. V. KNIGHT thought the shareholders acted